You have seen a kid like him. One day, he is trying too hard to please everyone. The next, he doesn’t give a rip what anyone thinks. One minute, he walks with ease. The next, the ground beneath his feet turns uneven and rocky. You’re there one day when he gets into trouble. He “borrowed” […]
Artist Francis B. Carpenter said Abraham Lincoln had “the saddest face I ever attempted to paint.” His law partner said Lincoln’s “melancholy dripped from him as he walked.” His life was an unceasing litany of sorrows, tragedies, and dangers leading to the Civil War. With many assassination threats, finally he was shot on Good Friday, […]
The website TV Tropes has an article about a figure often used in television, called “Fluffy Cloud Heaven.” In this figure, heaven is heavenly blue. It is in the clouds. The clouds are solid enough to walk on. When we die, we get our wings, a white robe, and a halo. We become angels, float in clouds, […]
What is more common than talk of love? The word is overused. So much love is false. Billy Joel sang truth in “A Matter of Trust”: Some love is just a lie of the heartThe cold remains of what began with a passionate startSome love is just a lie of the soulA constant struggle for […]
Faith does not spring from nature, nor from our own reason, strength, or will. The Holy Spirit creates faith by the Word and Sacraments. When God said, “Let there be light,” there was light. “For He spoke, and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast.” (Psalm 33:9) Light could do nothing to bring itself […]
Pastor-Elder-Bishop in Scripture By T. R. Halvorson Note: This post may be downloaded as a PDF file One Office; Three Names In Scripture, there is one pastoral office that the Apostles call by three names. The three names do not divide the office into three offices. Each name emphasizes an aspect of a single office. […]
Lay Lutherans and personal evangelism have a strained relationship. First, we are tempted to think that only pastors should witness for Christ. If asked about it in a quiz, however, we are good enough test takers to know that is not the right answer. While only rightly called and ordained pastors should publicly preach and […]
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 […]
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 […]
Luke 2:22-40 From this text we focus on one part of Simeon’s prophesy in verses 34-35. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against “(yes, a sword will pierce through […]
Note: This article may be downloaded as a PDF document. Introduction Scripture often is misused. It happens in a variety of ways: misreading, misquoting, misinterpreting, misapplying. Let us consider one type of error to which our generation is particularly susceptible: Unwarranted Associative Jump. “Unwarranted associative jump” is the formal name of an exegetical fallacy. The […]
Note: This essay may be downloaded in a PDF here. Sometimes doctrinal review is like what happens frequently in court. A man driving his car across railroad tracks was struck and killed by a train. His widow sued the railroad, contending the railroad crossing was not adequately protected for the safety of motorists. The railroad […]
If you want to find the church you don’t look for Christians. You look for the pure gospel of Christ. God only knows who the Christians are. But we can and must know what the gospel is. So we don’t look for the biggest group, the most prestigious group, the holiest group, or the most […]
by T. R. Halvorson Note: This article may be downloaded as a PDF file. Outline Citation Executive Summary Author Standing Plan of the Book Overview of Substance Summary of Chapters Evaluation Citation Remensnyder, Junius B. The Atonement and Modern Thought, Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1905. Executive Summary This book should be appreciated by all Christians. […]
A sermon of Martin Luther on Luke 2:21-40 is loaded with so many gems it is difficult to select one for consideration here. Two are how Simeon is a preacher of the cross and against glory, and how works and respectability can be a snare against faith. Here is a piece of the latter: “51. […]
One of my vain ideas was to reach 60 without being an inpatient of a hospital. Didn’t work. Two Januaries in a row, I was hospitalized. I was a suffering puppy, though still nothing like many around me. My condition meant many trips to Billings this past year for surgeries. It’s amazing how nurses and […]
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 […]
On November 8, 2022, a majority of the Board of Regents (BOR) of Concordia University Texas (CTX) purportedly made that board self-governing and self-perpetuating in complete independence from the Concordia University System (CUS) and The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). CTX delivered unauthorized and newly adopted governance documents to the Texas Secretary of State.[i] Rev. Michael […]
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 […]
Two Texts Luke 18 15 Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. […]
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.