Small Catechism Research Articles

A Catalogue of the 1580 Dressden Concordia: Thirteen Exemplars of the Book of Concord by Thomas A. Von Hagel

Reviewed by: A Catalogue of the 1580 Dressden Concordia: Thirteen Exemplars of the Book of Concord by Thomas A. Von Hagel Suzanne Hequet A Catalogue of the 1580 Dressden Concordia: Thirteen Exemplars of the Book of Concord. By Thomas A. Von Hagel. River Forest: Heyl Press, 2015. 179 pp. Occasionally a scholar finds just the right resource at just the right time. That is what happened when a 1581 Concordia was identified in the Special Collections of Concordia University in St. Paul, [End Page 489] Minnesota. I had questions regarding this 1581 book and its relationship to the original 1580 editions of the Book of Concord. Von Hagel's catalogue, which focuses on thirteen 1580 editions held at Concordia Seminary Library in St. Louis and Concordia Historical Institute of St. Louis, contains information helpful to anyone researching sixteenth century editions of Concordia, better known as the Book of Concord. In the foreword, the author shared his personal interest in this study, identifying three occasions when sections of the Book of Concord interrupted his life—first as a ten-year-old beginning study of the Small Catechism, then as a college student hearing a confessional reading during a chapel service, and later as a graduate student working on his dissertation. There he found that, although multiple copies of the 1580 original Dresden edition existed, they were not identical (13). This work focuses on the thirteen exemplars of the 1580 edition held in St. Louis—seven at the Concordia Seminary Library and six at the Concordia Historical Institute. All thirteen were printed in Dresden in 1580, but minor variations exist. According to the author, sixteenth-century printers assembled type and impressions one page at a time, printing that page repeatedly for a given number of copies. Thereafter, that print frame was disassembled and parts were used to assemble the next page. This process continued until the entire book was complete (20). "In the era of the hand-press, additional copies of an earlier edition could not be later produced and be considered part of that earlier edition because the former frames had been dismantled" (20). Even with extreme care, minor variations existed. For this reason, each resetting of the pages for a complete book is considered a new edition, and these variations are traced in the taxonomy and illustrations in the catalogue. In identifying variations, the author has opened the way to a clearer understanding of all subsequent editions. Perhaps the very fact that there were at least thirteen printings of the original book indicates that the printers underestimated the value of the book to readers. The introduction is brief (seven pages) but is packed with information on the history and context of the 1580 editions. Of note is the brief explanation of why the Marriage and Baptism Booklets [End Page 490] (Trau- and Tauffbüchlein) are included in some exemplars, while most omit these (18). Footnotes guide any reader interested in further research. The taxonomy that follows (23–35) acts as a road map, flagging differences in the thirteen exemplars that may help future researchers categorize similar editions held in other collections. The bulk of the catalogue is dedicated to a series of illustrations (37–121). Although not photographs, the black and white illustrations include significant details that clearly indicate the unique characteristics of the thirteen exemplars. Six Appendices follow. The catalogue ends with a glossary, bibliography, and a helpful index of illustrations. Anyone with a Concordia in their special or rare books collections will find this book very useful. Additionally, students who have studied the modern Book of Concord may find this work inspirational. In Von Hagel's words, "The Book of Concord is not the rotting corpse of an archaic orthodoxy. Instead, this corpus is very much alive and spirited" (13). Suzanne Hequet Concordia University Saint Paul Saint Paul, Minnesota Copyright © 2020 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.

The Life, Works, and Witness of Tsehay Tolessa and Gudina Tumsa, The Ethiopian Bonhoeffer ed. by Samuel Yonas Deressa and Sarah Hinlicky Wilson

Reviewed by: The Life, Works, and Witness of Tsehay Tolessa and Gudina Tumsa, The Ethiopian Bonhoeffered. by Samuel Yonas Deressa and Sarah Hinlicky Wilson Clayton Faulkner The Life, Works, and Witness of Tsehay Tolessa and Gudina Tumsa, The Ethiopian Bonhoeffer. Edited by Samuel Yonas Deressa and Sarah Hinlicky Wilson. Lutheran Quarterly Books. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2017. 263 pp. This work documents the life and work of two Ethiopian Lutherans:Tsehay Tolessa (1931–2014) and Gudina Tumsa (1929–1979). The first section contains the theological writings of Gudina Tumsa, the General Secretary of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (1966–1979). The second section, In the Fiery Furnace, is an autobiographical narrative written by Tsehay Tolessa with Aud Sæverås. A foreword by Darrell Jodock, an editor's introduction and concluding editorial remarks on the legacy of Gudina Tumsa, as well as an appendix by Gudina's brother, a bibliography, and subject and scripture indices, round out the book. The work's two main purposes can be seen in its two sections. One is to tell the heart-wrenching story of two great people of faith. The other is to disseminate to a wider audience the theological works of a Lutheran martyr. Tsehay and Gudina were married in 1951. He became an influential leader not only in Ethiopia, but also in the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Tsehay raised a family and supported Gudina even though his ministry took him from home for long periods of time. Gudina was kidnapped and murdered by the Communist Derg regime, leading to his portrayal as the African Bonhoeffer. She was imprisoned for a long time, faced unimaginable hardships, and fortunately survived to tell their stories. [End Page 104] Gudina Tumsa's writings offer insights into a growing Christian movement in a context quite unfamiliar to the Western world. He gives clarity and definition to how the gospel meets the great needs of the developing world. "We therefore see the development of the inner man [sic] as a prerequisite for a healthy and lasting development of our society" (38–39). He understood the Small Catechism's explanation that daily bread goes beyond food to include money, property, and good government (The Lord's Prayer, Fourth Petition). He worked tirelessly to see the Ethiopian government reformed for the good of all. He also critiqued those in the global Lutheran church who quickly funded developmental projects while hesitating to pay for evangelization efforts. He promoted a holistic approach to ministry in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has a record of independence from western imperialism. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has been in existence for nearly as long as Christianity. The country's government has been intertwined with the Orthodox Church since its beginning. Such a lengthy, proud history of independence made outside influence questionable for many Ethiopians. Protestant missionaries did not show up in Ethiopia until the end of the nineteenth century. Gudina Tumsa is careful throughout his dialogue with the western Lutheran churches to protect the interests of Ethiopians. He actually credits the evangelistic spread of Lutheranism to the missionaries' departure during World War II (27). This text does a tremendous service by providing the first English translation of Tsehay Tolessa's powerful story, and presenting it alongside the theological and church governance writings of Gudina Tumsa. Also important is what this text represents to the broader church. The Lutheran Church in Ethiopia has over seven million members and is one of the largest bodies in the LWF. They have sustained a level of growth that should make them the de facto leaders of our global communion. It is time for their theology and their narratives to be shared and to influence the rest of the world. This text is a solid step in that direction. Anyone with interests in global Christianity, especially in Africa and developing countries, will here find a wealth of material. It is a wonderful source for [End Page 105]understanding the Lutheran church in Ethiopia. It has application in both academic and devotional settings, thanks to the mixture of theological praxis in Gudina Tumsa's writings and personal faith in Tsehay Tolessa's narrative. I have traveled to Ethiopia twice, each time to bring...

