Leviticus was used widely in the early church and later to preach the Gospel. The modern church generally ignores Leviticus.[1] Leviticus is a gift unopened and sent back to the Giver. We’re missing out. God speaks in Leviticus. Here He gives us many of the most basic and precious truths of forgiveness, life, and salvation, such […]
Below are two speeches that I am planning to give to Floor Committee 5 of the 2023 LCMS convention about Resolution 5-14 on the annotated Large Catechism. The first addresses the resolution generally, and the second goes into detail on one of the flaws of the annotated Large Catechism. Speech to Floor Committee on Resolution […]
Dr. Kloha’s Plastic Text of Scripture:Synodical Convention Controversy By T. R. Halvorson NOTE: This article may be downloaded as a PDF Document Introduction The Convention Workbook 2016 of the Lutheran Church – Missouri synod contains these two overtures: 4-23 To Settle Prof. Jeffery Kloha Controversy 4-24 To Request Public Clarification of Kloha Paper In preparation […]
The Evangelical Kyrie by T. R. Halvorson NOTE: This article may be downloaded as a PDF Document The character of Lutheran worship is a rich tapestry of traits. It is like the catechism: it can be learned by a child, but no one can master it. Here are a few vital threads woven into the […]
by T. R. Halvorson Note: This article may be downloaded as a PDF file. Summary This article briefly sketches the orthodox Christian doctrine of Christ’s redemption by vicarious satisfaction; briefly sketches heretical denial of vicarious satisfaction by popular Lutheran theologians; and exhibits how the Lutheran church has taught the truth of vicarious satisfaction across synods and […]
by T. R. Halvorson Note: This article may be downloaded as a PDF file. Outline Citation Evaluation The Atonement in Lutheran Theology Plan of the Book The Problem Teaching of Christ and the Apostles Teaching of the Postapostolic Fathers Citation Dierks, Theodore. Reconciliation and Justification. St Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1938. Evaluation Dierks’ work in Part […]
Properly explained in accord with Scripture and the Lutheran confessions, the phrase “faith journey” possibly could have a good meaning, and in that sense, I would be willing to say that I am on a faith journey. For example, Scripture speaks of our “walk” as a Christian and of the “way” of the Christian faith. […]
Winston Churchill was visiting New York the day after the stock market crash of 1929. The noise of a crowd outside his hotel woke him. “Under my very window a gentleman cast himself down fifteen stories and was dashed to pieces, causing a wild commotion and the arrival of the fire brigade,” he wrote. Over […]
NOTE: This essay may be downloaded in a PDF here. Introduction Twice this century Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne has held multi-day symposia prompted by issues about the teaching of Christ’s work of atonement “in our circles” and “in our church.” Given the importance of the atonement, this is a cause for attention. After […]
Note: This book review is distilled from a more extensive Commentary on Suffering, Not Power, by Benjamin Wheaton, available for download as a PDF here. In Suffering, Not Power: Atonement in the Middle Ages, Benjamin Wheaton reexamines the popular claim by the Lutheran Gustaf Aulén that the Christus Victor idea of the atonement prevailed throughout […]
Some of you remember. Before 1971, television had cigarette advertisements. After that, the ads were banned. The jingle for one brand went, “Over, under, around, and through; Pall Mall travels pleasure to you.” The video showed smoke passing over, under, around, and through tobacco to the smoker. This illustrates something that happened to Jesus in […]
During World War II, Henry Kaiser, steel magnate and shipbuilder, conceived the idea of a massive flying transport. He turned to Howard Hughes to design and build it. It was 6 times larger than any aircraft of its time. Beyond its size, creating this airplane was challenging because of government restrictions on war materials like […]
Retirement affects people differently. One friend worked 50 years, got his gold watch, retired, and died less than a year later. Someone said he died of not having enough to do. Another friend said he had to retire to have enough time to get all his work done. He is busier now than when he […]
Robert Preus said that Johannes Andreas Quenstedt was the Thomas Aquinas, so to speak, of Lutheran Orthodoxy, the last great representative. To anyone following his arrangement of material and noting his exegesis it will become evident that he was fair and meticulous in his work and drew from the best which his precursors had to […]
The decline in membership of Lutheran churches in America is a like a migraine headache. It is always there. We keep explaining it with the same explanations. We keep taking the same medications. The pain continues. What is the right word for that? In The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, the current (March 2017) issue of Reporter carries an […]
One year at our farm at Wildrose, we reached the peak in a long period of historically high precipitation. Sloughs ran over. Fields were saturated. Few crops were planted. By July, nearly all my neighbors were talking about seepage into their basements. They were going on about their sump pumps. My basement didn’t have seepage […]
Conversion: To See Decisions Dead People Make,Visit the Cemetery By T. R. Halvorson NOTE: This article may be downloaded as a PDF Document My Dad liked Billy Graham. When Graham’s crusades were televised, Dad watched. Graham had a gift of oratory. He preached God’s Law. He preached sin and salvation. He preached the person and […]
This year I have been studying the life and one topic in the teachings of Francis Pieper. His work on that topic and the story of his life are so impressive that I wanted to know more. How could I learn more about him and his work? It is not so easy. Rev. Robert E. […]
The Gospel text for January 4 is Luke 2:41-52. After God gives Jesus to Mary, He seems to take him away from her. When she loses him on the return journey from the Passover in Jerusalem, she and Joseph search for him for three days. Are they able to sleep during the intervening nights? When […]
Johannes Quenstedt’s De Officio Christi is an antidote to errors about atonement in Lutheran circles. Lutheran Orthodoxy teaches that an indispensable part of atonement is vicarious satisfaction. Adversaries deny vicarious satisfaction. Their errors existed already in Quenstedt’s time. While teaching the orthodox truth, Quenstedt thoroughly refutes the adversaries from Scripture. Robert D. Preus says, “Quenstedt […]
Atonement
Liturgy and Communion
Luther’s Liturgical Criteria and His Reform of the Canon of the Mass
Luther reformed the Canon of the Mass, the way the Sacrament of the Altar is administered. He has been branded a liturgical hack.
Was he a hack or a surgeon? What part did Jesus’ own words have in Luther’s reform. Is the Lord’s Supper a sacrifice we are to offer to God, or is it a testament and gift that Christ gives to the Church?
World renowned scholar Bryan D. Spinks reports the findings of his research. Spinks identifies errors of scholastic procedure in the body of literature. He examines root sources. By his industry and workmanlike procedure, Spinks succeeds at what he set out to do: Let Luther answer for himself.
As John T. Pless says in the Foreword: “It took an Anglican to rescue Luther from the Lutheran liturgical gurus. That was my first response to reading this tightly-packed and potent monograph years ago. Its value has not diminished with the passage of time. … Spinks demonstrates that Luther’s liturgical revisions were not sloppily done but carried out with integrity based on his confession of justification by faith alone. Luther understood God to be the donor in the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper. Thanksgiving which flows from the gift dare not blur this fact. The Sacrament is the Gospel.”
Spinks’ achievement gives this work an exceptional place in the literature. A new audience needs it. This is why it should be republished. First published in 1982, it has gone out of print. Used copies are rare and expensive. Dr. Spinks once more gives a precious gift to the Church by readily and graciously granting his permission for this new edition.
With new musical engravings of the Verba and The German Sanctus by Jon D. Vieker and commendation by William C. Weedon, this new edition bursts the epiphany of Spinks’ brilliance into the sight of a new audience and generation.