CURRENTS in Theology and Mission Currents in Theology and Mission

April 2009 Volume 36 Number 2

A Time of Transition

Published by Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in cooperation with Paciﬁc Lutheran Theological Seminary Wartburg Theological Seminary

Editor: Ralph W. Klein Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago [email protected] Associate Editor: Norma Cook Everist Wartburg Theological Seminary [email protected] Assistant Editor: Ann Rezny [email protected] Editor of Preaching Helps: Craig A. Satterlee Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago [email protected] Editors of Book Reviews: Edgar Krentz Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (773/256-0752) [email protected] Craig L. Nessan Wartburg Theological Seminary (563/589-0207) [email protected] Circulation ofﬁce: 773/256-0751 [email protected] Editorial Board: Pamela J. S. Challis, Randall R. Lee, Richard L. Ramirez, Susan Rippert, Barbara Rossing, Jensen Seyenkulo, Susan Swanson, Vicki Watkins, Fritz Wehrenberg, Vítor Westhelle.

CURRENTS IN THEOLOGY AND MISSION (ISSN: 0098-2113) is published bimonthly (every other month), February, April, June, August, October, December. Annual subscription rate: $18.00 in the U.S.A., $23.00 elsewhere. Two-year rate: $35.00 in the U.S.A., $45.00 elsewhere. Three-year rate: $51.00 in the U.S.A., $65.00 elsewhere. Published by Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, a nonproﬁt organization, 1100 East 55th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60615, to which all business correspondence is to be addressed. Printed in U.S.A.

CURRENTS is indexed in ATLA Religion Database, Elenchus, IZBW, NTA, OTA, Religion Index I (formerly IRPL), Religious and Theological Abstracts, and Theologische Literaturzeitung.

MICROFORM AVAILABILITY: 16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm, 105mm microfiche, and article copies are available through University Microfilms Inc., 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Contents

A Time of Transition Ralph W. Klein 82 The Old Testament and Public Theology Richard D. Nelson 85 Reading the Old Testament with Martin Luther—and Without Him Ralph W. Klein 95 Reggae Reveals Church Involvement in Slavery Paul A. Tidemann 104 The Reason for Studying African Religion in Post-colonial Africa Julius Mutugi Gathogo 108 The Trial of Luther A. Gotwald Luther A. Gotwald, Jr. 118 Kristallnacht—Sixty-eight Years Later, Nov. 9, 2006 Victoria Barnett 128 What Can the Barmen Declaration Teach Us Today? Robert A. Cathey 130 The Historical Context of the Barmen Declaration Kurt K. Hendel 133 The Barmen Theological Declaration: On Celebrating a Text Out of Context 75 Years Later Vítor Westhelle 137 Book Reviews 141

Preaching Helps “What Sunday after Pentecost is It?” Craig A. Satterlee 146 The Holy Trinity—Time after Pentecost—Lectionary 17 (Proper 12) Contributor: Amy R. Becker Title

82 A Time of Transition

In the fall of 1974, my academic Dean, John Damm, asked me to take over the duties of editing Currents in Theology and Mission. Currents is a descendant of the Concordia Theological Monthly (CTM), the journal of the faculty of Concordia Seminary that began in the 1930s. When the Missouri Synod controversy came to a head in 1974 and Christ Seminary-Seminex was formed, it was decided by the Seminex faculty that we would publish our own journal, and the words of the name of this journal would maintain the initials CTM. I decided to downplay that heritage and have consistently referred to this journal as Currents, not CTM. I began editing with volume 1, number 2, and this issue is volume 36, number 2. I never knew that this would be a thirty-five year assignment, but it has indeed lasted that long. I also decided early on that this would not be an organ of the Mis- souri Synod controversy, but it would publish articles that would help pastors and laity throughout the church carry on their ministries well informed, and with eyes focused on ministry and mission, and affirming wherever possible the unity of the church. In 1983 Currents moved with me to Chicago. As now, Currents came out six times a year, but in the other six months Preaching Helps was published as a separate magazine. After a couple years in Chicago, Preaching Helps was merged into Currents, since postal rate increases were killing us. The deployment of Seminex meant that Currents would now be published by LSTC, in cooperation with Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and Wartburg Theological Seminary, a cooperative effort that continues until today. This will be the last issue of Currents that I will edit, and this comes at my request. With more than 200 issues under my belt, I think I have done my share (I have always been a fan of litotes). I must say I have enjoyed these thirty-five years, soliciting and editing articles, and introducing all the issues with these editorials in which I tried to write grace- fully and hopefully, and even with an occasional bit of humor. I hope you enjoy this last feast that I serve up in the following pages. Richard D. Nelson argues that public theology must be publicly persuasive. Public theology is theology, that is, it is founded on and advocates values derived from our religious tradition, but it seeks to coordinate that tradition with values that an outside audience already shares with us. The Old Testament reminds us of important truths that must inform our work and it is a well-known classic text, with powerful stories such as Exodus 16, powerful characters such as Bathsheba and Nehemiah, and a captivating poetic vision such as Genesis 1 and Psalm 104. In the Old Testament, religion was not predominantly a private affair as it has increasingly been thought among us. Any public theologian who reads the stories of the Old Testament will resist letting privilege define truth. Because the Old Testament shares so much context with modern life, it can shed light on our dilemmas in a non-authoritarian way. Ralph W. Klein presented the Lutheran Heritage Lecture at LSTC in 2008 and now publishes it for Currents readers. We Lutherans read the Old Testament with Martin Luther since we take the Bible literally, acknowledge that there are passages in the canon that do not urge Christ or that contradict the gospel, find the Bible’s central message in its word of promise, and recognize the ongoing activity of the Spirit in Scripture and in inspired tradition. We depart from Luther in recognizing in Judaism a faithful understanding of the Old Testament, in reading the text with the tools of modern biblical criticism, and in learning more about God from a distinctively Old Testament perspective, confident that that knowledge will complement and expand the God we have come to know in Jesus Christ, Paul A. Tidemann calls attention to a freedom song “Maccabee Version” by Rastafar- ian Max Romeo. This song describes what happened to slaves who were forcibly translated to the West Indies and elsewhere in the new world. Max Romeo charged that white people fashioned dangerous weapons in order to kill resistant and rebellious Black slaves. Even as the British slave trade was coming to an end, the London Missionary Society sent preachers to use the gospel to make the existing slaves more compliant. In 1827 the British and Foreign Bible Society decided to print Bibles without the Apocrypha, lest books like 1 and 2 Maccabees give slaves too many ideas about freedom. Some slaves, nevertheless, identified with Judas Maccabaeus and with Moses. The Bible has been abused and can continue to be so used by powerful forces of oppression. Julius Mutugi Gathogo demonstrates that African Religion is a force to reckon with even after globalization. The concept of Ubuntu (humanness) can be exploited for the good of all. Various elements in African Religion may require revision so as to be compliant with the realities that are defining the people of modern Africa. This essay revisits the definitions of African Religion and the environment within which African Religion is done. Study of African religion provides an understanding of the African personality and is essential to make meaningful religious dialogue. Luther A. Gotwald, Jr. tells a fascinating story about his great-grandfather, Luther Gotwald, a professor at Wittenberg College and Seminary. Wittenberg had been estab- lished by the General Synod, which at one time followed the teachings of S. S. Schmuck- er that departed in some sense from a strict Lutheran Confessional position. The more confessionally loyal Lutheran denomination was called the General Council. Gotwald was charged by three accusers of teaching General Council theology in a General Synod seminary. The article maintains that the General Synod had long since departed from Schmucker’s teaching and solidly affirmed the Augsburg Confession. In a sense Gotwald was accused of being too conservative in a school with a “liberal” tradition. In any case, Gotwald was acquitted. The author adds an epilog in which he advocates that the ELCA should follow the theology of his great-grandfather in its ecumenical activities. (From the start I have never insisted that articles follow my own viewpoints). On November 9, 2006, as part of a commemoration of Kristallnacht, LSTC also reflected on the Barmen Declaration of 1934. The following addresses were given on that occasion. Victoria Barnett reflects on the altered landscape between Christians and Jews brought about by the Holocaust in general and Kristallnacht in particular. Some 2,500 synagogues were destroyed throughout the German Reich in 1938, and these dreadful events still have far-reaching consequences today. The continued violence against people and the misuse of religion and religious space in our time require people of all faiths to walk this altered landscape together. Robert A. Cathey points to other confessions that followed the courageous precedent of the Barmen Declaration. The Presbyterian Confession of 1967 addressed questions of reconciliation between formerly segregated African Americans in the southern states and between middle class whites in the suburbs and urban poor in the inner cities. Even more important was the Kairos Document of 1985 that criticized the claims to legitimacy by the South African government, based on Romans 13, argued that neither Scripture nor Chris- tian tradition rejected lethal force in every situation of aggression, and called for social action to bring down the ruling South African regime and create a new society. Barmen and Kairos still speak disturbing words of comfort and hope. Kurt Hendel describes the historical conditions that led up to the Barmen Declara- tion, beginning with the racist policies of Hitler, who was criticized by the Pastors’ Emer- gency League. By the end of 1933, the German Christian movement, favorable to the Nazis, was opposed by the Confessing Church, and the church struggle had begun. The Barmen Declaration was issued in 1934, but it does not specifically mention the persecution of the Jews. The Confessing Church was not effective in defending the Jews, and there was little response in the German church to the events of Kristallnacht. Vítor Westhelle calls attention to the importance of understanding the context of the Barmen Declaration. It spoke to Christians within a Christian context, and a similar document today could not make such exclusivistic claims. Its central point that God makes a claim upon our whole life, of course, was well taken in targeting Nazi idolatry. It also criticized the notion that reason was autonomous, not subject to the control of beliefs, emotions, dispositions, or aesthetic values. This notion of autonomy had been used by Hitler to extend the power of the state into affairs of the church. In a different, non-totalitarian and pluralistic circumstance, the Barmen strategy would represent a totalitarianism of the church and its mission. Barmen needs to be celebrated within its context so that we might have the vision to detect the cracks and fissures that need to be exposed in the dominant systems of our day. Beginning with the June issue of Currents, a new editorial team will take over, composed of LSTC colleagues Kathleen D. (Kadi) Billman, Kurt K. Hendel, and Mark Swan- son. I look forward eagerly to what they will do. At the same time, I suspect that you have not heard the last of me. I hope to publish essays here from time to time, and continue my review of books, primarily dealing with the Old Testament. The Germans have a wonderful word for it: Gott befohlen! May you be entrusted to God’s care!

Indeed!

Ralph W. Klein, editor The Old Testament and Public Theology

Richard D. Nelson Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University

I. What is public theology and tament can serve as a resource for public why should we practice it? theological leadership. 1) When doing public theology, the Luther sets the standard for us as a theolo- church is thinking theologically with the gian who was never shy about sounding off common good in mind and communicat- in the public square. He exploited the new ing its thinking in public in order to influ- technology of the printing press to expand ence public opinion and public policy. what one might call the consumer audience 2) Public theology is the church’s criti- for theology in treatises that put forward cal reflection on the specific topic of public what today we would call public theology: life in order to help transform public life. “Trade and Usury” (1524), “Whether Sol- 3) Public theology involves inviting the diers, Too, Can be Saved” (1526), and his notorious “Against the Robbing and Mur- public into thoughtful conversations with dering Hordes of the Peasants” (1525). A the church about matters of public signifi- more accessible example is his Large Cat- cance. echism with its pointed views on the politi- 4) Public theology does not seek so cal and social order. much to tell people how to behave but to As public leaders, pastors can hardly inculcate thoughtful virtue in the citizenry, justify limiting their theological communi- whatever their religious convictions or loy- cation to the pulpit and the congregation’s alties may be. adult forum. Opportunities offer them- This last point means that public theol- selves constantly, in occasions for public ogy addresses a religiously mixed audience, prayer, panels, public forums, meetings one that includes the religiously indifferent of school boards and town councils, high and adherents of non-Christian religions. school baccalaureate services, chaplaincy For this reason, public theology must be for volunteer fire departments, chances publicly persuasive. To be in any sense effec- to write a column for the local paper—to tive, its argumentation cannot be based on say nothing of pastoral leadership at those claims to possess specially revealed truths, church-based events that attract audiences nor can it be founded on scriptural proof in from the whole community such as wed- any sort of propositional sense or on appeals dings and funerals. to any tradition that is exclusively Christian. Four perspectives on public theology The assertion “life begins at conception” is a undergird my conviction that the Old Tes- religiously-derived precept and has little per-

Currents in Theology and Mission 36:2 (April 2009) Nelson. The Old Testament and Public Theology

86 suasive power except among those already What might be characteristic of an iden- committed to the proposition. However, tifiably Lutheran public theology? It will be the argument “we owe humane justice and informed by the notion of two kingdoms, fairness to the potential for full humanity that God rules humanity out of a single di- embodied in every fetus” could serve as an vine will but through a two-fold manner in effective argument because it resonates with two realms. It will remember that God rules core values shared by most Americans. As a universally through locally and temporally corollary to this principle, when the Bible is particular civic structures and thus bestows involved in our public theology, our exegesis on them a limited but very real value. It must be publicly accessible and acceptable. will remember that fair justice driven by Public theology remains theology, that accountability represents God’s mandate is to say, it is founded on and advocates to those public, civic structures. It will re- values derived from our religious tradition. member that acts of civil righteousness may However, it seeks to coordinate that tradi- be performed by citizens who may or may tion with values that an outside audience or not have any self-conscious relationship to public already shares with us, or at least are God. It will assert that citizenship is a voca- potentially acceptable to them. The church tion to which God calls both Christians and speaks out of its own tradition and theol- others. A Lutheran public theology will be ogy, but seeks shared ground around shared informed by a robust appreciation for the core values. The public theologian seeks virulence, intractability, and pervasiveness persuasively to offer a Christian world-view of personal and corporate sin. Finally, a Lu- in the market place of options as a reason- theran public theology dares not forget that able, possible choice, as a genuine option many who made up an earlier generation of for the public to consider. Lutheran theologians in Nazi-era Germany Democracies need critical voices to sur- have been weighed in the balance of history vive and flourish. Christian public theology and found wanting. offers the American democratic experiment Some words of admonition and warn- a free-standing, outside voice—a prophetic ing are in order. First, the Golden Rule re- voice, if you will—backed up by publicly quires us to grant those whom we address accessible arguments offered to the public the same hearing we hope to receive. Sec- as a choice they might reasonably embrace. ond, the church’s public practice must cor- The goal of public theology should not respond to its public pronouncements. Fi- be seen as limited to the passing or blocking nancial or sexual scandals are not just public of certain laws or centered only on ethical relations debacles, but they undermine the controversies. A genuinely public theology public’s confidence that anything we have will seek to go beyond specific issues to en- to say is worth hearing. Our public audi- gender public virtue in general and to help ence has the right to demand consistency form a moral ethos that can be shared by this between our speech and actions. Third, our nation’s ever more fragmented citizenry. As audience will demand that we apply our the “American way” continues to evolve, the principles across varying cases, so that if we American church must seek to help shape it. invoke “sanctity of life” in the case of abor- Consequently, public theological leadership tion we will be asked whether we do so also goes far beyond whatever lobbying churches in regard to capital punishment. Fourth, it may do in Washington and transcends the will expect of us the integrity to offer our current hot button ethical issues. dissent even when it is out of favor, even Nelson. The Old Testament and Public Theology

87 in the face of a majority consensus that op- III. The Old Testament poses us—and even when our message hap- informs our work as public pens to be popular among groups whom otherwise we abhor. theologians Practitioners of public theology can learn II. Can the Old Testament some valuable things from the OT. First, speak in the public square? the OT gives permission to move beyond theological formulas inherited from the Finding value in the OT as a resource for 1 public theology is not the easiest case to past and “write the tradition forward.” In many ways, the OT that has come down to make. Obstacles range from the “kill a Ca- us is a “second, revised edition” of Israel’s naanite for Yahweh” ideology of the book religious heritage. Much, perhaps most, of of Joshua to OT notions of theocracy, di- the OT came into being as a rethinking of vinely-elected monarchy, and divinely-re- inherited religious practice and tradition vealed law, concepts about as far as one can under the pressure of cataclysmic defeat, get from the ethos of Western democracy. exile, and foreign domination by first Baby- Moreover, the biblical concept of “chosen lon and then Persia. These traumas shook people” has at times encouraged the worst Israel’s world view to its very core. Consid- elements of the American self-image. er, for example, how Second Isaiah radically Because the arguments and reasoning rethinks and rewrites creation and exodus of an effective public theology must be pub- traditions in order to speak to a new situa- licly accessible and publicly persuasive, the tion (Isa 43:18-19; 48:6b-8b). public theologian can hardly use the OT Second, the OT reminds us that the as a source of special revelation or divinely public square is not to be equated sim- assured truths. The fatuousness of quoting ply with government and the state. In the Leviticus 18:22 in a public debate on gay world of the OT there were many spheres rights can only be exceeded by the perva- of activity that one would label as public, sive application of the divine favor shown including worship at the sanctuary, the Israel in 2 Chronicles 7:14 to the United life of the street and the market, and life States. Such references may help cement the “in the gate” and “at the well.” Priests and opinions of Christian social conservatives, prophets, and not just judges and kings, but will justifiably be met with polite in- occupied public offices. Moreover, an- difference or outright derision in the open cient Israel confronts us with a society in marketplace of ideas in the public square. which the line between private and public However, the OT can serve as a valu- was drawn quite differently from the way able resource for public theology in at least it is in our culture. Religion was public at two ways. First, the OT speaks directly to the temple and private in personal prayer us who are engaged in the task of public and piety. There was a spatial and even a theology, reminding us of important truths gender component to the public/private di- that must inform our work. Second, the vide. Life inside the house was private and OT can be used with our public audience largely the domain of women. The street, in the public square—not as Holy Scripture square, gateway, and field were public and per se—but as a well-known, classic text with powerful stories and characters and 1. The German verb used by Biblical captivating poetic vision. scholars is fortschreiben. Nelson. The Old Testament and Public Theology

88 there men wielded power, although women the ground in protest. Slaves in Pharaoh’s were not excluded. There were also kinship brickyard groan and complain and God dimensions to this divide, with the private hears them. The grievance of two cannibal realm of the “father’s house” operating in mothers in 2 Kings 6 blows the lid off the tension with the larger, public units of clan royal administration’s official line that all is and tribe. These examples should remind well in besieged Samaria. Any public theo- us to avoid making the mistake of collaps- logian who regularly reads such stories will ing the notion of “public” into that of “gov- resist letting privilege define truth or allow ernment.” America’s public sphere includes power to silence or discount those voices voluntary associations, non-governmental in the public realm who lack the money to organizations, charities, corporations, scout fund lobbyists and buy television time or the troops, PTA’s, and bowling leagues. It also status to command respect and attention. includes church-related hospitals, colleges, However, we need to nuance this last and social service agencies. point. Scholars recognize that the OT was Third, religion was not predominantly chiefly an elitist production, created by a private affair as it has increasingly been those with the learning, leisure, and some- thought to be among us. In the monarchic times governmental support to produce period the king served as the nation’s chief time-consuming and sophisticated docu- religious officer, supervising and reform- ments on expensive materials. So what one ing the temple and on occasion perform- often hears on the surface of OT texts are ing sacrifice. Temple sacrifices were offered the voices of kings, rulers, priests, and men. for the Persian sovereign and Greco-Roman However, the sensitive interpreter who lis- kings and emperors. Thus, the theologian tens patiently and carefully can also hear does not have to take for granted the hard- traces of other voices—those of slaves, day ened structural division between private laborers, sojourners, victims of war, and church and public state that evolved as the women. Even the prophets, whom we ro- enlightenment and modernity developed. mantically view as countercultural loners, Recent court decisions concerning the First all had support groups, occasionally quite Amendment have tended to treat the free powerful ones. Their prophetic words exercise of religion mostly as a matter of pri- sometimes undermined the status quo that vate choice and private conscience. The OT benefited the elites, but sometimes were reminds us that we should not take this for co-opted by the powerful. In using the OT granted nor let our courts and legislatures one must pay close attention and not let do so unopposed. One can certainly argue the loud language of hierarchy, patriarchy, that the free exercise of religion requires monarchy, centralized temple priesthood, space for communal assembly, zoning that and imperialism drown out the softer back- permits religiously-motivated social service, ground voices of other witnesses. and unrestricted collective public speech by Fifth, the intricate complexity of the religious organizations on political matters. biblical canon is not a negative thing but Fourth, public theology informed by offers us a positive model. The OT models the OT will have a given, hard-wired value a public theological discourse that, when in seeking to broaden the public conversa- taken as a whole, stops far short of giving tion to included suppressed voices. The OT single, dominant, pure answers. Theology as is alive with voices crying out. The blood of practiced within the OT itself was a conver- Abel, the first victim of violence, cries from sation over time. Similar to the theological Nelson. The Old Testament and Public Theology

89 saga of the church, it can be thought of as As a seventh and final point, both pub- “faith seeking understanding through con- lic theologians and the OT operate within a flict.” The OT offers up to its readers both poly-religious environment. Public theolo- light and dark, brutal violence and soaring gians address an audience that is religiously poetry. Yahweh is a tribal war god who is also diverse and is growing ever more so. On the a tender shepherd who brings exiles home. surface one might assume that the OT, with All this is presented under the umbrella of its exclusivist hostility to uncircumcised the repeated confessional statement that idol worshippers would have little potential Yahweh is “merciful and gracious, slow to to be helpful here. But, in fact, Israel’s faith anger, and abounding in steadfast love and was able to incorporate elements of the wor- faithfulness” (Exod 34:6 and elsewhere)2— ship of other gods, notably the Canaanite but still in no way offers us a theology that god El in his various local manifestations. pretends to have all the answers or even sug- One of these was the pre-Israelite god of Je- gests that having all the answers would be a rusalem, El Elyon (God Most High), whose good thing. It is just this dialogical, provi- name, ideology, and ritual became part of sional, non-authoritarian style of theologiz- the religion and theology of the Jerusalem ing that is incumbent on those who speak temple. Integration of some elements of the theologically in the public square. goddess Asherah and the disallowing of oth- Sixth, as a corollary to this last point, ers is another fascinating story, still incom- public theology informed by the OT will be pletely understood. In contrast, Yahweh’s inherently subversive. It will offer alterna- rival god Baal was soundly rejected, along tives to the common wisdom of the status with all his works and all his ways, at least quo. It will suggest perspectives different by those groups in Israel who composed from those promoted by the powerful. Amos the OT. Through these examples, the OT saw that an economic system that brought models how to perform the difficult balanc- prosperity to the lucky few systemically en- ing act of honoring what is positive in other tailed oppression, debt, and slavery for the faith traditions, while at the same time be- landless and small farmers. Hosea perceived ing willing to object to and judge what is the rot and decay under the smooth surface destructive in them. The public theologian of Israel’s royal administration and impres- needs to value the role that human religion sive religiosity. Another striking example of can play as an expression of God’s will and theological subversion is the OT’s mixed work in governing the world, without disre- view on kingship. Kingship was as a rule garding the creedal assertion of “one Lord, thought to be a beneficent gift sent down Jesus Christ.” by the gods, and that was certainly the view promoted by royal, Davidic theology. In 1 IV. Turning the Old Testament Samuel, however, kingship is judged to be loose in the public square a faithless product of human desire, human The OT can speak in the public square to design, and human need, salvaged only by the public because it is a well-known, clas- God’s flexible willingness to accept it and sic text with powerful stories and characters adopt it to the divine plan. and a captivating poetic vision. This assertion rests on David Tracy’s notion of a “clas- 2. Terrence L. Fretheim, “God Who Acts: An Old Testament Perspective,” Theology Today sic text,” one that has achieved a degree of 54 (1997), 6-18. “public-ness” through long usage and widespread familiarity. Classic texts attain this Nelson. The Old Testament and Public Theology

90 status because they are seen to be grounded to speak, the voices of the economic and in a shared experience that reflects what it social underdogs with whom many in the means to be human. Classic texts disclose public realm will be able to identify. Because deep meanings and truths and have the po- it shares so much context with modern life, tential to be transformative.3 the OT can shed light in a non-authoritar- The OT has value as a resource for ian way on our dilemmas and circumstanc- public theology addressed to the public es, not as a revealed dogma promulgated square because it has the status of a classic by some alien, outside authority, but as an text. Most people in United States are still alternate point of view offered persuasively able to understand portions of it and can for public consideration. be moved by its religious imagery. Certainly Classic story and archetypical charac- the day will come when other texts and sto- ter have the potential to transcend and rise ries will join it as classic texts—the Mahab- above theological and ideological barriers. harata, Mohammed’s flight from Mecca, or Think of Jesus. The church claims him as the Buddha’s quest for enlightenment—and Son of God, but Jesus himself is a public, dilute its status as a classic in the American historical character, respected by Hindus, self-consciousness. But for now even the Buddhists, and Muslims. This non-church- most biblical illiterate recognize what is ly Jesus is an awesomely compelling figure going on in a picture of a naked man and in his own right, and the stories told about woman standing around an apple tree with him have the power to transform the ethical a snake in it, a boat with two giraffe heads imagination. There is no Jesus in the OT, sticking out of a window, or a garden-like of course, but that may be an advantage to scene of a lion and lamb and other animals its value as a classic text in the public mar- grouped together in tranquil peace. Moses ketplace of ideas. Offering a truly biblical and David remain figures in the public con- theology with no visible Jesus front and sciousness. And those elements of the public center may in some ways be more appropri- who know art history or literature or cinema ate as a resource in the public square. The share an acquaintance with large portions OT can function as a classic text in at least of this classic text with believers in church three ways: through its stories, characters, and synagogue. Popular books such as Anita and poetry. Diamant’s The Red Tent show that the sto- Story. A public theologian who wishes ries and characters of the OT can connect at to advocate the positive value of healthy hu- a deep level with the modern reader. man sexuality could do no better than tell The OT has power to persuade be- the “love at first sight” story of Genesis 2 cause its narratives and characters, with and recite some of the panting, bodice-rip- their human-centered realism, have the ping drama of the Song of Songs. The story power to produce imagination. We recog- of the Exodus is the core text of liberation nize our lives and situations in theirs. We theology and has transformed the political sense the compelling nature of characters consciousness of Latin American peasants like Ruth, David, or Jeremiah. Moreover, and African-American urban communi- the OT sometimes allows subjugated voices ties. The Passover ritual demonstrates how powerfully shared public story enacted in 3. David Tracy, The Analogical Imagina- tion: Christian Theology and the Culture of Plural- ceremony can communicate community ism (New York: Crossroad, 1981), 99-229. virtues and values. As a test case for the power of OT story Nelson. The Old Testament and Public Theology