O istocie gromadkarstwa mazurskiego

After the Reformation Masurians as subjects of the rulers of the first evangelical state in the world became Lutherans. Over time, the inhabitants of the southern areas of Easy Prussia and the so- called Lithuania Minor felt the lack of the deepened spirituality, which they did not find in the evangelical church. Through the settled in Gąbin (Gumbinnen) exiled from the area of Salzburg pietist Evangelists in Masuria, “The six books on True Christianity” by John Arndt appeared. The book, after the Bible and the Small Catechism of Luther became the most popular among people of Masuria. The first piety movements appeared in Masuria in the county of Nidzica and Szczytno at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. However their true upturn took place from the 1840s. It manifested itself in running home services, prayer meetings- so-called “beads” and increased activity of travelling preachers. In the seventies and eighties of the nineteenth century, The Gromadkar movement comprised between 30 and 80% of the Masurian population. The centre of the Masurian clusters was located near Szczytno, Pisz and Mrągowo. Registered in 1885 by the Prussian Lithuanian Christopher Kukat , the East Prussian Evangelical Prayers Association which with the help of its bilingual (German Lithuanian) paper Pakajaus Paslas/ Friedens- Bote gave the organizational framework to the East Prussian clusters. At the turn of 19th and 20th centuries, the Gromadkar movement reached its apogee, also spreading among the Mazurian workers’ communities in the Ruhr. Since the First World War, there has been a gradual stifling of the movement, which in the Nazi era entered agonal phase. The key to understanding the world of clusters is the “Six Books on True Christianity” by John Arndt, in which he creates a kind of bridge between Luther’s teachings and the writings of the Rhine mystics of Master Eckhart, John Tauler and Henry Suzo, giving Mazurians directions for spiritual growth. It was supposed to rely on “Six Books” to deny yourself, to reject your own ego, to seek contact with God, indicating as the goal the union with God. The uniqueness of the Gromadkar movement consisted in going beyond the Lutheran principle of “justification by faith” and entering the ground of Christian mysticism unknown to the Evangelical doctrine, which happened through the work of Arndt. An additional aspect that opens up in this context is the Slavic and Lithuanian spirituality and the sensitivity of the crowd, without which undoubtedly it would not be possible to practice mysticism on the basis of the Evangelical religion.

Chrzest w ewangelickich katechizmach – reformacyjnych i współczesnych

Artykuł dokonuje analizy nauczania chrzcielnego dwóch klasycznych ewangelickich katechizmów: Małego katechizmu Marcina Lutra oraz Katechizmu heidelberskiego, a także trzech przykładów współczesnej ewangelickiej literatury katechizmowej (dwóch niemieckich i jednego fińskiego). Takie zestawienie pozwoliło ukazać, że współczesne katechizmy ewangelickie w warstwie teologicznej czerpią z katechizmów XVI-wiecznych. Jednocześnie należy odnotować, że starają się ją zaktualizować do potrzeb współczesnego odbiorcy, a także wzbogacić od strony merytorycznej (wątki dotyczące historii praktyki chrzcielnej, czy też omówienia różnych aspektów jej współczesnej postaci), a także formalnej (nastawiona na budowanie wspólnoty między młodymi czytelnikami katechizmu strona internetowa).

