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Lutheran Theological Review published jointly by the faculties of Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary St. Catharines, Ontario and Concordia Lutheran Seminary Edmonton, Alberta St. Catharines Thomas M. Winger, Th.D., Acting President James E. Keller, M.A., M.Div. William F. Mundt, Dr.Theol. John R. Stephenson, Ph.D. Editors Edward G. Kettner Thomas M. Winger Technical Editor David P. Saar Faculties Edmonton Manfred Zeuch, B.D., Ph.D., President Stephen L. Chambers, Ph.D. Edward G. Kettner, Th.D. Jonathan W. Kraemer, M.Div. Lutheran Theological Review is published by the seminary faculties of Lutheran Church�Canada. The periodical exists for the discussion of theological issues within the frame of reference of confessional Lutheranism, but the views represented by the individual writers are not necessarily those of the faculties. Guidelines for Contributors are available upon request.

<strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong><br />

published jointly by the faculties of<br />

<strong>Concordia</strong> <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Seminary</strong><br />

St. Catharines, Ontario<br />

and<br />

<strong>Concordia</strong> <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Seminary</strong><br />

Edmonton, Alberta<br />

St. Catharines<br />

Thomas M. Winger, Th.D.,<br />

Acting President<br />

James E. Keller, M.A., M.Div.<br />

William F. Mundt, Dr.Theol.<br />

John R. Stephenson, Ph.D.<br />

Editors<br />

Edward G. Kettner<br />

Thomas M. Winger<br />

Technical Editor<br />

David P. Saar<br />

Faculties<br />

Edmonton<br />

Manfred Zeuch, B.D., Ph.D.,<br />

President<br />

Stephen L. Chambers, Ph.D.<br />

Edward G. Kettner, Th.D.<br />

Jonathan W. Kraemer, M.Div.<br />

<strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> is published by the seminary faculties of<br />

<strong>Lutheran</strong> Church�Canada. The periodical exists for the discussion of theological<br />

issues within the frame of reference of confessional <strong>Lutheran</strong>ism, but<br />

the views represented by the individual writers are not necessarily those of<br />

the faculties. Guidelines for Contributors are available upon request.


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<strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong><br />

Volume 22 Academic Year 2009-10<br />

Contents<br />

Standard Abbreviations .............................................................................. 4<br />

Editorial Foreword ..................................................................................... 5<br />

Articles<br />

The Meaning and Practice of Conversion:<br />

������������������������������������������������ .................................... 7<br />

Richard A. Beinert<br />

Saving the Gypsy Soul .............................................................................. 25<br />

William F. Mundt<br />

The Imprecatory Psalms ........................................................................... 74<br />

Jody A. Rinas<br />

���������������������������������������������������������� ....................... 94<br />

Translated by John R. Stephenson<br />

Mission and Confession ......................................................................... 109<br />

Armin Wenz<br />

Sermons<br />

They Come Cringing (Psalm 66:1-7) ....................................................... 132<br />

Kurt A. Lantz


4<br />

Standard Abbreviations<br />

AE ��������������, American edition, 55 vols (St. Louis: <strong>Concordia</strong>, and<br />

Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1958- ).<br />

BAG<br />

BAGD<br />

BDAG<br />

Bauer, Walter, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other<br />

Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).<br />

1 st ed., ed. by William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, 1957.<br />

2 nd ed., ed. F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker, 1979.<br />

3 rd ed., ed. by Frederick W. Danker, 2000.<br />

BELK Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche, 12 editions<br />

[cite edition used] (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1930- ).<br />

BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft,<br />

1984).<br />

LSB <strong>Lutheran</strong> Service Book (St. Louis: <strong>Concordia</strong>, 2006).<br />

LW <strong>Lutheran</strong> Worship (St. Louis: <strong>Concordia</strong>, 1982).<br />

NA 27 Novum Testamentum Graece, ed. Kurt and Barbara Aland, et al.<br />

(Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1993).<br />

TDNT Kittel, Gerhard, and Gerhard Friedrich, eds. <strong>Theological</strong> Dictionary of<br />

the New Testament, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, 10 vols (Grand<br />

Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964- ).<br />

TLH The <strong>Lutheran</strong> Hymnal (St. Louis: <strong>Concordia</strong>, 1941).<br />

W2 Walch, Johann Georg, ed. D. Martin Luthers sämtlichen Schriften, 2nd ������������������������������������������������������-1910).<br />

WA D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe, Weimarer Ausgabe<br />

��������������������������������������������- ).<br />

WA DB Weimarer Ausgabe Deutsche Bibel [German Bible]<br />

WA Br Weimarer Ausgabe Briefe [Letters]<br />

WA Tr Weimarer Ausgabe Tischreden [Table talk]<br />

AC<br />

Ap<br />

SA<br />

Tr<br />

SC<br />

LC<br />

FC Ep<br />

FC SD<br />

Abbreviations for the <strong>Lutheran</strong> confessional writings:<br />

Augsburg Confession<br />

Apology of the Augsburg Confession<br />

Smalcald Articles<br />

Tractate/Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope<br />

Small Catechism<br />

Large Catechism<br />

Formula of Concord, Epitome<br />

Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration<br />

Copyright notice:<br />

������� ��������� ���� ������� �������� ���������� ������ ���������� �� ����-2002<br />

BibleWorks, LLC. All rights reserved. These Biblical Greek and Hebrew fonts are used with<br />

permission and are from BibleWorks, software for Biblical exegesis and research.


Editorial Foreword<br />

THE BREADTH OF LUTHERAN CHURCH�CANADA and her world-wide fellowship is<br />

amply reflected in the contributions to this volume of LTR. From Quesnel,<br />

British Columbia, to Winnipeg, to St. Catharines, to Oberursel, Germany,<br />

voices unite in confessing the <strong>Lutheran</strong> faith that we hold in common.<br />

As so often happens when the disparate contributions from our<br />

ministerium comes together, a theme emerges: mission and ministry. It<br />

begin�� ����� ������� �������� ���������� ������ ��� ����������� ��� ������� ����<br />

Calvin. Get conversion wrong, and the way you do mission will certainly<br />

also founder. ���� ������ ������� ����� ���������� ��������� �������� ��� ����<br />

University of Manitoba.<br />

At <strong>Concordia</strong>, St. Catharines, the three regular faculty members have<br />

successively taken long-overdue sabbaticals (from which the undersigned is<br />

currently corresponding). Dr William Mundt, who teaches dogmatics and<br />

evangelism at the seminary, wrote his dissertation on 19 th -century German<br />

mission tract societies. During his six-month sabbatical in 2008 he poked<br />

about the archives of Germany to uncover the fascinating story of missions<br />

to the gypsies, from which pertinent lessons for today arise.<br />

Dr John Stephenson, ever poking about in old books, brings to light a<br />

����������� ��������� ��� ������� ����������� �������� ��� ���� ���������<br />

Confession. It takes some skill to decode the complex mix of old German,<br />

Latin, and Greek that a well-educated congregation in Leipzig was once<br />

able to absorb from the pulpit! Implicit in the sermon is the undisputed<br />

belief of historic <strong>Lutheran</strong>ism that AC 5 was confessing the office of the<br />

holy ministry. �������������������������������������������������������������<br />

character, as St Paul wrote in his text (II Cor. 5:20). The church that takes<br />

seriously its sending into the world cannot disregard the divinely instituted<br />

office through which Christ speaks to that world.<br />

Dr Armin Wenz, pastor of the congregation residing next door to our<br />

sister seminary in Oberursel, Germany, takes up the whole Augsburg<br />

Confession to learn what it has to say about mission. What is remarkable is<br />

the relevance he discovers for a Germany (and Canada!) that once again<br />

���������������� at its door�������������������������������������������re no<br />

longer so far away. Wenz puts to rest the myth that <strong>Lutheran</strong>ism is<br />

unconcerned about mission, or that God-pleasing mission can happen<br />

without a firm commitment to the <strong>Lutheran</strong> confession.<br />

The final two contributions move in a slightly different direction, but are<br />

united in their focus on Psalms. Pastor Jody Rinas explores what seems so<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������. He<br />

does not dodge the difficult questions of the compatibility of revenge and<br />

anger with the Christian faith. We cannot simply set aside the bits of<br />

�������������������������������������������������We love the Scripture; as we<br />

5


6<br />

pray it, God will accomplish what He wants, when and where He so<br />

chooses.�� ������������ ������ ������� ���� ����� ��� ������� ����� we consider<br />

the hostility of the devil and the world to Christ Himself.<br />

It is divinely fortuitous, I suppose, that in the parish I attend in St.<br />

Catharines, Pastor Kurt Lantz has spent a significant amount of the past<br />

year preaching on the appointed psalms. The sermon included in this issue<br />

is a fine example of reading the psalms through the New Testament, and, in<br />

������������������������������������������������������we might in a sense be<br />

�������������� What happens then?<br />

Finally, we warmly welcome to the editorial team Pastor David Saar.<br />

Having wrapped up his tremendous work on Liturgies et cantiques luthériens,<br />

������ ���� ������-language service book, Pastor Saar was well equipped<br />

and graciously willing to take over the layout and technical editing of LTR,<br />

which the undersigned has borne for some fifteen years. He has our hearty<br />

thanks.<br />

TMW<br />

St Mary Magdalene, AD 2010.