91 to stimulate the economic and social imagi- V. Specific examples nation, consider the account of manna in Humanity’s Dark Side. Public theology will the wilderness (Exod 16). The schedule and seek to remind its comfortable and perhaps style of God’s provision of manna evokes a apathetic audience of life’s harshest realities, counter-cultural economic system. Every- violence, atrocity, famine, and pandemic. body who goes out to gather gathers ex- The OT refuses to be silent about these actly what they need for their household, themes because its authors and readers lived no more, no less. Entrepreneurs who try them out. One example is the common to gather more than their fair share end up practice of rape as a consequence of warfare, with the same per capita result as everyone an outrage characteristic of the Bosnian else. Manna cannot be saved or hoarded or conflict or the tragedy in Darfur. We would invested or willed to the next generation. It rather not think about such a thing, but goes rotten and gets wormy overnight. On the OT will not let us ignore it and alludes Friday, those who gather accumulate twice to this almost universal atrocity numerous the ration of daily bread to tide them over times. Consider the mother of the enemy the Sabbath. Overachievers who seek to general Sisera in Judges, waiting for her son gather on the Sabbath find nothing. In my to come home, but advised by her ladies- experience this story invariably excites hear- in-waiting that the boys are just being boys, ers’ imagination to think non-traditional each seizing a girl or two as battle plunder. thoughts about economics, who produces, And lest we miss the implications, the bib- who consumes, who wins, who loses. lical author uses a crude, obscene word for Character. What more effective reflec- those raped girls—“a womb or two for every tion on the corrosive effects of political man” (Judg 5:30). This same brutal reality is power, blithe unawareness of one’s own mis- exposed in Second Isaiah’s description of the conduct, and the power of confrontational fall of Babylon (Isa 47:1-3) and by Zecha- judgment to institute change could one riah and Lamentations describing the fall of desire than the unfolding of David’s char- Jerusalem (Lam 5:11; Zech 14:2). Joel links acter in the incidents with Bathsheba and warfare with sexual slavery (3:3). The grief the prophet Nathan? I would also nominate of old people left behind after the troops Jephthah, Samson, Saul, Ahab, Naomi, and have swept through, mourning for their Esther as characters with persuasive power. lost children, killed or kidnapped as slaves, Nehemiah’s autobiography, with his com- is evoked by Micah (1:16), and several texts munity project for the common good in explore the horrors of famine caused by war the face of internal and external threat, dis- (Deut 28:53-57; Lam 4:4-5, 10). closes a powerful and evocative character in In Amos, chapters 1 and 2, the proph- the context of public leadership. et condemns the war crimes of various Poetry. In advocating for a public en- nations, excoriating each in the name of vironmental theology, one could employ the God who demands just punishment. the potent poetry of Genesis 1 or Psalm The neighbors of Israel have violated ac- 104. Consider the power of Psalm 137 in a cepted standards of international conduct. world of refugees and political exiles: “How But then, in a rhetorical tour de force, the could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign prophet reverses course and turns the lens land? …Happy shall they be who take your of divine judgment on Israel itself. You, little ones and dash them against the rock” too, are as guilty as they. Dictators and ter- (vv. 4, 9). Nelson. The Old Testament and Public Theology

92 rorists have committed terrible atrocities, is built into the dynamic structure of the the prophet might as well be saying. You universe. In the OT God sometimes puts may have high ideals enshrined in your away the tools of direct, miraculous inter- Constitution and your mythic, self-convention and works behind the scenes in gratulatory view of history, but how have hidden ways to accomplish the divine will. you really behaved in the critical moment Ruth just happens to come to the field of of perilous crisis? Boaz to glean (Ruth 2:3). Esther just hap- God. If theologians have nothing else pened to be Queen of Persia. Concerning to offer to the public discussion, one imag- all the wicked machinations of Joseph’s ines that they will be talking about God. jealous brothers, Joseph could declare “you Indeed, the most persistent and funda- meant evil against me, but God meant it for mental message of the OT is about God. good, to bring it about that many people There is one God. God lives and God will should be kept alive” (Gen 50:20). be God. The “I am who I am” name re- According to the OT, God’s plans for revealed to Moses can be taken to mean “I demption involve the concrete things of the will be what I choose to be and will do here and now, not just abstracts and escha- what I choose to do” (Exod 3:14). No God tological promise. Yahweh’s blessing consists could be farther from the domesticated of real land, real children, real oil and wine. god entrapped by churchly dogma or the At the same time, God is just and demands moribund, vaguely beneficent god one en- change, calling forth both structural and per- counters sometimes in the public square. sonal repentance and reformation. As the prophets knew, God is up to some- Creation. Conversations about the en- thing in this world and things are not out vironment loom ever larger in the public of God’s control. All people within or out- arena. Here again, the stories and poetry side of the community of faith are affected of the OT can be a key resource. The reso- by what God is up to, whether they know nant poetry of Genesis 1 tells of a Creator it or not. Paul’s “every knee shall bow and who does not create a static, structured or- every tongue confess” (Phil 2:10-11) is a der like that notorious Deist watch maker, quotation from Isaiah 45:23. At the same but one who has built dynamism and self- time, of course, one needs to be alert to generation into heaven and earth. God does the dark side of monotheism, that is, its not say, “Let there be plants.” Rather Earth imperialistic, patriarchal tendencies. itself brings forth plants and then living The God of the OT is a responsive creatures (vv. 11-12, 20, 24). Plants have and accessible person, not a philosophical seeds so that creation has a self-sustaining abstraction. God is not only a creator ac- momentum. Humans are given an executive at the beginning of things, now pretty tive function as administrators of earth and much retired from the scene, but an active its plants and animals (vv. 26, 28). sustainer to whom the eyes of all look, who Genesis 2 and 3 refocus the picture opens up a generous hand and satisfies the onto the human scale but continue to show desire of every living thing (Ps 145:16). Yet God’s concern for the earth. There is a little in spite of this, there is plenty of causational noticed but important detail in the frame- distance between the biblical God and the work for the Eden story. The problem pre- particulars of reality and the daily events of sented at the start of the narrative is that our world. Just as we learn from modern “there was no plant of the field…for there physics, a lot of contingency and openness was no one to till the ground” (Gen 2:5). Nelson. The Old Testament and Public Theology

God forms Man to meet earth’s need in this human behavior. Wisdom is something regard (v. 15). The following story of dis- publicly accessible to all who were astute obedience and expulsion from Eden may enough to perceive and prudent enough to have been a tragedy for humanity, but the put what they have learned into practice. careful reader will note that God’s purpose Wisdom is open-minded, not sectarian. for the earth is met as a result: “the Lord It takes seriously both nature and human God sent him forth…to till the ground experience. It encompasses oppositions, (3:23). These bookends indicate that, al- sometimes setting forth contradictory though we read this story focusing on Man, proverbs side by side for the wise person to Woman, and Snake, the real center of God’s choose which one is right in a given situa- attention seems to have been on the earth tion. An appreciation for biblical wisdom all along. Another powerful point for the helps counter the myth that religion is in- communication of an ecologically respon- trinsically irrational or non-rational and sible public theology is that the word we that it is inherently divisive and intolerant. translate as “to till” (abad) has the more Wisdom insists that there are univer- general meaning “to serve.” We were cre- sal human moral values that exist under ated to serve the ground, not kick it around God, even if not all recognize this. The OT as some translations of Genesis 1:28 seem speaks of these foundational humane values to suggest. in terms of “fear of God.” The midwives of Creation is not just about nature. It Egypt did not kill the baby Hebrew boys also testifies to our common humanity. because they “feared God” (Exod 1:21), and Humans are held together in an intercon- the “fear of the Lord,” that is basic morality, nected web that universalizes our shared is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 1:7). humanity and devalues particular ethnici- Prophets. Then there are the prophets, ties or nations. The OT offers the powerful with their passion for justice, their fervent picture of Noah as ancestor of the world- vision of God’s impending future, and their wide human community and Abraham, fa- powerful rhetoric. A caution here is that ther of many nations. At the same time, the one needs to use their rhetoric in a way Tower of Babel story in Genesis 11 portrays that corresponds to their historical situa- God’s desire to push humans beyond com- tion. When passionately quoting Isaiah on fortable, defensive, mono-cultural, mono- beating swords into plowshares (Isa 2:4), linguistic configurations into a rich variety it would be honest to remember that in a of scattered peoples. Recognizing our com- different situation Joel advocated beating mon humanity does not justify imposing “plowshares into swords” (Joel 3:10). globalization or cultural totalitarianism.4 Law. Of course, extending OT law Wisdom. Ancient wisdom was an inter- into universal moral principles is fraught national affair, a shared multi-cultural trea- with danger. There are, to be sure, the Ten sury of understanding and good judgment. Commandments, which at least when read Its source was not special, divine revelation, through the lens of Luther’s Small and but the careful observation of nature and Large Catechism, are pretty close to being universal. There are problems implicit in 4. Richard D. Nelson, From Eden to Babel: prohibiting religious images and promot- An Adventure in Bible Study (St. Louis: Chalice, 2006), 25-66 (on Genesis 2-3), 127-42 (on ing Sabbath in the public, multi-religious Genesis 11). arena, but the courts seem to be willing to see the Ten Commandments as one of the Nelson. The Old Testament and Public Theology

94 foundational documents of our common like any other and operated according to legal tradition. At the same time they are the same economic and sociological rules hardly self-explanatory. Waving signs pro- as any other. Viewed objectively, Israel was claiming “thou shalt not kill” around abor- just another Iron Age ancient west Asian tion clinics and executions is not conducive tribal ethnic group that developed into a to rational public debate. small-scale monarchy and then became the Consider the book of Deuteronomy, subject people of successive world empires. however, which uses humanitarian argu- What we see in the Bible is a product of ments to motivate obedience to socially extraordinary faith overlaid onto ordinary enlightened laws. Deuteronomy’s law is not historical reality. merely a shield to protect the rich and pow- Second, one must be careful to note erful (although there are places where their just how often one’s exegesis or theologi- rights are taken into account), but protects cal thinking happens to square precisely dispossessed widows, orphans, immigrants, with one’s politics. The Bible can be taken slaves, and daily wage laborers. to mean all sorts of things in the hands of • You shall not deprive a resident alien or a determined, creative interpreter, and the an orphan of justice; you shall not take a OT has been used to support apartheid, widow’s garment in pledge [for a loan]. slavery, homophobia, and the repudiation Remember that you were a slave in Egypt of human rights. and the Lord your God redeemed you Finally, public theology ought not to from there. (24:17-18) be driven only by the issues of the day, nor • You shall also love the stranger, for you should ethical decision-making be its sole were strangers in the land of Egypt. concern. Public theological leadership seeks (10:19) to promote a framework for understanding • Every third year you shall bring out the and organizing the deep structure nature of full tithe of your produce for that year, things. The real task of public theology is to and store it within your towns.…the resi- encourage critical reflection on and trans- dent aliens, the orphans, and the widows formation of the whole of public life. It of- in your towns, may come and eat their fill. fers a theocentric, Christian worldview in (14:28-29) a persuasive way in the public marketplace • When you reap your harvest in your field of ideas as a reasonable, genuine option. It and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall does this in conscious competition with not go back to get it; it shall be left for the other competing, compelling worldviews. alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that When it comes to ethics, it seeks most of all the Lord your God may bless you in all to inculcate those public virtues which can your undertakings. (24:19) guide the public in its political and ethical deliberations and decisions: fidelity, toler- VI. Some cautions ance, responsibility, courage, fairness, and First, one ought never to get too romantic independence. about ancient Israel. Israel was a society Reading the Old Testament with Martin Luther—and Without Him

Ralph W. Klein Christ Seminary-Seminex Professor of Old Testament emeritus Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

The Lutheran Heritage Lecture Series at and Luther finds much more of the New LSTC seeks to discover what it might mean Testament in the Old that most of us would in the twenty-first century to be faithful— today. No title can quite contain the man and critical!—daughters and sons of the Luther. Jaroslav Pelikan points out that even Lutheran Reformation of the 16th century. the common cliché that Luther was not a An old Latin proverb went this way eccle- systematic theologian depends on what you sia semper reformanda, that is the church is mean by systematic theologian. Pelikan ob- always in need of reform. So faithful and serves that if by a system one means that critical leaders of today’s church also recog- there is in a person’s thought a central au- nize that the call for reform applies to their thority, a pervasive style, a way of bringing church and to themselves as leaders. every theme and judgment and problem As I have read Luther and works about under the rays of that central illumination, Luther in preparation for this essay, I have then it must be said that history shows few been struck by the enormity of the subject people of comparable integration. and the finitude of time. A much more Bornkamm points out the central iro- modest title for this lecture would be Some ny, one might almost say tragedy, that this Reflections, after forty-two years of college professor of Old Testament showed pas- and seminary teaching, on reading the Old sionate opposition to the Jews as blasphem- Testament with Martin Luther, and with- ers of Christ on the one hand, and deep out him. love for the Old Testament on the other. Luther contrasted the old pious Israel to The several Luthers whom God’s promise had been given with Heinrich Bornkamm has pointed out that Judaism upon whom God’s curse lay. Lu- if Luther were a member of a modern theo- ther expressed this most vitriolically in his logical faculty, he would be called a profes- 1543 treatise “On the Jews and their Lies,” sor of Old Testament. In thirty two years of but he generally shows disdain for the rab- teaching, Luther devoted seven eighths of bis and has an almost paranoic fear that the his time to the Old Testament, one eighth Massoretes had used the addition of vowel to the New. But Bornkamm goes on to points to deform the Bible and make of it point out that in the Middle Ages and even something which did not conform to the up to the 19th century a professor of Bible New Testament. He urged Christian Old was concerned for Scripture in its totality, Testament scholars therefore to take back

Currents in Theology and Mission 36:2 (April 2009) Klein. Reading the Old Testament with Martin Luther—and Without Him

96 from “the thieves” that which the rabbis tradition, while the Reformation had been had shamelessly stolen during the previous faithful to the best in the tradition by being fifteen hundred years. faithful to the Scriptures. What is the relationship between Scripture and tradition, in Luther and in Taking the Bible literally the Lutheran church? I was reminded of We will be talking more later about the the contemporary urgency of this question fourfold exegesis of Scripture that was last month when I attended a joint lecture typical of the Middle Ages, but Luther is in Downers Grove by Marcus Borg and justly famous for exalting the literal sense of Jon Dominic Crossan. Borg and Crossan Scripture. The poll takers ask us, “Do you are able scholars and effective communica- take the Bible literally?” I find that question tors, and I listened as they reconstructed a impossible to answer yes or no. If by taking Jesus of history or a Jesus of pre-Scriptural the Bible literally, you mean considering the tradition, quite different from the Jesus of world to be 6,000 years old and the Bible to the New Testament, let alone the Christ of be inerrant historically and geographically, Christian tradition. In my mind, the jury is then I do not take the Bible literally. But if still out on whether this reconstructed Jesus you mean that words are to be understood of pre-scriptural tradition trumps the Christ in context, both literary and historical, and of Scripture or the Christ of the Christian the meaning of biblical texts can be debated creedal confession. Crossan and Borg im- according to acceptable scholarly philologi- plied that the changes effected by tradi- cal criteria, in seminars, journal articles, and tion were mistakes. Pelikan points out the churchwide assemblies, to determine their complicated relationship between Luther meaning, then yes, I take Scripture literally. and tradition. The Western and the East- In my many lectures dealing with Chris- ern church display a history of interlock- tian attitudes toward homosexuality, I have ing authorities—Scripture, tradition, and read the text literally to show that the few episcopacy.1 Luther claimed to be defend- strictures these passages propose are not ap- ing Scripture against the fathers, and he plicable today. Barbara Rossing, a few years claimed to be defending the Fathers against ago, suggested to me that by literal we really those who had perverted them. What had mean contextual, and that point is well tak- checked the excesses of allegorical interpre- en. But she would agree with me, I think, tation was the tradition! Once the tradition that if one answers no to reading the Bible was removed as an arbiter over theology, the literally one finally denies the Reformation way seemed to be open for an endless variety and opens the door to unbridled subjectiv- of opinions, all claiming to be derived from ity. The magnitude of Luther’s contribution the Scriptures. In opposing traditionalism, here cannot be overstated. Luther claimed to be opposing the abuse Finally, in these preliminary remarks, of tradition. When Martin Chemnitz later let us consider Luther and the canon. In criticized the Council of Trent, he claimed my work with the LSTC rare book collec- that this council had done violence to the tion, I have come to examine closely Lu- ther’s September Testament of 1522, his 1. In a denomination like the ELCA, the first translation of the New Testament. The Episcopal function is played by bishops and by pastors, by congregations that retain the right to Table of Contents lists all 27 books, but judge the teaching of their pastors, and, I sup- only the first 23 are given numbers. Un- pose, by the churchwide assembly. numbered and put at the end of the order Klein. Reading the Old Testament with Martin Luther—and Without Him

97 are Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation. was an epochal breakthrough, from which Luther’s hesitation about these four books we all profit. in part deals with questions of apostolic In discussing Reading the Scriptures authorship, but also with questions of great with Luther and without him, that is in substance. In Luther’s reading, the book of critical solidarity with him, I now turn to Hebrews denies and forbids to sinners any examine two specific texts. repentance after baptism and this, again in his view, is contrary to all the Gospels and Paul’s epistles. When it comes to James, he protests that it is flatly against the rest of n my mind, the Scripture in ascribing justification to works, and he faults it for omitting mention of jury is still out the passion, resurrection, and the Spirit of I Christ. He even protests the book’s outline: on whether this “Besides, James throws things together so chaotically that it seems to me he must have reconstructed Jesus been some good, pious man, who took a few sayings from the disciples of the apos- of pre-scriptural tles and thus tossed them off on paper.” A few term papers over the last forty-two tradition trumps the years come to my mind. But Luther’s ambivalence toward the Christ of Scripture canon, and the silence of the Book of Concord about which books are actually or the Christ of the in the canon, is a tremendous help to us today. Luther’s canon within a canon can Christian creedal be defined as “that which urges Christ.” It is conceivable that things within the canon confession. do not urge Christ or even contradict that Christ. Our twenty-first century reading of Scripture, for example, needs to be occupied with and critical of the Bible’s pa- Luther’s lectures on the Psalms triarchy, not just because it is out of step The first text is Luther’s lectures on the with modern feminism, but also especially Psalms, delivered in a two year course he because it is out of step with Galatians offered in 1513-1515, two years before 3:28 and many other passages in both the date often chosen to mark the begin- testaments that assert the full equality of ning of the Lutheran Reformation. In his women and men. At the last, the Bible’s Harvard dissertation on these lectures, in patriarchy is out of step with the gospel. the 1960s, James Samuel Preus studied We are free to, we are bound to, condemn Luther’s hermeneutical development and this patriarchy as severely as we condemn changing position during this two year the anti Jewish rants of Luther. So Luther’s course.2 Rather than study each of his lec- ambivalent view of canon, or his belief that it is the gospel that gives the Scrip- 2. James Samuel Preus, From Shadow tures their authority, not their canonicity, to Promise. Old Testament Interpretation from Klein. Reading the Old Testament with Martin Luther—and Without Him

98 tures on each of the Psalms, Preus focused cal value not so much from the Christ it only on the seven penitential Psalms,3 ar- hiddenly describes as from the salvation it guing that since medieval Christians, like promises, and from the faith of the faithful Luther, would read these Psalms as prepa- whom this word invites. ration for confession, one would anticipate The text of the Old Testament is still that Luther’s exegetical approach would be interpreted christologically, indeed much similar for each of them. At the beginning too christologically, from twenty-first cen- of this course, Luther was fully immersed tury standards. But Christ is no longer con- in the fourfold medieval hermeneutic, that sidered the speaker in the Psalms. Rather, spoke of the literal, allegorical, tropological Christ is the one who is promised and (or moral), and eschatological meanings of awaited, so that at all times, God’s word to each passage. Luther radicalized the christo- God’s people is promise. No longer does logical interpretation of the Old Testament. Luther urge the tropological identifica- He argued that the Old Testament cannot tion of the reader with Christ, but rather a be understood without the New, otherwise tropological identity of the reader with the the New Testament would have been given Old Testament faithful. in vain. In the earliest Luther, as in the Middle The events being described in the Ages in general, God spoke in figures to the Psalter, at least in the first months of this Old Testament people, so that one thing was course, are totally removed from any rela- said, but another was to be understood. tion to David’s own time and situation. But there was a change in the midst of The speaker in many of the Psalms is taken Luther’s course on the Psalms. The spiritual to be Christ himself. The New Testament promises of the Old Testament, chief of then reveals the normative literal meaning which in Luther’s opinion is the promise of of the Old Testament and of pre Christian Christ, now function as the normative liter- history. The Old Testament is only umbra al sense of the Old Testament. The promis- (shadow), figura, and signum; its sole theo- es given to the Old Testament faithful were logical relevance is in New Testament an- to make them believe, and not just serve as titypes. Put differently, there is no need to a shadow or sign to be unpacked in New understand the Old Testament historically Testament time. The Old Testament com- since all matters of theological interest are munity and Old Testament faith become a found in the New. model and example for the self-understand- During the course of Luther’s lec- ing of the Christian community. tures—remember that they were held over According to the medieval Luther, the a two year period—there was a shift in his prophet’s contemporaries were in the dark opinion from Christ and the church being about the true importance of the prophet’s the subject matter and the speaker in the words. As Luther changed, the prophet be- Psalms to a focus on the actual Old Testa- comes less a seer and more a preacher to ment situation before the Advent of Christ. his own people. The prophetic sense of the The Old Testament then gets its theologi- Psalms is not Christ, but the Old Testament text itself as testimony and promise. Luther Augustine to the Young Luther. Cambridge, MA: in these lectures was still using the tropo- Harvard University Press, 1969. logical or moral method of interpretation. 3. Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and The human believer is not conformed, as 143. Gerhard Ebeling would have it, to Christ Klein. Reading the Old Testament with Martin Luther—and Without Him

99 and to Christ’s faith. For Christ is nei- descendants…but they also revived their ther a pure human being nor does Christ courage and comforted themselves with have guilt. Christ goes through hell, but the proclamation of the woman’s seed, who he knows he will not stay there. Trust in would bruise the serpent’s head.” The For- the naked word of promise is not the sole mula of Concord goes on to state: “We be- ground of his hope. As both God and hu- lieve and confess that these two doctrines— man, Christ is not one of us humans. There they mean law and gospel—must be urged can be no complete identification of Christ constantly and diligently in the church of and people as believers. Rather, Christians God until the end of the world…”4 are tropologically conformed to what Lu- The confessors here presuppose the ther described as the faithful synagogue. truth of the exegetical approach to Genesis Christ becomes the object of faith and not 3:15, which had been around since at least its exemplary subject. the time of Irenaeus in the 2nd century. The medieval hermeneutical structure This well-intentioned exegesis wanted to presupposed that the events of the Old Tes- retain the Old Testament in the Bible of tament were to prefigure or signify the New the church, but made a number of assump- Testament events. “But somehow Luther tions that we now know are misleading if grasped the fact that all those promises he not downright wrong. The authors of the was finding in the Old Testament were being Formula assumed, for example, that the addressed to the people who were hearing snake in the garden was the spokesperson, them.” Luther had to break out of the tradi- if not also the incarnation of the Devil, for tional hermeneutic to see that whatever one which there is no evidence in the Old Tes- needs to stand before God—for example, tament, an assumption that goes directly righteousness—comes because it is promised counter to the point the author of Genesis by God himself and by Christ himself 3 is asserting. Genesis 3 exposes the at- But of course 16th century exegesis, tempt of the man to put the blame for his including Luther’s, was still pre-critical and, sin on the woman and on God himself: The in my judgment, excessively christological. woman you [God] gave me, she tricked me Still the hermeneutic developed by Luther and I ate. It’s hard to be chauvinistic and in the course of these lectures enables us as blasphemous in one sentence but the male 21st century Christians to appropriate the figure in Genesis 3 pulls it off. Several other Old Testament in a Lutheran way and in exegetical conclusions about Genesis 3 in complete faithfulness to the results of the the Formula of Concord are also wrong. critical method. In the Formula of Con- Irenaeus and his heirs concluded that the cord, for example, there are lines like the seed/descendants of the snake were the Sa- following, which we know are not true, and tanic hosts, and the seed/descendant of the yet this does not undercut the point that the woman is Jesus. But it is perfectly clear that Formula is trying to make. I refer to these the descendants of the serpent are all those sentences: “The descendants of the holy pa- snakes which often make us humans afraid. triarchs, like the patriarchs themselves, con- So also the descendants of the woman are stantly reminded themselves not only how all those women and men who, like myself, man in the beginning was created righteous are deathly afraid of snakes. Thirdly, the Ire- and holy by God and through the deceit naean exegesis, which is presupposed in the of the serpent transgressed God’s laws, became a sinner, corrupted himself and all his 4. FC Solid Declaration, Article VI, par. 23. Klein. Reading the Old Testament with Martin Luther—and Without Him

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Formula and used by Luther as well, also in vitro fertilization, adoption of Eliezer, assumes that in the mortal battle between or turning Hagar into a surrogate womb. the hosts of Satan and the Christ, the Satan The first two of these—in vitro fertilization gains a temporary victory by putting Christ and adoption—have resolved frustration to death, by “bruising” his heel. Not only for millions of subsequent couples, but the does this ignore the fact that snakes’ mortal particular problem that Sarai and Abram attacks on humans and human mortal at- faced was that God had reneged on God’s tacks on snakes are equally fatal and final on promise. The badness of their situation was both sides, but it also escalates unnecessar- not their infertility or not just their infertil- ily and unhelpfully, in my opinion, Satan’s ity. The badness of their situation, enough role in the death of Jesus. But the better, to lead to despair, was their sorrow dread more important point of the Formula of that God was dead. And so Yahweh took Concord is that throughout the Scrip- Abram outside, repeated the promise and tures and therefore throughout the life of even upped the ante—Your children will be the church law and gospel, judgment and as many as the stars. And so they believed promise are to be proclaimed and main- and were accounted righteous, doing what tained as the church’s double witness. I will is expected when receiving a promise by pass over the need to justify preaching the trusting it. Or, as a number of scholars have law, but I will support the confessors’ insis- argued in recent years, Gen 15:6 could also tence on proclaiming Gospel, proclaiming be translated They believed, that is, they ac- God’s promise. If the gospel is God’s good counted God to be righteous in that God news for our bad situations, then one finds stuck by God’s promise. God lived up to that faithful Israel trusted that promise that the obligations of the relationship God had was given to them, as we are called to trust with them. God was righteous. the promise given to us. If Cain’s bad situ- This exegesis comes to quite distinct ation was the legitimate fear that everyone conclusions from those of Luther or other who saw him would want to kill him as the 16th century exegetes. But I find it fully world’s first murderer, God’s good news for in agreement with Luther’s understand- his bad situation was that God placed his ing, already in 1515, that our stance vis a own mark of ownership on Cain to preserve vis God’s promise is exactly like that of Old him from all harm. If the bad situation of Testament believers. Noah and his wife was the fear that another flood might come at any time to wipe out How Christians should all flesh and that therefore they ought to regard Moses winterize the boat and be in constant and I would like to continue my reflection on terror-filled anticipation of a flood that Luther as interpreter by reviewing a sec- would far transcend any hurricane Katrina ond document by him, this time a sermon or Ike…If that was their bad situation, Luther preached in 1525 entitled “How then God’s promise that as long as the earth Christians Should Regard Moses.”5 This would exist, there would be seedtime and was a year of high tension for Luther, fea- harvest, cold and heat, summer and win- turing his attack on Karlstadt in his essay ter, day and night, but there would never “Against the Heavenly Prophets” and his again be such a flood. Abram and Sarai’s controversial opposition to the peasants’ bad situation was their inability to conceive a child, which could not be remedied by 5. LW 35:161-174. Klein. Reading the Old Testament with Martin Luther—and Without Him