Luther in Arabic

Luther in Arabic Mark N. Swanson Recent years have seen considerable interest in the study of Western Protestant missions in the Arabic-speaking world, resulting in books about eighteenth-century Moravian encounters with the Copts;1 the endeavors of the nineteenth-century American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions;2 American Presbyterian work that led to the formation of the Evangelical Synod of the Nile;3 and specifically Lutheran projects, whether the German Lutheran work in Palestine that eventually led to the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), or American Lutheran endeavors, including the Middle East Lutheran Mission (MELM) in Lebanon backed by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS).4 The Synod of the Nile and the ELCJHL will appear more than once in this essay, as will the seminaries with which they are related, namely and respectively, the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC), an Egyptian Presbyterian school that has sometimes been pulled into wider regional and ecumenical roles, and the Near East School of Theology (NEST) in Beirut, which has been a regional, ecumenical school from its inception. The specifically Lutheran presence in the Arabic-speaking world is tiny, although the ELCJHL plays a role in education, theological reflection, inter-religious relations, and global Lutheran affairs far greater than its size might indicate. I think it is fair to say that the specifically Arabic-language Lutheran library in particular, as well as the Reformation-tradition library in general, is still rather thin (in contrast, say, to the library of Catholic works in Arabic, whether in [End Page 87] manuscript collections5 or as published since the nineteenth century by Catholic presses in centers including Beirut, Jerusalem, and Mosul). The works may be few, but their stories are worth telling. The Small Catechism The first publication of Luther’s Small Catechism in Arabic translation was undertaken at Halle in 1729 by Johann Heinrich Callenberg (1694–1760), a follower of August Herman Francke who was interested in evangelistic ministries to Jews and Muslims. An itinerant Syrian teacher of Arabic known as Salomon Negri Damasceni (= Sulaymān ibn Ya‘qūb al-Shāmī al-Ṣāliḥānī, 1665–1727) made a pair of sojourns in Halle, during which he taught Arabic at Francke’s school for orphans and attracted students like Callenberg.6 At some point Negri made—probably as a teaching tool—a translation of the Small Catechism, of which autograph copies from Halle dating to 1716 have been preserved.7 In 1729 (and in fact after Negri’s death), Callenberg published Negri’s translation: Catechismus Luthers minor arabice quem olim sub ductu B. Sal. Negri Damasceni in hanc linguam transtulit et vulgavit H. Henr. Callenberg. I did not know of this translation during the years that I taught at ETSC (in the 1980s and 90s). Then, the one Arabic-language translation of the Small Catechism of which I was aware was a product of the LCMS work in Lebanon. For the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Luther’s birth in 1983, the MELM Center in Beirut published A Brief Exposition of the Fundamentals of Christian Doctrine, consisting of a (28-page) translation of the Small Catechism as well as a (141-page) commentary—which turned out to be a translation of A Short Exposition of Dr. Martin Luther’s Small Catechism by Heinrich Christian Schwan (1819–1905), the third president of the LCMS. The volume is physically well-produced and was circulated quite widely. At least two other translations are available today. The Common Prayer Book (Kitāb al-ṣalāt al-‘āmm) of the ELCJHL (2nd ed. 2004) contains a translation of the catechism made by the Rev. Dr. Hermann Schneller and Mr. Elias Naṣrallah Ḥaddād (known for their ministry to orphans and underprivileged children, including the [End Page 88] founding of the Schneller School Bekaa at Khirbet Kanafar, Lebanon, in 1952). In 2002, the Division of Congregational Ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America published The Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther and The Book of Fundamental Lutheran Doctrines, translated by the Rev. Numan Smir (Nu‘mān Samīr), the founding pastor of the...

Luther in Russian

Luther in Russian Matthew Heise In April of 1521 the seventeen-year-old future Danish king, Christian III, heard Martin Luther make his bold proclamation before Charles V at the Diet of Worms. Christian was intrigued and became a staunch defender of Luther's views. His dedication to the cause helped introduce Lutheranism into not only Denmark but also Russia.1 In 1552 the Czar of Russia during Christian III's reign, known to history as Ivan the Terrible, invited the Danish king to send skilled tradesmen to Moscow. Seizing the opportunity, Christian III also sent to the theologically curious Czar copies of the Augsburg Confession and Luther's Small Catechism. Shortly thereafter these Lutheran confessions were translated into Russian in a book entitled Articles of the Right Faith.2 Ivan no doubt read the documents with intense interest since they were decidedly critical of the papacy, his arch enemy. Evidently following the old adage that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, he initially permitted the Lutherans to preach freely, but only to ethnic minorities within his empire. The first Lutheran congregation in Russia was formed in 1559 by Germans, Swedes, and Danes working in Moscow.3 In 1576 the Czar went a step further and allowed the Lutherans to construct a church, St. Michael's in Moscow.4 Unfortunately, Ivan's views changed quickly and dramatically. While the exact reason for the Czar's change of heart is unclear, it seems that he suspected that the Lutherans were trying to convert him and his people. Ivan reneged on his promise of free speech to Lutherans and in 1580 ordered the wood-framed St. Michael's to be burned.5 Thereafter, although the Lutheran Church became one of the largest churches in Russia outside of the state-sponsored [End Page 180] Orthodox Church, Luther's writings and other books produced by Lutherans were for centuries only allowed to be printed in the languages of the minorities that were deemed "ethnically Lutheran." That would include the largest group, the Germans, as well as the Finns, Swedes, Latvians, and Estonians.6 However, due to the gradual assimilation of these ethnic minorities within the Russian Empire over time, some attempts were made in the early twentieth century to provide catechisms in Russian to those who were no longer proficient in their original language.7 For example, a translation of Luther's Small Catechism from German into Russian was published in 1913 in Warsaw, at that time part of the Russian Empire. It contained the five standard parts, as well as the morning and evening prayers, table prayers, and the table of duties. An added section contained a general confession of sins, a prayer for use before the scripture readings, and a general prayer, including petitions for Czar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, the surviving and former czarina Maria Fedorovna along with Prince Michael, Nicholas' brother. During World War I, German was forbidden in the Russian Empire, so church documents and possibly some other Lutheran books were also translated into Russian as that was the only language allowed.8 A Russian Lutheran hymnal from 1915 is showcased today in downtown St. Petersburg's Lutheran cathedral, St. Mary's. The success of the atheist-inspired Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 eventually led to bans on the import of Christian literature, not to mention on any attempt at translations of Luther into Russian.9 All Lutheran congregations in Russia were forcibly closed by 1939.10 However, in the late 1980s an opening for religious freedom occurred during Mikhail Gorbachev's experimental program of glasnost (openness). Finding little impediment, Lutherans cautiously began re-establishing old congregations. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the demand for translations of Luther and Lutheran materials increased sharply. In 1992 the Michigan-based Lutheran Heritage Foundation (LHF) entered the newly established Russian Republic with the hope of restoring Lutheran literature to a land that had once hosted a fairly robust Lutheran church. Now that ethnic Russians could legally belong to any church and given that historically ethnic [End Page 181] Lutheran minorities had become more comfortable with the Russian language, LHF explored how it could provide Luther's...

