What Does This Mean?

Meet Andreas Karlstadt

Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt (known as Karlstadt) was a professor of theology at Wittenberg when Martin Luther arrived at the university. Born in the village of Karlstadt not far from Frankfort on the Main River. He attended the University of Erfurt at the same time Luther was studying for a law degree. From there he studied at Cologne and Wittenberg, was ordained a priest and served at the Elector‘s Castle Church. After becoming a Doctor of Theology, he briefly studied canon law in Rome.

In any other time or place, Karlstadt would have been a significant figure. He was learned, insightful and committed to what he believed. Yet he lived in the shadow of a genius who changed the world and ended up more of footnote in the history of the Reformation. Like St. Peter, he lived life governed by his heart, with all the subtlety of a loaded freight train. At the beginning of the Reformation, he was a loyal friend and ally of Luther’s, one of the first to be convinced of the truth of the Reformer’s insights. When Martin Luther received his Doctor of Theology degree, it was Karlstadt who conferred it.

In 1517, he lectured on Saint Augustine’s book, On the Spirit and the Letter, a work on Law and Gospel. When Johann Eck’s criticisms of the Ninety-Five theses were published, Karlstadt waded into the debate to defend his friend and his university. In May 1518, Karlstadt published his book Apologeticae conclusiones, which directly challenged Eck. He argued that man could not of his own free will do anything to earn God’s grace, but only receive it as a gift. He insisted, as did Luther, that Scripture is the final authority in matters of theology.

Johann Eck responded in August 1518 with theses on the relationship between grace, free will, penance and indulgences. He challenged Karlstadt to debate them. In the following months, he added theses, that on the surface appeared to attack the professor, but were really aimed at Martin Luther. Luther, who had been trying to bring the two together felt betrayed and entered the war of words.

Unlike the Ninety-Five theses, which were never publicly debated, the theses flying back and forth between Eck, Karlstadt and Luther were explored in the Leipzig Disputation, five hundred years ago today. This conference made it clear to everyone, including Martin Luther, that the reformers would accept no authority but the Holy Scriptures in faith and the teachings of the church — not even the pope or church councils. The breach between Rome and Wittenberg was not able to be closed.

Meet Johann Eck

Johann Maier von Eck (known as Eck) was born the son of a judge in the little town of Eck, a Swabian village between Stuttgart and Augsburg. A child prodigy like Philip Melanchthon, he enrolled at Heidelberg University at age eleven and earned his Doctor of Theology degree by age twenty-four from the University of Freiburg. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1508. In 1510, he moved to the university at Ingolstadt where he earned a second doctoral degree and joined the faculty.

Eck quickly became a leading figure in the German Humanist movement. As a true Renaissance man, in wrote works in many fields, especially philosophy and theology. One of his major works, called Chrysopassus explored the doctrine of predestination. He argued that God predestined people because he could see in advance the sins and good works they would perform. He and Martin Luther struck up a friendship over their shared interest in reforming university education based upon the insights of the Renaissance. He earned a reputation as a skilled debater, not exactly known for his subtlety — just like Luther.

When the Indulgence Controversy broke out, the Bishop of Eichstätt requested Eck’s opinion on the 95 Theses. He wrote what were more or less footnotes on them. Someone leaked this private opinion to the printers and soon the criticisms were published with the title Obelisks. Luther soon fired off a response entitled Asterisks. The friendship came to an end as Eck assumed the role of Luther’s chief and most skilled opponent.

Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt (known as Karlstadt), a colleague of Luther at Wittenberg, rose to the reformer’s defense. Soon Eck and Karlstadt agreed to meet in a disputation (a debate). Under the sponsorship of George “The Beard,” Duke of Saxony, cousin of Luther’s prince, the conference convened five hundred years ago tomorrow in Leipzig. It became know as the Leipzig Disputation and was the event that set in motion Luther’s excommunication.

God’s Delight

We should know Who Wisdom is. God the Father did not create alone; this act of creation was Trinitarian in nature. We know the Spirit was there from Genesis, as the Spirit hovered over the waters. But Wisdom, the eternal Son of God was there and played a critical role. John says in his prologue.

Jesus is Wisdom, the master workman who is the with the Father before the world was created and in whom the Father delights. And Jesus rejoiced before the Father. It was in this joy that the world was created. Father, Son and Holy Spirit working together to bring all things into being and after working those 6 days, on the seventh God called his work very good and rested.

Wisdom is seen rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of men. They are his inheritance after all. Jesus delighted in the children of men prior to the fall. And even in that great fall into sin, joy would be a driving force for God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to bring about man’s redemption and his salvation.

It is sad to consider how many people think God is a momentary fix for a horrifically bad moment in life. A divorce, a flood, whatever it may be. God is only needed when things get extremely bad. That makes God into a very small God. In so doing we make God in our own image, breaking that first commandment, making God fit our own fleeting needs. That is not who God is at all. He is the one who created, redeemed and keeps holy. And you now wish to form Him?

