Ulrich Luz The Theology of the Gospel of Matthew Review Outline CitationThe AuthorNature of the WorkMatthew as StoryThe Text Invites Reading as a NarrativeAuthor and SourcesReading Synchronically Structure and MeaningSampling Results of Narratological ReadingFaith and WorksBreakdown in Luz’s ApproachScriptureEvaluation Citation Luz, Ulrich. The Theology of the Gospel of Matthew. trans. J. Bradford Robinson. New York: […]
Sixteenth century humanists were already changing biblical exegesis by finding ‘a literary method for handling the narrative construction of the Bible as a whole … where discrete biblical meanings congealed in a coherent body of knowledge.’ Luther contributed to that search by providing a metanarrative that recognized the dilemma of the sinner and delivered God’s […]
At Landsberg, Germany, as the U.S. Army occupies and loots the defeated German town, Capt. Lewis Nixon carries on his quest for Vat 69, a Scotch blended whiskey. He has become a drunk, but will drink only the best. He finds a house that looks rich enough to have some. Inside, the home is well […]
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. […]
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 […]
At the time of Luther, the practice of the Sacrament of the Altar by papists inflicted many abuses upon the laity. These included withholding the cup from the laity, selling masses, masses for the dead, and more. The greatest abuse was warping the Sacrament from being a sacrament into being a sacrifice.[1] In a sacrifice, people […]
Many are tormented from time to time with doubts that Jesus loves them. They see something judging them on Facebook or You Tube. A works-righteousness church they left tells them they are going to hell because they have converted to salvation by grace alone through faith alone for the sake of Christ alone. Family members […]
by T. R. Halvorson Note: This article may be downloaded as a PDF file. Outline Citation Executive Summary Author Plan of the Book Strengths of the Book Folding It In Upshot It is amazing what God’s Word can do in one minute. Citation Richard, Matthew, Minute Messages: Gospel-Filled Devotions for Every Occasion, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing […]
Do you feel that, because of your sins, you cannot go to the Lord’s Supper? Perhaps you do because of how many your sins are. Or perhaps because of one that is besetting, a sin that many times you have resolved and even taken measure against repeating, but here you are again, right in the […]
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 week he was gone from work, no one knew where he went. When he came back, he didn’t say, and no one asked. He seemed to be himself, except he was not going on like he usually did about his healthy lifestyle. In time he confided in a coworker. He’d gone out of state […]
Would You Deny Real Presence to Escape the Jaws of beasts? By T. R. Halvorson NOTE: This article may be downloaded as a PDF Document A vogue phrase today is, “to die for.” “This chocolate is to die for.” “That dress is to die for.” A lifestyle clothing brand is called To Die For. A […]
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 […]
The parties in LCMS v. CTX, Christian, & Bannwolf[1] have agreed to scheduling of a jury trial of the case and a series of pre-trial procedures. For background on the case for those new to the topic, see: The case is set for jury trial commencing on September 8, 2025. Procedures leading from here to […]
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 […]
A mother ordered her naughty son to sit in a corner. After a few minutes, he told his mother, “I’m sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside!” He obeyed, but he didn’t submit. The conflict of wills between two different persons remained. In Gethsemane, the Father told his Son to […]
The news is full of the word “woke.” Woke people, woke agenda, woke action. Television and internet show woke people burning things down. What is this? “Woke” is one piece of Marxism. Marx says we are exploited and oppressed. Oppression is woven through the system. The system itself is oppressive. Oppression is so second-nature in […]
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 […]
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. […]
51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive […]
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.