The Abiding Word: Volume I Part 1 "The Doctrine of Creation" by Prof. Gotthold Viehweg

 

As mentioned in the introductory post in this series, The Abiding Word was a project for the centennial celebration of the founding of the Missouri Synod. The essays were based upon convention essays and other works in German to preserve "the father's faith in the children's language."

Each essay reworks the treasures from the German speaking Missouri Synod in differing ways. Some summarize, some essays extensively quote, and others more extensively rework and synthesize previous essays. For each essay, I will try to provide some information about the author and give a brief review of the essay.

BTW, here are some some interesting links regarding the publication of The Abiding Word: Volume I:

-Review of Volume I by J. T. Mueller (scroll to page 477)

-J .T. Mueller complaining about an unfair review in the ALC's periodical (scroll to page 624)  

1. The Doctrine of Creation by G. Viehweg was a 1945 convention essay of the Southern Nebraska District.

Pr. Gotthold Moritz Viehweg was a professor at Concordia College in Austin, Texas from 1928-1964. He was born in Planitz, Saxony on October 13, 1891. After coming to America, he went to Concordia College--Milwaukee and Concordia Seminary--St. Louis, graduating in 1914. He served as a pastor to congregations in Wellfleet, NE, Winfield, KS, and Arapahoe, NE. He died on August 19, 1977. (details found through CHI)

You can find some interesting correspondence of and about Viehweg and the beginning of his time at Concordia--Austin here.

The essays which form the background of Viehweg's work are:

    

    a. District Convention Essays 

        Atlantic, 1909, Chr. Merkel.

        Canada, 1898, F. Bente; 1901, H. Wente; 1903, Wm. Moll.

        Central, 1878, E. W. Kaehler; 1885, C. Gross.

        Illinois, 1885, A Brauer.

        Michigan, 1901, Th. Engelder.

        Nebraska, 1894, A. Graebner.

        South Dakota (and, it seems from the text of the essay, Southern), 1910, 1912, R. Pieper.

    

    b. Articles

        Lehre und Wehre, 22: 97, 240; 23: 273, 335, 362; 46: 8, 39, 135, 164, 217; "Die Evolutionismus und die Wissenschaften" by F. Bente. 55: 289, 351, 454, 499, 546; "Die Evolution und die Bibel" by J. Hoeness.

        Theological Quarterly, 9: 271, A. Graebner; 14: 78, 155, Th. Graebner. 

    c. Other References in the Text

        Christliche Dogmatik, F. Pieper. 

        Notes on Genesis, W. A. Maier.

        Evolution; an Investigation and a Criticism, Th. Graebner.

        Christliche Dogmatik, J. T. Mueller.

        Genesis, H. C. Leupold

        various quotes from Luther.

Viehweg strongly and hilariously condemns both the unbiblical and unscientific view of those who reject the biblical account of creation:

If we men presume to correct God's account of creation through inferences from the present condition of the world, we are indulging in unscientific conceit and pretense which does not become a Christian or any man for that matter. The disagreement between geologists concerning the age of the earth a man is so great that they can speak of the assured results of geology only if they completely give up the use of that small amount of reason which we still have after the Fall. Some are satisfied with a few hundred thousand years, other demand millions of years. Among these gentlemen a million of years is a mere trifle. They are very generous; a million more or less does not matter, but is that scientific?

He also relates the differing opinions of R. Pieper and some of the delegates of the Southern District concerning the firmament (which is actually a long running debate, z. B. Luther and Baier disagree on this):

R. Pieper, South. Distr., 1910, pp. 26, 27, claims that the waters beyond the firmament are nothing but the clouds...Some of the delegates of the Southern District   did not agree with R. Pieper's views on the firmament. They did not think that the firmament was the atmosphere surrounding the earth, but the star-spangled vault of the sky, that the clouds were not the waters beyond, but rather under firmament. The waters beyond the firmament were, in their opinion, not fog or vapor, but water whose nature is unknown to us.

Our forefathers also had quite a robust understanding of the natural knowledge of God. Concerning the birds of creation declaring the glory of God, Viehweg writes:

R. Pieper mentions especially the meadowlark and the nightingale. If a man has an ear for these voices, they sing into his heart the wisdom and goodness of his Creator, and admonish him to join them in the praises of the Creator, forgetting useless, heathenish cares and worries.