God the Father delights in his Son. Even after the creation fell into sin and was cursed to die for our sins, the Father still loved the Son, because Jesus chose to come, to die for you many sins, and rise for your justification. The author to the Hebrews talks about Jesus this way: “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Joy was driving force. Jesus delights in saving you, that you might be reconciled to His Father in Heaven.

Now, Wisdom has built the Church, calling us to table. Delight in what our Lord delights to give to us: Salvation.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

The Holy Trinity

Encore Post: Today we enter the second half of the church calendar. We have spent about six months in what is called the Festival Half of the year. We experience from a distance our Lord’s life as we move through Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, the Resurrection, Ascension, and Pentecost. Throughout the festivals, we see the hand of God working out all that was necessary for man to become his own and be what God had intended us to be in time and in eternity.

This morning we celebrate The Holy Trinity. In it, we are not commemorating and remembering some act of God for our salvation. Rather we consider and marvel the great doctrine and truth that our God is a mysterious God: Three distinct Persons in one Divine Essence. This doctrine is at the center of our faith. It is the foundation of Christianity. We do not confess ‘a god’ or ‘one god in multiple modes.’ No, we confess that we ‘believe in God the Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit.’ ‘One God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity.’

In the Festival Half of the year, we have seen our Triune God at work. The Holy Spirit overshadows the Virgin Mary at the Incarnation of Jesus as the Father sends our Savior into the world. At the Baptism of Jesus, we hear the Father speak as the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus. At the Transfiguration, we again hear the Father when he tells Peter, James, and John that Jesus is his beloved son and to “listen to him.” On the cross, Jesus cries out and hands over the Spirit. And at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes in power to convict those who hear the preached word of God of their sins. And the people who believe are baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit into the forgiveness of sins and so that they, too, would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So today we enter the Non-Festival half of the church year. The half that tells the story of the Church which our Triune God has called to himself. We see the kingdom as the Kingdom of Grace. We hear of his kingdom’s righteousness. We come to know what New Life in the kingdom is like. Finally, we are prepared for the Last Day and entrance into the Heavenly Kingdom.

And then? Then we get to do it again and again. Year after year. Hearing, believing, and rejoicing in what our gracious God has done for us: Redeeming us and making on his own beloved children.

Rev. Brent Keller
Trinity Lutheran Church
Guttenberg, Iowa
and
St. Paul Lutheran Church
McGregor, Iowa

New Contributor Coming: Rev. Brent Keller

Please welcome to the blog Rev. Brent Keller. He will be contributing posts to our blog beginning Sunday. Here is his introduction:

I am a Confessional Lutheran Pastor, a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. I am from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area, attended Concordia Theological Seminary-Fort Wayne, and now serve Peace Lutheran Church, a wonderful rural congregation in Alcester, SD. I was ordained at Peace on July 18, 2018. I have a wonderful wife, Hanne, and a nearly three-year-old daughter, Annalise. We are expecting our next child, believed to be a girl, in December of 2019.

Program Note: Blog Post Series Page Updated

Dear regular readers:

I had some time to update the Blog Post Series. If you are looking for a post you want to read again, this page should help.

Thanks!

Pastor Bob Smith

New Series: Church Words

Every movement, society, organization, group — even families! — has its own language. Sure, it sounds like English, uses the same words, grammar and structure, but when you are new to it, you can’t figure out what these people mean! The Christian Church is no exception. For Lutherans, church words are familiar and meaningful — just don’t ask anyone what the words mean! When you think about it, the meaning of these words are kind of fuzzy in our minds too! For example, if someone asks you what “Glory” means, could you tell them?

Beginning this week, whatdoesthismean.blog will take on these words one at a time. We pray that these will be helpful to you.

Early Years of Friedrich Wyneken

209 years ago, on May 13, 1810, Friedrich Conrad Dietrich Wyneken was born in what would soon become Kingdom of Hanover. On the 22nd, Fritz’s proud father, Pastor Heinrich Christoph Wyneken baptized youngest son at his parish, St. Andreas of Verden.

The Young Fritz Wyneken was the tenth of eleven children. He joined a family of dedicated and prominent servants of heavenly and earthly kingdoms. When Fritz was five years old, his father died, leaving his mother Louise to raise their eleven children. To accomplish this, she depended on a meager church pension, took in boarders and called on family and friends to make ends meet.

Friedrich attended Gymnasium in his home town of Verden. At age Seventeen, he enrolled at the University of Göttingen, the traditional Wyneken alma mater. After one year in Göttingen, Friedrich enrolled in University of Halle’s Theological Faculty, where he remained until he graduated two and a half years later. At Halle, Friedrich found a mentor in Augustus Tholuck, a leader of 19th Century German Awakening and supporter of the Prussian Union. During Friedrich’s years at Halle, Tholuck taught courses in New Testament, Dogmatics and the History of Doctrine. Through his influence, Wyneken became an “awakened” and “believing” Christian.

