Concordia Journal Fall 2013 Volume 39 | Number 4 Concordia Concordia Seminary 801 Seminaryplace St
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Concordia Seminary Concordia Journal 801 Seminary Place St. Louis, MO 63105 COncordia Fall 2013 Journal volume 39 | number 4 Fall 2 01 3 volume 39 The Lordship of Christ and the Unity | of the Church number The Gospel: Luther’s Linchpin for Catholicity 4 Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue: On Foundations Laid in 1962–1964 Six Ways Ecumenical Progress Is Possible COncordia Journal (ISSN 0145-7233) INVITING COMMUNITY publisher Faculty Dale A. Meyer David Adams Benjamin Haupt David Peter What challenges are congregations President Charles Arand Erik Herrmann Paul Raabe Andrew Bartelt David Johnson Victor Raj facing in North America today, and how Executive EDITOR Joel Biermann Todd Jones Paul Robinson can churches effectively proclaim and Charles Arand Gerhard Bode Jeffrey Kloha Robert Rosin embody the gospel in the midst of such Dean of Theological Kent Burreson David Lewis Timothy Saleska challenges? These two questions are at Research and Publication William Carr, Jr. Richard Marrs Leopoldo Sánchez M. the center of a new collection of essays EDITOR Anthony Cook David Maxwell David Schmitt from Concordia Seminary Press, Inviting Travis J. Scholl Timothy Dost Dale Meyer Bruce Schuchard Community. These essays, by the Con- Managing Editor of Thomas Egger Glenn Nielsen William Schumacher cordia Seminary faculty and others, ad- Theological Publications Jeffrey Gibbs Joel Okamoto James Voelz dress concrete challenges that churches Bruce Hartung Jeffrey Oschwald Robert Weise face, and were written in order to help EDITORial assistant church leaders and pastors consider Melanie Appelbaum how their congregations can be better witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ. assistants Exclusive subscriber digital access Andrew Hatesohl All correspondence should be sent to: via ATLAS to Concordia Journal & Theodore Hopkins CONCORDIA JOURNAL Concordia Theology Monthly: As the first step in any theological Andrew Jones 801 Seminary Place http://search.ebscohost.com reflection, the volume begins User ID: James Kirschenmann St. Louis, Missouri 63105 ATL0102231ps with internal critique, not- 314-505-7117 Password: subscriber Emily Ringelberg ing where the church has cj @csl.edu Technical problems? failed to be the inviting Michael Tsichlis Email [email protected] community that God desires, and then drives Issued by the faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, the Concordia Journal is the successor of Lehre toward a comprehensive FROM CONCORDIA und Wehre (1855-1929), begun by C. F. W. Walther, a founder of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Lehre vision of Godí s Kingdom und Wehre was absorbed by the Concordia Theological Monthly (1930-1974) which was also published by the faculty embodied in church com- SEMINARY PRESS of Concordia Seminary as the official theological periodical of the Synod. munities. The essays in the second Concordia Journal is abstracted in Internationale Zeitschriftenschau für Bibelwissenschaft unde Grenzgebiete, New Testament part explore ways that the church can Abstracts, Old Testament Abstracts, and Religious and Theological Abstracts. It is indexed in ATLA Religion Database/ foster genuine community through prac- ATLAS and Christian Periodicals Index. Article and issue photocopies in 16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm, tices like personal devotions and read- AVAILABLE and 105mm microfiche are available from National Archive Publishing (www.napubco.com). ing Scripture together. The final section NOVEMBER Books submitted for review should be sent to the editor. Manuscripts submitted for publication should focuses on challenges to congregations, conform to a Chicago Manual of Style. Email submission ([email protected]) as a Word attachment is preferred. challenges such as consumerism, the use 2013 AT Editorial decisions about submissions include peer review. Manuscripts that display Greek or Hebrew text of technology in cultivating community, should utilize BibleWorks fonts (www.bibleworks.com/fonts.html). Copyright © 1994-2009 BibleWorks, LLC. and the impact of debt upon a congre- All rights reserved. Used with permission. gationí s witness. Each essay is aimed at The Concordia Journal (ISSN 0145-7233) is published quarterly (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall). The annual helping churches to be a clearer and STORE.CSL.EDU subscription rate is $25 (individuals) and $50 (institutions) payable to Concordia Seminary, 801 Seminary Place, St. more effective witness to the Lord Jesus, Louis, MO 63105. New subscriptions and renewals also available at http://store.csl.edu. Periodicals postage paid who graciously made us members of his email [email protected] at St. Louis, MO and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Concordia Journal, Concordia