LTR 22 (Academic Year 2009-10): 7-24<br />

The Meaning and Practice of Conversion:<br />

������������������������������������������������<br />

Richard A. Beinert<br />

1<br />

ONE OF THE TOPICS THAT JOHN CALVIN (1509-64) WRESTLES WITH throughout the<br />

pages of his Institutes of the Christian Religion 1 is that of Christian<br />

������������� ���� ����� ��� ������ ��� ������ ��� ���� ������� ��������� ��� ����<br />

doctrine of justification with his theory of election. While a definition of<br />

conversion might seem obvious to the average reader who is raised within<br />

the context of our North American Evangelical culture, the question is not<br />

as simple as at first it seems. As Karel Steenbrink has pointed out, our<br />

understanding of religious conversion, as well as the on-going ecumenical<br />

debates that turn thereon, is stretched between two polar emphases with<br />

confessional and institutional allegiances on the one hand, and concern for a<br />

deepening of the experiential and individual facet of the ����������������������<br />

the other. 2 This tension is easily illustrated in the following two definitions.<br />

In the Handwörterbuch für Theologie und Religionswissenschaft, for instance,<br />

conversion is described as the movement of an individual from one<br />

Christian confession to another. 3 ��� �������� �� ��������� ������� ����� ������<br />

religious tradition and integral acceptance of the belief system of one<br />

1 Latin quotations will be taken from Institutio Christianae Religionis 1559, in Joannis Calvini<br />

Opera Selecta, edited by Peter Barth & Wilhelm Niesel, vols three, four, & five (Monachii:<br />

C. Kaiser, 1926-74); English quotations, unless otherwise indicated, will be taken from<br />

Institutes of the Christian Religion in Two Volumes, ed. John T. McNeil, trans. Ford Lewis<br />

Battles (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960).<br />

2 KAREL STEENBRINK ������� ��� ������ ��� ������� ���� ������ ���������� ��� ����������<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

Bekehrung und Identität: Ökumene als Spannung zwischen Fremdem und Vertrautem, ed.<br />

Dagmar Heller (Frankfurt am Main: Verlag Otto Lembeck, 2003), 136. See also N. A.<br />

NISSIOTIS�� ������������ ���� ���� ��������� The Ecumenical <strong>Review</strong> 19 (1967): 261-70 and<br />

WIM NIJENHUIS�� ���������� �������� ������������ ��������� ���� ���� ������������ Nederlands<br />

Theologisch Tijdschrift 26 (1972): 249.<br />

3 ������������� ����� ��������� ���� ���������� ���� ������ ����������� ���� �������� ��� ����<br />

Tatsache der Konversion ergibt sich mit der Konfessiona������ ���� ��������������� Die<br />

Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Handwörterbuch für Theologie und Religionswissenschaft,<br />

dritte verbesserte Auflage, 3. Band, 1975.


8 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

��������� ��� �������������� 4 This is contrasted with the description<br />

formulated in 1966 by the Faith and Order Commission of the World<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�������� ������� ��� �� �������� ��������� ������� 5 Here, conversion is seen as a<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������������ 6 Under the influence of the work of researchers such as William<br />

James, 7 Arthur Darby Nock, 8 as well as the more recent Lewis Rambo, 9 it is<br />

this latter perspective which has tended to predominate within both North<br />

American culture and scholarship. The result is that studies of conversion<br />

have focussed almost exclusively on biographical accounts and the<br />

exposition of conversion narratives in order mine them for the sociological<br />

and psychological processes involved. 10 Within these accounts, theology has<br />

come to be largely overlooked. 11<br />

While such an approach has certainly proved useful in yielding<br />

significant insights on conversion as a lived human process, it has tended to<br />

minimize the distinctly theological and religious element which drives it. 12<br />

4 STEENBRINK, 137.<br />

5 ��������������������������National Council of Churches USA 6 (September 1966): 3.<br />

6 STEENBRINK, 137.<br />

7 WILLIAM JAMES, Varieties of Religious Experience (Longmans, Green and Co., 1902;<br />

reprinted Penguin Books, 1982, 1985).<br />

8 ARTHUR DARBY NOCK, Conversion: The Old and the New in Religion from Alexander the Great<br />

to Augustine of Hippo (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1933; reprinted Baltimore: The Johns<br />

Hopkins University Press, 1998).<br />

9 LEWIS R. RAMBO, Understanding Religious Conversion (New Haven: Yale University Press,<br />

1993).<br />

10 RAMBO, 1. See, for example, ERIK H. ERIKSON, Young Man Luther: A Study in<br />

Psychoanalysis and History (New York: Norton, 1958); W. NIJENJUIS, op. cit.; DANIÈLE<br />

FISCHER�� �Nouvelles Réflexions sur la Conversion de Calvin��� Études Théologiques et<br />

Religieuses 58 (1983): 203-20, EGIL GRISLIS�� ����������������� �onversion: Compared<br />

�������������������������������������Journal of Mennonite Studies 11 (1993): 55-75; as well<br />

as numerous others centred on figures such as St Paul, St Augustine, as well as<br />

Constantine. Thomas M. Finn similarly studies conversion as a kind of social process ,but<br />

instead of locating it in individual conversion narrative accounts, he explores it as a ritual<br />

process lived within the liturgical context of early Christian communities. See THOMAS<br />

M. FINN, From Death to Rebirth: Ritual and Conversion in Antiquity (New York: Paulist Press,<br />

1997).<br />

11 A notable exception is MARILYN J. HARRAN�S ���������������������������������������<br />

������ ����������� ��������� ��� ������� ��������� Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 72 (1981):<br />

13-33, but this too is already over twenty-five years old.<br />

12 This statement is admittedly an oversimplification of the matter. The issue, which is<br />

beyond the scope of this paper, revolves around the particular way in which religion and<br />

religiosity came to be coupled with the notion of experience during the middle of the


Beinert: Calvin on Conversion 9<br />

When considered from within this light, and especially in relationship to the<br />

formative personalities of the Reformation era, this gap in our current<br />

theological literature is significant. Moreover, as Lucien Fevbre observed,<br />

both during the Middle Ages and into the Early Modern era theology<br />

functioned as the rhetorical framework for all areas of social discourse. 13 It<br />

provided the social and cosmic order within which people lived their lives.<br />

����� ���������� ��� ���������� ��� ��������� ������� ��� ���������� ��� ������� ����<br />

theology a ����������� ����������� 14 through which both individuals and<br />

society might be guided and enabled to reverently act and live within the<br />

bounds of a purified piety. 15 When theology is viewed in this way, it starts to<br />

take on a new significance for exploring the meaning of religious conversion<br />

as well as the broader spiritualities and agendas of reformers like Luther and<br />

Menno Simons as well as Calvin. 16 ���������� ������ �������� ���� ������ ��<br />

great difference whether one set of ideas, or another, be the center of<br />

[religious] energy; and it makes a great difference as regards any set of ideas<br />

which one may possess, whether they become central or remain<br />

������������ 17 ���������������������� ��������������������������������������<br />

foundation of his theory of double-predestination) as well as the expanding<br />

1800s and especially during the turbulent early decades of the twentieth century. The core<br />

of religion came to be equated with palpable inner experience. It is only over the last few<br />

decades that theoretical claims underlying this system of thought have been significantly<br />

challenged within the broader academic community. See, for example, Wayne Proudfoot,<br />

Religious Experience (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985).<br />

13 LUCIEN FEVBRE, The Problem of Unbelief in the Sixteenth Century: The Religion of Rabelais,<br />

translated by Beatrice Gottlieb (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982), 202.<br />

14 Institutes III.7.1.<br />

15 ����� ��� ������� ������� ����� ���� ��������� ��� ��������� Institutes ��� ����� ������ ���������� ���<br />

��������� �����d in I. JOHN HESSELINK�� ����� ������������ ���� �������� ��� ���������<br />

������������� Articles on Calvin and Calvinism, ed. Richard C. Gamble, vol. 4 (New York:<br />

Garland, 1992), 215-16. See also BRIAN A. GERRISH�� ���������� ������� ���� ������� ���<br />

Piety Alone: Schleier��������������������������������������Reformatio Perennis: Essays on<br />

Calvin and the Reformation in Honor of Ford Lewis Battles (Pittsburgh: Pickwick Press, 1981),<br />

67-87; JOEL R. BEEKE�� �������� ��� �������� The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, ed.<br />

Donald K. McKim (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 125; and<br />

HESSELINK�������������������������������������������������Perspectives 13.1 (1998): 15b.<br />

16 �������� ���� ���������� ���������� ����� ����� �������� ��� conversio is a significant one in the<br />

theology o�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

����������������HARRAN������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ents<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������HESSELINK, 15a.<br />

17 JOANMARIE SMITH���������������������������������������Journal of Spiritual Formation<br />

15 (1994): 187.