101 revolt led by Thomas Müntzer. Luther was of Egypt.” Without this introduction, there also critical of certain pastors who were urg- is nothing particularly unique about most ing the Saxon princes to substitute the laws of the ten commandments, as I have long of the Old Testament for their current civil argued. Since that introduction could never law. In the course of this sermon Luther de- be part of what could be posted on a court veloped three points about Moses, that is, house wall or a school bulletin board, there about what we would call the Pentateuch, is no legitimacy or even persuasive reason some of which are quite helpful and some I to post them in such public places. More find problematic. problematic, however, is Luther’s assertion Luther’s first point is that the laws of that these commandments do not pertain the Pentateuch apply only to the Jews and to us Christians since God never led us out not to the Gentiles. Some of his points we of Egypt, and I also find unhelpful his short, would all agree to. Tithing, for example, apodictic statements about Moses: Moses is is not a law which we Gentile Christians dead. His rule ended when Christ came. must follow although Luther thought it He is of no further service. I think Luther’s might be a decent policy for the state to position here is basically supersessionistic. adopt since with the giving of a tenth to I think the relationship between Christi- the government the need for all other taxes anity and Judaism is much more like the would be eliminated. He clearly had not famous tree in one of the Ravenna Mosa- heard about the 10.75% Cook County ics, which shows that Christianity has been Sales Tax, let alone our income taxes which grafted into a living stump, which is Juda- also are considerably above ten percent. Lu- ism. Therefore, the saving acts experienced ther also cited the law about the Levirate by ancient Israel, or at least such a saving marriage and the Jubilee law that property act as the Exodus, becomes a saving act for would be restored to the original owner in us as well and provides another rationale, in the Jubilee year as irrelevant to Gentiles. addition to the life, death, and resurrection These laws are not obligations for Chris- of Jesus, for us to consider ourselves part of tians or others who are not Jews although God’s covenant community and therefore Luther again notes that they contain very to take up as part of our calling the Ten fine ethical principles. More surprisingly, Commandments. I have not had the time he argues that the Ten Commandments do to resolve what seems to me to be a conflict not pertain to us, or rather that they pertain between Luther’s position here in this ser- to us only insofar as they agree with what he mon on Exodus and the central role he gave called natural law. Luther held that it was to the Decalogue in both of his Catechisms. “natural” to honor God, not to steal, not to Perhaps there are some in the audience that commit adultery, not to perjure oneself in could help resolve this apparent conflict. court, not to murder and the like. Whether Luther’s third point about the endur- or not there is such a natural law, Luther ing value of Moses is much less controver- is certainly right that civilized nations ev- sial and quite helpful. That is, Luther finds erywhere build their ethics around similar in the fathers—Adam, Abel, Noah, Abra- precepts. Luther recognized that the Ten ham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and all the rest— Commandments only gain authority from beautiful examples of faith and love. One their opening clause, what Jews call the first could fault him, of course, for not citing commandment, namely, “I am the Lord by name the mothers and the sisters, but your God who brought you out of the land that is an oversight that Luther shared with Klein. Reading the Old Testament with Martin Luther—and Without Him

102 almost all of his contemporaries. But there 3:15, which we have already dealt with. A are also, according to Luther, examples of third comes in Gen 22:18, after the near the godless in the Pentateuch—Cain, Ish- sacrifice of Isaac, where we find the state- mael, Esau, the whole pre-flood world, So- ment made to Abraham, “In your descen- dom and Gomorrah, etc. Again one might dants shall all the nations be blessed.” Lu- want to quibble about some of these, for ther glosses that verse with this comment: example, Ishmael, as godless. After all, he That is, through Christ the gospel is to was circumcised and did bury his father, arise. A minor problem is the English trans- which I assume was a religious act. His own lation in the American edition of Luther’s faith life should not be called into question Works. After all, the Hebrew for descen- because Sarah and Abraham kicked him dants here is seed, and the German original and his mother Hagar out. Didn’t God, reads Samen. Luther would probably have after all, even hear the voice of his prayer been thinking of the one seed of Abraham, in ch. 21? Luther’s essay is only a sermon namely Jesus, who would bring blessings and not a systematic theology, and Luther to the nations. Much more problematic would probably not want to argue with my for us in the twenty-first century, however, point that some of the people he cites as ex- is his explicitly christological understand- amples—I think of Abraham and Jacob— ing of this passage. This verse, which has a could also be cited as examples of inappro- number of close variants in Genesis, is the priate behavior. But this brief third reason promise made to Sarah and Abraham of de- that Luther proposes to make us value Mo- scendants or of land, what I would describe ses/the Pentateuch is basically well taken. as God’s good news for their bad situations, Luther’s second point about Moses, which not only called forth their faith, as however, requires further reflection five in Gen 15 (Abram believed Yahweh and hundred years after this sermon. While Yahweh considered him righteous), but it Luther held that the Mosaic laws no lon- also outlined what the ethical consequence ger apply, Luther held that the promises or of this promise and their election might be, pledges of the Pentateuch do have abiding namely, that through them all the families authority. In principle, I strongly support of the earth would gain blessing. We saw his position since the God of Sarah and in our discussion of Luther’s lectures on Abraham is the same God who became in- the Psalms that he had come to recognize carnate in Jesus, and I would hold that this that the promise was made specifically for God’s basic characteristics remain the same the Old Testament believers or, in Luther’s throughout both testaments. The trouble somewhat unhelpful notion, for the faith- with Luther’s assertion, however, is the way ful synagogue, which implied, of course, that it is expressed, pre-critically, and, to my that most of the synagogue was unfaithful. view, in an excessively christological fashion. What we do today is to try to understand When Luther states God has promised that the good news for the matriarchs and patri- his Son should be born in the flesh and that archs as good news or promise for their own this is the most important thing in Moses context. Similarly, Luther cites the promise which pertains to us, it is telling that Luther of Deut 18:15-16 when Yahweh promises cites no specific passage, in the Pentateuch to raise up again and again a prophet like or anywhere else in the OT, to support that Moses. The good news in the seventh cen- claim. Another promise that sustains faith tury B.C.E. was that the word of God, that in Luther’s view is the Protevangel of Gen had proved to be too scary to be heard di- Klein. Reading the Old Testament with Martin Luther—and Without Him

103 rectly by Israel at Sinai, would be commu- word of promise, God’s great I am with you, nicated to it by divine spokespersons who in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, could serve as a kind of Mosaic or prophetic and in that same deity who already in the buffer between the awe-filled majesty of Old Testament promised and indeed con- God and frail human recipients. Of course tradicted divine wrath with divine love. this promise of an ongoing line of proph- It means that we recognize the ongoing ets gained an eschatological connotation, activity of the Spirit, not only in the Scrip- already in Old Testament times, that God ture, but also in inspired tradition. would someday send a prophet who would play the Mosaic role for the people. Reading the OT without Of Luther’s three points about Mo- Luther ses, therefore, I come to a mixed verdict. So what does it mean to read the Old Testa- On his taking Old Testament characters as ment without Luther? examples or warnings, I am in basic agree- It means that we recognize in Judaism ment. On the Mosaic law not applying to a faithful understanding of the Old Testa- New Testament people, we all would agree ment and that we condemn any proposal on matters like tithing, Levirate marriage, that Jews live under God’s curse. and property rights. Where I differ is find- It means that we read the Old Testa- ing myself as a Christian in close continuity ment critically, with the full panoply of the with the Israelite-Jewish community with tools of modern biblical criticism. regard to the Decalogue, and finding an ad- It means that we recognize that the dress that includes me in the words “I am Old Testament does not literally proclaim the Lord your God who brought you out Christ. Rather, following Luther’s insight of the land of Egypt.” Therefore I find the that the Old Testament was first of all de- Decalogue of abiding ethical significance, livered to people in need before the advent and not just because it corresponds to natu- of Christ, we try to learn more about God ral law. from a distinctively Old Testament per- On the second point, I agree that spective, confident that that knowledge will promises made to Old Testament worthies complement and expand our knowledge can still evoke our faith or even our faith of the God we have come to know in Jesus active in love. An honest reading of the text, Christ. however, prevents us from reading into it What would Luther think of reading explicit, christological affirmations. the Old Testament with him and without him? I think Luther would be proud—or at Reading the OT with Luther least he should be. So what does it mean to read the Old Testa- ment with Martin Luther? It means to read the text of the Old Testament literally, or at least contextually. It means that we acknowledge that there are passages in the canon that do not urge Christ or the gospel and that can even contradict that gospel. It means the central message that evokes and empowers our faith is God’s Reggae Reveals Church Involvement in Slavery

Paul A. Tidemann Pastor emeritus Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Pastor in Guyana 1974-78 and founder of the Guyana Extension Seminary

It was a little more than 200 years ago this To kill I all de Black Man. year, specifically on March 25, 1807, that Yu sold de land God gave I the Abolition of the Slave Trade was passed And taught I to be covetous. in Britain, thus marking the beginning of What other wicked deeds the end of the virulent capturing and trans- Have yu got in mind? porting of African people to be the slaves of Tell me, what are yu gonna do the white plantation owners in North and To stop dese daily crimes? South America and the Caribbean. Only about 6% of the slaves exported Bring back Maccabee Version from Africa ended up in the United States. Dat God gave to Black Man. The vast majority of those who survived the Give back King James Version incredibly harsh and abusive voyage were Dat belongs to de White Man. sold to landowners in the West Indies and Black Man get up, stan’ up Brazil. The conditions and slave practices Fin’ yu foot which West Indian slaves had to endure And give Black God de glory. are said to have been much more harsh and Black Man get up, stan’ up abusive than in the United States. Fin’ yu foot In 1976, when I was serving as pastor And give Black God de glory. missionary of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Georgetown and directing the Guyana Yu suffer I and yu rob I; Extension Seminary, I was listening to the Yu starve I, den yu kill I. radio in Guyana, South America, when a But what are yu gonna do song was broadcast by noted Jamaican reg- Now dat yu sword have turned gae composer and singer, Max Romeo. I was against yu? quite intrigued with its lyrics and obtained Black Man get up, stan’ up a recording and transcribed them. The song Fin’ yu foot is called “Maccabee Version” and the way I And give Black God de glory. transcribed it was like this: Black Man get up, stan’ up “Yu gave I King James Version; Fin’ yu foot King James was a White Man. And give Black God de glory. Yu built I dang’rous weapon

Currents in Theology and Mission 36:2 (April 2009) Tidemann. Reggae Reveals Church Involvement in Slavery

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Bring back Maccabee Version Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie I, even has Dat God gave to Black man. “I” as part of his title, and the word Rasta- Give back King James Version fari ends with “I.” 1 Dat belongs to de White Man. Rastas use word sounds to create their Black Man get up, stan’ up power because speaking in biblical language Fin’ yu foot almost transports them back beyond histo- And give Black God de glory. ry of enslavement and oppression, to a time Black Man get up, stan’ up when their dignity was natural and not ac- Fin’ yu foot quired or striven for.2 And give Black God de glory. Max Romeo’s reggae describes how the white man fashioned dangerous weapons, Max Romeo is a Rastafarian, a Jamaican such as guns, cannons and other weapons religious group which began in the 1930s of war to kill resistant and rebellious Black and declares that Ethiopia’s late Emperor, slaves. The white man stole the Black man’s Haile Selassie, was divine and a savior, land in Africa and even in the new world that Ethiopia is Eden, and that Blacks will when the slaves were freed but often were eventually be repatriated to Africa. To un- prohibited from owning or retaining land. derstand what gave rise to Max Romeo’s Romeo states that the white man, “Maccabee Version” one must understand even after the abolition of the slave trade the deep roots of both Romeo and the Ras- and slave emancipation wreaked deep suf- tafari movement among African working- fering on Black people, robbed them of class, peasant people in Jamaica. Reggae in dignity and possessions. White people, Caribbean culture has had a way of com- especially the landowners, were indignant bining the beat and rhythm, the joys and when slaves rebelled. It is important to note sorrows, the frustrations and dreams of Ca- that while British law abolished the slave ribbean peoples. At its best, reggae drives to trade in 1807, British captains who were the heart of a matter. caught continuing to transport slaves were The language of “Maccabee Version” fined £100 for every slave found on board. is pretty understandable, but may bear If slave-ships were in danger of being cap- some interpretation. Romeo is describing tured by the British navy, captains often re- what happened to slaves that were forcibly duced the fines they had to pay by ordering transported to the West Indies and else- the slaves to be thrown into the sea. where in the “new world.” First, we note British leaders involved in the anti-slave the traditional Rasta language that uses the trade campaign such as Thomas Clarkson word “I.” The Rastafarian never uses the and Thomas Fowell Buxton determined word “me,” because that word is the lan- that the only way to end the suffering of guage of Satan. “I” is often duplicated in the slaves was to make slavery illegal, but it the phrase “I and I” which is a way of stat- took until 1833 for the British Parliament ing that the true person of Jah is not alone to pass the Slavery Abolition Act. That Act or unconnected in this world but is party became effective on August 1, 1834, but of a divine community of Jah, who created life, the heavens, and the earth simply by 1. Nicholas, Tracy. Rastafari. A Way of Life. (Chicago: Research Associates School Times saying so, by speaking words. It is also im- Publication, 1996), 38. portant to understand that Rasta language uses “I” because their messiah figure, His 2. Ibid, 40. Tidemann. Reggae Reveals Church Involvement in Slavery

106 it took until 1838 for slaves in the British not preach in such a way as to cause the colonies to be declared free.3 slaves to rebel against their masters. We cannot be proud of the fact that Max Romeo’s Rasta Reggae is correct. it took another thirty years for slaves to be The Bible was the white man’s book from freed in the United States by means of the the point of view of slaves who began arriv- Emancipation Proclamation, the executive ing in Jamaica, Guyana and other West In- order of President Abraham Lincoln, which dian colonies in the 1780s. Of course, it was was effective in 1863. the King James Version of the Bible that was In the period between 1807 and the extant in English in those days. At the time declaration of the British Parliament in the King James Bible was printed in 1611 1833. the slaves in the British colonies be- it contained the Old and New Testaments, came increasingly angry and rebellious. Mis- but also the Apocrypha, a word meaning sionaries sent from Britain by the London “hidden writings.” The books which form Missionary Society were given strict orders: the Apocrypha were written from the time “The Holy Gospel you preach will render of the last writing of what has been called the Slaves who receive it the more diligent, the Old Testament, about 400 B.C., up unfaithful, patient and useful Servants, will til the time of Christ. Generally speaking, render severe discipline unnecessary, and they form an accurate history of the Jewish make them the most valuable Slaves on people during those four centuries, though the Estates, and thus you will recommend some authorities have questions about their yourself and your Ministry even to those spiritual value. During much of Christian Gentlemen who may have been averse to history these books were, nevertheless, con- the religious instruction of the Negroes.”4 sidered part of Christian Scripture. One such person, John Smith, be- While some printings of the Bible in came known as the “Demerara Martyr” the 17th century did not include the Apoc- because he died in prison in 1824 while rypha, still many Bibles did include these under indictment for inciting the 1823 books. During the days of slavery, mission- rebellion among the slaves. Demerara was aries came to the West Indies to evangelize one of the British colonies that joined to- the slaves and in so doing taught the slaves gether to become British Guiana. It was to read. This became a source of deep con- located near the mouth of the Demerara cern and suspicion among the slave owners. River. Today Demerara is one of the three They were worried that the slaves would counties that make up Guyana. Interest- learn things about freedom and life beyond ingly, in light of Max Romeo’s reggae, it enforced servitude. For example, the book was a slave named Romeo who testified on of Exodus in the Old Testament, if slaves behalf of the Rev. John Smith, trying to read it, would give them an idea that Moses establish the case that the missionary did was led by God to bring the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt into the Promised 3. Raymond T. Smith, “Chapter III, His- Land. This would raise the question of why tory: British Rule Up to 1928,” British Guiana, West Indian slaves should not be similarly (Reprinted by Greenwood Press, Connecticut. freed. 1980). In 1827 the British and Foreign Bible 4. Wallbridge, Edwin A., “The Demerara Society decided never to print or circulate Martyr,” 1848, Guiana Edition No.6, Daily copies of the King James Version contain- Chronicle, 1943, v. ing the Apocrypha. The reason was that Tidemann. Reggae Reveals Church Involvement in Slavery

107 among the books of the Apocrypha are the four books of the Maccabees. The Macca- bees detail the glorious exploits of Judas he slaves of Maccabaeus, a Jewish guerrilla leader, de- the West Indies scended from a well-known priest, Mat- T tathias. Maccabaeus led the rebellion of the Jews against Seleucid ruler Antiochus came to identify as IV Epiphanes IV, whose armies occupied Israel in the first century before Jesus. Ju- deeply with Judas das Maccabeus’ rebellion saved the Jew- ish religion and people, and restored the Maccabaeus of the Temple at Jerusalem through a series of magnificent military victories, bringing books of the Maccabees independence to Israel for about 100 years from 166 to 63 B.C. in the Apocrypha as The slaves of the West Indies came to identify as deeply with Judas Maccabaeus of they did with Moses the books of the Maccabees in the Apocry- pha as they did with Moses of the Exodus. of the Exodus. The decision of the British mission society to prohibit the printing of these books in Bibles meant that in one way or another knowledge of them became part of the folk wisdom of the Black people and when these actual writings became known they were seen as uniquely “Black.” The reggae by Max Romeo, coming out of the strong Black-consciousness of Jamaican Rastafari- anism, manifests such a theme. We continue to have much to learn about how the Bible has been and can continue to be used and abused when ma- nipulated in both interpretation and even translation and printing at the hands of the powerful and oppressive. The Reason for Studying African Religion in Post-colonial Africa

Julius Mutugi Gathogo, Ph. D. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Culture, as Jesse Mugambi1 observes, has tional Religion (ATR). This designation is, six main pillars: politics, economics, ethics, however, a contested description of African aesthetics, kinship and religion. And out of religiosity. To some, the term “traditional” these, religion “is by far the richest part of betrays Christian bias, meant to portray the African heritage.”2 It shapes their cul- African religiosity as old fashioned and out- tures, their social life, their politics, and dated; hence irrelevant. Some have the view their economics and is at the same time that it should simply be referred to as “Afri- shaped by this same way of life. can Religion,” just as there is, for instance, J. O. Awolalu attempts a definition of Muslim Religion or Hindu Religion. African Religion when he says, Some have even argued that with the When we speak of African Traditional center of Christian gravity having shifted to Religion we mean the indigenous religion Africa, it is imprecise to talk of African Re- of the Africans. It is the religion that has ligion (AR) since Christianity has also be- been handed down from generation to come an African Religion.4 Others would generation by the forbears of the present talk of Islam as an African religion. So how generation of Africans. It is not a fossil religion (a thing of the past) but a religion do we tell the difference between Christi- that Africans today have made theirs by anity and the pre-Christian or pre-Muslim living it and practising it.3 religious discourses in Africa? For our purposes African Religion re- African Traditional Religion fers to an indigenous system of beliefs and (ATR) as a contested phrase practices that are integrated into the culture 5 In most publications, African Religion is and the worldviews of the African peoples. commonly referred to as African Tradi- As in other primal religions, one is born into it as a way of life with its cultural mani- 1. Jesse Mugambi. Religion and Social festations and religious implications. Construction of Reality (Nairobi: University Press, 1996), 32; and African Christian Theology: An 4. See Kwame Bediako. Theology and Introduction (Nairobi: Heinemann, 1989), 128. Identity: The Impact of Culture Upon Christian Thought in the Second Century and Modern Africa 2. John S. Mbiti. An Introduction to African (Oxford: Regnum, 1992). Religion (London: Heinemann, 1975), 9. 5. See A. O. Hance and H. A. O. Mwaka- 3. J.O. Awolalu. “Sin and its Removal in Af- bana, eds., Theological Perspectives on Other rican Traditional Religion.” JAAR 44 (1976), 275. Faiths, LWF Documentation 47/1997 (Geneva: Lutheran World Federation, 1997), 21-24.

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In general, African indigenous religion gious system.”7 He cites the fact that there i) Cultivates the whole person. African re- are numerous different peoples in Africa, ligion permeates all departments of life. each having a very different religious sys- ii) It provides people with a view of the tem. Conversely, Mbiti considers African world. philosophy as another matter; for while the iii) It answers some questions that noth- religious expressions in the African context ing else can. are observable, one cannot claim the same iv) It provides humanity with moral val- thing about the philosophy behind them. ues by which to live. Thus, to Mbiti, the philosophy underly- v) It gives food for spiritual hunger. ing the religious expression of the African vi) It has inspired great ideas. people is singular in form. vii) It is a means of communication. This is contested by Nokuzola Mn- viii) It pays attention to the key moments dende, a South African, who holds that it in the life of the individual. should be referred to as “African Religion,” ix) It celebrates life. as “no religion is monolithic but people look x) It shows people their limitations.6 at the common features.” She says, “We never hear people talking about Christiani- It is a unique religion whose sources in- ties, Islams, Hinduisms etc. We cannot, for example, talk about Zulu Religion or Xhosa clude: sacred places and religious objects Religion8—African Religion is one. While such as rocks, hills, mountains, trees, caves there are differences in some of the customs and other holy places; rituals, ceremonies and objects used to perform rituals, the un- and festivals of the people; art and sym- derlying principle remains the same.”9 bols; music and dance; proverbs, riddles, and wise sayings; and names of people and 7. J.S Mbiti, African Religions and places. In Nigeria, for example, the name Philosophy (Nairobi: E.A.E.P, 1969), 1; cf. E. Babatunde means “father returns.” It is giv- Ikenga-Metuh, Comparative Studies of African Traditional Religions (Onitsha, Nigeria: IMICO en to a male child born immediately after Publishers, 1975), 5-10. the death of his grandfather. Beliefs cover topics such as God, spirits, birth, death, the 8. If we look for example at the concept hereafter, magic, and witchcraft. Religion, of God in various regions of Africa we will find more commonalities than differences. For in the African indigenous context, perme- example the terms (for God) uMdali, uHlanga, ates all departments of life. uMenzi, iNkosi yezulu, uMvelingqanqi and uNkulunkulu were commonly found among Is it African Religions or the branches of the Nguni, the Zulu-speaking as well as the Xhosa-speaking people (See Janet African Religion? Hodgson. The God of the Xhosa: A study of the John S. Mbiti explains that “we speak of Af- origins and development of the traditional concepts rican traditional religions in the plural be- of the Supreme Being (Cape Town: Oxford Uni- versity Press, 1982), 62. cause there are about one thousand African peoples (tribes), and each has its own reli- 9. Nokuzola Mndende. “Ancestors and Healing in African Religion: A South African 6. See J.S. Mbiti, An Introduction to Context” in Ancestors, Spirits and Healing in African Religion (London: Heinemann, 1975); Africa and Asia: A Challenge to the Church (ed. E. Bolaji Idowu, African Traditional Religion: A Ingo Wulfhorst; Geneva: The Lutheran World definition (London: S.C.M Press, 1973). Federation, 2005), 13. Gathogo. The Reason for Studying African Religion in Post-colonial Africa

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Mndende builds on her credentials as Xhosa community of South Africa, we will an authority in her field of African Reli- find that their world-view has it thatQamata gion when she says, “I am writing from the (God) was approached through the ances- perspective of a believer in and practitioner tors. In addition, the ancestral spirits have of African Religion. I am not a Christian. always acted as mediators between human Christianity constitutes one but not the beings, who stood at the bottom, and Qa- only way to God; there are many ways and mata, who stood at the top.14 This imagery, African Religion is one of them.”10 like many others, is a wide-spread notion; for Mndende’s contention finds some sup- even among the Kikuyu of East Africa the port from some African Christian theolo- ancestral spirits acted as mediators between gians who argue, in their diverse ways, that human beings and God (Ngai). This shows “the God of Africa is as good as the God of that the African religiosity has fundamental Christendom, if not better.” They include commonalities that make it African Religion Samuel Kibicho, John Gatu, Gabba and rather than African Religions. Gabriel Setiloane. 11 In recent times, most African scholars In general, there is a regular rhythm of African religion, including Mbiti, have in the pattern of the people’s beliefs and agreed that “African Religion is one in practices. And this regular rhythm is the essence.”15 For despite its varieties, there is universal belief in the Supreme Being as undeniably, a “basic world-view which fun- “an integral part of African world view and damentally is everywhere the same.”16 practical religion.”12 And in the words of Bolaji Idowu, “We find that in Africa, the The plural context in doing real cohesive factor of religion is the living African Religion God and that without this one factor, all We must acknowledge that any religious things would fall to pieces. And it is on discourse in Africa will have to be done this ground especially—this identical con- within the context of religio-social plural- cept that we can speak of the religion of ism; for indeed, Africa is full of plural faith Africa in the singular.”13 traditions. The dominant ones are: African If we take for example, the case of the (Indigenous) Religion, Christianity, and Is- lam. Even within the traditional religions, 10. Mndende, “Ancestors and Healing,” John Mbiti rightly says that “Traditional 13. religions are not universal: they are tribal 11. Tinyiko Sam Maluleke. “The Redis- or national. Each religion is bound and covery of the Agency of Africans: An Emerging limited to the people among whom it has paradigm of Post-cold war and Post-apartheid Black and African theology,” Journal of Theology 14. Janet Hodgson, The God of the Xhosa: for Southern Africa 108 (2000), 25. A Study of the Origins and Development of the Traditional Concepts of the Supreme Being (Cape 12. P.A Dopamu, “Towards understand- Town: Oxford University Press, 1982), 85. ing African Traditional Religion” Readings in African Traditional Religion: Structure, Meaning, 15. Laurenti Magesa, African Religion, The Relevance, Future (ed. E. M. Uka; New York: Moral Traditions of Abundant Life (Mary Knoll: Peter Lang, 1991), 23. Orbis, 1997), 16

13. Bolaji Idowu, African Traditional 16. John V. Taylor, The Primal Vision: Religion: A definition (London: S.C.M Press, Christian Presence amid African Religion (Lon- 1973), 6-8. don: SCM Press, 1963), 19. Gathogo. The Reason for Studying African Religion in Post-colonial Africa

