Lutheran Synod Quarterly Lutheran LUTHERAN SYNOD QUARTERLY VOLUME 56 • NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2016 December 2016 Presidential Quotes From the Past The Purpose of the Gospel of John According to John 20:30–31 Pastoral Care Today Drawn from Luther the Seelsorger We Are Free to Serve Pastors of the Cross: A Review of the Heidelberg Disputation of 1518 with Volume 56, Number 4 Volume Applications for the Pastor The American Recension of the Augsburg Confession and its Lessons for Our Pastors Today Book Review and Index The journal of Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary ISSN: 0360-9685 LUTHERAN SYNOD QUARTERLY VOLUME 56 • NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2016 The journal of Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary LUTHERAN SYNOD QUARTERLY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF........................................................... Gaylin R. Schmeling BOOK REVIEW EDITOR ......................................................... Michael K. Smith LAYOUT EDITOR ................................................................. Daniel J. Hartwig PRINTER ......................................................... Books of the Way of the Lord The Lutheran Synod Quarterly (ISSN: 0360-9685) is edited by the faculty of Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary 6 Browns Court Mankato, Minnesota 56001 The Lutheran Synod Quarterly is a continuation of the Clergy Bulletin (1941–1960). The purpose of the Lutheran Synod Quarterly, as was the purpose of the Clergy Bulletin, is to provide a testimony of the theological position of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod and also to promote the academic growth of her clergy roster by providing scholarly articles, rooted in the inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures and the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Lutheran Synod Quarterly is published in March and December with a combined June and September issue. Subscription rates are $25.00 U.S. per year for domestic subscriptions and $35.00 U.S. per year for international subscriptions. All subscriptions and editorial correspondence should be sent to the following address: Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary Attn: Lutheran Synod Quarterly 6 Browns Ct Mankato MN 56001 Back issues of the Lutheran Synod Quarterly from the past two years are available at a cost of $10.00 per issue. Back issues of the Lutheran Synod Quarterly and Clergy Bulletin prior to the past two years are available at <www.blts.edu/lsq>. The Lutheran Synod Quarterly is abstracted in Religious and Theological Abstracts, PO Box 215, Myerstown, PA 17067 (E-mail: <[email protected]>; Website: <www.rtabst.org/abstracts>). Copyright ©2016 by Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary. Requests for permission to reproduce more than brief excerpts are to be directed to the Editor- in-Chief. Contents LSQ Vol. 56, No. 4 (December 2016) Presidential Quotes From the Past ................................................291 The Purpose of the Gospel of John According to John 20:30–31 ...293 Michael K. Smith Pastoral Care Today Drawn from Luther the Seelsorger ................309 Luke C. Ulrich We Are Free to Serve ....................................................................333 Christian H. Eisenbeis Pastors of the Cross: A Review of the Heidelberg Disputation of 1518 with Applications for the Pastor .......................................365 Robert A. Harting The American Recension of the Augsburg Confession and its Lessons for Our Pastors Today .......................................................385 David Jay Webber Book Review: All Glory to God ....................................................445 Gaylin R. Schmeling Index to Volume 56 ......................................................................451 288 Lutheran Synod Quarterly Vol. 56 Foreword LSQ Vol. 56, No. 4 (December 2016) N THIS ISSUE OF THE QUARTERLY WE ARE continuing a series of quotations entitled “Presidential Quotes From the Past.” The series includes a number of relevant, Christ-centered Iquotes from the former presidents of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod as we look forward to the one-hundredth anniversary of the synod in 1918. While the Apostle John states the purpose of the Gospel bearing his name in John 20:30–31, disagreement exists regarding the under- standing of these verses. In the paper, “The Purpose of the Gospel of John According to John 20:30–31,” Dr. Michael K. Smith reviews how these verses have been interpreted, evaluates these interpretations, and analyzes the verses themselves. Dr. Smith teaches New Testament studies at Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary, Mankato, Minnesota. As pastors, we face a variety of situations, issues, and problems in our parishes. Taking the life-giving Word and applying it to these many situations, issues, and problems is a challenging task for the pastor as Seelsorger. With this in mind, and also considering the upcoming five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation, it is worthwhile to consider the pastoral practices that were established and practiced in the Reformation—pastoral practices that remain established and are to be practiced among us still today. This is the point of the essay “Pastoral Care Today Drawn from Luther the Seelsorger” by the Rev. Luke Ulrich, pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Mankato, Minnesota. 