10 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

scholarly interest surrounding the topic of conversion, 18 broaching the<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

an adequate test-case, is both timely and germane. Given also the ubiquitous<br />

practical concern about the theory and practice of Christian evangelism as it<br />

impacts on the on-going ministry of the Christian church, exploring this<br />

relationship between theology and practice becomes even more significant.<br />

2<br />

Often thought of as the moment of salvation, conversion is usually<br />

����������� ��� ������ ��� �� ������������ ������� ��� �� ��������� ����������<br />

orientation. This is reflected, for instance, in the words of the apostle Peter<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������w you<br />

are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

forging for the individual a new spiritual identity. Indeed, this was<br />

considered part-and-parcel of L�������� ��-called Reformation discovery of<br />

the sola emphasis in the doctrine of justification. Indeed, Jesus, for him, was<br />

nothing short of being coterminous with justification. 19 For Luther, conversio<br />

came to revolve around this very gravity well. Marilyn Harran offers a<br />

detailed break-down of the evolution of this understanding of conversion<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

to define his mature teaching.<br />

Conversio ���������������������������������������������������of turning toward<br />

������������conversio gives man iustitia prima and places him on the path of<br />

Christian pilgrimage. Secondly, Luther perceives of conversio in terms of<br />

18 See, for example, both Bekehrung und Identität which is the published proceedings of the<br />

2002 meeting of the Societas Oecumenica in Salisbury, England, as well as GUYDA<br />

ARMSTRONG and IAN N. WOOD, eds, Christianizing Peoples and Converting Individuals,<br />

(Turnhout: Brepols, 2000), that offers a selection of the papers presented at the 1997<br />

meeting of the International Medieval Congress, which was likewise devoted to the theme<br />

of conversion. Several other essay collections have similarly been published over the past<br />

ten years including JAMES MULDOON, ed., Varieties of Religious Experience in the Middle Ages<br />

(Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1997); MARTIN CARVER, ed., The Cross Goes<br />

North: The Process of Conversion in Northern Europe, AD 300-1300 (Woodbridge: The Boydell<br />

Press, 2005); as well as NICOLAS BRUCKE, ed., La conversion. Expérience spirituelle,<br />

expressionlittéraire: Actes du colloque de Metz (5-7 juin 2003) (New York: Peter Lang, 2005).<br />

19 �����������������������������articulus stantis et cadentis������������������������������������������<br />

doctrine, see SA 2:1.


Beinert: Calvin on Conversion 11<br />

���������������������������������������������������������� conversio at the<br />

hand of God, the initial conversio which brings him into the Christian fold. 20<br />

These are tied first to the sacrament of Baptism, as the moment in which<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

favour towards that person instead; 21 and secondly, as Luther explains<br />

concerning Baptism in his Small Catechism, to the active life of the<br />

������������� �������� ������������� �������� ���� ������ ��������� ��� ���� ����<br />

Adam so that the new man of faith might arise. 22 Given the background of<br />

��������� ���� �xistential struggles, it should come as no surprise that the<br />

emphasis of his theory of conversion lay particularly close to the realm of<br />

the individual (and communal) renewal of faith through an unambiguous<br />

preaching of forgiveness. 23 Harran significantly n����� ������ ��� ���������<br />

understanding, both facets of this conversio are specifically grounded in the<br />

action of Christ. 24 ���� ���� ����� ����� ��� ��������� �������� ��� conversio��� ����<br />

�������� ���� ���� ������������ ��� ���� conversio enacted by God Himself in the<br />

Inca��������� 25<br />

Calvin similarly anchors the work of conversion and sanctification<br />

within a Christological context. He neatly summarizes his teaching on this<br />

point in chapter 11 of Book III of his Institutes�� ��� �������� �� ����� ��������<br />

�������������������������es,<br />

20 HARRAN, 28.<br />

21 In his Sermo de duplici iustitia ������ ��� ������� ������� ������� �Haec ergo iusticia datur<br />

hominibus in baptismo et omni temore verae poenitentiae����������� 7-10 ).<br />

22 ����� ������� ����� ������ �������������� ��������� ��� ������� ���� ���� ���� Adam in uns<br />

durch tägliche Reu und Buße soll ersäuft warden und sterben mit allen Sunden und bösen<br />

Lüsten, und wiederumb täglich herauskommen und auferstehen ein neuer Mensch, der in<br />

���������������������������������������������������� BELK, 516.<br />

23 While Luther laboured for the public reformation of both church and society, his<br />

emphasis, as seen from his conservative stance during both his conflict with Karlstadt as<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

and the evangelical Sacraments. This is particularly evident in his Invocavit sermons of<br />

1522.<br />

24 �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

death as the opus alienum and His resurrection and glorification as the opus proprium���<br />

HARRAN����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

��� ��������� ��� ��������� ��� ������ �Christus mortuus est propeter peccatta nostra et<br />

resurrexit propter iustificationem nostram. Ista itaque conformitas imagines filii Dei<br />

includet utrumque illud opus.��WA 1:113 1-3 .<br />

25 �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������conversio<br />

to life as a Christian and for his perseverance in that life, even though, he, like Peter, may<br />

fall and ����������������������HARRAN, 28.


12 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

with sufficient care, how for men cursed under the law there remains, in<br />

�������������������������������������������������������� ���������� ���������<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

him, we principally receive a double grace: namely, that being reconciled to<br />

���� �������� ��������� ��������������� ��� ���� ����� ��� ������� �������� ��� ��<br />

������ ����������� �������� ���� ���������� ����� ����������� ��� ��������� ������� ���<br />

may cultivate blamelessness and purity of life. 26<br />

In a similar manner to Luther, Calvin divides the conversion of the<br />

individual into two complimentary facets, namely his justification as well as<br />

his sanctification. Yet Calvin is careful to point out that the two must be<br />

distinguished from one another. Both justification and the faith that receives<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������� 27 He sees them both as a gift of God.<br />

In the same way, Calvin notes that the conversion of the will and the<br />

grace of perseverance are ����� ������� ��� ������ ������ ������ ������ ����� ����<br />

��������������������������� 28<br />

Since the Lord in coming to our aid bestows upon us what we lack, when the<br />

nature of his work in us appears, our destitution will, on the other hand, at<br />

once be manifest. When th������������������������������������������������������<br />

he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

����� ������ ��� �������� ���� ����� ������� ��� ���������n (conversionis) itself,<br />

which is in the will. 29<br />

He goes on to explain that the growth in righteousness which naturally<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

ordaining.<br />

God begins his good work in us, therefore, by arousing love and desire and<br />

zeal for righteousness in our hearts; or, to speak more correctly, by bending<br />

(flectendo), forming (formando), and directing (dirigendo), our hearts to<br />

26 Institutes III.11.1.<br />

27 Institutes III.11.1.<br />

28 See FRANÇOIS WENDEL, Calvin: Origins and Development of His Religious Thought, trans.<br />

Philip Mairet (Durham: The Labyrinth Press, 1987), 238, 277; also DAWN DEVRIES,<br />

����������������������The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, 120; BEEKE, 127-28.<br />

29 �Nam quum Dominus in ope ferenda, quod nobis deest largiatur, ubi constiterit quale sit<br />

in nobis illius opus, quae sit e converse nostra penuria, statim elucescet. Quum dicit<br />

Apostolus Philippensibus, se confidere quod qui coepit in ipsis opus bonum, perfecturus<br />

sit usque in diem Iesu Christi [Philipp. 1.a.6]: non dubium quin per boni operas<br />

principium, pisam conversionis originem, quae est in voluntate, designet.��Institutes II.3.6.