111 evolved. One traditional religion cannot be Apart from the colonial history, the propagated in another tribal group. This migrational patterns of the people of Africa does not rule out the fact that religious themselves also contributes to the diver- ideas may spread from one people to an- sity of Africa. For example, while colonial other. But such ideas, spread spontaneously, powers partitioned Africa after the Berlin especially through migrations, intermar- Conference of 1884/5, thereby dividing riage, conquest, or expert knowledge being the various African communities, the in- sought by individuals of one tribal group ternal rivalries and warfare among the Af- from another. Traditional religions have no rican people themselves also contributed missionaries to propagate them; and one to the current diversity that defines Africa individual does not preach his (or her) re- today. An illustration of this: after colonial- ligion to another.”17 ism, the Maasai found themselves in Kenya Even within the Christian churches, and Tanzania; the Luo found themselves African diversity can also be experienced. in Uganda, Kenya and Sudan; the Chewa African Christianity is, too often, described found themselves in Malawi, Mozambique in terms of Catholicism, Protestantism and and Zambia. On the other hand, Shaka African Instituted churches. And in view of the Zulu wars of the 19th century saw the this diversity in Africa, some African theolo- Nguni speakers migrate from South Africa gians have expressed the view that the terms to Malawi, Zambia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, “Africa” and “African” should be interpreted and Tanzania, among other places. ideologically rather than racially.18 The diversity of the African people is Homogeneity in doing further compounded by the history of the African Religion: a pointer to colonial experience in each particular African its relevance? state. That is, the fact that we have Lusophone Walter Rodney rightly emphasizes that what Africa, Anglophone Africa, Francophone Af- has commonly characterized Africa in “re- rica, Arabphone Africa and the immediate cent history is its political and economic post-Apartheid South Africa and Namibia, exploitation.”20 Rodney was alluding to how which were under the Boers up to the early Europe was “continuously under developing 1990s, adds to the diversity of Africa as dif- Africa.” Curiously, Africa is still marginalized ferent powers had different ways of orienting in the New World Order, as affirmed by Ti- 19 their subjects. The Arab slave traders, for nyiko Maluleke and Mercy Oduyoye.21 example, in the East Coast of Africa intermar- Africa’s religio-cultural diversity can ried with the local inhabitants and their inter- be said to have been exaggerated at the ex- marriage produced the Swahili people. pense of its religio-cultural unity; and this 17. J.S Mbiti. African Religions and Philoso- can be explained by addressing the Ubuntu phy, 4. philosophy, which, in my opinion, would best describe the African homogeneity. Au- 18. See Jesse Mugambi, Christian Theology and Social Reconstruction (Nairobi: Acton, 2003), 20. Quoted in Jesse Mugambi 1989, 6. 113. 21. Tinyiko Sam Maluleke. “The Redis- 19. See Jesse Mugambi, African Christian covery of the Agency of Africans,” 25, and M. A. Theology: An Introduction (Nairobi: Heinemann, Oduyoye, Introducing African Women’s Theology 1989), 4. (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001). Gathogo. The Reason for Studying African Religion in Post-colonial Africa

112 gustine Shutte observes that the concept of whole group happens to the individual.”24 Ubuntu, which is a Zulu word for human- The strength of this philosophy in our ness, was developed over many centuries modern African society is seen in Shutte’s in traditional African culture. This culture contention that since many of the old cus- was pre-literate, pre-scientific and pre- toms would be a betrayal to the spirit of industrial.22 The concept of Ubuntu was Ubuntu in our contemporary society, it is originally expressed in the songs and sto- important for us (in Africa) to find a way of ries, the customs and the institutions of the “living Ubuntu in a society where the domi- people. As an African philosophy, Ubuntu nant culture is European, not African, and is well summed up in Mbiti’s words, “I am, where many other cultures from other parts because we are; and since we are, therefore of the world exist together.” Shutte’s view, I am.” Mbiti’s summary of the African however, does not mean that there is noth- philosophy is sharply opposed to “I think ing uniquely African today, as this paper is therefore I exist” by Rene Descartes, the seeking to show, rather, he means that, as French Philosopher who can be said to have a result of socio-historical factors, African summed up the Western philosophy.23 cultural systems have been greatly affected Mbiti appears to be building on the by the dominant European culture that Ubuntu philosophy when he says, “Only in mainly came to Africa through the process of acculturation. terms of other people does the individual As a spiritual foundation of African become conscious of his (or her) own be- societies, Ubuntu is a unifying vision or ing, his (or her) own duties, his (or her) worldview enshrined in the Zulu Maxim privileges and responsibilities towards him- Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, that is, “a self (or herself) and towards other people. person is a person through other persons.”25 When he (or she) suffers, he (or she) does This Ubuntu concept is also found in other not suffer alone but with the corporate African communities, even though there group; when he (or she) rejoices, he (or she) are different vocabularies and phrases that rejoices not alone but with his (or her) kins- are used to describe it. This African apho- men (or kinswomen), his (or her) neigh- rism articulates a basic respect and compas- bors and his (or her) relatives whether dead sion for others as its bottom line. Ubuntu or living. When he (or she) married, he (or has a certain Africanness and religious com- she) is not alone; neither does the wife (or mitment in the welfare of fellow human husband) ‘belong’ to him (or her) alone. So beings that is manifestly African in essence. also the children belong to the corporate Indeed, while Western humanism tends to body of kinsmen (or kinswomen), even if underestimate or even deny the importance they bear only their father’s name. Whatev- of religious beliefs, Ubuntu or African hu- er happens to the individual happens to the manism is resiliently religious.26 whole group, and whatever happens to the 24. John S. Mbiti, African Religions and 22. Augustine Shutte, Ubuntu: An ethic for Philosophy, 108 a New South Africa (Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2001), 9. 25. Augustine Shutte, Philosophy for Africa (Rondebosch, South Africa: UCT Press, 1993), 23. See Julius Gathogo Mutugi. The Truth 46. About African Hospitality: Is There Hope for Africa? (Mombasa: The Salt, 2001), 21. 26. E.D. Prinsloo, Ubuntu from a Eurocen- Gathogo. The Reason for Studying African Religion in Post-colonial Africa

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While to the Westerner, the Maxim “a are not alone”) Simunye (We are one), (that person is a person through other persons” has is, Unity is strength), and slogans like “an no obvious religious connotations, the maxim injury to one is an injury to all.”29 has a deep religious meaning in African tradi- Despite Ubuntu’s articulation of im- tion. When Julius Nyerere coined his Ujamaa portant values such as respect, human dig- concept (from Jamii—meaning family), he nity and compassion, it can be exploited to was talking from this Ubuntu background. enforce group solidarity and therefore fail He saw Africa as one family and the whole to safeguard the rights and opinions of in- world as an extended family. It is in this same dividuals and the minority. True Ubuntu spirit that the whole clan is seen as a family. however requires an authentic respect for Most Africans still think of themselves in the individual rights and values and an honest context of this extended relationship. appreciation of diversities amongst the peo- Another distinctive quality of the ple. Whatever the argument, Ubuntu, best Ubuntu philosophy is the African empha- illustrates the African homogeneity which sis on consensus. Indeed, the African tra- can be exploited for the good of Africa in ditional culture has, seemingly, an almost the 21st century. infinite capacity for the pursuit of consen- It is disheartening to note that Ubun- sus and reconciliation.27 Democracy in the tu, in our modern times, is undermined by African way does not simply boil down to the violent ethnic and political conflicts majority rule since it operates in the form of that have plagued sub-Saharan Africa. Of discussions geared towards a consensus. course, it is a result of a failure to adhere to This view is clearly captured by Jesse the original ideals of the philosophy, which Mugambi when he says that, “The tradi- sees every “neighbor” as part of the extended tional court would appreciate the views of family, and thus treats him or her with lots every participant, and weigh the opinions of African hospitality. Nevertheless, Ma- of everyone irrespective of social status.” phisa argues that South Africans are slowly Decisions are reached through consensus, re-discovering their common humanity. He as there is no voting. Whenever there are says, “Gone are the days when people were “irreconcilable difference, decision is post- stripped of their dignity (ubuntu) through 28 poned until a consensus emerges.” This harsh laws, gone are the days when people important aim of consensus building rather had to use ubulwane (that is, animal like be- than dividing the people along the lines havior) to uphold or reinforce those laws. I of “winners versus losers” is expressed by suggest that the transformation of an apart- words like twῖ hamwe (Kikuyu for “we are heid South Africa into a democracy is a re- together”) tuko nawewe (Swahili for “you discovery of ubuntu.” 30 tric and Afrocentric Perspective and its Influence on Ubuntu is clearly in need of revitaliza- Leadership (Pretoria: Ubuntu School of Philoso- tion in the hearts and minds of the African phy, 1995), 4. people so that its ethos can be truly a gift

27. J. Teffo, The Concept of Ubuntu as a 29. See J. Broodryk, Ubuntu Management Cohesive Moral Value (Pretoria: Ubuntu School and Motivation (Johannesburg: Gauteng Depart- of Philosophy, 1994), 4. ment of Welfare, 1997), 5, 7, 9.

28. Jesse Mugambi, From Liberation to Re- 30. S. Maphisa. Man in constant search of construction: Africa after the Cold War (Nairobi: Ubuntu: a dramatist’s obsession (Pretoria: Ubuntu E.AE.P., 1995), 132. School of Philosophy, 1994), 8. Gathogo. The Reason for Studying African Religion in Post-colonial Africa

114 that African philosophy can bequeath to Writing in 1960, the Nigerian Chief other philosophies of the world. Obafemi Awolowo made substantially the An acknowledgement that every culture same point with reference to his own coun- has its dark and dangerous side as well helps try. He pointed out that “Christian and the Ubuntu philosophy today to absorb the Moslem beliefs and practices are, with many strength of the European cultural emphasis a Nigerian, nothing but veneers and social on freedom of the individual while at the facades: at heart and in the privacy of their same time building on the strength of the lives, most Nigerian Christians and Mos- African cultural emphasis on the idea of lems” are African religious traditionalists.33 community. This acknowledgement helps According to John M. Waliggo, Chris- to produce a synthesis that is true to the tian evangelizers convinced themselves that African tradition while at the same time it the Baganda had been “civilized,” that is, can also be applied to the new world that completely won over to Christianity. But European science and technology is in the when Kabaka Mutesa II, their king, was process of creating.” exiled in 1953, many Baganda Christians identified with traditionalists, rejecting The influence of African Christian prayers as ineffective in bringing Religion him back. Again in 1961, many Buganda Apart from the South African religious Catholics “turned a deaf ear” to Archbishop notion of Ubuntu, whose philosophical Kiwanuka’s letter against the traditionalist- emphasis is found in the rest of Africa, the tinted political party Kabaka Yekka (which influence of African Religion among the literally means Kabaka alone!) and con- people of Africa is seen in Laurenti Ma- tinued to support it. And despite the phe- gesa’s contention that most of the time, nomenal spread of Christianity in Bugan- African Christians “seek comfort in their da, many expressions of African Religion own religious symbol systems, even though such as divination and the use of healing these may not correspond exactly to those practices continue even though Christian- inculcated and expected by their Christian ity expressly forbids them.34 This draws its leaders. Indeed, these are often symbols and parallelism with Gwinyai Muzorewa’s ex- rituals that church leaders have explicitly perience. He says: “I was surprised when condemned.”31 many Christians in Zimbabwe reverted to Aylward Shorter has described this situ- traditionalism. Some members of the cler- ation further when he says that the African gy also turned to traditionalism during the Christian repudiates “remarkably little of seven years war (1972-1979) in the country. his former non-Christian outlook.” Conse- quently, the African Christian operates with Kampala: Gaba Publications, 1975), 7. “two thought-systems at once, and both of 33. V. E. A. Okwuosa, In the Name of them are closed to each other. Each is only Christianity: The Missionaries in Africa (Phila- superficially modified by the other.” 32 delphia and Ardmore: Dorrance & Company, 1977), 26. 31. Laurenti Magesa, African Religion, 7. 34. J.M. Waliggo. “Ganda Traditional Reli- 32. Aylward Shorter. “Problems and gion and Catholicism in Buganda, 1948-75,” Possibilities for the Church’s Dialogue With in Fashole-Luke et al., eds. 1978. Christianity African Traditional Religion,” in Dialogue with in Independent Africa (Bloomington & London: the African Traditional Religions (ed. A. Shorter; Indiana University Press, 1978) 34-42. Gathogo. The Reason for Studying African Religion in Post-colonial Africa

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They were persuaded to believe that their its own right translates into a reality.”37 ancestor spirit has a major part to play in Laurenti Magesa builds on the prem- the whole experience.”35 Similarly, Samuel ise that the importance of African religion G. Kibicho shows the role that the Kikuyu in Africa cannot be downplayed, for even conception of God (Ngai) played in their the African converts to Christianity (or Is- struggle against colonialism in the 1950s lam) still retain their inner motivation for and how it has been an important factor in their religious life in African religion. Mbiti their response to Christian evangelization graphically captures this view when he says that Africans “come out of African religion from the beginning.36 but they don’t take off their traditional reli- In their book, David Chidester, Chire- giosity. They come as they are. They come vo Kwenda, Robert Petty, Judy Tobler, and as people whose world view is shaped ac- Darrel Wratten have attempted to show the cording to African religion.”38 influence of African Religion amongst the If there are any changes during this indigenous people of Africa when they say process, Mbiti perceptively points out, that that, “The popular version of African tradi- they “are generally on the surface, affecting tional religion is what Africans (including the material side of life, and only begin- some elites, though mostly the masses) do ning to reach the deeper levels of thinking with no regard for what Westerners, or any- pattern, language content, mental images, one else, may or may not think about it. emotions, beliefs and response in situations It is what Africans do when they are just of need. Traditional concepts still form Africans. Now this does not mean that the essential background of many African such a practice is completely untouched by peoples…”39 In other words, their inner re- alien influences, be they religious (such as ligious drive remains overwhelmingly part Christianity or Islam) or secular (such as of African religion. Consequently, the con- modernity); what it means is that in full vert may publicly claim the new intended cognizance of their historical context Af- meaning while unconsciously ascribing to them a different one—that is African reli- ricans do what they do for their own rea- gion. Thus, there is every need for everyone sons rather than to impress someone else. who is interested in knowing more about In other words, while talking to the West the African personality to first and foremost is unavoidable—for the elite—and talking study African religion. back to the West may be progressive, it is The need to study African Religion only through turning away from and not is strengthened by the contention that re- talking to the West that the possibility of ligion is the axis around which life in Af- considering African traditional religion in 37 African Traditional Religion in South 35. Gwinyai Muzorewa, “The Future of Africa: An Annotated Bibliography (London: African Theology,” Journal of Black Theology in Greenwood Press, 1997), 2. South Africa 4, 1990, 50-51. 38. B.W. Burleson, John Mbiti: The 36. Samuel G. Kibicho. “The Continu- Dialogue of an African Theologian with African ity of the African Conception of God into and Religion (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University through Christianity: A Kikuyu Case-study,” in Microfilms International, 1986), 12. E. Fashole-Luke et al., Eds 1978. Christianity in Independent Africa (Bloomington & London: 39. Mbiti, An Introduction to African Indiana University Press, 1978), 370-88. Religion, xii. Gathogo. The Reason for Studying African Religion in Post-colonial Africa

116 rica revolves. It gains further weight in J.S. changed circumstances.”43 Like Berger and Mbiti’s assertion that “Africans are notori- Luckmann, Mugambi is convinced that re- ously religious.”40 This statement has be- ligion has an important role in the social come something of a truism in the study of reconstruction of a society. As both object religion in Africa. and agent of social reconstruction, he feels that, “religion provides the world view African Religion as an agent which synthesizes everything cherished by of social reconstruction the individuals as corporate members of the community.”44 He thus exudes confidence African Religion provides people with a that religion is the most vital project for the view of the world that inspires new ideas. people who are undergoing a rapid change, That means that African Religion is a good as in post-colonial Africa. agent of social reconstruction. As Aquiline In his theology of reconstruction, Tarimo rightly says, “Naturally, all human Mugambi is greatly influenced by Karl Jas- beings are endowed with the gift of reason pers’ positive appraisal of mythical think- and as such are capable of anticipating the ing; for according to him, “the myth tells a future with hope and a certain degree of story and expresses intuitive insights, rather dynamism. Metaphysical figures of speech, than universal concepts.”45 This prompts symbols, rituals, and spiritualities can eas- him to argue that, “a society which is inca- ily demonstrate this assertion. A static cul- pable of making its own myths or re-inter- 46 ture does not exist. Everything is subject to preting its old ones, becomes extinct.” In view of this, Mugambi defines the vision of change. What happened in the course of the theology of reconstruction, in Africa, as African history is that external forces of po- a project of “re-mythologization, in which litical and religious domination suppressed the theologian thus engaged, discerns new cultural and religious dynamics. Conse- symbols and new metaphors in which to quently, concerns about self-defense and recast the central Message of the Gospel.”47 self-preservation became important.”41 Jesse Mugambi sees the notion of social 43. J. Njoroge wa Ngugi, Creation in “The catechism of the Catholic Church”: A Basis for Cat- reconstruction as belonging to the social echesis in post-colonial Africa (Nairobi: Paulines sciences. Consequently, he borrows from Publications Africa. 2007), 73. Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann42 who describe social reconstruction as “the 44. Jesse Mugambi. From Liberation to Reconstruction, 17. reorganization of some aspects of a society in order to make it more responsive to 45. K. Jaspers, “Myth and Religion” in Kerygma and Myth: A Theological Debate (E. Hans- 40. J.S Mbiti, An Introduction to African Werner Bartsch, ed.; London: SPCK, 1972), 144. Religion, 1. 46. Jesse Mugambi. From Liberation to 41. Aquiline Tarimo. Applied Ethics and Reconstruction, 37. Africa’s Social Reconstruction (Nairobi: Acton, 2005), 20. 47. Jesse Mugambi. “The Bible and Ecumenism in African Christianity,” in Hannah 42 See Peter Berger and Thomas Luck- Kinoti and John Waliggo (Eds) 1997. The Bible mann. Social Reconstruction of Reality (New York: in African Christianity (Nairobi: Acton Publish- Penguin Books, 1967). ers, 1997), 75. Gathogo. The Reason for Studying African Religion in Post-colonial Africa

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Consequently, he differs strongly with Concern. Nothing is more ultimate.” scholars like Bultmann whose theory of de- A study of African Religion is tanta- mythologization is contrasted with his “re- mount to a religious dialogue. If it is done by mythologization.” He says, of Bultmann, “In Christian theologians, it amounts to a dia- (his) attempt to satisfy scientific positivism by logue between Christianity and African reli- denouncing myth (he) ends up destroying gion. As Hans Küng says, “There will be no the reality of religion as a pillar of culture.” peace among nations without peace among For Jesse Mugambi, as with Jaspers, “myth religions. And no peace among religions is indispensable in cultural constructions of without greater dialogue among religions.”50 reality.” For him, therefore, the idea of social He goes on to say, “We need a more inten- reconstruction in post apartheid South Africa sive philosophical and theological dialogue of or in post Cold War Africa is tantamount theologians and specialists in religion which to beginning to make new myths, and re- takes religious plurality seriously in theologi- interpreting the old ones, for the survival of cal terms, accepts the challenge of the other the African peoples. He says that, “a vanish- religions, and investigates their significance ing people must be replaced by the myth of a for each person’s own religion.”51 resurgent, or resilient people,” while the myth This dialogue is crucial considering that of a “desperate people must be replaced by the the dialogue between, for instance, Chris- myth of a people (who are) full of hope. The tianity and African religion has never been myth of a hungry people must be replaced by a real conversation. For as Laurenti Magesa the myth of a people capable of feeding them- says, the “Contact between Christianity and selves, and so on.”48 African Religion has historically been pre- All in all, the proponents of religion as dominantly a monologue, bedevilled by as- an agent of social transformation fail to ac- sumptions prejudicial against the latter, with knowledge that religion can also be misused Christianity culturally more vocal and ideo- to cause division in society. It can equally logically more aggressive. Therefore, what we be used to “underdevelop” people. It can have heard until now is largely Christianity be used as a tool of instability where blind speaking about African Religion, not African adherence to religious convictions leads to Religion speaking for itself.”52 suspicions, pride and even violence. Thus there is need to study African Religion as a way of making it enter into a Conclusion form of dialogue with other religions—as The significance of religion in African soci- it is in this way that Africa will experience ety should not be downplayed; and as Paul genuine shalom. It is this shalom that will F. Knitter notes, nothing comes before peo- bring wholeness in the Africa of the twenty- ple’s religious identity and convictions. If first century. We all have a duty to usher in this identity is threatened, everything must a new dawn in Africa today. be sacrificed or ventured in order to pre- 49 serve it. This also agrees with Paul Tillich’s 50. Hans Küng. Global Responsibility: In assertion that, “Religion is our Ultimate search of a New World Ethic (New York: Cross- road, 1991), xv. 48. Jesse Mugambi. From Liberation to Reconstruction, 37-38. 51. Hans Küng , Global Responsibility, 137-8 49. P.F. Knitter, “Religion, Power, Dialogue” in Swedish Missiological Themes, 93, 1 (2005), 30. 52. African Religion, 5. The Trial of Luther A. Gotwald

Luther A. Gotwald, Jr. Davidsville, PA

This essay was first presented to the Annual To justify its theological position, that Meeting of the Lutheran Historical Society of same convention appointed a special com- Gettysburg, on April 17, 1993. mittee to answer similar charges originating in Germany, namely, that the American One hundred years ago, on the Tuesday and churches were not really Lutheran. The Wednesday after Easter in 1893, the trial of committee answered, in part, that the Gen- Luther Gotwald was held at Wittenberg eral Synod requires only essential agree- College, Springfield, Ohio. ment in doctrinal views, strict conformity The story behind the trial of Luther being impossible in America. Gotwald begins with the founding of the Later that same year, when the General General Synod on October 20, 1820, Synod refused to acknowledge its errors, when six synods banded together into the Wyneken denounced the General Synod first Lutheran denomination in the United as “Reformed in doctrine, Methodistic in States. Six years later it founded its semi- practice, and laboring for the ruin of the nary at Gettysburg, with Samuel Simon Church, whose name she falsely bears.” He Schmucker as its first professor. then became instrumental in organizing the The General Synod made a deliberate denomination known today as The Luther- effort to become an Americanized Prot- an Church—Missouri Synod. estant body. Its leaders wanted it to be a Another schism took place within the church which would be efficient at winning General Synod attributable to the tensions people to Christ. However, many among which brought on the Civil War. On May the new waves of Lutheran immigrants did 20, 1863, three synods withdrew to form not feel at home in this American version of the General Synod of the Evangelical Lu- Lutheranism. theran Church in the Confederate States of Thus the General Synod soon had in- America. ternal problems by 1845, when the General The third schism began to take place a Synod met in Philadelphia, where a lone del- year later with the formation of the Luther- egate from the Synod of the West made a an Theological Seminary in Philadelphia on bold appeal that the synod either renounce May 25, 1864. That seminary’s design was the name “Lutheran” or reject utterly the un- to provide pastors who where not under the Lutheran…Popular Theology…of Schmuck- influence of Schmucker of Gettysburg and er. There was not a single voice to join him. his Americanized form of Lutheranism. Without predecessor or without successors, A year later this third schism was Germany-born Friedrich Konrad Dietrich provoked when the Pennsylvania Synod Wyneken stood alone. delegates objected to the reception of the

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Frankean Synod which had not adopted the Schmucker wrote the following as in- Augsburg Confession. By November 1867, troduction to his textbook: “On matters of the schism was complete with the forma- non-fundamental importance, Christians tion of another Lutheran denomination— should agree to controvert with lenity, and the General Council. differ in peace. Entire harmony of opinion A quarter of a century later, his accusers was not an attribute of the church even alleged that Luther Gotwald, Professor of under apostolic guidance; nor have we any Practical Theology at Wittenberg College, evidence, that diversity of view on minor was teaching General Council Lutheranism in a General Synod Seminary. What was really at stake in this trial was the identity of these Lutherans. Were there really significant differences among the General Synod of the South, the General Council, and the Gen- eral Synod? The accusers thought Yes, the accused thought No. The Court had to decide between the two. Preserving the identity of Lutherans was an issue. In developing his theological stance, Schmucker had done at least three things. First, he must be given credit for having raised the Augsburg Confession out of the dust. He made a vow to do so while still a student at Princ- eton University. Second, he con- firmed that vow in the oath of office which he both wrote and took upon becoming the first professor at Gettysburg Seminary. Third, to points was regarded as a barrier to ecclesi- Schmucker’s credit, it should be noted that, astical communion. Fundamental errorists, as professor, he published his 1834 text indeed, ought to be the subjects of uncom- book, entitled Elements of Popular Theology; promising controversy, and of exclusion with Occasional Reference to the Doctrines of from church privileges…. the Reformation as Avowed before the Diet at “There is little doubt that in each of Augsburg, in MDXXX…. the several denominations termed ortho- Consistent with this lengthy title, with dox, there are and always have been mem- his promise, and with his oath of office, bers living in harmony, who differ from Schmucker quoted portions of the Augs- each other as much as the symbols of these burg Confession in piecemeal fashion with several churches. As the great head of the expositions of its articles. church has so extensively owned the labours Gotwald. The Trial of Luther A. Gotwald

120 of all these denominations, the ground held about twenty pastors asked Schmucker to by them in common should be considered write that “new symbol.” fundamental, and the points of difference Schmucker went home to Gettysburg regarded in a secondary light as legitimate and wrote “The Definite Synodical Plat- subjects for free inquiry.” form.” It was an Americanized Confession The word “fundamental” was the cor- rejecting certain articles of the Augsburg nerstone in building an Americanized Lu- Confession. It was published anonymously theran church which allowed the homog- and widely circulated. Schmucker simply enization of its teachings with the other articulated the views which the Ohio and major Protestant churches. Schmucker left many other Lutherans really held. out many of the Confession’s condemna- Schmucker had enough influence tions of those denominations which held with synods in Pennsylvania that two of differing theological positions. In condens- them adopted The Definite Synodical ing longer passages of the Confession, he Platform. The Alleghany Synod of 1842– left out some important arguments in favor 1938 was one of them and illustrates how of positions which he opposed. The Augs- men of honor could contradict themselves. burg Confession is but one small, but ba- It did this at its 1856 Convention held at sic, part of the Lutheran Book of Concord. McConnellsburg. There, in one breath, However, here in America, the Book of it voted to support the Doctrinal Basis Concord was not available in English until of the General Synod which upheld the the Henkels of New Market, Virginia, pub- Augsburg Confession as a “substantially lished it in 1851. correct” explanation of the Christian faith. As early as two years after the publica- In the next breath, they adopted The Def- tion of the Book of Concord in English, inite Platform, voting to “renounce and Schmucker’s brother-in-law, Samuel Spre- openly affirm that we have no sympathy cher, who at that time was president of with and reject the following errors: … Wittenberg College, sensed that times were approval of the ceremonies of the Mass… changing. As early as 1853, he wrote, “A private confession and absolution…denial Creed we must have…old Lutheran men of the divine obligations of the Sabbath… and synods [are] gaining control of the baptismal regeneration…the real presence General Synod…friends of [the] American of the body and blood of our Savior in Lutheran Church must define the doctrine the Eucharist.” In so doing, the Alleghany which they do hold and what they reject… Synod hoped to purge things which they [either] adopt the symbols of the church or considered “too catholic.” form a new symbol which shall embrace all Thirteen years later, however, at its that is fundamental…” 1869 meeting in Bedford, the Alleghany Another two years later, 1855, the Synod re-aligned itself again with the doc- General Synod met in First Lutheran trinal basis of the General Synod. That Church, Dayton, Ohio, the congregation new position read, in part, that the Gen- from which came Gotwald’s three accus- eral Synod regarded the Augsburg Confes- ers. At this time the accusers Alexander and sion as a “…correct exhibition of the Fun- Joseph Gebhart were 33 and 25 years old damental Doctrines of the Word of God, respectively. Accuser Baker was not even and the Faith of our Church founded upon born at this time. Gotwald was a college that Word.” There again is that pesky word student at Gettsyburg. At that convention “fundamental.” Gotwald. The Trial of Luther A. Gotwald