Luther for Evangelicals: A Reintroduction by Paul R. Hinlicky

Reviewed by: Luther for Evangelicals: A Reintroduction by Paul R. Hinlicky Richard O. Johnson Luther for Evangelicals: A Reintroduction. By Paul R. Hinlicky. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018. 181 pp. Over the past several years, I have taught church history courses for Fuller Theological Seminary, where most of my students are ardent evangelicals—Reformed, Wesleyan, Charismatic, and Pentecostal. I particularly enjoy introducing them to Luther, since most of them know virtually nothing about him other than as the author of the 95 Theses (which, of course, they have not actually read). So I picked up Paul Hinlicky's book with a great deal of interest. In a poignant introduction, Hinlicky speaks briefly of his own journey of faith, acknowledging "a personal debt I owe to evangelicalism," and he sees this book as part of "a scholarly project of liberating Luther from Lutheranism to make him available as a resource to the rest of the Christian world" (ix). To that end, the first part [End Page 329] of the book interprets Luther on four key Christian doctrines: the new birth, the Bible, evangelization and the atonement. On these important topics, which he understands to be "the four historical preoccupations of evangelicalism" (101), he presents a Luther who would sympathize in many ways with evangelicals but challenge them in many other ways. His Luther, for example, would agree with evangelicals on the truth of "the penal suffering of Christ in the place of the sinner as the basis for our free justification." But where evangelicals (and Lutheran Pietists!) often understand this in a legalistic sense, with Jesus "taking the rap" for us, Hinlicky's Luther emphasizes the "joyous exchange" by which Jesus actually takes upon himself, not just "the rap," the punishment, but our sin itself—"out of unfathomable love!" (89–90). Thus for Luther we are freed, not just from punishment, but from sin itself. The second half of the book is essentially an explication of Luther's catechisms. Hinlicky explains their purpose and significance for Luther, and then interprets the Reformer's teaching on the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and (somewhat more briefly) the Lord's Prayer and the Sacraments. I found myself wishing that he had spent more time on the latter; my own experience with evangelical students is that this is the aspect of Luther that most mystifies and yet most attracts them. Hinlicky often makes his point by quoting from Luther's hymns. These, of course, are (with the possible exception of "A Mighty Fortress") entirely unfamiliar to the typical evangelical (and today, alas, "typical evangelical" students are bereft of familiarity with even the gospel hymns of their parents and grandparents). Recognizing this, Hinlicky includes an appendix with the texts of the hymns he cites throughout the book. I wonder how helpful those texts are to evangelical readers? When I've tried them out on students, they have found them obtuse and too complex. And, let's be honest, many Lutherans also find them obtuse—if they can find them at all in the typical parish's worship life! It might have been more helpful to include an appendix with the text of the Small Catechism (which he also frequently quotes, though in small fragments here and there). I have found the catechism itself to be the best way to draw evangelical students into Luther's faith and teaching. [End Page 330] While Hinlicky writes accessibly, I suspect this book would be tough sledding for the average layperson, evangelical or Lutheran. I would love, however, to be part of an interdenominational group of pastors reading and discussing Hinlicky's book. Such a conversation would reintroduce the Reformer, not just to evangelicals, but to many Lutheran pastors who think they know all they need to know about Martin Luther. Richard O. Johnson Grass Valley, California Copyright © 2019 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.

Parallels in translating Old Baltic Enchiridions: forms of the rage (Germ . ʒu f luchen bewegt )

[full article and abstract in Lithuanian; abstract in English]
 The aim of this paper is to investigate how the expression ʒu fluchen bewegt (in the context: [Ich...] habe ſie erʒrnet und ʒu f luchen bewegt), found in the chapter on Confession in the Small Catechism by M. Luther, was rendered in the Old Prussian, Old Lithuanian and Old Latvian translations.The usage and semantics of this expression, as well as the different strategies employed by translators in each language for its respective translation, are studied in a contrastive way and by means of the hermeneutic method.Abel Will’s work was probably exposed to different impulses, among them literality and iconism. His translation process could be influenced both by the phonetic and semantic vicinity between the German Woge, bewegen and bewegt ~ bewogen. Contrastive examples in other languages are also given. According to the author, in the case of the OPr. word pobanginnos, A. Will created a Lehnschöpfung, a fact that reveals a subtle interference with the German language.

Wilhelm Löhe und Bildung/Wilhelm Loehe and Christian Formation ed. by Jacob Corzine

Reviewed by: Wilhelm Löhe und Bildung/Wilhelm Loehe and Christian Formation ed. by Jacob Corzine Mark Mattes Wilhelm Löhe und Bildung/Wilhelm Loehe and Christian Formation. Edited by Jacob Corzine. Neuendettelsau: Freimund-Verlag, 2016. xxiii + 295 pp. Wilhelm Loehe, a nineteenth-century Bavarian Lutheran pastor, was a standout in developing a strong parish catechetical program which focused on sacramental piety, individual confession and forgiveness, and daily prayer. He also trained deaconesses who would serve hospitals, parishes, and schools, and missionaries who evangelized in North America and other mission fields. This volume presents fifteen papers originally delivered in July 2014 at the Fourth Loehe Theological Conference in Neuendettelsau, Germany. They deal with Loehe's philosophy of and methods for Christian formation of laity, deaconesses, and missionaries. Given the fact that many contemporary Christians advocate the need to recover discipleship, these essays are most welcome. Seven essays are in German and eight in English. This review highlights some of the most important points. For Wolfhart Schlichting, Loehe's sacramental piety indissolubly intertwines doctrine and life, theology, and spiritual formation (7). Specifically, Holy Communion offers not only forgiveness of sins, but also empowerment for Christian living since it conveys the mystical union of the believer with Christ, a "blessed communion" of the [End Page 112] believer with God (18). As David Saar puts it in his essay: "Not only does the Sacrament benefit the body and soul of the communicant, but in eating the body and blood of Christ, the communicant receives not only Christ's body, but also his soul … this encourages the formation of a sacramental piety by linking an aspect of Christ: his soul, his body, his wounded side, and his passion to the communicant" (102–3). In regard to worthy reception of the sacrament, Jacob Corzine shows that for Loehe confession prepares one for this "blessed communion" because in it sinners come clean and own up to their sin (124). Given his high valuation of the Supper, Loehe naturally prioritizes public worship. He desired that laity know the liturgy from the inside out. Thomas Schattauer shows how Loehe's Laienagenda, an abbreviated summary of the worship service, helps laity to understand and participate in the worship service (54). Indeed, in contrast to both Rationalism and Pietism, Loehe's Agenda, his formulation of the worship service, based on traditional Lutheran and ancient settings, pre sents the worship service as centered on both word and sacrament (55). Rudolf Keller describes how Loehe's catechetical aid "Haus-, Schul- und Kirchenbuch," which reprints Luther's Small Catechism along with Loehe's explanations, and with psalms arranged for singing, was designed to assist families, both in Germany and abroad, to learn the faith. Similarly, John Pless shows how Loehe's prayer manual, Seed Grains of Prayer, seeks to sanctify all of time and life since the prayers are so encompassing of the week and the church year (134f.) Australian theologian Jeff Silcock discusses how Loehe influenced Australian Lutheran spiritual life indirectly through the work of Hermann Sasse. Sasse had read Loehe's Three Books on the Church in the late 1920s while on sabbatical in the USA, and through that book was converted to an orthodox Lutheran position. Silcock appreciates that the Loehe tradition refuses to split intellect and emotion, head and heart (62). In an era where more Australians (and others) "love Jesus" but dislike the church ("churchless Christianity," as he calls it), Silcock notes just how much we need community if our faith is to stay alive (65). [End Page 113] Matthias Honold and Judith Böttner each describe deaconess training in Neuendettelsau which often accepted women from the educated classes (and not just from the underclass) and trained them for public service and thereby fostered Loehe's spiritual ideals more widely (170). Craig Nessan analyzes the dogmatics texts used at the mission training school in Neuendettelsau showing that they not only exhibited Lutheran confessional orthodoxy but also took stands important in the nineteenth-century, especially arguing for "open questions" and the anticipation of a "greater perfection" for a future Lutheranism. At first glance, Loehe might not seem relevant for contemporary Christianity, but when his quest for a vital practice...

