Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1969 · 48th Convention › Sheet 577
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Sheet 577

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

546 THEOLOGY OF FELLOWSHIP

pleasing peace in the church must be based on the Word
of God, and dare not be contrary to the divine Word in the
articles of faith). Calov quotes without exegesis the follow-
ing passages: 2 John 10, 11; 2 Peter 1:1, 2; 2 Peter 3:17;
Gal. 1:9; 1 Tim. 4:3-5; Rom. 16:17, 18; Titus 1:9, 10; 2 Tim.
2:25; Titus 3:10; 2 Cor. 6:14-17 and others. These, essen-
tially, are the passages which have been quoted in the
Synodical Conference against prayer with Christians of other
confessions. For further information the student is directed
to this work of Calov’s. The text from which we quote
reveals neither the name of the printer, nor the place of
publication. The historical material on the whole syncre-
tistic controversy is found in Schmid, Heinrich, Geschichte
der synkretistischen Streitigkeiten in der Zeit des Georg
Calixt, Erlangen, Verlag von Carl Heider, 1846. On the
Colloquy of Thorn see also under Thorn, Religionsgespraech,
in Herzogs Realenzyklopaedie fuer Protestantische Theologie
und Kirche, Leipzig, 1907, Vol. XIX,

® See Webster's Third New International Dictionary,
G. and C. Merriam Co., 1961, under “prophet.”

7 Bauer (Arndt-Gingrich), under prophéteué (proph-
esy): “To proclaim a divine revelation; prophetically reveal
what is hidden; foretell] the future, prophesy.” Thayer, under
prophéteia: “Prophecy, that is, discourse emanating from
divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God,
whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or com-

forting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; esp. by fore-
telling future events,”

The prophet, (prophétés) is then defined as “an inter-
preter or spokesman for God, one through whom God speaks
».. . One who speaks forth by divine inspiration. ... In
the New Testament one who moved by the Spirit of God
and hence His organ or spokesman solemnly declares to men
what he has received by inspiration. ...” This is essentially
also the understanding in the 82-page article on prophétés
and related words in Kittel, Friedrich, Theologisches Woer-
terbuch zum Neuen Testament, Vol. VI, pp. 781—863. For
this understanding the article refers to Deut. 18:20; 34:10;
Jer. 28:8 ff.; Amos 3:7.

8 This understanding of “false prophet” is widely recog-
nized by the lexica for New Testament studies,

Bauer (Arndt-Gingrich) recognizes two meanings of
pseudoprophétés: “False prophet, one who falsely claims
to be a prophet of God or who prophesies falsely,” Thayer:
pseudoprophétés: “One who acting the part of a divinely
inspired prophet, utters falsehoods under the name of divine
prophecies.”

We translate the following on pseudoprophétés from the
lengthy article by Friedrich in the Theologisches Woerter-
buch:

The Word pseudoprophétés is not employed by St.Paul. It

is found eleven times in the New Testament, of these, three

Matt. 7:15 they act as though they were prophets, but are
In essence liars. In Mark 13:22; Matt. 24:24: 1John 4:1
(cp. 2:18) they are mentioned together with pseudo-Christs.
As the pseudo-Christ is not a Christ who spreads lies, but
falsely claims the title of Christ, so the Ppseudoprophet is
first of alla Person who takes to himself the title of prophet
without being a Prophet. 1 John 4:1-3 shows that the
Pseudoprophet is also a man who proclaims lies; for he is

recognized as a false prophet in this that he represerts
a false doctrine. 2 Peter 2:1 the false prophets of the Old
Testament are compared with the false teachers of the pres-
ent. who bring in destructive heresies. They are therefore
people who proclaim lies. But by and large the false prophet
is not called a pseudoprophet because his teaching and
prophesying is false, but because he makes the false claim
that he is a prophet. From the fact that he is a false prophet
there follows then in most cases that he also proclaims what
is false, and thus spreads lies, (P. 831)

® It should be noted, for a proper understanding of this
passage, that the term doctrine in Scripture, when applied to
the truth, is almost always in the singular. On the side of
the truth Scripture knows of one doctrine, the doctrine of
God or Christ. On the side of error it knows of doctrines,
e.g., doctrines of devils (1 Tim. 4:1). The Formula of Con-
cord similarly uses doctrine in the singular for Gospel (FC,
Ep. V, 5: see also FC, SD, X, 31).

In later usage in the church we have become accus-
tomed to speak of doctrines in the plural to designate what
Luther and the earlier theologians of our church, and notably
the Lutheran Confessions, called articles, that is, integral
parts, of the one doctrine, that is, the Gospel. Thus, the
article of justification is considered the chief article of the
Christian doctrine. (Cf. THEoLocy oF FELLOWsuiP, Part II,
p. 19.)

19 Von den Conciliis, etc. (WA 50, 544 f.)

The RSV renders the passage, “Do not be mismated
with unbelievers.”

12 Cf. The Book of Concord (Tappert), 328. 41; 493, 6;
611. 6; 615. 22.

1 Brockhaus, Conversationslexikon, 16. Band
zig, 1887), p. 39.

14The term Synkretismus was employed during the
period of 17th-century orthodoxy to denote efforts to re-
unite Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Reformed. These
efforts are described in Abraham Calov’s Historia Syncre-
tistica.,

15 F, Eckhardt, Homiletisches Reallexikon (St. Louis),
has no less than 18 pages of reference to “union” and
“unionism,” indicating how live this subject was in the
thinking of the synodical fathers.

16 Fuerbringer, L., Th, Engelder, and P. E. Kretzmann
(eds.), The Concordia Cyclopedia (St. Louis, 1927), under
Unionism,

17 Separation, a separation in a Scriptural manner on
account of false doctrine, and separatism, a separation against
the Scripture for all kinds of other reasons, Cf. Eckhardt,
under Spaltung.

18 The prayer here enjoined is prayer among Chris-
tians met for a God-pleasing purpose, Joint prayer with
non-Christians is to be avoided.

19 Cf. THEOLOGY oF FELLOwsHIP, Part II, p. 19.

20 Thid., p. 22. As one respected Lutheran theologian,

Dr. Hermann Sasse of the United Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Australia, has urged, the least that Christians
can do on such oceasions is to pray together:

Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide,

For round us falls the eventide;

Let not Thy Word, that heavenly light,

For us be ever veiled in night.

(The Lutheran Hymnal, 292)
°1 THEOLOGY oF FELLOwsurP, Part II, pp. 24—29,

(Leip-