Beinert: Calvin on Conversion 13<br />

righteousness. He completes work, moreover, by confirming us to<br />

perseverance. 30<br />

As Wim Nijenhuis describes, in conversion the individual remains wholly<br />

passive. 31 ����� ��� ���� ������������ ����� ��� ������ ������� �������� ��� ������ ���<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

content to have given God due praise for our salvation, he expressly<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

that not a whit remains to man to glory in, for the whole of salvation comes<br />

���������� 32<br />

This is not to say that our works do not matter. For the elect, their<br />

works, however imperfect they might be, are received by God as righteous<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

sense we shall concede not only a partial righteousness in works, as our<br />

adversaries themselves hold, but also that it is approved by God as if it were<br />

�����������������������������������������������<br />

If we recall the foundation that supports it, every difficulty will be solved. A<br />

work begins to be acceptable only when it is undertaken with pardon. Now<br />

whence does this pardon arise, save that God contemplates us and our all in<br />

Christ? Therefore, as we ourselves, when we have been engrafted in Christ,<br />

���� ���������� ��� ������ ������ �������� ���� ����������� ���� �������� ��� ���������<br />

sinlessness, so our works are righteous and are thus regarded because<br />

��������� ������ ��� ���������� ��� ����� ��� ������� ��� ��������� �������� ���� ��� ����<br />

charged to our account. Accordingly, we can deservedly say that by faith<br />

alone not only we ourselves but our works as well are justified. 33<br />

��������� ������� ��������� ����� ��� ��������� ����������� ������� ����� �������<br />

are, God can accept them as righteous in the same way that he imputes the<br />

�������������� ��� ������� ��� ������� ����� 34 ��������� ��������� ����� �������<br />

30 ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

in cordibus nostris excitando: vel (ut magis proprie loquamur) corda nostra flectendo,<br />

formando, dirigendo in iustitiam: perficit autem, ad perseverantiam nos confi��������<br />

Institutes II.3.6.<br />

31 NIJENHUIS, 251.<br />

32 ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

contentus simpliciter salutis nostrae laudem Deo dedisse, diserte ab omni societate no<br />

excludat: quasi diceret ne tantillum quidem restare homini in quo glorietur, quia totum a<br />

Deo est.��Institutes II.3.6.<br />

33 Institutes III.17.10.<br />

34 WENDEL�� ����� �������� ����� ��� ����� �������� �������� ����� ���� �������� ����� ���� ������<br />

heart, he tells us, is not to cling perfectly to Christ but simply to lay hold of him sincerely,<br />

not to be fully satisfied in him but to hunger and thirst and sigh after him with burning<br />

��������� ����� ������� The Theology of John Calvin, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand<br />

Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995), 171.


14 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

however, to hearken back to the foundations of his thought which locate<br />

���������� ��� ���� ��������� ��� �������������� ��� ���� ������ ������ ����� ������<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

God is, and the nature of his judgment concerning you, you have neither a<br />

foundation on which to establish your salvation nor one on which to build<br />

����������������������������������������������������Christological thrust<br />

which Calvin maintains within his system of thought. 35<br />

3<br />

The picture, however, becomes �����������������������������������������<br />

election�his so-called decretum horribile 36 �is thrown into the mix. Whether<br />

one chooses to accept the view popularized in the 1840s by Alexander<br />

Schweizer and Ferdinand Christian Baur 37 ������������������������������on<br />

stands as the central doctrine within his theology, or to follow the<br />

perspective of more recent commentators which relegate it to a secondary<br />

role, 38 the fact of the matter remains that his doctrine of election is still<br />

there, and it lends a certain texture to the whole of his thought. As Karl<br />

Barth so brashly observes:<br />

Who of us have the courage today to base our congregational work on<br />

proclamation of the God who truly elects and rejects according to his good<br />

pleasure, and whom we can never anticipate? Would not this be like laying a<br />

foundation at which we solemnly put a big load of dynamite on the<br />

foundation stone instead of engaging in the harmless ceremonies that are<br />

customary? Calvin had this courage, as we see not only in his dogmatics but<br />

also in his sermons, in which again and again he ruthlessly begins at the<br />

beginning. 39<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

35 CHARLES PARTEE����������������������������������Sixteenth Century Journal 18 (1987):<br />

191-200.<br />

36 Institutes III.23.7.<br />

37 ALEXANDER SCHWEIZER, Die Glaubenslehre der evangelish-reformierten Kirche, 2 vols<br />

(Zurich, 1844-45); FERDINAND CHRISTIAN BAUR, Lehrbuch der christlichen<br />

Dogmengeschichte, 3 rd ed. (Stuttgart, 1867).<br />

38 BARTH, 178-79; See also HESSELINK�� ���������� ����������� ���� ������� ��������� �����<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

pastoral considerations, WENDEL, 266; similarly LEITH, 120, 124.<br />

39 BARTH, 179, emphasis mine.


Beinert: Calvin on Conversion 15<br />

developed within his 1536 edition of the Institutes. 40 While he admits that it<br />

��� ���� �������� ��� ��������� ������� 41 he does point out that it is also no<br />

accidental Augustinian relic. Calvin, he suggests, with his systematizing<br />

disposition, 42 was fully aware of what he was doing in formulating his<br />

theory of double-predestination. 43<br />

Classically stated in the third book of his Institutes, Calvin describes his<br />

doctrine on this point as follows:<br />

��� ����� ��������������� ������ �������� �������� ��� ������ ��� ���������� �����<br />

himself what he willed to become of each man. For all are not created in<br />

equal condition; rather, eternal life is foreordained for some, eternal<br />

damnation for others. Therefore, as any man has been created to one or the<br />

other of these ends, we speak of him as predestined to life or to death. 44<br />

The church, for Calvin, is then nothing short of the body of those elected by<br />

God to salvation. Indeed, salvation itself is founded first upon this decree<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

cross. It is something which includes the gift of perseverance; it is<br />

�������������� ������� ������� ����� ��� �������� ������ ��� ������ 45 As John Leith<br />

�������� ���������� ���� ������� ��������� ��� ���������� ��� ���� ����� ��������� ���<br />

forgiveness or justification by faith alone. To be elect in Christ is to be<br />

���������� 46 Because of this, Barth has rightly noted that the doctrine of<br />

election serves to emphasize the radical nature of free justification within<br />

���������������������������� 47<br />

Calvin, moreover, sees this election, although it is a hidden decree made<br />

by God before the creation of the world, 48 as something which is manifested<br />

40 BARTH, 178; cf. HESSELINK��������������������������������DEVRIES, 107.<br />

41 BARTH,<br />

42 BARTH, 158, 160.<br />

43 BARTH 179, 186.<br />

44 Institutes III.21.5.<br />

45 ���������������������������or us to know what benefit we shall gain from this. The basis<br />

on which we believe the church is that we are fully convinced we are members of it. In this<br />

way our salvation rests upon sure and firm supports, so that, even if the whole fabric of the<br />

world we�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

election, and cannot waver or fail any more than his eternal providence can. Secondly, it<br />

has in a way been joined to the steadfastness of Christ, who will no more allow his<br />

���������� ��� ��� ���������� ����� ���� ����� ����� ���� �������� ��� ����� ���� ����� ����������<br />

Institutes IV.1.3. See also WENDEL, 277.<br />

46 LEITH, 122.<br />

47 BARTH, 119.<br />

48 See BARTH, 158.


16 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

specifically in the person of Jesus Christ. 49 ��� �������� ���������� ����<br />

salvation has always been hidden in God, Jesus Christ is nevertheless the<br />

channel through whom this salvation flows down to us; and we receive it by<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������� 50 and again in<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

that he elected them in themselves, but in his Christ, because he could not<br />

love them except in him, and could not honour them with his heritage<br />

���������������������������������������������������� 51 John Leith has noted<br />

the tension that emerges here between election and the work of Christ<br />

withi��������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

as a decree which is made at one point in time and executed at a later point,<br />

��������������������������������������������������������� 52 It is not altogether<br />

clear that Calvin had reached a comfortable synthesis on this point that he<br />

�������� ���� ���������� ������ �������� ��� ������ ������� ����� �������� ��������<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

����� ���������������������� ��������������������� ����� ������� have seized on<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������� 53<br />

Wendel, however, attempts to unravel the conundrum of this tension by<br />

���������� ��� ������� ��������� ��� ���� ������� ������� ��� ���� ������� ���������<br />

Wendel explains:<br />

As it is in [Jesus Christ] that the promises of salvation find their guarantee, so<br />

it is in him that election is sealed. Doubly so, seeing that the Christ took part<br />

in the decree of election in his capacity as second Person of the Holy Trinity,<br />

and that he is also the artisan of this election in his capacity as Mediator. 54<br />

Calvin does, after all, invite people to contemplate their election not outside<br />

but within the person of Jesus Christ Himself.<br />

If we have been chosen in him, we shall not find assurance of our election in<br />

ourselves; and not even in God the Father, if we conceive him as severed<br />

from his Son. Christ, then, is the mirror wherein we must, and without selfdeception<br />

may, contemplate our own election. For since it is into his body<br />

the Father has destined those to be engrafted whom he has willed from<br />

49 WENDEL, 274-75.<br />

50 ������������ ��� ���������� Opera omnia quae supersunt (Corpus Reformatorem),<br />