Upon graduation, Wyneken served as a private instructor in the home of Consistorial Counselor von Henfstengel at Leesum, a town near Bremen. The area was a stronghold for the Awakening and a place where Friedrich Wyneken would grow both in his faith in Christ and zeal for missions. After four years in Leesum, he briefly served in a few other positions. His education and experience had made him into a strong, convinced pietist.

Wyneken returned to Germany in 1837, fully groomed for a promising career in the Church. He would soon read accounts of the spiritual needs of German Lutherans on the American frontier in the journals of mission societies. Perhaps he read the reports of survey missionaries, sent out by the Pennsylvania Ministerium to measure the need and do what they could to meet it. Perhaps it was the letters ofF. A. Schmidt, pastor in southwest Michigan, who served as a missionary of the Basil
Mission Society. In any case, what Wyneken learned in about German Lutherans in America touched off a struggle in the heart of the young man. He came to the conclusion that God was calling him to serve on the American frontier.

At peace with God and sure of his decision, Friedrich Wyneken obtained release from his duties as a tutor. After a memorable candidate’s examination, he was ordained at Stade with fellow candidate, C. W. Wolf. General Superintendent Ruperti, his sister’s father-in-law, conducted the rite at St. Wilhadi Church of Stade on 8 May 1837. With the help of Gottfried Treviranus, the Reformed pastor of St. Martin Church in Bremen, Wyneken and Wolf made the acquaintance of Captain Stuerje, who provided the pair of missionaries free passage to America on his ship, the Brig Apollo.

The Highlight Reel

One of my favorite shows used to be Baseball Tonight because they showed all the highlights of the baseball games. It was a way to get the great plays of all the games.

In a similar way, we have our own highlight reel, though it probably is not a reel that we want others to see. It is the highlight reel of our sins. You see Satan just loves to drudge up our past offenses, our past faults, the things we have done or left undone. And more often than not he also gives a pretty colorful commentary on them as well. He plagues our conscience with it all the time. And the highlights continue to be added to because we continue to fall into sin some way or another.

As I was reading and studying for John 21, I ran across the idea that it gives some pretty neat highlights of the Ministry of Jesus, recalling the calling of the disciples away from their fishing nets, Peter’s confession, the feeding of the 5,000 with bread and fish, etc. But these events in John 21 are more than replays of the highlights.

Jesus is risen from dead! Jesus as we learned from his first appearance to the disciples in the locked room, does not come to his disciples with vengeance on his mind. He comes to bring peace. He comes to bring forgiveness.

Though we have been given His peace, we still are bombarded with the assaults of the devil. Satan still comes in with our highlights of sins and replays them over and over, accusing us. And we tend to forget about the peace which Jesus gives. Instead we tend to be afraid and begin to fear interacting with God. But we need not be afraid.

But every time we gather in the place where Jesus promises to be for us and for our salvation, the highlights of Jesus’ death and resurrection for us gets put into our mind. We get to say to Satan, “I am baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus. I am saved by Christ.” And with Paul we get to say, “As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” These are the Jesus’ highlights but He makes them yours every time you receive His Word and Sacraments. May we be ever mindful of what our Lord has done for us, that we may always believe it.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

Martin Luther, St. Paul and Righteousness

We think of Martin Luther as a great reformer, a writer and a pastor. And he was all of these things. But his call was as a professor. His first lectures were on the Psalms, Romans, Galatians and Hebrews. To do these well, he spent many hours reading commentaries and the writings of the Church Fathers and the scholars of the Middle Ages. Once in awhile, he found himself not quite understanding a passage or a word. He spent months trying to understand some words. When he finally came to understand repentance, he described his excitement as if it unlocked all of Scripture for him.

Over Five Hundred years ago, as he was preparing to lecture on Romans, the great scholar, Erasmus of Rotterdam, published a Greek New Testament (1516) with Erasmus’ own Latin translation with it. It was then he came up against Romans 1:17: ” ‘For in it [the Gospel] the righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) of God is revealed from faith for faith” Everything he read said this righteousness was the quality of God that moves him to condemn sinners. He just couldn’t understand how that was good news.

His friends urged him to lecture on the Psalms again, so he began teaching the book in March and April of 1519 — five hundred years ago. While he was working on his lectures in his tower study, he couldn’t get Romans 1 off of his mind. Then his eyes fell on the context: “The just shall live by his faith.” All of a sudden, it occured to him that the righteousness of God is not the holy nature of God, but it is God’s gift of righteousness that Christians receive by faith as a free gift for the sake of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It was as if God had opened the gate of heaven for him. God’s righteousness is a gift God gives by his grace.

Luther has a way to go before he fully understood theology they way Lutherans do today. Yet God had revealed to him the central teaching of the faith. He would never forget his tower experience.