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Wittenberg College’s theological Alexander Gotwald. They were Alexander foundations were laid by the teachings of Gebhart, Joseph R. Gebhart, his cousin, and Schmucker at Gettysburg. Sprecher wrote their pastor, the Rev. Ernest E. Baker. These an oath of office for the faculty of Wit- three were all members of the prestigious tenberg College. In that oath the Board First Lutheran Church, Dayton. of Directors asked its professors to “… When First Church built their second sincerely reject…” the five errors identi- building during the Civil War, it was the fied in The Definite Synodical Platform largest church building in the state of Ohio. referred to earlier. This oath of office was Its tower rose to an impressive 154 feet. It used for 30 years, from 1855 to 1885. seated 750 and had a pulpit-centered sanc- That’s 16 years after the General Synod tuary, a choir space behind the preacher, a regarded the Augsburg Confession as a brand new pipe organ and a set of carillon “…correct exhibition of the Fundamental bells in its tower. Doctrines of the Word of God, and the The congregation twice hosted the Faith of our Church founded upon that Convention of the General Synod: the first Word.” Sprecher’s oath was not changed in their small first building in 1855, from until Dr. James Richard, Gotwald’s pre- which Schmucker left to write The Definite decessor on the faculty, refused to take Synodical Platform, and again in 1871, the an oath which espoused The Definite first convention after the General Synod Synodical Platform’s theology. The Board had adopted its “correct exhibition” state- of Directors then bound Richard to the ment regarding the Augsburg Confession. General Synod’s 1869 doctrinal basis. Thus their two buildings figured physically The General Synod had officially re- in the opening and closing chapters of The nounced The Definite Synodical Platform Definite Synodical Platform fiasco. in 1869, but during the next two decades Alexander Gebhart was a long-time Schmucker’s and Sprecher’s teachings lin- member of the Board of Trustees of Wit- gered on strongly enough to prompt the tenberg College and its treasurer, a tour of Pastor of First Lutheran Church, Dayton, duty he began under the Gotwald pastor- and two of his laymen, all members of the ate. This Gebhart and his cousin Joseph Board of Trustees of Wittenberg College, to were prominent business men and one was bring charges against its Professor of Practi- the president of a Dayton bank. cal Theology, saying, in part… These two Gebharts came to Dayton “The said Luther A. Gotwald, D. D… as youths when their parents moved from [was not teaching]…the type of Lutheran- Somerset County of Pennsylvania. The ism that dictated the establishment of Wit- father of Alexander, Frederick Gebhart, is tenberg College, that animated its founders known to have accompanied his Pastor, in undertaking it, and in whose interests C.F. Heyer, when he left Somerset County the original trust was created.” in Pennsylvania on a visit to the Cincinnati Part of that “original trust” was $21,000 Area in December of 1835. That trip may given by the Gebharts of Dayton in a finan- have opened these Gebharts’ eyes to the cial campaign held thirty years earlier in the business opportunities in Ohio. By 1839, early 1860s. Three members of the Board Frederick Gebhart was a charter member of of Trustees, on February 9, 1893, brought First Church, Dayton. In fact, its organiza- formal charges of disloyalty against Witten- tion took place in his hardware store. These berg’s Professor of Practical Theology, Luther two accusing Gebharts knew Gotwald per- Gotwald. The Trial of Luther A. Gotwald

122 sonally for 18 years, three and one-half of To make public their views in oppo- them as their pastor. sition to Gotwald, about one year before The other accuser, Pastor Ernest Baker, the trial, Alexander Gebhart, Ernest Baker, a recent graduate of Wittenberg College two college professors, H. R. Geiger and and Seminary, knew Gotwald as the par- Charles Ehrenfeld, and two others, became ish pastor of Second Lutheran Church of the incorporators of The Lutheran Evange- Springfield and as seminary professor. In list, a weekly paper published in Springfield, the Miami Synod’s life, Baker quickly rose Ohio. In its pages, the 72-year old Editor to prominence: elected as delegate to the Geiger, a retired Wittenberg professor who General Synod Convention in Lebanon, served almost from its founding days, called named as member to the Board of Direc- for the return of Wittenberg College to the tors of Wittenberg, and elected secretary Lutheranism of its founders. It did not mat- and then president of the Miami Synod. ter to them that for over twenty years the The Dayton congregation had a long General Synod had adopted a position re- history of not using the worship services garding the Augsburg Confession that af- recommended by the General Synod. In firmed it as a correct exhibition of funda- fact, during the Baker pastorate the con- mental doctrines of the Scriptures. gregation was using the Presbyterian hym- Their published diatribes against Got- nal. At the General Synod convention in wald inspired a rival paper. The Lutheran Lebanon in 1891, the last convention held Witness of the Missouri Lutherans five times immediately before the trial, a motion had mentioned The Lutheran Evangelist paper as been made that the church provide two “The Lutheran Methodist commonly called hymnals, one with the Common Service The Lutheran Evangelist.” and the other without it. Both Gotwald The accusers first tried to have the and Baker were delegates to that conven- Board of Directors of the college censure tion. Gotwald voted with the majority to Gotwald in June of 1892. After a long heat- maintain the hymnal with the Common ed debate, the Board voted their confidence Service. Baker voted on the minority side. in all of their faculty members in the Theo- To First Lutheran Church’s credit, on logical Department. more than one occasion they tried using Their next move was to have the Mi- the General Synod’s orders for worship ami Synod censure Gotwald. This they but a month or two after each try they did by submitting a minority report which went back to using a rather informal ser- took exception to the Board’s recent action vice. They learned of their freedom to do in regard to Gotwald’s professorship. One this from the Augsburg Confession: elderly visitor, Pastor Christian Spielmann, “…And to the true unity of the who attended that Miami Synod conven- Church, it is enough to agree concerning tion, wrote for the Lutheran Standard, “Dr. the doctrine of the Gospel and the ad- Gotwald was not present but was ably de- ministration of the sacraments. Nor is it fended…. It reminds me of our struggling necessary that human traditions, rites, or efforts for a sounder Lutheran position of ceremonies, instituted by men, should be forty and fifty years ago.” everywhere alike….” Rebuffed by the Miami Synod, their The two Gebharts in this story must home synod, the three accusers from Day- have been persuaded by their pastor to join ton were determined all the more to bring him in bringing accusations. this matter to the Wittenberg Board of Di- Gotwald. The Trial of Luther A. Gotwald

123 rectors for final resolution in a formal her- president of Wittenberg only three years esy trial in the Spring of 1893. when the nineteen-year-old Luther A. Got- Another person figured in the bringing wald enrolled in the Commercial Depart- of the charges. Only after the trial it was ment in the Spring of 1852. learned that Charles Ehrenfeld was the real For providential reasons, he transferred author of the charges. Ehrenfeld had recent- to Pennsylvania College in Gettysburg. Two ly resigned his professorship after 66 stu- providential reasons are known to the fam- dents of Wittenberg College and Seminary ily. One was that his father had been one signed petitions asking for his resignation. of the fifty original donors who put up one The students complained that he could not sixth of their annual salary to help establish maintain discipline in his classes and he the Gettysburg college with a promise that came to them unprepared. Ehrenfeld may his sons could attend there tuition free. The have thought that if he could be forced out other was that he had met Mary Elizabeth of office by students, surely Gotwald could King, the sister of three of his classmates in be forced out of office by formal charges Springfield, and since by then he was study- presented to the Board of Directors. ing for the Gospel Ministry, he did not want When Daniel Gotwald and his wife her to be a distraction from his studies. Susanna Crone Gotwald became parents Following college he enrolled in the of their eighth child on January 31, 1833, Gettysburg Seminary where he studied the- they were living in the Lutheran parsonage ology under the man who baptized him. at Petersburg, present-day York Springs, Graduating in the year 1859 meant that Lu- which was about eleven miles north of Get- ther was in Gettysburg when The Definite tysburg. Synodical Platform issue was at its height. With Gettysburg being so close to Pe- Luther wrote in his daily journal that he tersburg, Daniel and Susanna asked Profes- considered himself “a strict Lutheran.” His sor Schmucker to baptize their newly born theological texts, however, had included son and gave him the name Luther Alexan- Schmucker’s…Popular Theology…. der Gotwald. In October, following his graduation, In September of 1838 Daniel accepted he returned to Springfield and, standing in a call to serve the Penns Valley Parish in the the bay window of the King’s living room, wilds of Centre County where he burned was married to Mary Elizabeth King by himself out in five years by serving 14 both her Presbyterian pastor and College preaching points ranging from Aaronsburg President Samuel Sprecher. to as far as Luthersburg, about 80 miles In his autobiography, Gotwald praised away through Pennsylvania’s mountainous Schmucker, yet had to record: west. He also organized at least two new “[Schmucker’s]…strong personality and congregations during those five years. his theological views greatly influenced me When father Daniel was on this death during my early ministry, but in later years, bed in 1843, he called his ten-year old son I was compelled to considerably modify my Luther to his side and committed him and views, after a fuller study of the Church’s his mother to praying for and seeing that teachings.” the boy enter the Gospel Ministry. When Gotwald came to Second Luther- Nine years later Luther enrolled in an Church, Springfield, in 1885, he and the Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, church council agreed that he would be using with $14 in his pocket. Sprecher had been the liturgy of the General Synod, namely, the Gotwald. The Trial of Luther A. Gotwald

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Common Service as it had developed up to member, Pastor E. D. Smith serve as pros- that point. This was the service which his ac- ecutor. The accused was present. Pastor G. cusers did not use at First Lutheran Church, M. Grau and Judge A. W. Adair, served as Dayton, and which their Pastor Baker would counsels for the defense. vote to have deleted from the church hymnal Secretary Bauslin read the original in a separate edition. charges, which were couched in vague gen- The Lutheran Evangelist portrayed Got- eral terms which claimed that this offend- wald as not only in favor of the Common ing professor was teaching General Council Service but that he also recommended the Lutheranism in a General Synod Seminary, use of a gown. When Second Church was that he was not teaching the Lutheranism of built, the sanctuary had an altar at its center those who founded Wittenberg, and more with the pulpit to the side. The Gotwald specifically that he believed and taught bap- family donated those two pieces of “high tismal regeneration to his students. church” furniture. The counsel for the defense asked the From Second Lutheran Church, Spring- court to make the charges more specific so field, Luther Gotwald was called by the Wit- that they could be spoken to, such as when, tenberg Seminary to serve as their Professor where, what, and to whom did he say or of Practical Theology—a newly developed teach what was inappropriate. They also concept of theological training. He must asked the accusers to define their use of the have entered that task with a sense of fore- word “fundamental.” Point by point, the boding. He recorded in his Pastoral Record: board, now acting as the court, ordered the “November 25th 1888 closes my min- accusers to comply with their demand to istry in Springfield, and closes as far as I have more specific charges. The defense also know, my ministry as a pastor altogether. asked that Gotwald not be tried on his faith- Almost thirty years have been spent in fulness to the Lutheranism of the founders Preaching Christ. Delightful years! God: I of Wittenberg College, rather, that he be thank Thee for them! The future, with its tried on his faithfulness to the Lutheranism new work is all uncertain. God, I trust it all of the General Synod as things stood while into Thy hands!” Gotwald taught. This was the identity is- On the Tuesday after Easter, A.D. sue on which the entire case hinged. For 1893, the Board of Directors of Wittenberg 24 years the General Synod had officially College assembled in Wittenberg College’s renounced Schmucker’s vague “substan- Recitation Hall for the specially called meet- tially correct” attitude toward the Augsburg ing to hear what the three accusers, Baker, Confession and held that the Augsburg Gebhart and Gebhart, had to say about Confession was a correct exhibition of the their charges of disloyalty of Wittenberg’s fundamental teachings of the divine Word Professor of Practical Theology. of God. The Court agreed to this request The board members served as the en- and ordered the three accusers to have their tire court: as the prosecutors of the charges, more specific charges ready when they re- as counsels for the defense, and as the jury convened the next morning. in this trial. The president of the Board, a The next morning the trial continued lawyer named John L. Zimmerman, served haltingly. The accusers refused to bring as presiding judge. Initially the Secretary amended charges claiming that to alter the of the Board, D. H. Bauslin, served as the charges would make them no longer their recorder. The accusers had a fellow board charges. Gotwald. The Trial of Luther A. Gotwald

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At this session the word “fundamental” original accusers would have nothing to do enters the controversy and is crucial to un- with the case claiming that it was no longer derstanding how men of integrity could lop their case, and, if it were, they did not have off entire portions of the Augsburg Con- time to prepare their amended case. fession and still consider themselves to be President Zimmerman ruled that the good Lutherans. Gotwald’s defenders had same case was before the court and the ac- asked the accusers to define the meaning of cusers would be allowed to present every- that word as they understood it. thing which they had prepared. Still “noth- Baker complained, “…We come here ing doing” was their attitude. now and find that everything we have Reluctantly Pastor M. J. Firey, chair- charged has been taken away and an impos- man of the committee which revised the sible condition has been rested upon us, for charges, agreed to serve as prosecutor of the example, an impossible condition of defin- amended charges. Witnesses were called. ing the term ‘fundamental.’ By action of The first three witnesses to be called were the Board we have been asked to do some- the three accusers. They refused to testify. thing the General Synod itself has never The editor of The Lutheran Evangelist, Gei- done….” ger, was summoned to come and testify. He Since the accusers did not comply with refused to come. The recently resigned Pro- the order of the court to submit amended fessor Ehrenfeld was summoned to testify charges as required by the Board, some and he refused to come. board members were ready to adjourn. Witnesses were then called, each of Instead, the court appointed a committee whom supported the accused. They includ- to revise the charges so that the case could ed board members, the college president, the move forward. secretary of the board, and seminary students At 1:30 p.m. the Board reconvened all of whom supported Gotwald. Gotwald and accepted the committee’s amended took the stand briefly to clarify his position charges with but one minor change. Judge on baptismal regeneration. Gotwald never Adair read the hastily prepared opening presented his defense but rested his case on statement of the defendant to the revised what the witnesses had testified. charges. Gotwald claimed that there were The court, including all the counsels no substantial differences between the Gen- for the prosecutors, voted unanimously eral Council and the General Synod. The to acquit Gotwald. The three accusers ab- differences were that the General Council stained from voting. Later in their account accepted the entire Book of Concord as its of the trial in The Lutheran Evangelist, doctrinal basis whereas the General Synod Baker, Gebhart and Gebhart suggested that placed only the Augsburg Confession in the matter would be taken to the Ohio Su- that status. The other difference was the preme Court. General Council adopted the Galesburg In the reporting of this trial to the Wit- Rule which stated “Lutheran pulpits are for tenberg Synod, the original prosecutor. Pas- Lutheran ministers only. Lutheran altars are tor E. D. Smith, said that he learned only af- for Lutheran communicants only….” Nei- ter the trial that the accusers had suppressed ther the General Synod nor Gotwald agreed a letter from former college President Spre- with this rule. cher. In that letter Sprecher indicated that The next problem was to find some- indeed the Lutheran Church was standing one to prosecute the charges since the three on different theological ground from that Gotwald. The Trial of Luther A. Gotwald

126 of the college’s founders. had just asked his wife to open the Bible The accusers returned to Dayton and and read their evening lesson together. Sud- led the congregation in boycotting the Gen- denly as a result of another heart attack, he eral Synod. Five years later, when Baker re- passed away, painlessly and quietly.” signed as their pastor, he became a pastor of My mother, Ethel Bare Gotwald, the the Presbyterian Church in Cleveland and wife of the grandson of the accused, upon later moved to California and entered secu- reading the transcript of the trial, suggested lar work. The Gebharts loyally kept up their that Professor Luther Gotwald be desig- membership in their Dayton congregation. nated as the “Father of the United Luther- Significantly, later in the same year of an Church in America.” If that is valid, it the trial, both the General Synod and the means that there was a gestation period of a quarter of a century, for that merger did not take place until 1918. But a quarter of re all the a century is fast in church merger matters. doctrinal Epilog A Today, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is on trial.1 Lutheran identity was articles of the at the heart of that two-thirds of a century between The Definite Synodical Platform confession essential, and the founding of the United Lutheran Church in America. vital, important, Lutheran identity still elusively stalks the Evangelical Lutheran Church in necessary, ‘fundamental’ America. Among the issues before these in the same sense? Lutherans is the tension between adher- ing to the Augsburg Confession as a valid expression of the Christian Faith and their effort to be an ecumenical church General Council appointed similar com- seeking rapprochement with such diverse mittees, to which the General Synod… denominations as the Eastern Orthodox, South also joined later, which began the Roman Catholic and Episcopal Churches process which led to the merger known as the United Lutheran Church in America on the one side, and the many Reformed in 1918. The widespread publicity which churches on the other attended the trial made it clear that there There are two approaches emerging were no insurmountable differences among simultaneously. To the first group the ap- these Lutherans. proach is “We are Evangelical Catholics, Gotwald continued to serve as professor no different from you. Let’s recognize each of practical theology for another two-and- others’ ministries of word and sacraments.” one-half years until he suffered a stroke and They worked to present documents of submitted his resignation due to this illness. agreement. His grandson, Luther Gotwald wrote: Less than one month ago the ELCA “On the evening of September 15, 1. It must be remembered that this address 1900, as he sat in his chair by his desk, he was written in 1993. Gotwald. The Trial of Luther A. Gotwald

127 and three Reformed Denominations pub- “I hold that the soul, that, with a sense lished their report on ecumenical conversa- of its guilt and danger of eternal death, tions in the book A Common Calling, The trusts itself, as the Gospel invites it, to Jesus Witness of Our Reformation Churches in Christ, as its Divine and only Savior, is a North America Today. To this observer, the saved soul, whether its knowledge and faith work of that study group espouses a Lu- correspond in all minute points with our theranism not much different from that of confession or not. ‘He that believeth on the Schmucker. That work even uses the previ- Son hath everlasting life,’ even if he never ously outlawed word “fundamental” in the saw the Augsburg Confession, or does not same sense that Schmucker used it. know that such a confession exists. In contrast to these approaches there “I hold that in some sense, however, all is a third approach, that of sticking to the the articles of the confession are fundamen- testimony of the Augsburg confessors. It is tal. Some of them, I may say, are essential there as plain as day. It is a correct exhibi- or fundamental, first of all, to the integrity tion of the things that are fundamentally of the Christian System, so that by denying taught by the Holy Scriptures. them, the system ceases to be Christian dis- Perhaps I should not have used that tinctively, and becomes Jewish or Moham- outlawed word again, however, listen to medan or Pagan. Some of them, again, are how Professor Gotwald defined the word essential or fundamental to the Protestant “fundamental” in his opening statement at system so that by denying them the system the trial: is no longer Protestant, but is the doctri- “But the question now recurs: ‘Funda- nal system of the Roman Catholic or Greek mental’ in what sense? Are all the doctrinal Catholic church. Some of them are essen- articles of the confession essential, vital, tial or fundamental to the Lutheran Doc- important, necessary, ‘fundamental’ in the trinal system, so that by denying them the same sense? Are they all fundamental to the doctrinal system ceases to be distinctively same degree, that is equally fundamental? I Lutheran, and becomes Zwinglian, or Cal- answer that in the negative. I do not hold vinistic, or something else in its character. all to be fundamental in the same sense, all And I hold some of them fundamental to are not equally fundamental. To say that the good order and development of the Lu- each one of the articles of the confession is theran Church.” fundamental in the sense that no man can Today I concur with my namesake- be saved who does not accept it, I do not great-grandfather and rest my case. think of asserting. Kristallnacht—Sixty-eight Years Later, Nov. 9, 2006

Victoria Barnett Staff Director, Church Relations, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, U. S. Holocaust Museum

This anniversary reminds us of how the des- Of those thirty-two remaining syna- ecration of religious spaces changes much gogues, this is what exists today on these more than just the landscape. But I’d like sites: to begin this morning by describing that Nine were completely torn down. Of changed landscape. the remaining twenty-three buildings The estimates of the number of de- where some part of the original build- stroyed and vandalized synagogues vary— ing remained, five were memorials, it’s important to remember that there were four were apartment houses, one was a Jewish synagogues and community cen- school, two were barns, one was a con- ters destroyed in the years before and after cert hall, one was a youth home, one November 1938—but it’s clear that over was a movie theater, two were ware- 2,500 synagogues were destroyed in 1938 houses, one was a wine cellar, one was throughout the “Reich,” which included a Catholic church, one was a Protestant Austria, the Sudetenland, and Poland. church, one was a youth hostel, one was Statistics for what happened after 1945 a carpentry shop, one (in Stuttgart) had to these sites are harder to come by, but a been rebuilt and was a synagogue. look at one region of Germany is instruc- tive. In the region of Württemberg, there Over thirty years have passed since this were forty-four synagogues in 1933. Twelve summary, and many things have changed. were completely burned down, twenty-six Today, there are nine new synagogues in were vandalized and damaged, six were Württemberg. Over the course of the last untouched. In 1966, a group studied what fifteen years, the Jewish population in Ger- had happened after 1945 to these sites.1 many has grown from around 30 thousand to over 200 thousand, largely as a result of 1. The following figures are from a study the emigration of Jews from Russia. Many printed in Paul Sauer, Die jüdischen Gemeinden of these new residents are not religious, yet in Württemberg. The entire study is cited in Hartmut Metzger, Kristallnacht: Dokumente von there has been a renewal of religious edu- gestern zum Gedenken heute (Stuttgart: Calwer cation and the creation of new community Verlag, 1978), pp. 26-27. centers. And in September of this year,

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129 three rabbis were ordained for the first time in Germany since 1940. So today, as we commemorate this hose of us who event sixty-eight years later, much has are Christian changed again in that landscape. Several T years ago, when I visited South Africa, I saw a painting that portrayed the view must remember, too, out of a car window. On the side rear view mirror were the words: “Events in that the churches’ the rear-view mirror closer than they appear.” Those words, I think, are just as overwhelming response appropriate when we remember the Holo- caust. Even significant changes don’t undo was to remain silent— the past, because what happens in history changes not just landscapes, but human or even to justify what beings and human relationships. On the anniversary of Kristallnacht, we naturally had happened in the think not only of burned buildings and shattered glass, but of the human beings name of Christian who were murdered, the terrible violence done to the bodies and souls of millions theology. of innocent people because they were Jew- ish. Those of us who are Christian must remember, too, that the churches’ over- and loved him. How can we make amends whelming response was to remain silent— for this dreadful transformation? Forgive- or even to justify what had happened in ness is His who will judge; ours is only lim- the name of Christian theology. itless, inextinguishable grief.’”2 The altered landscape brought about Sixty-eight years later, we have far too many by Kristallnacht affects how Christians and newer examples from around the world of Jews speak to one another up to the pres- violence against human beings, the misuse ent day. In a 1985 essay, Albrecht Goes (a of religion, and the desecration of religious Württemberg pastor who hid Jews in his space along the fault lines of religion and parsonage) wrote this about Jewish-Chris- ethnicity and nation. But we know what tian dialogue in Germany: “I want to say: this will leave behind—an altered land- uninhibited speech, after all that has hap- scape, and a changed and guarded conver- pened, is not possible. A double-edged pain sation. Yet people of all faiths really have forces its way into all expressions of affec- no other option but to travel that altered tion: the pain of the one who gives, the pain landscape together. of the one who receives. Margarete Susman, [Martin] Buber’s assistant in earlier days, 2. Cited in Victoria Barnett, For the Soul of wrote about this ‘between us’ late in her life: the People: Protestant Protest Against Hitler (New ‘He was our neighbor. We lived with him York: Oxford University Press, 1992), p. 293. What Can the Barmen Declaration Teach Us Today?

Robert A. Cathey McCormick Theological Seminary

The Barmen Declaration became one of the But already by 1979, Presbyterians had roots of the Confession of 1967 that was begun to wonder if the message of recon- crafted by the United Presbyterian Church ciliation was the most prophetic Christian in the U.S.A. Both Barmen and the Con- word for this age. The emergence of diverse fession of 1967 were published in the Book movements and theologies of political and of Confessions approved as the confessional social liberation among standards of the largest of the Presbyterian • Christian-based communities in Latin denominations in the U.S. In the midst of America, the movements of the 1960s for free speech, • Black Power movements that pressed be- civil rights, protests against the Vietnam yond integration toward cultural and eco- War, and the proliferation of weapons of nomic liberation for all in the pan-African mass destruction in the Cold War, Barmen Diaspora, and the Confession of 1967 were published • the women’s liberation and gay rights alongside the historic creeds of the early movements, Church and Reformed confessions of the • local and national movements for greater sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. political and economic freedoms in The Confession of 1967 took as its —South Korea and the Philippines, central theme the reconciling work of God —Czechoslovakia and Poland, in Christ as the heart of the Christian mes- —Northern Ireland, Palestine/Israel, sage and the form of the church’s minis- and Africa… try to a world in revolution. This message All these posed new challenges for the mis- spoke to a generation of Presbyterians and sion of the church. How could there be other Christians in North America who reconciliation between peoples and groups were deeply engaged in ministries of recon- long estranged by racism, poverty, sexism, ciliation between formerly segregated Afri- and political oppression without liberation can Americans and Euro-Americans in the from social structures that inscribed vio- southern states, and between middle class lence and degradation into everyday life? whites in the suburbs and the urban poor When I was a seminarian and graduate in the inner cities who revolted. It fit well student in the late 1970s and the early 1980s in the era of the ministry of the Southern in New Jersey and New York, the struggle Christian Leadership Conference and Mar- to end the apartheid regime in South Africa tin Luther King Jr.’s message of non-violent was the most gripping movement. It called civil disobedience on behalf of dismantling upon American Presbyterians to ask, were racial segregation and poverty. we now in a situation of status confessionis?

