Were the Reformers Mission-Minded?.

The subject The Reformation and Missions might well suggest a very short paper indeed. Both theologically and practically, the Reformation period is notable chiefly for its lack of missionary emphasis

The Vicarious Atonement Sacrificial Ritual of the Old Testament

Inasmuch as the Levitical worship constituted one integrated body of ritual, the component parts of which were inextricably interwoven, it is difficult to study one section apart from the others. In full cognisance of this inherent but inescapable limitation, we shall devote our attention successively to the four chief elements in the Old Testament system of worships The Festivals; the Sacrifices and Offerings, the Sanctuary and the Priesthood

Worship: The Divine Alchemy

In medieval lore, scientists sought to use the process of alchemy to transmute base metals into gold. Alchemy proved to be a pseudoscience, for men have devised no method to create the precious metal out of elements that are common and coarse. But in a higher sense, and in the spiritual realm, God achieves that which to man is impossible: He takes these base, ignoble elements, these earthen vessels - our stumbling words, our faltering prayers, our paltry gifts, our flawed works, our frail and sin-scarred lives - and transmutes them into gold, into offerings fit for the King

Barth\u27s Conception of the Authority of the Bible

The Barthian theology has often been defined as a theology of the Word of God. The Word of God is indeed central in Barth\u27s theological system, and to understand his conception of the Word of God is to hold the key which opens the door to all his theological thinking. Is this conception something new in the realm of Christian thought, or is it merely a rcpristination of the Reformation doctrine? Does the Barthian doctrine remain within the mainstream of the Christian tradition, or does it meander off into the slough of a new and disguised rationalism and empty itself at last in the morass of an utter subjectivism? Specifically, how does the Bible fit into the pattern of Barth\u27s doctrine of the Word of God? What authority does he ascribe to the Biblical word? In how far does he lay himself open to the charge of Biblicism ? These are some of the issues to which we wish to address ourselves, and in the process we hope to gain a better understanding of what the Bible means to Barth

The Diety of Christ According to the Epistle to the Hebrews

The title and the contents of the Epistle prove that the addressees were Jewish Christians, and the emphasis placed on the temple worship points to the fact that they residents of Palestine, especially of Jerusalem. The letter constitutes a warning to the Jewish Christians to remain steadfast in their adherence to Christ, amid all the vicissitudes of life. They should not relapse into their former mode of worship, naturally meaningful and dear to them as it was, for Christ is the fulfilment of the Old Testament symbolism, and the new covenant is superior to the old. The Epistle was probably written from Italy about 66 A.D., with 68 as the terminus ad quem, since later than that the temple worship was no longer in practice

Theological Education: The Ecumenical Dimension

This article was originally presented as a lecture al the Consultation on Ecumenical Affairs of The Lutheran World Federation, Tokyo, Japan, May 5, 1971

The Barthian Inversion: Gospel and Law

Is the influence of Karl Barth on the wane? One of Europe\u27s foremost Lutheran theologians, Oscar Cullmann of the University of Basle, is of the opinion that it is. He attributes this development to Barth\u27s postwar neutralism, which has struck an unresponsive chord in the hearts of those who discern in the Communist ideology the negation of every Christian principle

Fellowship

On the morning of New Year\u27s Day several years ago I stood in the outer court of Yasukuni Shrine in the city of Tokyo. New Year\u27s Day, of course, is the highest festival day of the Shinto religion, when virtually all of the Japanese go to the shrines to pay their respects to their ancestors and begin the new year with \u27a clean slate. For some time I watched with fascination as the worshipers bowed before the sanctuary, clapped their hands three times to awaken the attention of the spirits, cast their coins into the coffer, bought their good luck arrows to ward off evil from their households for the coming year, and purified themselves by washing their mouths with holy water