body and through us invites all people Seminary, 801 Seminary Place, St. Louis, MO 63105-3199. into community with him. or call 314-505-7117 © Copyright by Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri 2013 www.csl.edu | www.concordiatheology.org COncordia Journal CONTENTS EDITORIALs 269 Editor’s Note 271 Light from Above, Laser Our Hearts Dale A. Meyer ARTICLES 275 The Lordship of Christ and the Unity of the Church Jeffrey Kloha 282 The Gospel: Luther’s Linchpin for Catholicity Gordon A. Jensen 296 Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue: On Foundations Laid in 1962–1964 Jared Wicks 310 Six Ways Ecumenical Progress Is Possible Sarah Hinlicky Wilson 335 HOMILETICAL HELPS 357 BOOK REVIEWS Fall 2013 volume 39 | number 4 editoRIALS COncordia Journal Editor’s Note This past summer, a blog by Matthew Block at First Things (http://www.firstth- ings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/07/12/president-harrison-the-lcms-and-ecumeni- cal-dialogue/) noted that the LCMS under President Matthew Harrison’s administration has actively pursued conversations and developed good relationships with the leaders of other Christian traditions both here in North America as well as around the world. This is a very good thing! Hopefully, these initiatives do not come as a surprise to anyone. After all, our Lutheran Confessions have bequeathed to us an “ecumenical obligation” (Robert Kolb) to engage in conversations with other Christians in order to remove stereotypes of each other, clarify our confession, cooperate where we can, and work toward resolving long-standing disagreements for the sake of the church’s witness in the world. And so it is heartening to see such conversations and developing relationships taking place with other churches. The twentieth century has at times been called an ecumenical century given the formation of the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, not to mention the bilateral dialogues among numerous churches and the resultant joint statements, declarations of church fellowship, and at times, the mutual recognition of ministries. And following Vatican II, Rome took the lead in initiating many bilateral dialogues—including with Lutherans—that have spanned more than thirty years. But conservatives often felt that the agreements reached compromised the truth, or that churches simply agreed to disagree. Now, however, we are witnessing a seismic shift in the Christian landscape resulting in realignments of churches around the world (see 2013 LCMS Convention Workbook, p. 9). Much of it is due to differences over first article moral and social issues (abortion and bioethical issues, sexuality and mar- riage, to name the most prominent ones) which have moved to the forefront of the culture’s attention. In our own country, we have seen a split within the Episcopalian church leading to the formation of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and a split within the ELCA leading to the formation of the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). In Africa, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church—Mekane Yesus (EECMY)—one of the fastest growing Lutheran churches (over six million members), broke fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Church of Sweden. Again, these events took place in part over taking the Bible at face value when it comes to issues of human life, sexuality, and marriage. During the past three years we have witnessed renewed vigor by the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in pursuing conversations and cultivating good relationships with other church bodies such as the new Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) as well as the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). In fact, the leaders of these churches (including the Lutheran Church—Canada) recently adopted “An Affirmation Concordia Journal/Fall 2013 269 of Marriage: An Ecumenical Statement” (http://www.canadianlutheran.ca/an-affirma- tion-of-marriage/). On the international scene, the International Lutheran Council (ILC), of which we are a part, has broached the possibility of opening up a dialogue with Rome. In addition, “a mutually beneficial relationship has developed” (2013 LCMS Convention Workbook, p. 86) between the LCMS and the EECMY in Ethiopia. Our church body has responded to requests for assistance in matters related to confessional Lutheran identity and the need for theological education (see Convention Workbook, p. 20; see also pp. 84–87, 20–24, and 9–10). We live in an exciting and uncertain time as the Christian landscape shifts before our very eyes. Thus it is fitting in this issue of the Concordia Journal that we reflect on what has taken place up to this point and where things are going as seen through the eyes of those outside the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. In a sense, this issue provides some context for what is happening in the one, holy, catholic,