Onesimos Nesib, Ethiopian Evangelical Pioneer

With Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, Samuel Yonas Deressa edited the latest LQ Book on Tsehay Tolessa and Gudina Tumsa, recent leaders of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, now with nine million members. Here Deressa goes back to the indigenous pioneer of this church, Onesimos Nesib (1856–1931), from his childhood slavery in Oromo through his baptism (Easter, 1872) and further education in Stockholm to his extensive and influential translations: the Bible, Luther's Small Catechism, many hymns and short stories. Deressa, adjunct faculty at Concordia University St. Paul, is a 2017 PhD graduate of Luther Seminary, 1570 Eustis Street, Apt. 306, Lauderdale, MN 55108; sderessa001@luthersem.edu.

The Sources of the 1545 Old Prussian Language Catechisms

The Teutonic Order in Prussia recognised and acknowledged its responsibility to catechiseboth the German-speaking colonists and the native population. The Reformation made noradical changes to these requirements, but gave them serious attention. During the 1540s tothe 1560s, several Catechisms for the non-German subjects of the Duke of Prussia were preparedand published in Konigsberg, including three in the Old Prussian language. The editorof the first and second Old Prussian-language Catechisms published bilingual books, with theGerman Catechism on the left-hand page, and the same text on the right-hand page in the OldPrussian language. Reinhold Trautmann established that the source of the Decalogue in thesebooks was Luther’s 1531 Small Catechism. However, he had difficulties confirming the sourcesof the remaining four parts of the Catechism, since he found a number of words and phraseswhich could not be identified as coming from Luther’s Catechisms. The article elaborates onTrautmann’s thesis that the source of the German Decalogue is Luther’s 1531 Enchiridion. Inaddition, it argues that the sources of the remaining parts of the Catechism were German-languagecatechetical and liturgical texts that were circulating in Prussia at that time. KEY WORDS: Duchy of Prussia, catechisation, Old Prussian language, Martin Luther.

Os catecismos de Lutero e o uso da Escritura

The third decade of sixteenth century marks the establishment of the Protestant Reformation in Germany and Switzerland. This article initially addresses the political and ecclesial context and religious transformations in Germany under the leadership of Martin Luther. To fulfill the pressing need for religious instruction of the people, the Reformer published, in 1529, the Small Catechism and the Large Catechism. It highlights the primacy of Scripture in catechesis, adopting the principle that the Scripture might be explained by itself, with Christ as center. Luther takes of early Church the method of Lectio Divina, but he distanced himself from the four-way method: literal, allegorical, moral and anagogical, from antiquity and the middle Ages. Through catechisms, Luther emphasized the Word proclaimed and accepted in Faith, since in his time very few Christians had access to the full text of Scripture.

Os catecismos de Lutero e o uso da Escritura

<p>A terceira década do século XVI assinala a implantação da Reforma protestante na Alemanha e na Suíça. O artigo trata inicialmente do contexto político e eclesial e das transformações religiosas na Alemanha, sob a liderança de Martinho Lutero. Para atender a premente necessidade de instrução religiosa do povo, o reformador publicou, em 1529, o Catecismo Menor e o Catecismo Maior. Em seguida, o artigo analisa a hermenêutica bíblica empregada nos catecismos. Destaca a primazia da Escritura na catequese adotando o princípio de que a Escritura se explica por si mesma tendo Cristo como centro. Lutero retoma da Igreja primitiva a insistência na Lectio Divina, porém distancia-se do método dos quatro sentidos, literal, alegórico, moral e anagógico, da antiguidade cristã e da Idade Média. Adota métodos próprios de interpretação. Por meio dos Catecismos Lutero deu ênfase a Palavra proclamada a ser acolhida na fé, uma vez que na sua época bem poucos cristãos tinham acesso ao texto pleno das Escrituras. <strong></strong></p>

Luther's Small Catechism and Luther's Small Catechism Study Edition by Martin Luther, and: Luther's Small Catechism by Martin Luther. iPad, iPhone, and Android.