The essay is definitely worth reading in full. 

Need to Get Level: 10/10 for pastors; 3/10 for laymen [For the Abiding Word Set in General]

If you are a Lutheran pastor, particularly a Missouri Synod pastor, and do not have this on your shelf, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Bear the proper fruit of repentance and get a copy. If you are a layman who is very interested in studying dogmatics or digging into a particular doctrinal topic, these essays will give you an English survey of what our early Missouri forefathers taught.

You can get new paperbacks from CPH, or find original hardbacks on Amazon and other online booksellers.

Other Posts in the Series on The Abiding Word

The Abiding Word: Introduction and Overview

The Abiding Word: Volume I

The Abiding Word: Volume II

The Abiding Word: Volume III

Contents of Volume One

The Abiding Word: Introduction and Overview

The Abiding Word is a classic collection of doctrinal essays produced in honor of the Missouri Synod's centennial in 1947 and edited by Theodore Laetsch. The original collection included the only the first two volumes, which were district convention essays from 1945 published in 1946 and 1947. The third volume was a later continuation published in 1960 that included additional convention essays from the years 1955 and 1956. This also explains why the first two volumes are usually found in hardback and the last is, unfortunately, usually found in paperback. 

The essays in The Abiding Word are organized by doctrinal topic. The essays were the result of a deliberate plan to take from the best of the early convention essays (and other works) in the Missouri Synod, written in German, and rework and preserve those gems in English language essays. In the back of the first two volumes, there in an appendix that lists the works each author drew upon for his essay.

"Propositions on Marriage and Divorce" (and Engagement) by P.E. Kretzmann

There is not much to say about this little gem from the June 1932 CTM by P.E. Kretzmann besides to commend its clarity. Kretzmann succinctly summarizes, and gives the pertinent biblical citations for, the traditional Lutheran (biblical) teaching on marriage, divorce, and engagement.

Since the 1950's, the Missouri Synod has sounded an unclear note, or at least one inconsistent with its own history, concerning its teaching on what makes a marriage a marriage, particularly in regards to how one rightly enters into marriage.

Much of the confusion, or avoidance of the issue, arose from a desire during the mid-20th century to change the Synod's teaching on engagement--resulting in a weakened definition and understanding of marriage.

This is especially apparent when you trace the evolution of the synodical explanation of the catechism on the 6th Commandment. Up to and including the 1943 version, the teaching on the nature of marriage, and how it is entered into, reflects the same teaching that had been clearly set forth in countless articles, essays, books, and presentations throughout the Synod's history, which in turn stood in continuity with the teaching of Luther, Lutheran Orthodoxy, and the Scriptures themselves.




From the 1912 explanation:

Theodore Engelder, 1865-1949 in Concordia Theological Monthly August, 1949

Theodore Engelder, 1865-1949; in CTM August, 1949

***Update: A little bit more of his bio, here, in German.


Here at L-TOMs, we sometimes will venture further back into the German speaking resources of the Missouri Synod from time to time, but are mostly focused on the English works of the first half of the century.

A major figure in the Synod during this time was Theodore Engelder, perhaps most famous for being the main translator for Pieper's Dogmatics and the book Scripture Cannot Be Broken, review and information on where it is available here. It is an excellent defense of the doctrine of Scripture's inspiration and inerrancy, a topic on which Engelder particularly concentrated.

Theological Quarterly 1897-1920

Below are links to almost [update below] the entirety of the old Theological Quarterly of the Missouri Synod (1897-1920) that was succeeded by the Theological Monthly (1921-1929) until it was merged with two other publications into Concordia Theological Monthly (1930–72), and then became Concordia Journal. This list is only missing three years, 1900, 1901, and 1903.

It is a veritable goldmine of interesting, useful, and edifying articles. From the year 1897 alone I have greatly enjoyed articles such as: "What is Theology"; "Public Worship in the Lutheran Church"; "Sermon on the Christian Amendment Question"; "Bibliology"; "What is Exegetical Theology"; and "The MALUM PIETISTICUM in Spener's Pia Desideria." And that is but the tip of the iceberg.