(Brunswick, 1863-1900), 45, 319; also Wendel, 275.<br />

51 Institutes III.25.5.<br />

52 LEITH, 136. The presence of this tension raises some interesting questions about the nature<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������ry, however,<br />

is beyond the scope of this present paper.<br />

53 LEITH, 127.<br />

54 WENDEL, 274.


Beinert: Calvin on Conversion 17<br />

eternity to be his own, that he may hold as sons all whom he acknowledges<br />

to be among his members, we have a sufficiently clear and firm testimony<br />

that we have been inscribed in the book of life [cf. Rev. 21:27] if we are in<br />

communion with Christ. 55<br />

���������������� ������ ��� ��������� ������������ ��� ��������� ������������ ���<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

place the accent upon predestination itself, logically conceived as the prior<br />

condition of salvation, or�where Calvin usually places it�upon the offer of<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������� 56<br />

4<br />

��������� ������������ ��� ������������� ��� ��� ����� ������������ ���� ���� ��� ���<br />

suggests, election and the cross are inextricably interwoven into a seamless<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������elect<br />

��� ���� ������� ��� ����������� ��� ������ �������� ��������� ������������ ����� �����<br />

imply and entail the decretum of election in order for the association to be<br />

���������� ���� ���������� ��� ��������� ����������� ����� ����� ��� ������ �����<br />

though later Calvinism took on its harsh predestinarian demeanour through<br />

an inordinate emphasis on election as the foundational teaching for<br />

subsequent Reformed theology, 57 it is nonetheless here in this association of<br />

���� ������ ����� ������ ������� ������� ����� ���� ������� ��������� ��� ���������<br />

��������� ������ ��� �������� ����� ������� ��������� ����� ��� ���������<br />

���������������������������������������������� 58 it still leaves its stamp as a<br />

kind of a watermark image throughout the whole of his theology. 59<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������Institutes<br />

��� ����������� ������� ��� ������ ���� ��� ��� ����� ����� ���� ��������� ����� ���������<br />

conception of conversion becomes most clearly evident. At the risk of<br />

oversimplifying the theologies of these two great figures of the sixteenth<br />

century reformations, the theologies of our two reformers can be seen as<br />

revolving around two points of singular reference. For Calvin, they are<br />

55 Institutes III.24.5.<br />

56 WENDEL, 274.<br />

57 See ANDREW PETTEGREE�� ����� ������� ��� ��������� ���������� CARL R. TRUEMAN,<br />

����������������������������R. WARD HOLDER��������������������������The Cambridge<br />

Companion in John Calvin; also ALISTER E. MCGRATH, Reformation Thought: An<br />

Introduction, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1988, 1993), 125.<br />

58 MCGRATH, 128.<br />

59 �������� ������ ����� ��������� ��������������� ��� ���� �������� ��� ��������� ��������� it is<br />

nonetheless foundational to it. MCGRATH, 125.


18 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

election and the cross; for Luther, the cross and the Word (understanding<br />

that the two dominical Sacraments are included here as a physical<br />

expression of that very same Word). 60 The singular reference for each of<br />

their pairings is wrapped up in the divine work�one could dare even to call<br />

it a decree�of sola gratia justification. The difference between their<br />

respective emphases, however, is significant for understanding the overall<br />

shape of both their theologies as well as the pieties which depend on them.<br />

Each view, moreover, spins off its own particular model and conception of<br />

Christian missions on account of their divergent theologies.<br />

For Luther, this gift of salvation�expressed as justification�is anchored<br />

in Christ, specifically His work on the cross (Lk. 23:34), 61 and likewise<br />

communicated to people through the means of the Word and the<br />

sacraments (Acts 2:38-39; Mt. 26:27-29). 62 Calvin, on the other hand,<br />

anchors salvation in the decree of election, 63 to which the cross, 64 the<br />

Word, 65 and even the sacraments 66 stand as an external testimony to which<br />

the Spirit adds the inner movement of His witness concerning the<br />

justification of the elect.<br />

Word and sacraments confirm our faith when they set before our eyes the<br />

good will of our Heavenly Father toward us, by the knowledge of whom the<br />

whole firmness of our faith stands fast and increases in strength. The Spirit<br />

confirms it when, by engraving this confirmation in our minds, he makes it<br />

effective. Meanwhile, the Father of Lights [cf. James 1:17] cannot be<br />

hindered from illumining our minds with a sort of intermediate brilliance<br />

60 �����������������������������������������������������������������������Die Taufe ist nicht<br />

allein schlecht Wasser sondern sie ist das Wasser, in Gottes Gebot gefasset und mit Gottes<br />

Wort verbunden.��BELK, 515.<br />

61 See SA, loc. cit.<br />

62 ���� ��� ����� ���� ��������� ����������� ���� ���������� ������� �������� ��� ���� ���� �����<br />

zweyerley weyse. Eyn mal eusserlich, das ander mal ynnerlich. Eusserlich handelt er mit<br />

uns durchs muendliche wort des Euangelij und durch leypliche zeychen, alls do ist Tauffe<br />

und Sacrament. Ynnerlich handelt er mit uns durch den heyligen geyst und glauben sampt<br />

andern gaben. Aber das alles, der massen und der ordenung, das die eusserlichen stucke<br />

sollen und muessen vergehen. Und die ynnerlichen hernach und durch die eusserlichen<br />

komen, also das ers bescholssen hat, keinem menschen die ynnerlichen stuck zu geben on<br />

�����������������������������������Wider die himmlischen Propheten, WA 18:136 9-13 .<br />

63 See Institutes III.21.5; IV.1.3.<br />

64 See LEITH, 13.<br />

65 See Institutes I.6-7.<br />

66 See Institutes IV.1.22; IV.14.1. et al.


Beinert: Calvin on Conversion 19<br />

through the sacraments, just as he illumines our bodily eyes by the rays of the<br />

sun. 67<br />

Indeed, and this is important to recognize, for Calvin, the Word and the<br />

sacraments do not, in and of themselves, impart grace to the partaker, but<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

who are elect. 68 ��� ��� ���� �������� ��� ��������� ��������������� ����<br />

communicates the benefits of the Gospel inwardly to the elect (without<br />

means) to which the Word and the sacraments bear external witness. 69 ����<br />

����������������������������<br />

that God himself is present in his institution by the very present power of his<br />

Spirit. Nevertheless, that the administration of the sacraments which he has<br />

ordained may not be unfruitful and void, we declare that the inner grace of<br />

the Spirit, as distinct from the outward ministry, ought to be considered and<br />

pondered separately. 70<br />

������ ��� ������ ���������� ������� ����� ������ ��� �������� ��� ���� itself our<br />

���������� ���� ����������� ���� ������� ���� ����������� ��� ������ ��� �����<br />

happens is not the forgiveness of sins but a strengthening of faith in<br />

�������������� ���� ��������� ����� ������� ������� ��� ���� ���� ������ ��� ����� ���<br />

Christ himself, but it reminds u�� ����� ������� ��� ���� ������ ��� ������ 71 The<br />

reality and substance, Calvin suggests, is communicated not through the<br />

external means (Luther), but beside them through the agency of the Spirit.<br />

To be fair, Calvin does suggest that there is a communion that<br />

accompanies the Word and the sacrament between God and the individual<br />

believer. This communion, however, is conceived variously in terms of a<br />

mystical union of Christ and the believer 72 or a contemplative ascent of the<br />

soul into the heavenly heights. 73 It is the Spirit who proves to be the<br />

effecting agent to make all this possible. 74<br />

67 See Institutes IV.14.10.<br />

68 Institutes IV.14.14-17.<br />

69 See Institutes IV.14.9; also BARTH, 182.<br />

70 Institutes IV.14.17; cf. also IV.17.12.<br />

71 BARTH, 174. Barth goes on to unfold the significa���� ��� ���� ����������� ������� ���������<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

God in Christ and to summon us to recognize it, (2) to enable us to perform an act of<br />

confession, and (3) to bring us to a fresh awareness of our fellowship with the brethren and<br />

to lead us to love of them in Christ and of Christ in them���BARTH, 175, original emphasis.<br />

See also BEEKE, 134.<br />

72 WENDEL, 238; DEVRIES, 120.<br />

73 Cf. Institutes III.24.5; Beeke notes that Calvin speaks of ���� ����������� ��� ��������� ���<br />

������ ��� ������ ��� ��������� BEEKE, 135. Also Institutes I.5.11. See also GEORGE H.