Currents in Theology and Mission 36:2 (April 2009) Cathey. What Can the Barmen Declaration Teach Us Today?

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Had we reached a moment of Kairos when all movements of resistance as Communist the church must either confess its faith and or Socialist and therefore evil, and the el- endure the consequences or fail to be the evation of the national security state above church of Christ? Was it time for institu- the common good produced a new idol, tions of higher and theological education, the “God of the State.” The ideology of the for denominations, labor unions, and pub- apartheid regime, its allusions to Scripture lic pension funds to divest their holdings in its constitution, its appeals to God and from corporations like IBM that profited need for Christian chaplains to serve in its from the sale of products that were used by military and police forces are all rejected as the South African minority government to expressions of idolatry. maintain the apparatus of apartheid over The second critique is leveled at the majority population? “church theology.” The target was those The theological document that Christian churches and ministers who saw emerged out of the struggle in South Africa their role as reconcilers and moderates be- in the 1980s and that bears the strongest tween the brutality of the state and the vio- resemblance to several of the themes of the lence of the people’s revolution. The minis- Barmen Declaration was the Kairos Docu- ters of “church theology” drew upon three ment of September 1985. themes from the Christian tradition: recon- The Kairos Document is a distinc- ciliation, justice, and non-violence. They tive theological statement. It was drafted, appealed to these three as absolutes that debated, and signed by a truly ecumeni- Christians must apply to every situation cal collective of Christians, Protestant and regardless of the imbalances of power. The Roman Catholic, pastors, lay theologians, authors of the Kairos document argue that and academics in South Africa who were al- neither Scripture nor the Christian tradition ready engaged in the liberation struggle. It call for an absolute rejection of lethal force is presented to its readers as an open-ended or coercion in every situation of aggression document for discussion and debate. Read- and tyranny. In this regard, Kairos sets itself ers are challenged to test its claims against clearly within the western Christian tradi- Scripture and social analysis of facts on the tion of justified war under circumstances ground in South Africa. of aggression and the Reformed tradition The Kairos Christians critiqued two of justified revolution against states that forms of theology that they found already defy the commandments of God. Christian operative in their situation, and proposed a appeals for reconciliation between a tyran- third radical alternative. nical government and oppressed peoples, Their first critique was leveled at “state verbal affirmations of justice as an abstract theology” that appealed to Romans 13 as the principle, and passive non-violence easily foundation of the legitimacy of the South play into the tactics of the tyrants who need African government. In our context, we a passive, non-violent church to subvert the might refer to “state theology” as the codi- revolution of the people. fication of civil religion in North America. Beyond state and church theology, Notions that the apartheid government was Kairos calls for a prophetic theology. Such divinely ordained, that the maintenance of theology is rooted in the rhythm of social law and order necessitated the brutal reaction, analysis, and critical reflection on pression of the majority population when it the concrete situations where the word of revolted in the townships, the portrayal of God must be faithfully proclaimed and dra- Cathey. What Can the Barmen Declaration Teach Us Today?

132 matically performed. By an exegetical study fit the ambiguities of moral and political of terms for oppression in the Bible, and choice today. historical reflection on Christian critiques Yet many of us, but not all of us, live of tyranny as the enemy of the common in a social world where most of the enemies good and therefore always illegitimate as we have limit their opposition to verbal at- a form of government, Kairos builds a case tacks and passive–aggressive manipulation. for hopeful action to bring down the ruling In times and places where persons have real regime and create a new society. enemies bent upon the destruction of the In its final challenge to action, the doc- church and the subversion of civil liberties ument does not dictate that all prophetic and civil rights, Barmen and Kairos still Christians should take up arms against their speak words of hope and comfort. These oppressors or engage in non-violent civil dis- are documents for bleeding Christians and obedience. Rather, the confessors call Chris- defiant churches who seek to follow in the tians into local dialogues about what would path of Jesus and the company of the saints. be the most appropriate forms of ministry May their words disturb us as we remember and actions for social justice under the cir- the brutality of mass murderers like Saddam cumstances of tyranny. Surprisingly, their Hussein, and the invasions and occupations call is for South Africans to take up the strug- of other nations by our own nation. gle without an explicit appeal to Christians outside South Africa to trigger the revolution Select Bibliography through divestment or other means. Ackerman, Peter and Jack DuVall. “South Their theological theme in this section Africa: Campaign against Apartheid.” Chap. 9. A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent and throughout the document is that the Conflict. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000. God of the Bible is Yahweh who takes sides The Confession of 1967. Chap. 10. Office with the slaves and oppressed. In Jesus of of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church Nazareth, God has sided with his oppressed (U.S.A.). The Book of Confessions. Louisville, KY: people to the point of suffering and death Presbyterian Distribution Services, 1999. Dowey, Edward A., Jr. A Commentary on as an enemy of the tyrannical state. The the Confession of 1967 and An Introduction to language of this document is one of binary “The Book of Confessions.” Philadelphia: West- oppositions: oppressor and oppressed, a minster Press, 1968. just God and an unjust state, taking sides The Kairos Theologians. The Kairos Docu- with evil or revolution, idolatry versus the ment: Challenge to the Church: A Theological Comment on the Political Crisis in South Africa. struggle for liberation. In this regard, Kairos Grand Rapids: MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1986. echoes the binary opposition of true and Serfontein, J. H. P. Apartheid, Change and false doctrine in Barmen. the NG Kerk. Emmarentia, South Africa, Taurus, In this first decade of the twenty-first 1982. century, both Barmen and Kairos should The Theological Declaration of Barmen. Chap. 9. Office of the General Assembly, Pres- profoundly disturb us. Contemporary byterian Church (U.S.A.). The Book of Confes- Christians in Hyde Park pride our selves sions. Louisville, KY: Presbyterian Distribution on being late modernists or radical post- Services, 1999. modernists. We have given up on all binary oppositions as too simple, too exclusive to The Historical Context of the Barmen Declaration

Kurt K. Hendel Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

The relatively short period from the be- Gleichschaltung (equalization; synchroniza- ginning of 1933 until the end of 1946 is tion; coordination) whose purpose was to clearly the most dreadful and tragic time in place all of Germany’s political, social, cul- German history and, arguably, one of the tural, and religious institutions under the most horrendous moments in all of human authority and control of the Nazi regime. history. It is a puzzling, disturbing, and On February 28, 1933, individual rights complex time which dare never be forgot- granted by the Constitution of the Weimar ten since it serves as a startling manifesta- Republic were abolished. As a result, any- tion of humanity’s brokenness and of the one could be arrested, even without show- pervasive power of sin and evil in our lives. ing cause. On April 7, 1933, the infamous It is also a constant reminder to people of Aryan paragraph was introduced as part of faith how easily religious ideals and beliefs the Gleichschaltung efforts. Its ultimate goal can be perverted; how readily even believ- was to remove Jews, even if they had be- ers fall into the trap of idolatry; how crucial come Christians, from leadership positions, it is to distinguish between Christ and cul- especially in the government, economic in- ture; how powerful a sin racism is; and how stitutions, universities, and the church. a sense of being wronged can blind people Other legislation and administrative to the atrocities which they are willing to measures directed against the Jewish pop- perpetrate on others. It is also a time which ulation of Germany followed during the witnesses to the courage of people, includ- course of the 1930s. However, the Aryan ing people of faith; to the ambiguities of paragraph was the immediate impetus for ethical behavior; and to the power of the opposition to Hitler within the Lutheran, gospel and of faith in people’s lives. Reformed, and Union Churches of Ger- Adolf Hitler officially came to power many. On September 21, 1933, the Pfar- on January 30, 1933. Initially Hitler’s elec- rernotbund, or Pastors’ Emergency League, tion was supported and welcomed by the was begun in Wittenberg by three pastors majority of Christians in Germany because from Berlin; Herbert Goltzen, Günther Ja- his ascension to power was accompanied by cob and Eugen Weschke. Two other Berlin the promise and hope of economic recov- pastors, Martin Niemöller and Dietrich ery, social stability, and the restoration of Bonhoeffer, especially the former, quickly order. However, the true nature of Hitler’s emerged as leaders of the League. The vision and programs soon became appar- stated purpose of the Pfarrernotbund was to ent. He immediately initiated his policy of oppose the Aryan paragraph, to resist the

Currents in Theology and Mission 36:2 (April 2009) Hendel. The Historical Context of the Barmen Declaration

134 removal of Jewish pastors, and to support Church, were realities by the end of 1933, these pastors and their families in whatever and the Kirchenkampf, or church struggle, way possible. The first official meeting of had begun. While the German Church the Pfarrernotbund occurred on October 20, was never able to implement its programs 1933, and it quickly attracted a substantial completely and thus to eradicate traditional number of pastors. Within four months, Christianity, it did succeed in making most the League numbered 7,036 members or German Christians quietists in the face of about twenty percent of evangelical pas- Nazi atrocities, especially against the Jews. tors in Germany. However, support for the Müller was never an effective leader, and by League diminished as Hitler’s policies were 1937 Hitler seems to have lost interest in implemented, and fewer than five thousand his ecclesiastical agenda. This reality may members remained active by 1938. Ironi- have had something to do with the fact that cally, only a few of the pastors made opposi- he was fully in control of German society tion to the racist policies of the Nazi regime by that time and frankly did not need the a high priority. Indeed, even Martin Nie- institutional church in order to carry out möller expressed anti-Semitic opinions in his political, social, and military agendas. It some of his sermons, although his critique is important to note, however, that many was voiced specifically against Jews who had people suffered as a result of the policies of refused to convert to Christianity. Dietrich the German Christians, and many more Bonhoeffer was the leading spokesperson must have experienced significant spiritual of those who ardently and consistently op- crises as they acquiesced to Hitler’s religious posed Nazi anti-Semitism, but he and his demands, either because of fear or conve- cohorts were clearly in the minority, even in nience, but recognized the incompatibility the Pastors’ Emergency League and in the of the German Christian movement with ecclesiastical movement which it inspired, their faith traditions. namely, the Confessing Church. As I have indicated, however, there Even as the Pfarrernotbund began to were those who refused to submit to the express its opposition to the Nazis, the ideology and policies of the German Chris- National Socialist government continued tian movement. Indeed, they opposed its effort to gain control of all aspects of them, sometimes actively and sometimes German society, including the church. The passively, through their participation in the various territorial churches were united Kirchenkampf and the Confessing Church. into a German Protestant Reich church, The official beginning of the Confess- the Deutsche Evangelische Kirche. It merged ing Church is usually identified with the twenty-nine territorial churches, and one meeting of the Confessing Synod of Ger- of its chief agenda items was to purify the man Evangelical Churches in Barmen from Christian church from all Jewish vestiges, May 29-31, 1934. It was, of course, at Bar- including the Old Testament. On Septem- men that the Confessing Church adopted ber 27, 1933, Ludwig Müller was appoint- the Barmen Declaration. The document ed Reichsbischof. He was an ardent Nazi and itself was produced by Hans Asmussen, a espoused the Nazi theme of one Volk, one Lutheran, and by Karl Barth, a Swiss Re- Reich and one church. The German Chris- formed theologian teaching in Germany at tian movement, as it ironically came to the time. Barth was, of course, the leading be called, and its opponents, who eventu- spirit behind the Barmen Declaration. ally came to be known as the Confessing While the German Christians experi- Hendel. The Historical Context of the Barmen Declaration

135 enced various difficulties, so did the Con- Church in defending the Jews and resisting fessing Church, and divisions resulted. the anti-Semitic policies of Hitler is apparent Bonhoeffer and Barth, surely the most in the fact that there was very little response important theological voices within the in Germany to the events of Kristallnacht on Confessing Church, often disagreed with November 9, 1938, and minimal outrage as one another. Barth also left Germany and the realities of Hitler’s “final solution” to the returned to his native Switzerland where he Jewish question became apparent. It must began an illustrious teaching and writing be noted that Bonhoeffer and some of his career at the University of Basel. Although close friends and relatives did pursue dip- he continued to correspond with leaders of lomatic efforts which were intended to re- the Confessing Church, he was not present move Hitler from power. Eventually, some in Germany to provide personal leadership. of these individuals, including Bonhoeffer, Not surprisingly, the congregations, pastors, and academic theologians who joined the Confessing Church often disagreed ome were about the nature of their response to Hit- ler’s religious, social, and political policies more willing to and actions. Some were more willing to S cooperate with the government than oth- cooperate with the ers, often because of professed loyalties to the Vaterland. Others were convinced that government than ardent opposition to Hitler was absolutely essential and necessitated by the Chris- others, often because tian faith. Although Hitler’s anti-Semitism served as the initial impetus for organizing of professed loyalties to the Pfarrernotbund and ultimately the Con- fessing Church, it is important to note that the Vaterland. Others the Barmen Declaration does not specifically mention the persecution of the Jews. The were convinced that majority of the Confessing Church was also not inclined to make the Nazi treatment of ardent opposition to the Jews a high priority in its opposition to Hitler. Bonhoeffer was the leading spokes- Hitler was absolutely person of those who persistently voiced opposition to Nazi anti-Semitic policies. There essential and necessitated were, of course, others like Pastor Paul Sch- neider, the “preacher of Buchenwald,” who by the Christian faith. lost his life in that concentration camp, and Pastor Heinrich Grüber, who was the leader of an effort to hide Jews, whether they were baptized or not, or to help them became involved in a series of plots against escape from Germany. His underground Hitler’s life. While these efforts did not suc- movement functioned until 1943 when the ceed, they are an indication of the lengths Nazis were able to stop these efforts. to which individual Germans, including The ineffectiveness of the Confessing those who were ultimately motivated by Hendel. The Historical Context of the Barmen Declaration

136 their faith, were willing to go for the sake of men Declaration. I do believe, however, Germany, for the sake of civilization, and, that the Barmen Synod and the Barmen at least in Bonhoeffer’s case, for the sake of Declaration had and still have significant the Jewish people. ecclesiastical and theological significance. My colleagues will reflect on the theo- Those few days mark an important moment logical and ecclesiastical significance of the when Christian people were willing to take Barmen Declaration. I simply offer this a public stand inspired by and consistent concluding comment regarding the Synod with their most profound theological and and the Declaration of Barmen. Neither faith convictions. That is worth celebrat- the Synod nor the Declaration has crucial ing and remembering as a challenge and historical significance, in my opinion. The encouragement to the community of faith course of history was not changed by the in any particular context or at any particu- events or the message of Barmen. Hitler’s lar moment. Barmen continues to remind regime was not toppled. The Confessing us that there are times when we should, Church often forgot the ultimate meaning indeed, must, make a confession. In addi- of the Declaration during the course of the tion, the particular confession articulated next decade and a half. Most Germans were so concisely and boldly in the Declaration not persuaded by the claims of the Dec- is essential, if the church seeks to proclaim laration. The events of the years immedi- a message that is consistent with the very ately following Barmen were not decisively center of its faith and desires to live in ways shaped by the spirit and content of the Bar- that reflect this faith. The Barmen Theological Declaration: On Celebrating a Text Out of Context 75 Years Later

Vítor Westhelle Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

Theological declarations and confessions are and a few elements of its context, largely most often best celebrated than explained unknown to us in the twenty-first century, or translated from one context to another. without forgetting to touch upon its nu- The contexts in which they were formulat- ances and idiosyncrasies. This year, 2009, ed are nearly impossible to recover in times marks the 75th anniversary of the declara- and places other than when and where tion, a proper occasion for a celebration. A they were birthed. In other words, crucial sketch of the significance of its observance aspects of the content may be transposable and punctual relevance as a historical mark- but the context as such is not entirely avail- er of a moment of creative, even revolution- able to us, thus turning the translated text ary theological dissonance will then follow. into a counterfeit when applied to different The Barmen Theological Declaration, context. Between the text and the context though issued under the auspices of the there is a mutual correlation that influences Confessing Church movement in a meeting both and largely determines not only the of several of its theologians, was originally relevance of the text but also the gist of the drafted by Karl Barth, who penned it, “for- argument. To use an illustration from pho- tified by strong coffee and one or two Brazil tography, in another context the “portrait” cigars,”1 while his Lutheran co-workers had (text) becomes out of focus; something is their afternoon siesta.2 The document fol- still visible and recognizable but the sharp- lows the conventional form of declarations ness of the image is no longer there, lead- and confessions in its written format. It ing one to incorporate images that might begins with an epigraph, which is a quota- not have been originally there. However, tion from the Scriptures or a canonic docu- what can be recognized is the intent of the ment. A fundamental theological thesis is photographer; if the substance is not entire- then proposed. Finally an anathema is is- ly available there, the principle, the gesture sued. It is the latter that indicates the road that led to the shot is what is left and passed on. And that is what we celebrate. 1. Eberhard Busch, Karl Barth, (Grand The Barmen Declaration is such a case Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1982), 245. in point. Therefore, my attempt here will 2. Karl Barth: A Theologian of Freedom (ed. be to make a brief but critical case of what Clifford Green,; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991), I regard to be the nucleus of the declaration 148.

Currents in Theology and Mission 36:2 (April 2009) Westhelle. The Barmen Theological Declaration: On Celebrating a Text Out of Context

138 not taken and gives us a glimpse into the Germany to show solidarity with those who context being addressed. The text, follow- where being the victims of the Nazi regime, ing its preamble, presents six theses. Thesis above all the Jews, has at its theological core 2 is the theological and polemical center, an exclusivist and Christocentric statement. the pivot on which the rest of the text gravi- Its effectiveness was so momentous because tates. In this thesis the theological ground- of the politico-theological and ecclesial ings that mark the divide between the Ger- context in which it was pronounced. man Christians and the Confessing Church Theologians at the time, many of Lu- are presented. For this reason, I confine my theran persuasion, were working with a brief remarks to this thesis as it reads: sociological category, developed by Max 2. “Christ Jesus, whom God has made our Weber and followed by significant theo- 4 wisdom, our righteousness and sanctifica- logical voices at the time, that there were tion and redemption.” (1 Cor 1:30.) spheres of life in an age of disenchantment Jesus Christ is God’s assurance [Zus- (Entzauberung), particularly in politics and pruch] of the forgiveness of all our sins, economics, in which reason was autono- so, in the same way and with the same mous, not subject to the control of beliefs, seriousness he is also God’s mighty claim emotions, dispositions, or aesthetic values. [Anspruch] upon our whole life. Through It is worth remembering here that in Lu- him befalls us a joyful deliverance from the godless fetters of this world for a free, theran circles the expression “two spheres” grateful service to his creatures. or “realms” was already common currency We reject the false doctrine, as though throughout the nineteenth century.5 But it there were areas of our life in which we was just a year before the Barmen Decla- would not belong to Jesus Christ, but to ration that the expression “Two Kingdoms other lords [Herren]—areas in which we Doctrine” (Zwei-Reiche-Lehre)6 was first would not need justification and sanctifica- used in a technical sense, and elevated to tion through him.3 the status of “doctrine,” often in order to buttress this separation of spheres. The mo- This thesis forms the theological nu- tivating force of the Barmen Declaration cleus of the declaration. Its basic claim is was to fight against this autonomy of the that Christ is the only Lord. Hence, it is realm of reason from the realm of faith, but proposed that there is nothing over which it did it by imposing an absolute Christo- he does not have a claim or authority, even centric focus. though it might be recognized that the With the establishment of the Nazi declaration of forgiveness is not accepted regime, this notion of autonomy was used by all. But herein lies the problem: while this thesis may be effective in targeting Nazi 4. See Ulrich Duchrow, Christenheit und idolatry, if used literally in other contexts it Weltverantwortung: Tradditionsgeschichte und sys- will cause significant collateral damage. The tematische Struktur der Zweireichelehre (Stuttgart: Klett, 1970), 582-84. Barmen declaration, one of the most important documents that caused a represen- 5. See Uwe Rieske-Braun, Zwei-Bereiche- tative portion of the Protestant church in Lehre und christlicher Staat (Güttersloh: Ver- laghaus, 1993). 3. The Barmen Theological Declaration of 1934: The Archeology of a Confessional Text (ed. 6. Franz Lau, “Äusserliche Ordnung” und Rolf Ahlers; Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen, “weltlich Ding” in Luthers Theologie (Göttingen: 1986), art. 2 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1933). Westhelle. The Barmen Theological Declaration: On Celebrating a Text Out of Contex

139 to extend the power of the state even into are very pluralistic should make this point affairs of the church, which is clarified and self-evident. Even the language that is used, critiqued in Thesis 3. The circumstantial ef- “Lord,” “Master,” etc., betrays this exclu- fectiveness of Barmen under a totalitarian sivitic tendency toward a Christomonism. state can only be read under the conditions And this might be a lesson for us to learn in which it was brought about. Taken out about the contextuality of theology: Do not of context, and reading it as a theological try to make a claim that emerges in its own and universally valid theological axiom, circumstances by recruiting some past in can produce, in other circumstances, pre- order to justify it. What we call “tradition” cisely the opposite of what was intended. either in a positive or a negative sense is a The declaration was concerned to not allow form of appealing to a selective past in or- the separation of creation from salvation, der to underwrite the present. This is what the realm of responsibility from the realm Karl Barth himself did only some months of redemption. This was the same plight before he put his pen to work at Barmen, that early dialectical theology, which was even as he spares Luther and Calvin. the driving force behind Barmen, criticized 7 The error which has broken out today in in nineteenth century theology. However, the theology and Church politics of the what Barmen evoked so effectively to coun- German-Christians originated neither in ter a political totalitarianism can be read in the school of Luther nor of Calvin, but different, non-totalitarian, and above all rather (Schleiermacher, R. Roth, W. Bey- pluralistic circumstances, as an exclusivistic schlag might be named among its particular claim of the Christian faith and a “totalitar- fathers) the typical error of the final phase of 8 ianism” of the church and its mission. The that “Union” of the nineteenth century. presence of the majority of Christians now in the twenty- first century in societies that Barmen, by the very exclusivist claims it makes, is able to keep ethics and world 7. Incidentally, this was what Bonhoeffer responsibility within the theological realm. did in his practice and his theology, when he This is above all Barth’s (its main author) called for a reading of the Scripture being not accomplishment. By doing so, at least at the only, nor even uniquely, a narrative of redemption, at least not an extra-historical redemption. time of the Barmen Declaration, he exiles See his Letters and Papers from Prison (London: all reality that has not received the assur- SCM, 1971), 337: “The decisive factor is said to ance (Zuspruch) of forgiveness by Christ be that in Christianity the hope of resurrection alone from the claim (Anspruch) God has is proclaimed, and that means the emergence of a genuine religion of redemption…in a better upon all of life. But all of life is claimed world beyond the grave. But is this really the es- by God, the creator, even without recog- sential character of the proclamation of Christ in nizing the assurance of the forgiveness by the gospels and by Paul? I should say not.…The Christ—also life beyond Christendom. Christian, unlike the devotees of the redemption The proverbial defenestration of the baby myths, has no last line of escape available from earthly tasks and difficulties into the eternal, but with the bath water illustrates the problem. like Christ himself (“My God, my God, why Barmen restricts God’s Anspruch (claim) to hast thou forsaken me?”), he must drink the earthy cup to the dregs, and only in his doing so 8. “On the Situation 1933-34,” in Karl is the crucified and risen Lord with him, and he Barth, The German Church Conflict (trans. P. T. crucified and risen with Christ.This world must A. Parker; Richmond: John Knox Press, 1965), not be prematurely written off; in this the Old and 27. New Testaments are at one.” Westhelle. The Barmen Theological Declaration: On Celebrating a Text Out of Contex

140 the redeeming Zuspruch (assurance or dec- Christology. Certainly Christians do accept laration) by Christ. The target of Barmen God’s claim because of and within the decla- is clear; God’s Anspruch cannot be divided ration of forgiveness in Christ; yet the non- into different realms of jurisdiction as the acceptance of the Zuspruch (the assurance German-Christians were doing within a of forgiveness) of God through Christ does Christian cultural context. But against not cancel God’s Anspruch (God’s claim the backdrop of the pluralistic contexts as over all creation). those we are in now, Barmen’s aim sadly is Whilst recognizing the contextual nature of even such a memorable document as Barmen, the translation of which to he celebration other circumstances creates insurmount- of Barmen in able difficulties, it is equally pertinent to T celebrate its timely and prophetic insur- gence. As I read the present and current our own circumstances state of affairs, it would be wrong to say that Barmen has to be celebrated in spite is vital because we of its limiting circumstances; it needs, however, to be celebrated because and in might have the vision remembrance of the limits of its context. The celebration of Barmen in our own cir- to detect the cracks cumstances is vital because we might have the vision to detect the cracks and fissures and fissures that need that need to be exposed in the dominant systems of our day. It might also lay bare to be exposed in the the pain and suffering it might entail and dissonance it causes within the theological dominant systems of systems we construe. Those theologians and church people gathered in Barmen our day. with their swords of pen were able to see and name it for their time when most of off target. That is, in a multi-religious con- the people did not see it. This is why we text to secure the undivided claim of God ought to celebrate it so that we might do by Christ’s assurance of forgiveness severs the same for our time and detect the fis- precisely the claim that God has over the sures and cracks in the systems, and name entire creation. While it is crucial that we the powers that are so skilled in disguising recognize the danger of keeping the spheres them. These cracks, to use an expression of reason and faith, the secular and the reli- of Walter Benjamin, once laid bare are gious autonomously apart and thus dividing “chips of messianic time…the small gates the claim or the sources of God’s authority through which the messiah might enter.”9 toward all that is created—one pertaining to And she might even come as a little Dalit all humanity and the other to the redeemed Hindu girl. by Christ—it is equally pertinent that we not surrender the freedom of all creatures in response to the claims of God, lest we 9. Walter Benjamin, Illuminations: Essays and Reflections, (New York: Schocken Books, reduce creation theology to a neo-orthodox 1968), 264.