290 Lutheran Synod Quarterly Vol. 56 The next essay provides an interesting and thorough presentation of the doctrine of adiaphora, which refers to things that are neither commanded nor prohibited in Holy Scripture. In this discussion, care must be taken so that the church is not led into legalism or indifference. In addition, this confessional truth must be maintained: Nothing is an adiaphoron when confession and offense are involved. The Rev. Christian Eisenbeis explores these important issues in his essay “We Are Free to Serve.” Pastor Eisenbeis serves First Trinity Lutheran Church in Marinette, Wisconsin. God hid Himself in the suffering and death of the cross so that we might know His love. In the Heidelberg Disputation Luther insists, “He who does not know Christ does not know God hidden in suffering…. God can be found only in suffering and the cross” (LW 31:53). This is the theology of the cross which is the heart and core of the Scripture, as St. Paul writes, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Luther explicates the biblical doctrine of the theology of the cross in the Heidelberg Disputation. The Rev. Robert Harting summarizes this important doctrine in his essay “Pastors of the Cross: A Review of the Heidelberg Disputation of 1518 with Applications for the Pastor.” The Rev. Robert Harting is pastor of Richland Lutheran Church in Thornton and Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Mason City, Iowa. Most confessional Lutherans today are better acquainted with the history of the “Old Lutheran” immigrations and the history of midwestern Lutheranism than the history of Lutheranism in the eastern part of our country. The essay, “The American Recension of the Augsburg Confession and its Lessons for Our Pastors Today,” gives the history of the struggle for confessional Lutheranism among eastern Lutherans. Individuals such as the Henkels and Charles Porterfield Krauth made a valiant stand for the confessional writings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The writer of this essay is the Rev. David Jay Webber, who is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. Also included in this Quarterly a review of the book All Glory to God. – GRS Presidential Quotes From the Past LSQ Vol. 56, No. 4 (December 2016) RUTH CANNOT BE COMPROMISED. AND WHY not? Because it is in its very nature unalterable. You may seek to get away from it by subterfuge, but you will only be led into Tblind alleys, whence there is no escape. Try to write the biography of that child begotten in 1917, and which fittingly bears the name “The Norwegian Lutheran Merger,” and you will not have to go very far in the records before you discover its illegitimacy. To call H.A. Preus, J.A. Ottesen, and U.V. Koren your spiritual forebears, while you also want an Elling Eielsen, a C.L. Clausen, an F.A. Schmidt and a B.J. Muus to be listed in that category, will simply not do. You may erect massive monuments in honor of our sainted fathers and write glowing tributes in praise of their noble work, but it will be but a mockery to their very memory if their principles be trampled into the dust. Excerpt from Norman A. Madson, “President’s Message,” Synod Report 1943:10. 292 Lutheran Synod Quarterly Vol. 56 The Purpose of the Gospel of John According to John 20:30–31 Michael K. Smith Professor, Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary Mankato, Minnesota LSQ Vol. 56, No. 4 (December 2016) F THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS OF THE NEW Testament, the Gospel “According to John” (ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ) includes the clearest statement of its purpose: “Therefore many Oother signs Jesus did in the presence of [his] disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written in order that you may believe that the Christ, the Son of God, is Jesus, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30–31).1 Considering such an ostensibly clear statement, consensus on the precise purpose of John’s Gospel does not seem to exist. This paper will seek to illuminate the topic of the purpose of John’s Gospel according to John 20:30–31 by describing briefly some of the more important interpretations of this passage, analyzing the passage itself and a few other pertinent ques- tions, and critically evaluating the interpretations given at the beginning of the paper. Interpretations of John 20:30–31 As stated above, John 20:30–31 is interpreted in various ways.2 D.A. Carson’s initial interpretation of these verses focuses on two key elements: the tense of πιστεύ[σ]ητε (aorist or present [subjunctive]), and the subject of the final clause ( Jesus or Christ). He states that those who 1 Author’s translation. 2 For a cogent summary of the history of the interpretation of the purpose of John’s Gospel in the twentieth century, see D.A. Carson and Douglas J. Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament, 2nd edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 268–273.