Reviewed by: Luther's Small Catechism and Luther's Small Catechism Study Edition by Martin Luther, and: Luther's Small Catechism by Martin Luther. iPad, iPhone, and Android. Ken Sundet Jones Luther's Small Catechism and Luther's Small Catechism Study Edition. By Martin Luther. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2016. iPad, iPhone, and Android. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.augsburgfortress.smallcatechism; https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/luthers-small-catechism/id1114077769 Luther's Small Catechism. By Martin Luther. iPad, iPhone, and Android. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2016. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/luthers-small-catechism/id733691341?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.cph.catechism Lutheran digital literati, including the church's much-sought-after Millennials, may now access Luther's most accessible teaching in two new apps for IOS and Android devices. The Evangelical [End Page 213] Lutheran Church in America's Augsburg Fortress and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's Concordia Publishing House now have free Small Catechism apps available for download for smart phones and tablets. They can be found by searching the App Store for Apple devices and Google Play for Android devices. Augsburg Fortress' app (in both English and Spanish) initially includes the standard elements of the Catechism, including the Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed, Lord's Prayer, Baptism, Lord's Supper, and Confession, along with Luther's various prayers. The text is taken from the translation by Timothy Wengert included in the The Book of Concord (2000). By making a $1.99 in-app purchase, further material becomes accessible: additional notes and illustrations, an introduction by Wengert, the household duties, marriage and baptismal services (oddly, and in a sort of bait-and-switch move, from the ELCA's Evangelical Lutheran Worship), and Luther's Preface. The Concordia offering uses the 1986 translation that was the product of the "Synod's Task Force for Revising the 1943 Catechism" and makes the Catechism available in two types of Chinese, Portuguese, German, and Tigrigna (a language of Ethiopia and Eritrea), along with English and Spanish. It requires no in-app purchases and includes the following: Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed, Lord's Prayer, Baptism, Lord's Supper, and Confession, Daily Prayers, Table of Duties, Christian Questions and Answers, and Luther's Preface. Whether the Catechism itself is useful, well-written, or faithful is a matter for another discussion. As far as these apps are concerned, one has to ask what their intended purpose is. Both apps remain stuck in the pre-app past and reveal confusion about their intent, for they are simply a set of texts that could be pulled out of the digital ether in many other ways. The Catechism can already be downloaded in an ebook format for these intended devices. And its many earlier (and usually more memorizable) renditions are handily downloadable with the smart phone in most people's pockets. These apps would be a glorious addition to the on-line Luther—if it were 2010 when the iPad was first introduced. But the steps forward in technology since that time have been immense. If the publishing houses intended greater use of and familiarity with the Catechism, they should have pushed forward with more features. [End Page 214] Augsburg's app includes a Study Version, but has little material to expand the user's knowledge or understanding. Neither app includes links to corresponding passages in the Large Catechism or to relevant scripture passages for users who want to delve deeper. Both might have included games for help in memorization. Concordia already has a file available to create flashcards with the Tinycards app for memorizing the Catechism. A similar feature would have been a distinct advantage here. All in all, we ought to be grateful for the catechetical crumbs that have fallen from the tables of these venerable publishing houses. But in spite of the nearly six hundred years since Gutenberg, we treat the digital world as a mere variation on movable type. Luther's explanation of the Third Petition of the Lord's Prayer says that God's kingdom comes "whenever God strengthens us and keeps us steadfast in his word." Our age offers innovative...

Becoming Human Again: The Theological Life of Gustaf Wingren by Bengt Kristensson

Reviewed by: Becoming Human Again: The Theological Life of Gustaf Wingren by Bengt Kristensson Mary Elizabeth Anderson Becoming Human Again: The Theological Life of Gustaf Wingren. By Bengt Kristensson Uggla. Eugene: Cascade Books, 2016. 392pp. For nearly half a century, Gustaf Wingren (1910–2000) was a theologian with an international reputation and a true force in Swedish academic circles. However, less than two decades after his death, his [End Page 342] work has become largely overlooked. Through his excellent intellectual biography of Wingren, Bengt Kristensson Uggla calls attention back to this important figure, reminding us of his significant contributions to twentieth-century theology and advocating for his continued value today. Contextualization is central to this analysis of Wingren’s theological life. Uggla draws on an impressive array of archival and published sources to provide historical background for Wingren’s life and theology. At times the attention to detail can be almost overwhelming, but through this account Uggla also provides a history of twentieth-century theology and Swedish society alongside his portrait of Wingren. Conflict comprises much of the context of Wingren’s theology. His thought developed amid several theological debates: pietism versus orthodoxy, then later pietism versus the high church movement; liberal theology versus dialectical theology and motif research; and faith versus reason. Social struggles also shaped his theology, particularly World War II, increasing secularism, and a growing market-driven economy. While these controversies began apart from Wingren, he eventually found himself in the midst of them, disagreeing with all sides. In all these conflicts, Wingren’s critiques were based on his own emphasis on contextualization and consequently the doctrine of creation. After publishing two historical works on the theology of Luther and Irenaeus, Uggla asserts Wingren makes a “turn toward practical knowledge” in his work Living Word, shifting from a historical to a hermeneutical approach (132). Specifically, Wingren argued theology must explore the connections between the essential aspects of Christian faith and life and the situations shared by all people (156). In other words, theology must be contemporary and contextual and therefore constantly reinterpreted. Those who failed to understand this found themselves targets of Wingren’s sharp critique. Anders Nygren, Karl Barth, and Rudolf Bultmann were the first to be singled out in Wingren’s next work, Theology in Conflict, but others followed. Wingren then fully developed his contextual theology in two works: Creation and Law and Gospel and Church. [End Page 343] Wingren’s focus on contextualization led to a second major shift in his theology during the 1960s and 70s. The change was influenced by societal factors, but also several events within Wingren’s personal life: his withdrawal of his ordination in protest of the rejection of women’s ordination by conservative members of the Church of Sweden; his divorce from his wife of thirty-four years; and his retirement from Lund University. However, Uggla contends nothing was more important in this second shift than his relationship with Greta Hofsten, the woman who eventually became Wingren’s second wife. Greta Hofsten was a journalist and political activist with her own complicated and fascinating history, some of which Uggla recounts. She and Wingren met in Stockholm in 1967 and soon formed a friendship. According to Uggla, Hofsten was the person who first saw the potential in Wingren’s theology for social critique, and she was the primary inspiration for his second theological shift, from the academic context to the societal. Before his relationship with Hofsten, Wingren had little interest in social and political issues, but through her influence he recontextualized his theology into social criticism (195). In the final decades of his career, in collaboration with Hofsten, Wingren rewrote his previous works for this new context. Luther on Vocation became A Small Catechism; Man and the Incarnation became Human and Christian; Theology in Conflict became Change and Continuity and Silent Interpreter; and Creation and Law and Gospel and Church became Credo. All of the later works were “creative reinterpretation” for the new social context (196). Uggla’s work makes a valuable contribution to the history of twentieth-century theology in general and Wingren’s theology in particular. Despite the emphasis on history, the biography is organized thematically rather...