20 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

��������� ��������� ��� ����������� ���� ����������� ������ ��� ���������� ���<br />

memorials of divine favour; 75 piety is grounded in the knowledge of self and<br />

the knowledge of God; 76 his description of repentance is one of<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

����� ����������� ���� ���� ���� ������������ �������� ������� ��������������� 77<br />

There is something which is both intimately personal and yet communal<br />

and relational about this all. Indeed, he breathes the air of an Augustinian<br />

Trinitarian piety which sees the human vocation in terms of the Trinitarian<br />

image of God vaulted into the vernacular sphere of social realities. 78 Even<br />

his description of faith as glove which ���������� ������� 79 fits nicely into<br />

this mould with a comparable pattern of the Giver, the receiver, and the Gift<br />

that is shared. Given the role of the Spirit as the bond of unity among the<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������life of the<br />

Godhead, it is not surprising that Calvin would assign such a prominent<br />

place to the third person of the Trinity within the pattern of his own<br />

spirituality.<br />

But by pushing the factum of justification beyond the threshold of the<br />

sacraments, however, Calvin has effectively altered the scope and meaning<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������������ ��������� ����� ��� �� ������ ��� �������s theology which is easily<br />

overlooked, yet it is clearly there, and it is clearly foundational. He describes<br />

this dynamic as follows:<br />

For though only those predestined to salvation receive the light of faith and<br />

truly feel the power of the gospel, yet experience shows that the reprobate are<br />

sometimes affected by almost the same feeling as the elect, so that even in<br />

TAVARD, ���� ��������� ������ ��� ��������� �������� (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans<br />

Publishing Company, 2000), 172.<br />

74 See HESSELINK�������������������<br />

75 See Institutes IV.14.18-���� �������� ����� ����� ������������ ����������� ������������ ��� ����<br />

Trinity in terms of memory-understanding-will. AUGUSTINE, De trinitate 10.11.<br />

76 Especially Institutes I.1-2; see also BEEKE�� ����� �������� ����� ������������ ����ogical<br />

description of the Trinity as mind, self-knowledge, and self-love. AUGUSTINE, De trinitate<br />

9:4.<br />

77 Institutes ��������� �������� ����� ����� ������������ ������������� ������ ���������� ��� ����<br />

individual person as created in the image of Christ but as being made in the image of the<br />

very triune God himself. AUGUSTINE, De trinitate, 10:12. See also Institutes I.5.2 where he<br />

elaborates upon humanity in terms of a microcosmic reflection of a divine archetype.<br />

78 See TAVARD, 57-59. For an excellent discussion of late medieval Augustinian spirituality,<br />

see DAVID N. BELL, The Image and Likeness: The Augustinian Spirituality of William of St.<br />

Thierry (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1984).<br />

79 Institutes III.2.8.


Beinert: Calvin on Conversion 21<br />

their own judgment they do not in any way differ from the elect [cf. Acts<br />

13:28]. Therefore it is not at all absurd that the apostle should attribute to<br />

them a taste of the heavenly gifts [Heb. 6:4-6]and Christ, faith for a time<br />

[Luke 8:13]; not because they firmly grasp the force of spiritual grace and the<br />

sure light of faith, but because the Lord, to render them more convicted and<br />

inexcusable, steals into their minds to the extent that his goodness may be<br />

tasted without the Spirit of adoption. 80<br />

Yet in spite of this binding reality, Calvin counsels that one should not<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

penetrate into heaven itself, and to fathom what God from eternity decreed<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

(1538 Catechism, article 13). 81 He counsels, rather, that we should content<br />

ourselves with contemplating our election in the mirror of Christ, 82 all the<br />

while not knowing for certain whether one is elect or not. 83 There can be no<br />

����� �������� ��� ������� �������� ��� ���������� �������� ����� ���� ����������<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������ree while<br />

serving also to socialize and police (through the exercise of the<br />

excommunication) the communal life of both society and the church.<br />

5<br />

This brings us back to our original question. What then does conversion<br />

mean when it is set against the backdro�� ��� ��������� ���������� ������<br />

���������� ������� ��� �� ������� ������ ���� ����� �������������� ��� ������<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

meaning of conversion for Calvin. Conversion has to do with<br />

sanctification�or renewal in piety. 84 Indeed, Calvin does write that the<br />

���������� ��� ���� ���������� ��� ������ ��� ���� ����� ��� ��������� 85 Yet, as Barth<br />

notes, this adds nothing to the initial vocation of the Christian which is<br />

������������������������������������ 86 �������������to be added to faith.<br />

������ ���� ������� ��� ����� ����� �������� 87 This, after all, is what Calvin<br />

80 Institutes III.2.11.<br />

81 See HESSELINK��������������������������<br />

82 Institutes III.24.5.<br />

83 BARTH, 182.<br />

84 Cf. GRISLIS, 68.<br />

85 Institutes III.23.12.<br />

86 Institutes III.22.11.<br />

87 BARTH, 196.


22 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

expounded at length in Book II of his Institutes where he insisted that<br />

conversion and all of its fruits as they flourish in righteousness are nothing<br />

more than a flowering of that initial grace which is grounded in the<br />

������������ ��������� 88 We can see it also in his keen skill as a spiritual<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������� 89 This<br />

is nothing short of piety, and as Joel Beeke describes, for Calvin,<br />

Piety means experiencing sanctification as a divine work of renewal<br />

expressed in repentance and righteousness, which progresses through conflict<br />

and adversity in a Christlike manner. 90<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

conversion, it is interesting to note that Calvin breaks the mould. Piety must<br />

be palpable. It must be something felt. It is that zeal for religion out of which<br />

true piety springs forth which Calvin writes about at the start of his<br />

Institutes. 91 Indeed, as H. Jackson Forstman points out, the knowledge of the<br />

faith of which Calvin writes is not in the head but in the heart. 92 Yet it is<br />

also eminently communal and relational as his Augustinian Trinitarian<br />

spirituality reveals. 93 Indeed, this is reflected in his unique conception of the<br />

�������������������������������������������������������invites us into the<br />

society of Christ ���������������������� 94 Even his description of the Office<br />

of the Keys, as the ministry of exhorting others to live in forgiveness (but not<br />

the actual speaking of Holy Absolution), reflects this same social and<br />

communal dimension. 95 ��� ������ ��������� ������� ��� ���� ������� ���� ����<br />

�������������� ��� ����������� �������� ����� ���� ������� ���� ���� ������ ���<br />

������������� ���������� ����������� ����������� ������ ����� ��� ����������������<br />

character: it is not only a turning to God but also an entrance into the<br />

�������������������������� 96 As Beeke rightly notes, for Calvin faith, prayer,<br />

88 Institutes II.3.6-14.<br />

89 Institutes III.2.8-13.<br />

90 BEEKE, 145.<br />

91 Institutes I.9.<br />

92 H. JACKSON FORSTMAN, Word and Spirit: Calv����������������������������������� (Stanford:<br />

Stanford University Press, 1962), 101; also TAVARD, 172, 188.<br />

93 Cf. HESSELINK��������������������������<br />

94 Institutes IV emphasis mine.<br />

95 Institutes IV.1.22. Note that Calvin excludes sacramental absolution from his discussion<br />

here.<br />

96 �De authentieke conversio heft nl. Altijd een ecclesial karakter: zij is niet slechts toekeer<br />

tot God, marr ook toekeer door en in de gemeenschap der kerk.�� HIJENHUIS, 249. See<br />

also N. A. NISSIOTIS�� ������������ ���� ���� ��������� The Ecumenical <strong>Review</strong> 19 (1967):<br />

261-70.


Beinert: Calvin on Conversion 23<br />

and piety are far from private. They must not be hidden because they are<br />

socially transformative. 97<br />

But since conversion, for Calvin, is only for the elect, conversion as<br />

�������� ���� ������ ������ ��� �� ������� ���� ������������ ��������� ��� �������<br />

conceived in terms of a salvage and rescue mission where people are literally<br />

saved from the throws of hell through the sacramental ministrations of the<br />

church in community�a view which would fit very nicely within a<br />

<strong>Lutheran</strong> perspective�the shape of conversion for Calvin becomes thus a<br />

process of collection and socialization wherein the elect are gathered and<br />

formed in their faith within the fellowship of the gathered (and re-formed)<br />

Christian community. Christians are not made through the ministry of both<br />

sacrament and Word�they are merely gathered together into a common<br />

witnessing society for mutual edification. 98 The lost are merely socialized.<br />

Stated more crassly, for Calvin conversion is like the discovery and<br />

reformation (training) of Eliza Doolittle by professor Henry Higgins, from<br />

����������������������My Fair Lady, in order to present her to the courts of<br />

privileged society, only to find, in the end, that he has discovered a diamond<br />

in the rough and, in turn, fallen in love with her.<br />

This is no Pauline or Augustinian pattern of sudden conversion.<br />

Conversion, in Calvin, takes on a distinctive character entirely of its own<br />

�������� ���������� ��� ���� ����� ��� ���� ���� ������� ��� ���� ������� ������� ����<br />

grasp of sinners or the sacramental ministry of the church. Conversion is a<br />

reformation of behaviour�both individual and societal�transforming the<br />

ministry of the church into a ministry of the Law where the public life of the<br />

church is understood as a witness and testimony to the irrevocable decree of<br />

God (election). The church, for Calvin, provides no bridge to eternity for<br />

lost sinners. It merely points to the decree like the proverbial finger pointing<br />

at the moon.<br />

����� ����� �������� ���� ��������� ��� ��������� ���������� �������������<br />

takes on a distinctively sociological flavour. It also steps back from<br />

grappling with the question of fundamental religious change�of the<br />

�������� �������� ��� ���� ��������� ��������������and focuses instead on the<br />

process of active sanctification. Through his coupling of justification with a<br />

supralapsarian decree of election, the question of religions transition is<br />

submerged in the deus absconditus and subsequently drops out of sight. What<br />

is left is an on-going reformation of piety which Calvin believes to be<br />

manifest in the elect by a spirit of humble obedience and adoration. The<br />

result is a stark separation of sanctification from justification in a way that<br />

97 BEEKE, 145.<br />

98 ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

the Third Article of the Creed within his Small Catechism.


