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Vicarious Satisfaction in the Lutheran Confessions

by T. R. Halvorson Note: This article may be downloaded as a PDF file. Summary A prior article (“What Are You Taught About Redemption?”) briefly sketched the orthodox Christian doctrine of Christ’s redemption by vicarious satisfaction; heretical denial of vicarious satisfaction by some popular Lutheran theologians; and how the Lutheran church has taught vicarious satisfaction […]

Antinomianism and Legalism: Three Streams of Confessional Lutherans

Three streams. There are three streams that have flowed into current confessional Lutheranism. (There are more, but for present purposes, these three are sufficient to consider.) Stream One. Those born, baptized, raised, confirmed, and still living in confessional Lutheranism. Stream Two. Those born, baptized, raised, and confirmed in Lutheran synods that went antinomian. Examples would […]

World-famous Humble Little Country Doctor

Many ask, “If God exists, why doesn’t He show himself? Then we would worship him.” Answers have been given from reason, philosophy, and piety, but God is not impressed with that. His reasons are personal. Linus told Charlie Brown what he was going to do when he grew up. “When I get big I’m going […]

Tolerance for Only a Slight Variation from the Truth

When Satan seeks to supplant truth with error he is not so foolish as outright to propose that error be accepted. At the fall he was subtle enough not to suggest that. He did not propose outright rebellion against God. He suggested only a slight variation from what God had said, “Is it really true […]

Nice Guys Ruin the Consolation of Christ’s Blood

by T. R. HalvorsonNote: This article may be downloaded as a PDF file. In Scripture and the Lutheran confessions, Christ works the atonement in his life of active obedience (Matthew 3:15), his passive obedience of humbling himself to death on the cross (Philippians 2:8), and in his rising for the justification of the whole world. […]

Priority of the Word: A Bleeding Woman and a Dying Daughter

Text: Mark 5:21-43 As with other events in the ministry of Jesus, this text shows the priority of the Word of God. Before we have the Word, we might have optimism or happy superstition, but not faith. Before God makes a promise, there is nothing to believe. Once we have his Word, the Holy Spirit […]

Vicarious Satisfaction in Liturgy: Worship in General

NOTE: This essay may be downloaded in a PDF here. Introduction Lutheran Orthodoxy teaches that an indispensable part of the mighty work that God has done in Christ is atonement by vicarious satisfaction. Adversaries of Lutheran Orthodoxy deny vicarious satisfaction. They teach that God just “up and forgave” before and without the blood of Christ. […]

Dr. Becker’s Ever-Shrinking Word of God – PDF Available

Dr. Matthew Becker was a controversial theologian in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod until his departure. His controversial doctrines all arise because of his view of Scripture. Through a series of stages, some of which are orthodox and others of which are not, Dr. Becker gradually shrinks the Word of God until the remnant that […]

Make Sure You Enjoy Being in the Field on Your Way to Resurrection

One spring when I was a teenager, my Dad injured his back. He landed in the hospital in traction. That left seeding the crop to me. Could I get it done? I doubted and dreaded. When I got to the farmyard, before I knew what I was doing, I had climbed the windmill tower and […]

Hospitality at Concordia Historical Institute and CSL Library

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. […]

One Word in Absolute Darkness

With the oil boom, it seldom is dark anymore at our farm. There is usually some light from gas flares. It’s not like the experience of darkness we used to have in the field when walking back to a truck or the yard. On nights with no moonlight, the going could get tough. One night […]

What Did Jesus Have To Lose?

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 […]

Vicarious Satisfaction in Liturgy: Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)

Note: This essay may be downloaded in a PDF here. Introduction Lutheran Orthodoxy teaches that an indispensable part of the mighty work that God has done in Christ is atonement by vicarious satisfaction. Adversaries of Lutheran Orthodoxy deny vicarious satisfaction. They teach that God just “up and forgave” before and without the blood of Christ. […]

Objective & Subjective Justification – Pastors Todd Wilken & Rolf Preus

Have you heard the terms “objective justification” and “subjective justification”? Have you had questions about them? Have you been confounded by them? Be of good cheer! Pastor Todd Wilken interviews Pastor Rolf Preus on Issues, Etc., on “Objective & Subjective Justification.” Listen to this clarifying and faith-strengthening broadcast on demand.