На пути к религиозному обучению населения в эпоху реформации: история создания Краткого катехизиса Мартина Лютера

На пути к религиозному обучению населения в эпоху реформации: история создания Краткого катехизиса Мартина Лютера

Paul Eber (1511–1569): Humanist und Theologe der zweiten Generation der Wittenberger Reformation ed. by Daniel Gehrt and Volker Leppin (review)

Reviewed by: Paul Eber (1511–1569): Humanist und Theologe der zweiten Generation der Wittenberger Reformationed. by Daniel Gehrt and Volker Leppin Jason D. Lane Paul Eber (1511–1569): Humanist und Theologe der zweiten Generation der Wittenberger Reformation. Edited by Daniel Gehrt and Volker Leppin. Leucorea-Studien zur Geschichte der Reformation und der Lutherischen Orthodoxie (LStRLO). Band 16. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2014. 622 pp. This important collection of essays on the life and work of Paul Eber came together on the 500th anniversary of Eber’s birth (8 November 1511). An international conference, organized by Daniel Gehrt (Gotha) and Volker Leppin (Tübingen), met in Gotha to honor this gifted and enigmatic churchman with ground-breaking research from German and American scholars. Readers are invited to observe in Eber the intersection of scholarly, political, and congregational life in Wittenberg during the tumultuous second half of the sixteenth century. Perhaps more than anyone in the second generation of reformers, Eber was characteristically a man of Wittenberg, a close student of Melanchthon in politics, poetry, and theological tendencies, yet also one who bore the marks of Luther’s preaching and teaching. Luther’s influence on Eber can be seen most prominently in the English-language contributions: Robert Kolb’s essay, “Paul Eber as Preacher” and Gerhard Bode’s essay, “Preaching Luther’s Small Catechism.” Eber’s central place in Wittenberg, especially after the death of Melanchthon in 1560, makes him a critical figure for understanding the controversies, culture, and ecclesiastical life in the mid- sixteenth century. Readers will certainly find a thorough and extensive analysis of Eber as humanist and theologian, but more importantly they will discover through these essays the culture and controversies in which he operated. The volume functions as a handbook to Eber research and includes essays on five aspects of his life and work: his engagement in ecclesiastical culture, his education, his labors as a humanist, his contributions as a theologian and pastor, and the impression he and his work left to posterity. (An appendix also includes the most comprehensive bibliography of Eber’s published works to date.) Readers are invited to consider the complexities of Eber’s character and of Lutheran academic and ecclesial culture. The first [End Page 82]section evaluates Eber’s church politics and his efforts to bring concord and peace to the doctrinal controversies within Lutheranism. As Volker Leppin’s essay argues, Eber’s irenic character and gentle approach to disputes, such as the contention for the Lord’s Supper, often left him misunderstood by his peers and standing on the outside of the controversies looking in (63). Daniel Gehrt’s article, which sifts through the correspondence between the Universities of Wittenberg and Jena, advances the thesis that after Melanchthon’s death Eber held de factothe highest rank of any academic at the University of Wittenberg (125). The second section covers Eber’s academic training and teaching. Both Meinolf Vielberg’s article on Eber’s education, his rise within the university, and his philosophical lectures and Andreas Gössner’s article on Eber’s work on the theological faculty demonstrate how a professor of Latin grammar could also be a pastor, become a professor of physics, join the theology faculty, and be involved with all the theological controversies of his day. Although it was not the direct purpose of those essays, the historical account of Eber’s education and the breadth of his learning—something not entirely unique in the sixteenth century—may serve as a powerful apology in support of liberal arts curricula at modern universities. In sections three through five, essays on Eber’s poetry and hymn writing, his lectures in astronomy, his interest in history, and his correspondence with friends and colleagues paint a rich portrait of Wittenberg’s own theologian and humanist. Yet, as these essays admit, the portrait is not complete. In Lucas Cranach’s famous portrait of the vineyard, painted for Eber’s epitaph and still on display on the east wall in the Stadtskirchein Wittenberg, Eber is pruning vines next to Luther, who, with a long rake in hand, is pulling through a clump of weeds. Eber is thus remembered not only as one...