24 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

ignores the vital importance of the ministry of the Word for the<br />

communication of grace and faith formation within the day-to-day life of the<br />

church. It, in essence, promotes a piety which maintains a form of godliness,<br />

all the while, denying the power which animates it (II Tim. 3:5). Whatever<br />

���� ���������� ���� ���� ��������� ��� ��������� ���������� ������������� ��� ����<br />

Protestant understanding of conversion might be, the overall impact of his<br />

theology cannot be adequately understood without recourse to the<br />

theological foundations which underlie his system. Theology and practice<br />

go hand in hand.<br />

Piety and patterns of evangelism are not value neutral in the overarching<br />

scheme of Christian ministry. While there are always practical<br />

considerations in the doing of Christian ministry which inform and<br />

transform the way in which we do ministry, careful recourse needs to be<br />

made to the fundamental confession of the Christian church in order not to<br />

lose the rubber-to-the-road mission reality of the sacramental cradle in<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

of a clearly articulated theology in both spoken creed and the lived ministry<br />

of the church, it also offers a warning against an uncritical borrowing of<br />

models and methods of evangelism within our own practice and ministry. A<br />

theological disconnect in the way that we do our theology can speak louder<br />

than the words of our preaching and catechetical instruction. At the very<br />

least, it works to stir confusion in the minds and hearts of the faithful as they<br />

seek to bring their faith to bear on their day-to-day vocations. As in<br />

generations gone by, we too, in our own day, must learn to grapple with<br />

how our theology not only informs but forms the way we do our work in<br />

the ongoing mission of the church today.<br />

Rev. Richard A. Beinert, M.A., is pastor of Immanuel <strong>Lutheran</strong> Church,<br />

Winnipeg, Manitoba, and an adjunct professor of <strong>Concordia</strong> <strong>Lutheran</strong><br />

<strong>Seminary</strong>, Edmonton. He is a Ph.D. candidate in Religion and Reformation<br />

Studies at the University of Manitoba.


LTR 22 (Academic Year 2009-10): 25-73<br />

Saving the Gypsy Soul:<br />

Reflections on Evangelical Outreach to German Sinti and<br />

Roma in the Early 1800s<br />

William F. Mundt<br />

THE TITLE IS ALREADY TROUBLESOME. �Gypsy�, the usual English translation of<br />

the German �Zigeuner� frequently conjures up images of shawled fortunetellers,<br />

dark-haired horse traders, scantily-clad small children begging in<br />

public places (still observable for example on Berlin�s Friedrichstraße near<br />

the many tourist shops which sprang up after the 1989 Wende), other<br />

negative stereotypes, and of course, the wagons. �Hide the children lest they<br />

��� ������� was a common cry in small villages whenever these travellers<br />

came to town. The seven deadly sins become stereotypes of gypsy<br />

characteristics. 1 The seven most common designations of this people group<br />

are: (1) bums and vagabonds, (2) thieves, (3) fortune tellers, (4) pagan,<br />

enemies of Christians, dedicated to the devil, (5) spies, (6) violin players, (7)<br />

dancing girls. 2<br />

Largely the wagons have been replaced by motorized vehicles, and<br />

although commonly referred to as �travelling fol�� (die Fahrende, and<br />

�travellers� in Great Britain), there is generally less mobility than in the<br />

early 1800s when various and varying territorial decrees or edicts compelled<br />

frequent relocation as a means of survival. 3 Hancock argues that �although<br />

the popular notion holds that the Romanies are a wandering people with<br />

mysterious origins, it has been known for over two centuries that their roots<br />

are in India, and only a tiny fraction of the world`s twelve million or so<br />

1 JOHANNES RIES, Welten Wanderer: Über die kulterelle Souveränität siebenbürgischer Zigeuner<br />

und den Einfluß des Pfingstchristentums (Würzburg: Ergon Verlag 2007), 169.<br />

2 WILHELM SOLMS��������������������������������-��������������, Kulturloses Volk:<br />

������������������������ und Selbstzeugnisse von Sinti und Roma, Beiträge zur<br />

Antiziganismusforschung, Band 4, (Seeheim: I-Verb.de, 2006), 97-108.<br />

3 HELMUT SAMER����������������������������Policy�� Rombase < http://romani.unigraz.at/rombase>,<br />

1. Already in 1803 Napoleon Bonaparte ordered that able-bodied<br />

gypsy men be forced to work, their children sent to orphanages, the women as well as the<br />

old and the sick put into poorhouses. Despite, or perhaps because of such measures, Roma<br />

took up nomadic ways of life and tried to make a living as basket weavers, coppersmiths,<br />

horse traders, peddlers, flayers, etc. Itinerant trades did not produce secure living<br />

conditions. Welfare was generally bound to a permanent place of residence and aid was<br />

discouraged as nomadic Roma became increasingly seen as threats to law and order.


26 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

Romanies are truly nomadic.� 4 Not all travellers fit under the Sinti/Roma<br />

classification either. The Jenish are travellers but not considered to belong to<br />

groups labelled as gypsy.<br />

The German �Zigeuner� is considered by most to be derogatory (a fact<br />

the author was frequently reminded of in seeking source material).<br />

Unfortunately for the politically correct any reference to Sinti and Roma<br />

activity in the 18 th and 19 th centuries (and of course before that) will always<br />

be located under ��� not ��� or �R�. Mode, among others, shares insights<br />

into possible derivations of the word. 5 The term �gypsy� originated from the<br />

Greek Word �aigyptoi� with the mistaken belief that they originated from<br />

Egypt and means nothing. It is like calling an Inuit person an Eskimo, and<br />

seen by Roma as an offensive label. 6<br />

Not infrequently the dreaded Z-word appears in a longer list of �the<br />

usual suspects� in police records along with �Vagabanden, Diebe ... und andere<br />

Gesindel.� 7 Simply substituting Sinti and Roma, the preferred modern<br />

German titles does not solve the problem either. Within this diverse group<br />

itself there is disagreement and division. One blog goes to great length<br />

exploring the different connotations. 8 Some proudly declare: �I am a Gypsy,<br />

I have always been a Gypsy. I will die a Gypsy.� Then there is the problem<br />

that not all Sinti are Roma, etc.<br />

Classification of a largely mysterious peoples remains an on-going issue.<br />

For the sake of simplicity this article uses �gypsy� to define the peoples<br />

under examination, unless quotations use other terms, since the English<br />

4 IAN HANCOCK, Uniqueness of the Victims: Gypsies, Jews and the Holocaust,<br />

, 25 June<br />

2007, 6. For more detailed information about the reasons for leaving India and the various<br />

paths taken, see Michail Krausnick, Die Zigeuner sind da: Roma u. Sinti zwischen Gestern u.<br />

Heute (Würzburg: Arena, 1981), 10-16.<br />

5 H. MODE and S. WOLFFLING, Zigeuner: Der Weg eines Volkes in Deutschland (Leipzig:<br />

Koehler und Amelang, 1968). SEBASTIAN SCHWALBACH�����������������������������<br />

�������www.helles-koepfchen.de/artikel/1387.html������������������Zigeuner���������<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������.<br />

6 CARLA CARLSON������������������������������������������������������������� Niagara<br />

���������������� (January 2008): 14. For a detailed description from a 1544 viewpoint see<br />

Sebastian Münster`s description in Cosmographia universa as quoted in RAJKO DJURIC,<br />

JÖRG BECKEN, A. BERTOLT BENGSCH, Ohne Heim-Ohne Grab: Die Geschichte der Roma und<br />

Sinti (Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag 1996), 199.<br />

7 Archival references abound. See also �����������������������������������������������<br />

����������, Beiträge zur Antiziganismusforschung, Bd. 3 (Seeheim: I-Verb.de, 2005).<br />