Jesus Plays No Harp. He Swings a Hammer.

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, […]

The Saddest Chapter in the History of Mankind

We are now about to discuss the saddest chapter in the whole history of mankind. Think of it: man is unable to bring about his reconciliation with God, and so God Himself accomplished it by surrendering His own Son and placing Him under the obligation and curse of the Law. God has thus graciously prepared […]

Talking Past Each Other About the Law

When people talk about the Law, often they are ships passing in the night. They talk past each other. At the surface, they seem to be disagreeing with each other, but they are not even talking about the same thing. When it is assumed at the superficial level that they are talking about the same […]

Talking About the Black Sheep of the Family

The children of a prominent family commissioned a biographer to write a book of family history. They warned him about the black sheep of the family, an uncle executed in the electric chair. The biographer said he could avoid embarrassment. “I’ll say he occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government institution. He […]

Watershed in Missouri

There is a geological feature called a “watershed.” A watershed is an area or ridge of land that separates waters flowing to different rivers, basins, or seas. Watersheds exist all over the world. One watershed in my state of Montana, for example, shows how great a difference there can be. Imagine yourself standing exactly on the line […]

Who are these people, really?

This is a presidential election year. There have been so many candidates. People wanted to know, who are these people, really? Who are these promise makers? One of the parties started with four candidates. One candidate is a political veteran who has been known for decades. The others are less known. People wondered, who are […]

Liturgy and Communion

Bibliography

Bibliography: Atonement

Books

Atonement in Confessional Lutheran Theology: Franz Pieper

Atonement in Lutheran Orthodoxy: Johannes Quenstedt

Atonement in Lutheran Orthodoxy: Baier-Walther

Atonement in Lutheran Orthodoxy: Abraham Calov

Vicarious Satisfaction in Lutheran Catechisms, Confessions, and Hymns

Catechism and Confessions

Vicarious Satisfaction in Explanations of Luther’s Small Catechism

Vicarious Satisfaction in the Lutheran Confessions

Hymns

Vicarious Satisfaction in Lutheran Hymns

Book Reviews

Jack D. Kilcrease, The Doctrine of the Atonement from Luther to Forde

Theodore Dierks, Reconciliation and Justification

Junius B. Remensnyder, Atonement and Modern Thought

Burnell F. Eckardt, Anselm and Luther on the Atonement: Was It “Necessary”?

Benjamin Wheaton, Suffering, Not Power: Atonement in the Middle Ages

Errors and Truth

Atonement in Our Circles and Church

The Cracked Foundation of Forde’s Radical Lutheranism

Nice Guys Ruin the Consolation of Christ’s Blood

The Saddest Chapter in the History of Mankind

NEC-NOS

Finally! Some Satisfaction in the Atonement

How Do Sump Pumps and Sacrifice Work?

Escaping a Prairie Fire on Burnt Out Ground

Jesus Received Up — John 9:51-56

Bibliography

Bibliography: Liturgy and Communion

Worship in General

Relevant Worship: The Story of Your Life

Worship: What for? Who acts? Which way does it flow?

W and M Forms of “Worship”

How Can Worship Begin — Baptism: No Stepping on the Lord’s Train

Parts of the Service

The Evangelical Kyrie

Why the Preface, Agnus Dei, and Pax Domini? Real Presence

Nunc Dimittis: Seeing God’s Savior and Salvation

What was I thinking when reciting the Creed?

Real Presence

Would you deny Real Presence to escape the jaws of beasts?

Vicarious Satisfaction in Liturgy

Vicarious Satisfaction in Liturgy: Worship in General

Vicarious Satisfaction in Liturgy: Invocation

Vicarious Satisfaction in Liturgy: Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)

NEC-NOS

The Sacrament and the Second Petition in Leviticus

Hushing Christ’s Words of Institution: Then and Now

Publisher’s Preface: Luther’s Liturgical Criteria, Bryan D. Spinks

The Focus of Life is “None of the Above”

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.