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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
George Carlin said, “One nice thing about egotists: they don’t talk about other people.” The Holy Spirit is not an egotist. He does not talk about himself. He talks about the Son. Tom Peters wrote: “Big companies understand the importance of brands. Today, in the Age of the Individual, you have to be your own […]
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 […]
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. […]
Outline 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] […]
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 […]
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 […]
Synoptic Text Information Services, Inc. has released its next new title, Atonement in Confessional Lutheran Theology: Franz Pieper. Presented in English are three of Franz Pieper’s writings about the atonement: Pieper shows that the confessional Lutheran doctrine of vicarious satisfaction is the teaching of Scripture, the Lutheran confessions, and Lutheran Orthodoxy. It is the only […]
Napoleon moved with his army through Switzerland. People hailed him everywhere with thunderous applause and cheers. He seemed unimpressed. Someone said, “Isn’t it great, this roaring support of the people?” Napoleon replied, “The same people cheering for me today would cheer just as loudly at my execution.” When Jesus showed his glory, people liked him. […]
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 […]
Synodical Documents LCMS v Christian, Bannwolf, CTX, and DoesU.S. District Court, Western District Texas, Austin Division, No. 23-cv-1042 Corporation Documents Land Records Letters, Newsletters, Etc. Miscellaneous
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 […]
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 […]
Nunc Dimittis: Seeing God’s Savior and Salvation by T. R. Halvorson NOTE: This article may be downloaded as a PDF Document Introduction Nunc Dimittis (the Song of Simeon) as a post-Communion canticle is a treasure. It holds deep riches of consolation in God’s Savior and salvation. Receiving the true body and blood of Christ with […]
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. […]
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 […]
Introduction Delegates to the synodical conventions of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod later this month have a duty to be conscientious. This includes a duty to study the reports and overtures in the convention Workbook and the further reports and resolutions in Today’s Business. It is work. It takes time. It is the job. For my […]
A Lutheran pastor friend of mine recently posted this status on Facebook: Be sure, before you get defensive, that you understand the difference between individual racism and systemic racism and how systemic racism is perpetuated by all of us white folks. For purposes of this article, I am not going to evaluate each of the […]
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.