Note: This article was published originally on June 14, 2014on Brothers of John the Steadfast FiveTwo recently published an article by Jim Marriot titled, “The Sacramental Nature of Music.” At the outset he claims: “I believe music has a sacramental nature and efficaciousness.” He next says, “There is no way, within one blog post, to […]
Introduction 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.[1] Much […]
In May of this year, a federal judge in Brooklyn sentenced a woman convicted of drug importation with intent to distribute to probation rather than prison time. The theory was, the restrictions on felons outside bars are punishment enough. The New York Times reported that Judge Frederic Block suggested anything more would be overkill. In […]
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.
The trouble with many conventional treatments of Anselm and Luther is that they fail to consider their differences in purpose and method. This failure, especially among many claiming to be heirs of Luther, has driven a deeper and wider wedge between Anselm and Luther than is warranted. To be sure, they have differences, and to be...
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. […]
During World War II, General Douglas MacArthur was on the Philippine island of Corregidor helping to defend that country from invasion by the Empire of Japan. Fearing that Corregidor would fall and MacArthur would be taken prisoner, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to go to Australia. MacArthur balked from February 20 to March 11. He […]
When I was a kid, my next door neighbor was my best friend. He was a good kid. He excelled at sports and did well in school. But when his mother told him to clean up his room, he asked, “Why?” His mother said, “I’ll give you a dollar.” It was a lot of money. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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” […]
Conversion: Trusting God’s Word for Your Regeneration and Resurrection By T. R. Halvorson NOTE: This article may be downloaded as a PDF Document We must trust Christ to raise us from death to life. We must trust him for this twice: regarding our resurrection, and regarding our regeneration. These two cases are alike. In both […]
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 […]
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 […]
My aunt, Gladys, was a manager in the U. S. Geological Survey. As a federal government employee, she had excellent health care. The plan included frequent checkups and examinations. But it failed her. My Dad from North Dakota visited her and her husband, Bob, at their home in Maryland. He noticed it right away. Her […]
Christ and his apostles show that the ritual legislation in Leviticus is relevant for us. While the law of Moses does not prescribe what we do in the Divine Service, it helps us to understand how God interacts with us in Christ and in the Divine Service. So each section of this commentary ends with […]
Frequently I hear it said, as a refutation of this or that orthodox proposition, “In this day and age,” that proposition is absurd. There are many variant formulations of the idea. Sometimes it is stated as, “This is the 21st century. We are not controlled by the darkness of the past.” Leaving aside for the […]
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. […]
“The begats” is a listing of generations from Adam to Noah. It was repetitious and boring. In each generation, it says someone was born, had kids, lived awhile longer and they died. This repeats nine times. In the King James version, the wording was, the person “begat” sons and daughters. That’s why I call the […]
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 […]
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.