Book Reviews

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that has done so.” On Eliade, Herling says, by Book Reviews means of symbol, myth, and ritual, “the sacred and its appearances come to provide an organizing principle for human life.” His sketches of Jung, Turner, and Smart were, I thought, A Beginner’s Guide to the Study of Religion. done especially well. The final chapter points By Bradley L. Herling. New York: Continu- to some emerging issues in the study of religion um, 2007. xii + 135 pages. Paper. $13.95. (e.g. perspective, gender, race and identity, globalization). His discussion here is frequently This is a handy little book for those who are incisive. On embodiment, for example, Her- looking for a quick overview of the terrain of ling states, religious traditions “employ the religious studies that goes beyond an encyclo- imagery of the body to clarify and explain our pedia entry, but is not nearly so densely for- position in the world—conceiving it, for ex- ested as a more complete volume on theories ample, as the body of God/a god, or marking of religion such as The Routledge Companion to off sacred places as locations where the divine the Study of Religion or Ivan Strenski’s Think- body made contact with it.” Likewise his dis- ing About Religion. Herling does not pretend cussion of globalization, immigrants, pluralism to be exhaustive. His intention is to “get begin- and diaspora is as fine an introduction as I’ve ning students ready for learning about religion seen in the space of 3 paragraphs or so. by presenting the most significant aspects of This is the type of book that I could imag- a methodical and theoretical approach to it.” ine using at the beginning of a world religions Herling’s ultimate goal is to provide the reader course in order to help students understand with tools to understand religious data (i.e. how scholars seek to understand religions. Or doctrines, beliefs, texts, rituals, experiences, it might be used in course on research and testimonies, symbols, and art). Herling wants methods. It is not a theology text per se, but his readers to be familiar with the variety of it helps those of us who are theologians under- ways that we can think about religion. He stand both our discipline and the location of aims to be concise and clear. If you are looking our discipline in relation to the larger field of for an extended discussion of the merits and religious studies. I recommend it heartily! weaknesses of say, Emile Durkheim, this is the David C. Ratke wrong book for you. Lenoir-Rhyne College The first chapter provides an argument Hickory, NC 28603 for studying religion and defines terms and concepts (self-consciousness, comparison, de- familiarization, and empathy). Chapter 2 explains what a “theory” is (particularly in the Fortress Introduction to the History of Chris- study of religion) as well as describing how a tianity in the United States. By Nancy theory helps us interpret religion by indicat- Koester. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007. ing what it does (i.e. definition, description, 250 pages. Paper. $ 18.00. explanation, and prediction). Chapters 3 and 4 provide brief overviews of a range of theories Reading this volume is like visiting a national about religion. Some of his sketches succeed park, as Nancy Koester promised. It is a quick but admirably in his aim of being clear and concise. exhaustive visit, traversing different significant On Durkheim, he says “religion is not rooted trails in the history of American religion. This in an individual experience because the social book narrates the story of American Christian- community generates all religion (and thus all ity—how America shaped its Christianity and religious experience) in the same way that an how Christianity impacted American history. individual inherits a language he has not made: Indeed, it is a stunning narration of the intellec- no one person invents a language; it is society tual history of American Christianity. Although Book Reviews

143 cursory in its commentary, the book guides its view of the challenges and opportunities faced readers to helpful library and web resources. It by Lutherans throughout the world, especially incorporates stories of ethnic and confessional those in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle minorities such as African Americans, Hispan- East, and Europe. The book is the result of a ics, Quakers and Mormons. Koester weaves conference held at Concordia College, Moor- together the issues of gender and women’s reli- head, Minnesota, in 2004. It is valuable for gious activism throughout the book. pastors, seminarians, and laity, since it indicates The book traces the beginnings of Ameri- that Lutheranism is a growing movement in Af- can Christianity to the European Reformation rica and Asia despite the fact that it appears to be and New England Puritans and also identifies in decline in North America and Europe. indigenous factors, such as the Amerindian In the opening essay, Jan Pranger (Con- religions, slavery and confessional pluralism, cordia, Moorhead) points out that “statistically in the evolution of American Christianity. speaking, Christianity today is a non-Western Describing how the Great Awakenings, En- religion. Of the roughly two billion Christians lightenment, and the American Revolution living in the year 2000, Africa (360 million), influenced religion in the continent, Koester Asia (313 million) and Latin America (480 also highlights the role of Christianity in move- million) make up 42 percent. The shift toward ments for and against slavery. She construes the the South is only expected to be more pro- labor movement, the Social Gospel, revivalism, nounced over time…” (11). For Christians in Adventism, and Pentecostalism as various re- “the South,” the Bible is read in new ways. The sponses to Modernity. While the Fundamen- biblical message of liberation of the oppressed talist-Modernist controversy and the move- “provides a direct source of empowerment” ments for Temperance and Women’s Suffrage (12). These Christians are also apt to read bib- dominated Christianity between the Second lical, “supernatural” events, such as healing and World War and the Cold War, the Civil Rights exorcism, as speaking to their needs. Lutheran- movement, the sexual revolution, and reviv- ism has grown in Africa and Asia “from 8.54 alism, represented by preachers such as Billy million in 1989 to 22.3 million in 2006, with Graham, characterized the last four decades of the greatest growth clearly in Africa where the the twentieth century. number of Lutherans tripled in these eighteen This volume is a valuable and easy-to-read years” (17). Likewise, in Asia, the Protestant textbook for college and seminary students with Christian Batak Church of Indonesia, a Lu- helpful suggestions for further research. Neatly theran body, is rapidly growing. woven trails, vividly identified connections and Such growth comes with challenges. In his appropriate introductions to communities and essay, Musimbi Kanyoro (Kenya) indicates that movements make the book a pleasure to read. African Christianity must face the reality of College students and scholars interested in the poverty and religious pluralism (30-31). Elel- intellectual history of American Christianity wani Bethuel Farisani (South Africa) also notes will find it very helpful. the need of the church to specifically address James E. Taneti ethnic conflict (44). And, Pongsak Limthong- Union Theological Seminary-PSCE. viratn (ELCA churchwide office) claims that the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers opens opportunities for ministry among Asian The Future of Lutheranism in a Global Con- Lutherans, but that patriarchy has hindered text. Edited by Arland Jacobson and James the equal role of women in ministry (47-58). J. Aageson. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008. xi + Paul Rajashekar (Lutheran Theological Semi- 205 pages. Paper. $17.99. nary at Philadelphia) focuses on the mission of Lutheranism in India, particularly its ministry This volume, consisting of thirteen essays by to the Dalits (outcasts), which has been op- leaders in world Lutheranism, presents an over- posed by traditional Hindus (72). Book Reviews

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With respect to South America, Win- Studying the Bible without (Much) ston Persuad (Wartburg Seminary) addresses Knowledge of Greek (or Hebrew): the witness of Lutheranism in the Caribbean and intertwines a strong sense of social justice A Conversation with William D. with an equally strong confessional theology: Mounce’s Greek for the Rest of Us “justification by faith is both evangelical proc- and Reverse Interlinear lamation…and a necessary hermeneutic to distinguish between the gospel and distortions Greek for the Rest of Us: Mastering Bible Study of it” (89). With respect to ethnic pluralism, without Mastering Biblical Languages. he points out that “the Evangelical Lutheran By William D. Mounce. Grand Rap- Church in Guyana (ELCG) has a majority ids: Zondervan, 2003. 320 pages. Cloth. East-Indian membership and a significant mi- $34.99. nority Afro-Guyanese membership, due to the Interlinear for the Rest of Us: The Reverse Interlin- replacement of African slaves as laborers on ear for New Testament Word Studies. By Wil- sugar plantations with East Indian immigrants liam D. Mounce. Grand Rapids: Zonder- between 1838 and 1917” (82). And, Victoria van, 2006. 928 pages. Cloth. $49.99. Cortez Rodriguez (Bishop, Nicaragua) provides an overview of the work of the church in In a perfect world with unlimited time and re- El Salvador and Nicaragua. sources for seminary education and formation, Looking to the Middle East and Europe, future pastors and other interested lay people Munib Younan (Bishop, Jerusalem) indicates would have two years (or more) to study both the role of the Lutheran Church in health and biblical Greek and Hebrew. Not all of us have social work in Palestine, as well as a robust theology of the cross (103). Maria Jepsen (Bish- op, Germany) provides a fine overview of the Protestant territorial churches in Germany; the governance of these churches is often unknown to German-Americans. And, Per Lønning (Bishop, Norway) argues that the Lutheran World Federation needs to keep globalism at the forefront of its ventures. Voicing the concerns of North Americans, Phyllis Anderson (Pacific Lutheran Theologi- cal Seminary) presents the challenges Luther- anism faces in the secular outlook of the West Coast, highlighting integrity and humility as strengths for ministry (143). Mark Hanson (Presiding Bishop, ELCA) convincingly con- tends that Lutheranism offers a resilient theology for North Americans as we move into the twenty-first century, a belief shared with his counterpart, Raymond Schultz, in Canada. All in all, this is an outstanding book to spend time with, one which keeps our own ministries in perspective, as we sense God working in many races, languages, and cultures. Mark C. Mattes Grand View College Des Moines, Iowa Book Reviews

145 that calling or leisure, however. To “the rest greater motivation for (read: less anxiety about) of us,” William D. Mounce (M) offers two re- learning Greek in the future; doubtless others sources with much promise and potential. In will have a similar reaction. Summer 2005 I used Greek for the Rest of Us Without a thorough knowledge of Greek, and portions of M’s Reverse Interlinear in a lay what skills for Bible study can one gain from education course for the Lutheran School of Greek for the Rest of Us? I wish M had ad- Theology in St. Louis. The following remarks dressed this question more clearly throughout reflect both my and the students’ reactions to his volume. Let me share what I think M wish- these books. es to accomplish and how the students and I While teaching at LSTC (1998-2000), I that summer used this book in conjunction used M’s serviceable introduction to biblical with other resources. After one has worked Greek, which has since appeared in a second through Greek for the Rest of Us, I would highly edition (Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar recommend the following three steps and ad- [Zondervan, 2003]). M offers Greek for the ditional resources. Rest of Us as a companion to his NIV English- Step One: Any of us can compare two Greek New Testament: A Reverse Interlinear. (or more) divergent English translations and Thus Greek for the Rest of Us is of valuable wonder why they are different. The main pur- use. To his credit, M humbly cautions what pose of a reverse interlinear is to rearrange the Greek for the Rest of Us cannot offer and notes original word order of the Greek (or Hebrew) aptly that there is no substitute for a thorough according to the word order of a contemporary introduction to Koine Greek. The book begins translation. Then one can readily see which with an introduction to the Greek language, al- English word(s) correspond to which Greek phabet and pronunciation. Most chapters are word(s). M’s Reverse Interlinear also parses each devoted to offering basic principles of Greek word in the Greek New Testament (for exam- semantics—easily digestible introductions ple, identifying a word as a noun in the dative to the most common uses of Greek conjunc- case, singular and feminine; or a verb in the tions, adjectives, phrases, clauses, verb tenses imperfect tense, active voice, third person and and moods, and noun cases (nominative, singular). With this information from M’s in- genitive, etc.), and how each of these compares terlinear, the student can consult Greek for the with English uses. These chapters are mostly Rest of Us and ascertain that two translations clear and well written and offer a helpful ref- differ because, for example, of different con- erence to which students can return time and struals of the dative case, the imperfect tense, again. In addition, M disperses throughout or a particular type of participle or infinitive. the volume several essays, which can be read Instead of the NIV, I would have preferred a and appreciated independently of the chapters reverse interlinear based on the NRSV. Nev- on Greek semantics. The essays concern Eng- ertheless, M’s reverse interlinear is useful even lish Bible translations and translation theory; to those unfamiliar with the NIV. Comparing a Bible study method that M calls “Phrasing” the NIV and NRSV, among other translations, (two essays); using reference books (e.g., con- on matters of Christology and gender inclusiv- cordances) and computer Bible software; word ity offers much food for thought indeed. One studies; how to read a Bible commentary; and can do so with greater insight because of these textual criticism. For those interested in a two books by M. similar approach to biblical Hebrew, M offers Step Two: In M’s interlinear each Greek a twenty-one page appendix on “Hebrew for word is assigned a number (Goodrick/ the Rest of Us.” The CD-Rom included with Kohlenberger’s numbers). For example, both the book offers recordings of M’s lectures and aÓpokalufqh/setai (Matt 10:26) and guides for pronouncing Greek, among other aÓpeka¿luyen (1 Cor 2:10) have the same resources. Some students shared with me that number (636), since they are forms of the reading Greek for the Rest of Us gave them same verb. One can look up that number to Book Reviews

146 find the lexical (i.e., dictionary) form of the Greek word (in this case, aÓpokalu/ptw) in Briefly Noted a resource such as John R. Kohlenberger III et al., eds., The Greek English Concordance to the New Testament (Zondervan, 1997). Such a concordance will also list every occurrence In The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manu- of that Greek term in the New Testament and scripts and Christian Origins (Erdmans, allow for study of the term (in English trans- $20), Hurtado examines manuscripts used by lation) in other contexts. Upon looking up early Christians as artifacts that reveal aspects of aÓpokalu/ptw under its number (636), the early Christianity: the earliest texts of Old and student will find twenty-six occurrences in the New Testament; the preference for the codex New Testament-four in Matthew, five in Luke, over the scroll; the use of nomina sacra (abbre- one in John, nine in the undisputed Pauline viations for sacred names); the staurogram (the letters, one in Ephesians, three in 2 Thessalo- chi–rho as the earliest symbol of the cross), and nians, three in 1 Peter and, interestingly, none the size of codices. It is not a work of textual in Mark or Revelation. criticism, but of theological and social history. Step Three: Finding the lexical term in a Hurtado includes a table of 246 second and Greek-English concordance allows one to look third century manuscripts (92 OT; 85 NT, up the word in Frederick W. Danker’s lexicon, and 49 other texts—plus a few from the fourth which offers a wealth of additional information century). This clearly written, interesting book (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament illuminates an otherwise overlooked source for and Other Early Christian Literature [Chicago: early Christian culture and faith. Edgar Krentz University of Chicago, 2000]). Danker has completed the manuscript for a shorter lexicon John E. Wilson’s Introduction to Modern of New Testament Greek that will appear from Theology: Trajectories in the German Tradi- the University of Chicago Press in the near tion (Westminster John Knox Press, $29.95) future (precise title not yet known). The only surveys German theology from Kant to Pan- prerequisite is knowledge of the Greek alpha- nenberg and Jüngel. Along the way he includes bet, which M introduces at the beginning of discussions of Whitehead, Tillich, Reinhard Greek for the Rest of Us. and Richard Niebuhr, and Martin Luther King The good news is that that these four Jr. Useful for understanding the state of theo- resources-Greek for the Rest of Us, a reverse in- logical research today. A good read. EK terlinear, an English-Greek concordance and Danker’s lexicon-can be used with great profit Giving to God: The Bible’s Good News about even by those who have not learned Greek. For Living a Generous Life’s seven chapters (Eerd- that matter, they offer much to pastors who mans, $13.00), by Mark Powell, are a readable may have forgotten (most of) their Greek years guide to a life of stewardship. Each chapter ago. In a perfect world such resources would be ends with good questions for discussion and a unnecessary. Given that all of us must now be good bibliography that will provide additional content with imperfect knowledge and, as the resources for the leader. This book deserves a apostle Paul says, seeing through a glass darkly place in parish libraries and wide use. EK (cf. 1 Cor 13:12a), our thanks are due to M, who offers to many the opportunity to see and learn so much more than is possible with only English language resources. I look forward to using again with students M’s Greek for the Rest of Us along with his revised reverse interlinear. James A. Kelhoffer Saint Louis University Preaching Helps

The Holy Trinity—Time after Pentecost—Lectionary 17 (Proper 12) “What Sunday after Pentecost is It?” “So what Sunday is it?” I find myself increasingly asked as we round the corner from Trinity Sunday into summer. Or, more precisely, “What happened to the Sundays after Pentecost?” While the lectionaries that preceded the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) used a variety of numbering systems for the weeks after Epiphany and Pentecost, including “Nth Sunday after,” “proper,” and “ordinary time,” the RCL suggests two systems: the Arabic lectionary number (Lectionary 15) or the calendar date range for the set of readings (Sunday, July 9-16). Yet, old habits die hard. ELCA congregations appear to be so attached to the designation “Nth Sunday after Pentecost” that you can find “conversion charts” to help negotiate these various numbering systems at the denomination’s worship web page (http://www.elca.org/Growing-In-Faith/Worship/Lectionary.aspx). In five columns, the charts tell you that

If today …it falls The “lectionary” …which is In 2009, this is…” within this number assigned to equivalent to Sunday is date range… this date range in “proper ___” in numerically the Evangelical Lutheran previous printed ‘____ Sunday Worship is…” lectionaries. after Pentecost.

Look up the calendar date in the first column and you will find the correct “Sunday after Pentecost” in the last column. During these Sundays after Pentecost, preachers also ask me why the readings don’t fit together so well. While for much of the year, the Old Testament reading is closely related to the Gospel reading, from the first Sunday after Trinity Sunday to the end of the church year, the RCL provides both a continuation of the complimentary Old Testament readings and a semi-continuous pattern of Old Testament readings. This year, the semi-continuous readings from the Old Testament focus on the covenant of David and Wisdom literature. Similarly, epistle readings, which are from 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, James, and He- brews, are intended to provide a semi-continuous reading of these letters rather than correspond to the Gospel. Depending on what readings are selected, the congregation might hear three parallel reading tracks, which are not intended to fit together. During this time of the year, making the readings fit together frequently requires very “creative” exegesis, and should therefore be avoided. If you wonder where the Revised Common Lectionary came from, another question I am frequently asked, it is the work of the Consultation on Common Texts, an ecumenical consultation of liturgical scholars and denominational representatives from the United States and Canada who produce liturgical texts for use in common by North American Christian Churches (http://www.commontexts.org/). Gail Ramshaw’s A Three-Year Ban- quet (Augsburg Fortress, 2004) explains how the Revised Common Lectionary was developed and how the gospels, the first readings and the epistles are assigned. I find Fritz West’s Scripture and Memory: The Ecumenical Hermeneutic of the Three-Year Lectionary (Liturgical Press, 1997) very helpful. An outline of the lecture “Lectionary Patterns and Strategies,” which is part of the required preaching course I teach and includes strategies for departing from the lectionary, is available on my web site. Visit http://craigasatterlee.com and click the Preaching tab. Amy R. Becker guides us through the first leg of our journey through ordinary time. Amy, a 2005 LSTC graduate, is the pastor of Unity Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI. Her experiences—first as a Lutheran Volunteer and then as a staff member at Nativity House, a daytime homeless shelter in Tacoma, WA—continue to have an impact on her life and ministry. Amy’s belief that worship and service inspire one another is lived out at Unity. The congregation holds a weekly Soup Kitchen, houses a Free Clinic and hosts a weekly Senior Center. These ministries, along with experiences in SE Clergy and EcCo, an interfaith group in her area, Anti-Racism training, and the Milwaukee Coalition energize Amy’s search for the various ways that God communicates with humanity. As my student, Amy always gave me something meaningful to think about. I find myself pondering this quip from these Preaching Helps: “Although we may not be scurrying around to catch up with a traveling healer or rabbi, we certainly can recognize the ways that we yearn for a Lord.” I am a lectionary preacher because the lectionary compels me to listen to God before I dare to say anything. I get really frustrated when preachers spend sermon time bashing the lectionary; what is most obvious to me is that they do not understand what the lectionary is (and is not) designed to do. As we begin this “ordinary time,” when the lectionary becomes a bit less ordinary, preaching is richer for the congregation and more joyous for the preacher when the preacher understands what the lectionary is trying to do. As you find time away this summer, I pray that you hear good preaching.

Craig A. Satterlee, Editor, Preaching Helps http://craigasatterlee.com Preaching Helps

149 The Holy Trinity Nicodemus is a fun character study in June 7, 2009 John because although he has some power, as a Pharisee, he carries that power rather meek- ly. In our text for this Sunday, he approaches Isaiah 6:1-8 Jesus under the cover of darkness and never Psalm 29 really seems to grasp what Jesus is saying. Romans 8:12-17 The next time we see Nicodemus, in 7:45- John 3:1-17 51, he starts to stand up for Jesus, but when he is ridiculed does not continue. Finally, First Reading with an also-secretive Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus says to Nicodemus, “…we speak of what Nicodemus anoints and buries Jesus’ body, we know and testify to what we have seen; yet following the crucifixion (19:38-42). Here, you do not receive our testimony. If I have in the one person-to-person interaction, Je- told you about earthly things and you do not sus speaks and testifies, but Nicodemus does believe, how can you believe if I tell you about not grasp the meanings. Yet, something in heavenly things?” (3:11-12). Isaiah’s call, with his interaction with Jesus encouraged him God overflowing from a temple, seraphs fly- first to attempt to defend Jesus and then to ing, and the house filled with smoke seems care for the crucified body. to come straight out of science fiction. This Nicodemus may not be able to reason it description would not fall under the “earthly all out, and yet this journey of faith is not only things” category that Jesus mentions. It is dra- worked out within one’s mind. Jesus speaks of matic and alarming. Isaiah is overwhelmed birth and rebirth. Birth certainly takes work, with the fullness of God’s glory and is struck but not work of the one being born. Nico- with his unworthiness. Isaiah’s earthshaking, demus is being reborn throughout John. In dramatic call includes the startling image of the same way that this rebirth is not through being cleansed with a burning coal. Isaiah our action, neither does being made a child of is not called until he is purified, in a cringe- God happen through our action, but rather inducing ritual. But, he knows that he is no through the action of the Spirit of God. longer “a man of unclean lips.” Paul writes to the Romans about being Pastoral Reflection led by the Spirit of God, rather than “ac- The readings for Holy Trinity Sunday talk of cording to the flesh.” At the end of the pre- extraordinary faith tenets that are difficult to vious chapter, Paul had been confessing his tangibly prove. No one else witnessed Isaiah’s inability to do what he wants, and the ease call; he had only his testimony. Not one of us in which sin takes over. In the text for this can provide legalized adoption papers to in- Holy Trinity Sunday, we hear that in crying dicate that we have been adopted as children to the Father, and having been adopted and of God and joint heirs with Christ. I won- made heirs with Christ, we are led by the der how many of us think we actually know Spirit of God. A triune explanation of how how to go about being born from above. Of God claims us, redeems us by joining us course, we also have the additional challenge with Christ, and leads us. It calls us to draw of capturing imaginations with, or at least our attention away from the earthly things, making some sense of the doctrine of the and focus on the heavenly things, or rather, Holy Trinity. Isaiah’s cry of “Woe is me! I am the heavenly being. lost…” may apply in more than one way. Preaching Helps

150 In a world where information and Time after Pentecost— proof is always being sought after, how does Lectionary 11 (Proper 6) a preacher or teacher speak of these “heavenly things”? One way would be to fol- June 14, 2009 low the example of Jesus (always…). Jesus uses something Nichodemus would know Ezekiel 17:22-24 —Moses lifting…Jesus approached this Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15 discussion in such a way that Nichodemus 2 Corinthians 5:6-17 could connect to it. Mark 4:26-34 You will know your context, but this is not only a question for how to prepare a ser- First Reading mon, but how anyone might approach con- As Ezekiel casts a vision for Israel, both of versation about heavenly things. In Barbara what has been and what God will make to Kingsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible, be, he uses vivid imagery of animals and plant the father of a family of missionaries makes life to refer to particular people and events. many patronizing mistakes, including at- The text for Proper 6 follows a section in tempting to baptize the Congolese amongst which the word of the Lord inspired Ezekiel whom he lives, only to fail to understand to “propound a riddle, and speak an allegory that they will not go into the river where a to the house of Israel” (17:2) about an eagle crocodile recently killed a girl.1 How do we (Nebuchadnezzar) who takes the topmost fail to recognize what connects and blocks shoot (Jehoiachin) of the cedar (Lebanon) people in our own communities? When are and transplants it—where it becomes a vine we more concerned with our own words, that then stretches towards another eagle than others’ experiences? (the pharaoh, Psammetichus II).2 Finally, what is most important this God, however, will step in to act, taking Trinity Sunday, is recognizing what God a shoot from the top of the cedar, planting does in these readings. God calls and puri- it so that it may produce fruit and become a fies Isaiah, readying him to prophecy. God noble cedar under which every kind of bird the Father makes the Romans, Paul, and will live. God will restore Israel, and all (ev- us children, joins us with Christ in inher- ery kind of bird) will be gathered into it. iting from God, and the Spirit leads. God In 2 Cor 5:6-17, the worshiper will became incarnate out of love for humanity also hear proclaimed that God is bringing and out of a desire to save the world. Jesus about new creation. Paul juxtaposes being teaches Nicodemus, even though he does at home in the body with being at home not seem to understand. We, like the face- with the Lord. He proposes that because covering seraphs in Isaiah, may not be able Christ died and was raised for all, all may to take in the wholeness of God, or have now live for Christ. What this means, then, a full grasp of God’s existence and ways of is the way in which a follower of Christ per- communicating. But, we do know these ceives others has changed. and other ways in which God has and con- Paul’s words may elicit a feeling of tinues to make Godself known. ARB 2 David L Petersen, Ezekiel, The Harper 1. Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Collins Study Bible, Wayne A. Meeks, ed. (New Bible (New York: HarperCollins, 1998), 81. York: HarperCollins, 1993), 1247. Preaching Helps

151 longing for this earthly existence to end sitting in the pews. Is what I say and name and an eagerness to be rid of the hindrances an authentic experience for the 80-year-old of the body. As he talks about being away that is going in for surgery tomorrow, or the from or at home with the Lord (vs 6-9), 25-year-old who feels like her recently cho- Paul makes it clear that he does not think sen career might not be the right choice? it is possible to both be “at home” in the In community life and in personal life, it body at the same time one is at home with seems that most conflicts rise due to differing the Lord. He speaks, in verse 13, of being points of view. Different experiences, expecta- “besides ourselves” which may refer to mys- tions and needs can all contribute to commu- tical experiences,3 giving another possible nication that doesn’t quite connect. In Ezekiel, description of what Paul meant by being it seems Nebuchadnezzer had a different hope “at home” and “away” from the body. for Israel than Israel did itself, as the com- Prior to our Gospel pericope, Jesus has munity reached toward another “eagle.” In informed the disciples that they have been Mark, one can only imagine what those who given the “secret of the kingdom of God” heard the parables, but not the explanations, (4:10-12). As he speaks in parables, only his understood of what Jesus said. To that end, disciples receive the benefit of a later expla- one might wonder what the disciples who did nation. The parables of the growing seed and receive the explanations understood. of the mustard seed describe the kingdom of Paul writes of the human point of view. God as both a person and as a seed. He does so after expressing the confidence In the first case, the kingdom of God is that because Christ died for all, the purpose like a person who scatters seed that grows of of the follower of Christ is no longer to live its own accord. After the seeds have grown for his or herself. The purpose is to live for and ripened, the person goes back to har- Christ. This changes the very viewpoint of vest, having had nothing to do with the ac- how one perceives another. tual production of the grain. In the second A question a sermon might explore is, case, the kingdom of God, like the mustard “how is the divine point of view different seed, grows disproportionately to the size at than the human one?” Ezekiel tells us that God will take a sprig and bring about a no- which it begins. Here, like in Ezekiel, birds ble cedar under which every kind of winged of the air nest in the shade of the small creature will nest. Mark tells us that the shoot grown large. kingdom of God is surprisingly abundant In all three of our texts for this day, in its growth and that sometimes it comes God brings about something great from about without full understanding of how very little. that will happen. Paul, in 2 Corinthians, says that in Pastoral Reflection Christ, everything is made new and that “we In my preaching, I regularly feel the tension regard no one from a human point of view” of naming things for a community while at (5:16). What might this mean for conflicts? the same time recognizing that my point of When the abundance of God’s creation is view may very well be different from many surprisingly fruitful? What might this mean 3. John T. Fitzgerald, 2 Corinthians, The for our engagement in decision making as Harper Collins Study Bible, Wayne A. Meeks, ed. communities with various points of view (New York: HarperCollins, 1993), 2172. coming together? Preaching Helps