“Ins undeutsche gebracht”: Sprachgebrauch und Übersetzungsverfahren im altpreussischen ‘Kleinen Katechismus.’ by Pietro U. Dini

Reviewed by: “Ins undeutsche gebracht”: Sprachgebrauch und Übersetzungsverfahren im altpreussischen ‘Kleinen Katechismus.’ by Pietro U. Dini Austra Reinis “Ins undeutsche gebracht”: Sprachgebrauch und Übersetzungsverfahren im altpreussischen ‘Kleinen Katechismus.’ By Pietro U. Dini. Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2014. 133 pp. This volume is a collection of newly revised, previously published articles, each of which is a highly specialized linguistic study of a particular word or phrase in Abel Will’s 1561 translation of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism into Old Prussian. Old Prussian is a Baltic language which today is extinct; Will’s Catechism is the last and most extensive surviving writing in this language. Given the paucity of extant documents in Old Prussian, the translation of certain words, especially words that appear only once (hapax legomena) in the entire corpus of Old Prussian writings, has in certain cases proved difficult. In these essays, Dini seeks to shed new light on some of the old translation problems by means of a systematic three-way textual comparison of three early Baltic translations which, he says, has heretofore not been attempted (3). He compares Will’s Old Prussian Catechism with sixteenth-century translations of Luther’s Small Catechism into the other two Baltic languages, namely, Bartholomäus Willent’s 1579 translation into Lithuanian and the Latvian so-called Rivius-Catechism of 1586. A glance at Dini’s investigation of three Baltic translations of the German word “leyder” in the sentence “ich diene leyder vntrewlich [End Page 242] meinem Herrn” in the section on confession of sins will illustrate his method and conclusions. “Leyder,” Dini observes, is rendered into Old Prussian as “Deiwa engraudis,” and into Old Latvian as “dews ßeelo.” In the Lithuanian, the word is not translated; it is left out altogether. This, Dini observes, challenges the existing notion that the translators “simply” translated the German text word-for-word into the respective Baltic language. Additionally, it demonstrates that they were aware that the German “leyder” could have the meaning “Gott erbarms!” or “Gotterbarm!” (Eng.: “God, have mercy!”) (29–30). Due to its technical nature, this volume will be of interest primarily to scholars studying the Baltic languages and literatures and to historians researching the history of Christianity in the lands on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. Its extensive bibliography, which brings together publications in numerous languages, among them German, English, Russian, Lithuanian, and Latvian, will alert such scholars to publications in languages other than those they may customarily use. To conclude, one very minor correction: “Vien tik” and “vien” (64) are Latvian, not Lithuanian adverbs. Austra Reinis Missouri State University Springfield, Missouri Copyright © 2016 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.

Colonial Records of the Swedish Churches in Pennsylvania, Volume 5: The Parlin Years, 1750–1759, and Volume 6–A and 6–B: The Wrangel Years, 1759–1766 ed. by Peter Stebbins Craig, et al.

Reviewed by: Colonial Records of the Swedish Churches in Pennsylvania, Volume 5: The Parlin Years, 1750–1759, and Volume 6–A and 6–B: The Wrangel Years, 1759–1766 ed. by Peter Stebbins Craig, et al. Mark Granquist Colonial Records of the Swedish Churches in Pennsylvania, Volume 5: The Parlin Years, 1750–1759,and Volume 6–A and 6–B: The Wrangel Years, 1759–1766. Edited by Peter Stebbins Craig et al. Philadelphia: Swedish Colonial Society, 2009–2015. Vol. 5, 286pp. Vol. 6, 704pp. These volumes are the latest additions to an ambitious publishing project which will eventually bring the translation of these records to the year 1786. Since previous volumes of this series have already been reviewed in Lutheran Quarterly, this review will only concentrate on volumes 5 and 6. This is an extremely valuable series and one that certainly sheds a great deal of light on colonial American Lutheranism. [End Page 476] Covering the years 1750 to 1766, these three volumes show these colonial Swedish Lutheran churches at a time of interesting transition ahead of the American Revolutionary War. The Swedish colonial experience along the Delaware was fleeting at best, only a couple of decades in the middle of the seventeenth century, and by 1750 no new Swedish settlers had come to North America for one hundred years. That some remnant of Swedish identity remained among this small group of settlers is rather amazing. But by 1750 the identity of these settlers had begun to merge into that of the population around them. Certainly Swedish as an everyday language was mostly dead among them, and intermarriage had further clouded their identity. They were Lutherans, served by pastors from Sweden, but this, too, was becoming less distinct. These records show a fascinating story of the Americanization of these colonial settlers, and their relations with the Swedish pastors sent to minister to them, as well as their relations with Church and Royal officials in Sweden. Volume 5 recounts the ministry of Rev. Olof Parlin, from his arrival in 1750 to his death in 1757. Often these Swedish pastors were diligent in their ministry, but few of them stayed in colonial American very long, either dying in the New World, or being recalled to Sweden, leaving long gaps for the congregations. Volume 6 covers the American ministry of Rev. Carl Magnus Wrangel, who was by all rights a fascinating figure; a member of the Swedish nobility, he was fluent in German and English, besides Swedish, and was a very effective colleague of colonial Lutheran leader, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. Wrangel’s ability in English was a rarity among Swedish pastors, and he founded several new congregations that were primarily in English, the first Lutheran congregations to be so formulated. He was very popular among his people, though he was resented by some of the other Swedish pastors. One wonders what the course of colonial American Lutheranism would have been like had Wrangel stayed in America, but after seven years he, too, returned to Sweden. Volume 6–A also includes facsimile reproductions of the first two editions of Luther’s Small Catechism in English, one of 1749 and the other of 1769, the first real attempts to do Lutheran theology in [End Page 477] the English language. The rest of the volumes in this series will be eagerly awaited, especially as they deal with the period of the American Revolution. Mark Granquist Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota Copyright © 2016 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc

Grigorij Kotošichin als Russischlehrer für zukünftige Übersetzer der schwedischen Krone?

This article deals with a manuscript kept in the Extranea collection of the Swedish State Archives in Stockholm. The manuscript overlaps with Alfabetum Rutenorum, a Russian textbook, printed in Stockholm by Peter van Selov around 1640. Both the imprint and the manuscript comprise the Cyrillic letters with their names in Cyrillic and in transliteration and the most central parts of Luther’s small catechism. Moreover, the manuscript contains the shapes of the Cyrillic letters in the Chancery cursive style (skoropis’) and a table with the Cyrillic numerals, from 1 to 1 000 000. The manuscript – apparently intended as a new Russian textbook for future translators of Russian – was dated by the author to the 2nd half of the 1660s and attributed to G. Kotošichin, a former secretary of the Diplomatic Chancery who was living and working in Sweden from spring 1666 to his execution in the fall of 1667.