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In my own life, in those times of con- First Reading flict and tension, I have taken to using a sort In our texts this day, God explains to Job of mantra when in the midst of the conflict. how God put order to chaos, Paul assures When dealing with difficult situations and that God has listened and helped, and God people, I repeat to myself “he/she is God’s incarnate calms a storm. Essentially, in the beloved child.” Eventually, it leads me to a midst of details and in-the-moment oc- different point of view. It helps me to respond currences, these texts assure us that God’s to the other person out of God’s love, even if bigger picture holds all of these moments, my own is not immediately available. fears, and sufferings, and that God’s big Another take on these texts might be picture breaking into humanity’s experience to talk about the impatience we might have brings order, calm and salvation. In the first 37 chapters of Job, Job ex- with the imperfectness of this world. When perienced his entire life being ripped away, reading the 2 Corinthians text, I hear the and complained about it. Three friends echoes of conversations with people who debate with him about why this has hap- wonder at their purpose on earth. I hear pened, and a fourth friend preaches to elderly folk who have buried their clos- him, rebuking him for complaining. Fi- est loved ones and for whom bodily aches nally, from the midst of a whirlwind, the now monopolize their thoughts. I hear the Lord confronts Job. voices of younger people who experience Today’s scripture is only the beginning profound loneliness, depression and won- of the description of the Lord’s creative and der about their sense of purpose. In view powerful work. This first section continues of these experiences, Paul may be fortunate; through chapter 39, until chapter 40 when he knows what his purpose is, even if he Job is given the opportunity to respond, at “would rather be away from the body and which point he states, “See, I am of small at home with the Lord” (vs 8). account; what shall I answer you?” The The promise here is that new creation Lord picks up the challenge again for an- (2 Cor 5:17) that the Lord will accomplish other 2 chapters when Job again responds (Ezekiel 17:24), often in ways that surprise with, “I know that you can do all things, us without us knowing how (Mark 4:27, and that no purpose of yours can be thwart- 32)—though we may need a new point of ed…” (42:2) and repents. The beginning of view to recognize it. ARB the Lord’s response to Job describes a creative power who laid the earth’s foundation, figured out its size, laid its cornerstone (to Time after Pentecost— the delight of all the heavenly beings), and Lectionary 12 (Proper 7) contained the sea. June 21, 2009 The selection from Mark also talks about a great wind and a divine power con- taining the sea’s destructive power. Some Job 38:1-11 commentaries refer to ancient Near Eastern Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32 mythology’s understanding of a storm god 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 reigning in the monster of chaos, as well Mark 4:35-41 as alluding to Old Testament examples of God’s power over water such as Ps 89:8-9, Preaching Helps

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106:8-9, Isa 51:9-10 as well as Jonah’s mari- very essence of evil that he seeks to destroy. time experience.4 This selection follows the Or, the fear of a crashing market, the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry in which loss of employment, the inability to pro- he performs various miracles and exorcisms vide basic essentials for oneself, let alone and teaches through parables. Jesus has looking to care for the poor, the widow, shown that he is able to exorcise people of the orphan. In the face of this, God says, unclean spirits (1:26, 3:11), heal (1:31-34, “I laid the foundation of the earth….I… 2:12, 3:5), cleanse (1:42) and forgive (3:5), prescribed bounds for (the sea)…and said, all extraordinary acts, but not other-worldly. ‘Thus far shall you come, and no father…” Now, the disciples have a frightening expe- (Job 38:4-11). rience in which even the hearty fishermen Into this stormy reality Jesus says, “Peace! believe they are perishing. Jesus rebukes the Be still!” and “Why are you afraid?” In the wind and calms the sea and then rebukes midst of hardships, sleepless nights, hunger, the disciples. They who witnessed all of Paul proclaims that now is the acceptable these acts now finally wonder who this is in time, now is the day of salvation in which their presence. God reconciles, God listens, God helps. In 2 Corinthians, Paul describes the These scripture passages help us to see challenges of his life, witnessing to the ways the big picture in the midst of our moments in which God gives help and hope as Paul of fear. There is promise of God being in committed himself to God in every way de- control, of the big picture, of kairos time spite great hardship. Paul describes this so instead of kronos. Yet what is this promise? that the Corinthians will accept God’s grace How do we experience it? How does that and Paul wills for it to produce reconcilia- promise help us? How do we know the tion with him. calming presence of God even as we’re in the midst of a big storm? Pastoral Reflection The promise is that God has graced Oh! The petty details that cause angst! Oh! us with reversals—though it may seem like The not so petty details that cause despair! we are dying, through Christ we are living; Where is God in the storms and in those though it may seem as if we are sorrowful, times of life that require great endurance? in Christ we rejoice; though it may seem Where do we catch glimpses of the big pic- like we have nothing, because of Christ ture, even as we are struggling to take one we have everything. Even though it might step forward at a time? I imagine Frodo in not look like it, now is the day of salvation! the midst of The Lord of the Rings trilogy by Each and every day we receive this promise Tolkein, endlessly plodding through impos- anew. Recognizing that, as God continues sible terrain, being worn down by the loss to create, as God remembers all promises, of friends, the magnitude of the journey, we are reborn daily. the various obstacles he encounters, and the The phrase in the first verse of the epistle “not to accept the grace of God in vain” 4. Pheme Perkins, The New Interpreter’s catches my attention as I wonder what Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 8: these texts mean beyond personal comfort. The Gospel of Mark (Nashville, TN: Abingdon There is action on behalf of the one accept- Press, 1995), 580; John R. Donahue and Daniel J. Harrington, Sacra Pagina, The Gospel of Mark (Col- ing God’s grace. How do we then refrain legeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2002), 160-161. from accepting in vain? ARB Preaching Helps

154 Time after Pentecost— 12 might be, “if you put your effort into Lectionary 13 (Proper 8) it, it will be enough.” This is not a promise for wealth, but a promise that one is able June 28, 2009 to help another. Though Paul is making an argument for monetary support, he also is Lamentations 3:22-33 or calling for spiritual support—faith, speech, Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15, knowledge—in which the Corinthians ex- 2:23-24 cel. He reminds the Corinthians that Jesus Psalm 30 Christ gave away everything, so that they 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 (and we) may have everything. Though Mark 5:21-43 some prosperity theologians may disagree with me, everything does not mean things First Reading or money, but life itself. Today’s texts contain the dual themes of The Gospel too talks about both abun- abundance and one’s intent, or as Paul men- dance and one’s intent. Many different av- tions, eagerness. In the Wisdom of Solomon, enues can be explored in regards to Jesus’ we hear an affirmation of the creation of the encounter with the woman with a hem- world and the ways in which the world sup- orrhage. Although she had been suffering ports itself. God created all things so that with the hemorrhage for twelve years and they might exist, and it is only the “devil’s had spent all she had in the quest for health, envy” that causes destruction and corrup- she continued in her eagerness. She was so tion. What are the “generative forces” of the eager, that she took the chance of breaking world?5 What is humanity’s place in all of societal norms in order to be healed. Jesus this? The Wisdom of Solomon leads us to was able to feel that he healed her, as he was consider our role in the destructive forces at “immediately aware that power had gone work in the world. forth from him” (vs 30). In Luke’s version As Paul writes to the Corinthians, ask- (Luke 8:40-56), Jesus actually says, “I no- ing for monetary support for the church in ticed the power had gone out from me.” Jerusalem, he offers the image of manna in How does that interact with the notion of the wilderness (in vs 15, which quotes from abundance? Power left Jesus, did it dimin- Exod 16:18). In that episode in Israel’s his- ish his power? tory, God provided enough food. No matter how much was gathered, when it was Pastoral Reflection measured, it was the same amount. So too As one who attempts to live with a mind does God work with what we have to offer. to how my actions impact God’s creation Paul might as well be writing to a around me, I fully recognize that one can Capital Campaign committee in the midst always do something more. Sure, I recycle. of a campaign. He applauds the steps the But, do I need to really purchase those Corinthians have taken, and encourages products that use that much packaging? them to keep it up. A paraphrase of verse Yes, I attempt to use cleaning products that don’t harm the environment, but I also 5. Is it reading too much into it to say that the world is created with the God-given ability drive a car. to regenerate itself, and it is only the sinful, It seems like the attempts at being destructive powers that taint this goodness? more eco-friendly, or at addressing any so- Preaching Helps

155 cial justice issue, are never enough. I am be enough. Paul encourages the Corinthi- unable to save the planet, end racism, stop ans to keep working, with eagerness, to- gun violence, heal our hurting world by wards what they began. He is pretty clear my own efforts and ability. Praise the Lord that they are not “in this together,” but are it is not all up to me! However, here again sharing abundance with one another. God is the balance of abundance and one’s in- has given us the abundance we need. We, as tent or attempts. a whole, are enough. I wonder how often Paul reminds the Corinthians that “the our feelings of scarcity stem from the ways gift is acceptable according to what one has, in which we have declared many offerings not according to what one does not have” (v “unclean.” ARB 12). A wise friend of mine once reminded me prior to an important interview, “God has created and called you to be you, not Time after Pentecost— someone else.” We are each created and Lectionary 14 (Proper 9) called. We are each given the richness of life July 5, 2009 by Christ. We are each called into sharing the abundance of what Christ has given us. Yet, there are hindrances. We may be Ezekiel 2:1-5 like the people weeping and wailing outside Psalm 123 of Jarius’ home—who laugh at Jesus’ asser- 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 tion that Jarius’ daughter is merely asleep. Mark 6:1-13 We might have a hard time believing that God can and will act. We may encounter, First Reading either as oppressor or as oppressed, hin- We who pick up Currents and read the drances of society—that name people un- “Preaching Helps” have something to say clean. We may not recognize the forces at and Good News to proclaim. But, we are work that keep people from living into the hardly the first voices to reach the ears of potential of who God created them to be. the people who hear our proclamations. We may not recognize how we are a part of We are but some of the myriad of voices by those very same forces. which the world is bombarded daily. Jesus restored the hemorrhaging wom- Not only do those people who hear our an not only to health, but to the commu- proclamations hear many others, but they nity, removing the label of “untouchable.” are proclaimers themselves. They com- Jesus took the hand of a dead girl, break- municate worth onto other people. They ing all the rules of purity. Instead of being spread news that is important to them and defiled himself, he enlivened the girl. What others. They use words and actions to com- stories of transformation do these formerly municate. Sometimes what we preachers “unclean” ones have to share? How can their communicate is God’s desire for relation- stories transform a community? ship and love for the world. Sometimes In the same ways that we might not what we communicate may be akin to the recognize how we are part of a larger prob- warning about “Super Apostles” that Paul lem, we also may not recognize how our refers to in 2 Corinthians, immediately brothers and sisters whom we set out to following today’s text (12:11). Sometimes serve are part of what God has created to what we preach is shaped by what others are Preaching Helps

156 saying. I wonder how often we get caught He warns that if they enter into a place that up in proclaiming against what others are will not hear them, they are to leave, and doing rather than proclaiming about what “shake off the dust that is on your feet as a God has, is and will do. testimony against them” (Mk 6:11). They Any venture into the Old Testament are to proclaim and exorcise and cure only will show prophet upon prophet calling for those who will receive it. God’s message of kings and Israel to repent. God is constant- repentance is offered everywhere, but some ly saying “come back to me” to a people will not receive it. Regardless, the last verse and leadership who just does not succeed in of the reading from Ezekiel may speak to faithfulness to God. But, God is certainly the Gospel as well: “Whether they hear or faithful. God sends prophet after prophet, refuse to hear…they shall know that there inspired word after inspired word to the has been a prophet among them” (2:5). people. This Sunday’s readings almost give the Pastoral Reflection sense that this proclamation is sometimes As our ears may still be ringing from Inde- a fruitless effort, and yet God doesn’t give pendence Day fire works, what will our ears up. Ezekiel is given a vision that calls Is- be open to hearing this Sunday? What is to rael a multitude of names; “a nation of reb- be proclaimed? Ezekiel and Jesus’ disciples els,” “impudent and stubborn.” Ezekiel is all proclaimed for the people to repent. told that they may very well refuse to hear Yet, this is a call that is not easily heard. As him, but that does not make his proclama- people have gathered around picnic tables tion unproductive. At the very least, they and parade routes, what have been the will know that a prophet has been in their other messages they have heard and spread? midst. What leads us away from God? What leads Paul writes to the Corinthians rec- us back? ognizing that other voices have been pro- I imagine many of the characters in claiming. Regardless of whether or not today’s Scripture readings experienced frus- these voices contradict his,6 Paul first asserts tration and doubt of their efficacy. Jesus ex- that he has the proper credentials (he too perienced others’ unbelief. The twelve were has been “caught up to the third heaven”), sent out with the understanding that they but neither those credentials nor his suf- might receive some less-than-enthusiastic ferings make Paul’s message matter. What welcomes. Paul makes sure they know that matters is that God’s grace and power are he too experienced a vision, but that was enough. Again, it’s not about Paul and what not key to his testimony. Part of the Lord’s has happened in his life, it’s about God. instruction to Ezekiel includes assurance Finally, the Gospel shows Jesus being that something has been accomplished, received in his hometown with disbelief and even if all Ezekiel does is go to be among disdain, and then sending the disciples out. the house of Israel. If these Bible greats have difficulty 6. Raymond Brown writes that there is “no sharing God’s grace and calling people to clear doctrinal fallacy” evident, however Paul repent, how are we as church able to do may have been responding to the “false apostles’ claims about themselves.” Raymond E. Brown, any better? I recognize that for myself, even An Introduction to the New Testament (New York: as a pastor, it sometimes takes quite some Doubleday, 1997), 555. time for me to have a conversation about Preaching Helps

157 my faith with friends. People are coached to As recounted three weeks ago, in 2 Corin- not talk about religion or politics when first thians 6, we know much about the suffer- meeting someone or in situations where ings Paul endured for the sake of the gos- these conversations have become problems. pel. Yet, despite the danger, there are those Being a proclaimer, outside of worship, is who hear the message; Paul mentions that challenging for many, including me. the Ephesians “heard the word of truth, the Yet, God sends out ordinary people. gospel of your salvation.” God sends prophet after prophet to Israel. The authority one has to speak is God speaks through many voices, though notable in each of our readings for today. each voice will not reach everyone. God Amos is clear that it’s not lineage that gives doesn’t call us because of our perfection or him authority to speak, but the Lord’s com- skill, but because of God’s grace and our mand. He isn’t speaking up against Jero- experience of it. We are given the best fod- boam because he’s just supposed to proph- der for our proclamation in our weakness: esy something. He is not “prophet-eering,” in the ways in which we’ve needed God, in as Amaziah’s comment about fleeing to Ju- the ways in which we’ve seen God work in dah and earning his bread through proph- our lives. This is not something reserved for ecy suggests. Amos is skilled at other labor, the pulpit, and perhaps often not appropri- and so he speaks these words as something ate for the pulpit. But it is something to be other than an effort to make a living. shared among friends and with relatives. Herod knew John to be a “righteous Some places to start would be, “When have and holy man” and feared him in spite, or you heard the words of a prophet?” “When maybe because John told Herod that he was have you known strength in weakness?” or acting against the law in marrying Herodias. “Who has told you about God?” ARB Although it was not his initial intent to kill John, it was John’s words against Herod that got him both arrested and beheaded. Time after Pentecost— Can there be any sympathy for Herod as Lectionary 15 (Proper 10) one who felt he needed to follow through with the request for John’s head “out of re- July 12, 2009 gard for his oaths and for the guests”? His- tory has many examples in which people in Amos 7:7-15 power took just action even when it did not Psalm 85:8-13 benefit them politically. Archbishop Oscar Ephesians 1:3-14 Romero is one example of someone who Mark 6:14-29 responded to injustice out of a position of power. It cost him his life. Herod made the First Reading choice to keep the oaths he made, which It can be dangerous to speak against those in most circumstances would be considered in authority, even if what one speaks is the honorable. Is it considered so here? truth. Our texts for this Sunday feature John the Baptist’s identity was known some incredible examples of this danger— to Herod; however, Jesus’ was not. Because Amos, who was almost run out of town by of his experience with John, Herod as- Amaziah, and John the Baptist, who was sumed the one about whom everyone was imprisoned and then beheaded by Herod. talking was the same person that he had Preaching Helps

158 killed. Jesus was being given some authority the suffering, and participate responsibly in that was based on other people’s experiences society.”7 What does our baptismal call of with people who preceded him, rather than working for justice and peace include? John what Jesus actually did or who he actually the Baptist spoke out against Herod, and was. Their expectations or previous experi- was arrested and beheaded. What are the ences gave them some framework to con- risks we as church and as individuals face in sider who Jesus might be. For some, Jesus’ speaking up? identity was tied to the authority of those On the other hand, when do we need who had gone before. to hear these criticisms? We may not be the Paul encourages the Ephesians, re- most receptive to hearing declarations of minding them that due to having been how we (as church or as individuals) have adopted as God’s children, due to receiving hurt or excluded people. We may not eas- the promise of redemption, they are able to ily hear constructive criticisms about our live for the praise of God’s glory. What it own practices and ethics. How do we re- comes down to is the identity as God’s child ceive wisdom and insight into “the mystery that gives the Ephesians, and us, the basis of [God’s] will” (Eph 1:9)? How do we on which to speak and act. respond differently than Herod did? Since God has called us, in Christ, “to be holy Pastoral Reflections and blameless before him in love” (Eph One can find plenty of modern day ex- 1:4), what happens when we are not? amples of people who have boldly spo- God has adopted us, and through ken against ways of the world that do not Christ we are inheriting redemption. How- honor or allow for dignity for all people. ever, the world is not holy and blameless. Many have faced resistance, hardship and, As part of the world, we often fail in this for some, untimely death. Martin Luther regard too. As God continues “to gather up King Jr., Rosa Parks, Elie Wiesel, Marian all things in him” we recognize the ways in Wright Edelman, Jane Jacobs, Archbishop which we and others fail to honor God and Desmond Tutu, and Sister Dianna Ortiz God’s creation. As we respond to God’s gift are just a few examples of people who have of life, we are both called to hear and to risked publicly to bring about justice and speak words that call us back to God. ARB to better the world. What has God done through public challenges of individual and systemic injustice? How is God involved when people speak up and act against injustice? Amos is not a prophet by trade, but rather a herdsman and a dresser of syca- more trees. Yet God calls him to prophesy to Israel. The model constitution for the ELCA, on which many congregational constitutions are based, includes as part of 7. http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our- the statement of purpose that the congre- Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/ Office-of-the-Secretary/Congregation-Adminis- gation will “respond to human need, work tration/Model-Constitution-for-Congregations. for justice and peace, care for the sick and aspx, Jan 1, 2009. Preaching Helps

159 Time after Pentecost— care for the sheep of the Lord’s pasture, but Lectionary 16 (Proper 11) the Lord will raise up one who will be called “The Lord is our righteousness,” who will July 19, 2009 reign as king. Even if Psalm 23 were not assigned for this day, we may very well hear Jeremiah 23:1-6 the words of God’s gathering, as the Lord Psalm 23 leading one beside still waters and having a Ephesians 2:11-22 table prepared in the presence of enemies. Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 Hundreds of years after Jeremiah, the Ephesians are scattered not by dis- First Reading tance, but by practice. Paul teaches them Even though many of us have not experi- about what it is that Christ has done. Paul enced the national revolts and upheavals uses imagery of distance and of structure. that Judah experienced, the message of woe Christ has gathered both of these groups about shepherds who scatter the sheep and from their separate places, both needing the promise of a shepherd in which we are reconciliation with God. As with most drawn back to one another certainly can be conflicts, it wasn’t that one party was right heard in our own social location. Even if we and the other was wrong. are not worried about who is in or out based Paul notes that Christ is both breaking on circumcision, we can identify other ways down and building up. The wall of the law in which we determine who is in or out and that divided the two sides has been broken. hear the promise of being brought together, In its place a holy temple is growing, “built no longer separated from one another. Al- upon the foundation of the apostles and though we may not be scurrying around to prophets” and with a cornerstone of Christ. catch up with a traveling healer or rabbi, The Ephesians, both those who were aliens we certainly can recognize the ways that we and those who were strangers are now “built yearn for a Lord. together spiritually into a dwelling-place for Jeremiah proclaims that God will gath- God.” Both are part of this holy structure. er the remnant, those who have been driven In Mark, we see how Jesus received away by rulers who have scattered God’s similar responses on both sides of the lake. people. Although the kings on whom Jere- We miss Jesus feeding the multitudes and miah proclaims woe were on different ends walking on water, but what this edited of the spectrum when it came to placing lectionary reading calls to attention is that God as central to Judah’s life, the woe Jer- people both within and beyond Galilee re- emiah proclaims on the shepherds seems to sponded to Jesus similarly. Wherever Jesus have more to do with outcome than intent. went, people recognized him and sought Judah has been scattered by the shepherds, to be in his presence, be taught by him, and driven into separate lands by God. God and healed. Here again is the imagery of a will raise up shepherds who will do what shepherd to the people, but in this case, the shepherds are supposed to do, protect and sheep yearned for a shepherd and sought care for the sheep. With these shepherds, out Jesus. God’s people will not fear any longer, nor will they be dismayed or go missing. Pastoral Reflection It will not only be shepherds who will Now too, people are searching, looking Preaching Helps

160 for someone to guide them. I am so very Time after Pentecost— thankful that, although I have a rudimen- Lectionary 17 (Proper 12) tary understanding of these things, I can July 26, 2009 trust those people who pay attention to my investments and tune up my car and are in charge of the heating system at church. 2 Kings 4:42-44 In all of these instances, people guide me, Psalm 145:10-18 and sometimes even repair what was once Ephesians 3:14-21 sick. However, Christ is not in the business John 6:1-21 of making suggestions. Christ has already acted and continues to reconcile humanity First Reading with God and one another. As we enter into John we hear of signs Je- I wonder how often we are really sus has been performing that have caught searching for a shepherd and Lord rather the attention of the crowds. These signs are why so many gathered at this mountain. It than someone who can just repair us and is the sign of the abundance of food that send us back out onto the road to go prompts the crowd to say that Jesus is a whichever direction we want. It seems to prophet and, at least as John describes it, to me that often we scatter ourselves, build- attempt to force Jesus to be their king. Fol- ing up our own dividing walls against lowing a sign to the multitudes, Jesus walks those with whom we disagree. on water, another sign, but this time only in We are separated by language and eco- front of his disciples. nomic class. We divide ourselves by politics Most of the sixth chapter of John, in and generation. We have a difficult time which we will stay until the end of August, getting beyond the idea of us as individuals, has to do with bread. Our text today is dif- rather than as part of a larger body. For this ferent than the rest as after today the scrip- reason, I believe, we all need to be reminded ture talks about bread in terms of “bread of of our incapacity to reconcile ourselves and life” and “bread from heaven.” Bread in this our inability to be our own shepherd. For Sunday’s scripture may be looked at meta- this reason, we need to be reminded that phorically, but is certainly intended to be Christ proclaims peace to all regardless of taken at face value as well. People needed how far off or near we are. Christ’s recon- food on that day as they followed Jesus on ciliation isn’t only for those who are on the the mountain, and from five barley loaves “inside” and isn’t only for those who are on and two fish thousands placed food in their the “outside.” mouths and ate until they were satisfied. What does it mean that we are all, as John also gives the setting as near Pass- ones reconciled with God and one another, over time, and Jesus takes loaves and gives called to be a dwelling-place for God, as a thanks for them before passing them out to gathered body? How does this manifest it- all who sat on the grass around him. With self in our lives? This is not one of those the obvious connections to Passover, to questions with a definite answer, but is the Exodus event and to the Last Supper, a question for the journey of the church. one might choose to connect to the ways ARB in which God has saved, and continues to save, God’s people. Preaching Helps

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The reading from 2 Kings is so similar to any reading where Jesus feeds the multi- to the basics of the Gospel reading and par- tudes, is making it too logical. One genuine- allel accounts of Jesus feeding a multitude. ly faithful angle suggests that God uses the Perhaps because it is shorter, the different gifts that people offer. I do believe that God actions of the individuals are more obvious. inspires people to be generous in response The servant questions, Elisha affirms, and “a to God’s many gifts: being created, brought man” brings his first fruits that are more than into the family of Christ, and saved. I believe enough. Both this reading and the Gospel that God created us all with something to report amazing experiences of abundance. offer and that, for the most part, we desire The epistle also speaks of abundance, to contribute to something bigger than our- but it is the abundance of God. Paul’s selves. It could have happened that the boy’s prayer for the Ephesians is that they may offering of five barley loaves and two fish in- know something that is far bigger than they spired many others to take out their supplies can comprehend, that they may know the and share. It could be that Ephesians 3:20 vastness of God. That kind of comprehen- sums up everything as it proclaims, “…to sion requires Spirit-given power, since the him who by the power at work within us is vastness of God surpasses what human unable to accomplish abundantly far more than derstanding or imagination are capable of all we can ask or imagine….” grasping. God accomplishes more than we However, I have a difficult time landing can fathom, and it takes something more here, saying this is the only way. I want to be- than logic to trust in that. lieve that God’s abundance happens in unex- plainable ways as well. This working under- Pastoral Reflections standing of God’s abundance does not lend Following college, I volunteered in a home- itself to monetary wealth, and may very well less shelter in Tacoma, Washington. One require that we be “strengthened in [our] in- of the principles of this shelter, which was ner being with power through [the Father’s] posted in the office for all to see, was NO spirit” (Eph 3:16). How do we name abun- SCARCITY. There were days, when staff- dance? Especially as we have experience with ing was low and need was high, when I a tentative and frightening economy. How hated these words. I heard them as criticism do we also name the very real fear of not hav- of my faith and of my ability to cope. ing enough? A fear that does become reality The message of God’s abundance rings for many worldwide and in our own com- a much more positive tone with me. How- munities who go without food and shelter ever, I continue to wrestle with how to live and safe drinking water? in it. For me, it takes many reminders of Finally, I take some comfort in Philip what God has already done, both as taught who does not pass the test Jesus poses for in Scripture and through the church, but him, as he attempts to figure out how to also in my own life. Perhaps, you faithful purchase bread. Philip continued to be preachers do not have similar trouble, but welcomed as a disciple of Jesus, despite his I would bet I am not the only faithful ser- failure to imagine the power at work in Je- vant who needs examples and reassurances sus. That there is no scarcity to forgiveness when it comes to living with faith in God’s or welcome is an abundance I am almost abundance. able to comprehend, and for which I am The other thing I wrestle with in regards thankful. ARB Web sites Wayne Weissenbuehler (WTS): Rural Ministry produced by http://ruralministry.com professors at Ralph W. Klein (LSTC): Old Testament Studies the seminaries http://prophetess.lstc.edu/~rklein/ publishing Gary Pence (PLTS): Healing Religion’s Harm Currents http://healingreligion.com The LSTC Rare Books Collection http://collections.lstc.edu/gruber/

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