8 RÜDIGER BENNINGHAUS, �������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

und Roma�? , 5 February 2008.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 27<br />

version of the word is milder in its overtones. 9 The terms �Sinti� and<br />

������ originate from Romani, the mother tongue of this minority. Sinti<br />

refers to those who have been living in central Europe since the late Middle<br />

Ages. Roma refers to those of southern European origin. Outside Germanspeaking<br />

areas, Roma, or simply Rom (human being) is used generically. 10<br />

Solms suggests the Sinti may have previously lived about one hundred years<br />

in Greece and acquired Christianity there. 11<br />

The second question, which seems to have an obvious answer, is does a<br />

gypsy have a soul? In the late 1700s and early 1800s not everyone was<br />

convinced that even if gypsies had souls that they would be worth saving.<br />

����� �������� ���� ��� ��������� ������ ���� �� ������ ������ ���� ���� �����������<br />

������� ���� ������ ������ ��� ���������, one researcher reported. 12 Fricke<br />

likewise dared to say what few contested at that time:<br />

Many gypsy souls certainly often have the best plans for great deeds, and one<br />

cannot deny in the hands of a skilled filer or polisher first class men could be<br />

formed from these people. It is really a shame that so much talent is<br />

suffocated, or goes the wrong direction, which then has a negative influence<br />

on their morality throughout their entire lives, and will remain so as long as<br />

the upbringing of gypsies is not changed and he is compelled to remain a<br />

thief and a monster. 13<br />

Forty years later, the opinion persisted that gypsies were incapable of<br />

being domesticated because they could not control their instincts and lacked<br />

the intellectual means to carry out any resolve to care for themselves<br />

through regular farming or trade. 14 The official opinion of the government<br />

of the Schwarzwaldkreis, dated 22 August 1827, in response to Josef<br />

����������� ������������ ���� ������������� �� ������� ���� ���� �������, was:<br />

9 RIES, 189 notes that gypsy, or Zigeuner, is really an abstraction applied by non-gypsies to a<br />

����������������������������������������.<br />

10 ��������������������������������- und Kulturzentrum Deutscher Sinti und Roma,<br />

, 1.<br />

11 WILHELM SOLMS����������������������������������������������� der Kirchen zu den Sinti<br />

��������������������������Zeitschrift für Theolgie und Kulturgeschichte, http://aps.sulb.unisaarland.de/theologie.geschichte/inhalt/2006/10.html,<br />

5.<br />

12 MAREILE KRAUSE, Verfolgung durch Erziehung (Verlag an der Lottbeck: Peter Jensen,<br />

1989), 72.<br />

13 THOMAS FRICKE, Zwischen Erziehung und Ausgrenzung; zur württembergischen Geschichte der<br />

Sinti und Roma im 19. Jahrhundert (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang 1991), 40. Contained in<br />

the 1787 search list of Oberamtmann Schäffer in Sülz.<br />

14 FRICKE, 49, based on an opinion expressed in 1828 and shared by many, including Maria<br />

Theresia (cf. Claudia Mayerhofer, Dorfzigeuner: Kultur und Geschichte der Burgenland-Roma<br />

von der Ersten Republik bis zur Gegenwart).


28 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

��������� �������� ���� ���������� ����� ����� ��� �����������g them among the<br />

general population could there be any hope of bringing them to a higher<br />

���������������� 15 Stain, a top official in Ludwigsburg, had already decided in<br />

1812 that the only solution to the problem was to eradicate the worthless<br />

culture of the gypsies, either by keeping them apart or by keep them under<br />

strict supervision. 16 The gypsies should stop acting like gypsies and forget<br />

their odd culture and lose their language. Where it was obvious that gypsy<br />

parents were training their children to beg instead of to work and to learn,<br />

and punishing the parents had not helped, then the children should be<br />

removed from the homes and later taught a trade. 17<br />

�It is easy to think, what the religion of these people looks like�� Mode<br />

reports a Dr. Theodor Tetzner observed. �They have no feeling for the<br />

higher and holy, not even a clue that man is made for something better than<br />

an animal.� 18 Of even greater interest is to discover the role Enlightenment<br />

thinking and race theories contributed to such inferiority views. In 1775<br />

Immanuel Kant published an article, �Von den verschiedenen Racen der<br />

Menschen�, where he strongly asserted, �die Überlegenheit der �Weißen�<br />

oder die kulterelle Unterlegenheit der Träger anderer Hautfarben [the<br />

superiority of the �white� or the cultural inferiority of bearers of other skin<br />

colours��. 19 Certainly evangelical interests in developing members of the<br />

Friedrichslohra settlement into responsible Christian citizens, for example,<br />

was not much different than the political aims, a trend starting around 1775<br />

with Grellman and others. 20 The first written account of gypsies in Germany<br />

comes from Hildesheim in 1407. Their persecution began less than fifty<br />

years later as worsening economic, social, and political conditions led to the<br />

conclusion that their presence was burdensome.<br />

Negative notions are easily traceable to even earlier legends about<br />

origins. One relates how two Roman soldiers, entrusted with 80 Kreuzer to<br />

15 FRICKE, 49, 47. Kaufmann and a Jacob Reinhard originally made this request in 1818,<br />

and repeated it in 1827 and 1828. They emphasized the danger of allowing gypsies to<br />

remain living in immoral conditions: �������������������������������������������������������<br />

�����������������������������������������������-��������<br />

16 FRICKE, 50 in a report dated 10.12.1812.<br />

17 FRICKE, 53 in Nagold.<br />

18 MODE, Zigeuner, 73.<br />

19 UDO ENGBRING-ROMANG���������������������������������ch begründet. Beiträge<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

Aufklärung und Antiziganismus, Beiträge zur Antiziganismusforschung, Bd. 1 (Seeheim: I-<br />

Verb.de, 2003), 40.<br />

20 CLAUDIA BREGER������������-���������������rscher� ��������������������Aufklärung<br />

und Antiziganismus, Beiträge zur Antiziganismusforschung, Bd. 1 (Seeheim: I-Verb.de,<br />

2003), 50-65.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 29<br />

������� ����� ������ ���� ������� ������������� ������ ����� ���� ������ ��� �� ������<br />

tavern. Two Jewish smiths who refused the work felt the wrath of the<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

when he learned their intended usage while preparing the fourth one, he<br />

heard the cries of the murdered smiths warning him. As he tried to cool the<br />

last nail, it kept glowing. It is said that whenever this glowing nail appears,<br />

the gypsies flee to another place. 21 An alternate explanation was that they<br />

were cursed to endless wandering because their descendants failed to<br />

provide accommodations for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in Egypt. 22 Still<br />

others suggest gypsies are the real descendants �������������������������� 23<br />

Sometimes the gypsies contributed to the confusion themselves,<br />

especially if there might be some economic advantage. Wilsoscki reported<br />

how some presented themselves as wayward Christians on a pilgrimage of<br />

purification. Even more unthinkable was that they were descendants of<br />

Jewish survivors of the Black Death (who incidentally started the plague by<br />

poisoning wells to rid the world of Christians). The gypsies, of Indian origin,<br />

developed their own language. Unfortunately their word for �God� (Devla)<br />

sounds very much like the English word for devil! 24<br />

Interactions with gypsies often left locals feeling less than charitable also.<br />

This became the greatest obstacle to outreach endeavours. �Not in my<br />

neighbourhood!� is not only a twentieth-century phrase. Perhaps the<br />

greatest factor was fear�fear of the stranger, as Seidler suggests. 25 What<br />

most seem to admire about the gypsy life style ultimately became a source of<br />

21 RAINER R. GÜNTHER, Das Kreuz der Zigeuner (Rottweil: Schwarzes Tor 1975), 9-10. A<br />

variation of this story is that the gypsy blacksmith stalled and stalled but was finally<br />

whipped by the Roman soldier to make four nails, three for the hands and feet and one for<br />

the heart. The gypsy asked God to help. When he was to deliver the nails, he swallowed<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

why gypsies travel and why they steal. BRIGITTE FUCHS, Verantwortung der Kirche für Sinti<br />

und Roma, Studien zur Wahrnehmung einer kulturellen Minderheit Tsiganologische Studien,<br />

hrg. Reimer Gronemeyer und Georgia A. Rakelmann, Nr. 1 u. 2 (Gießen:Justis-Liebig-<br />

Universität, Institut für Soziologie, 1991), , 219.<br />

22 The reluctance to reach out has a lot to do with prejudices based on preconceived notions.<br />

In Kulturloses Volk �����������������������������������������antiziganismus������������������<br />

list may have derived from or developed into various legends of origins, from the curse of<br />

Cain to the less exotic.<br />

23 WOLF IN DER MAUR, Die Zigeuner: Wanderer zwischen der Welten (Wien-München:<br />

Molden-Taschenbuch-Verlag, 1978), 55.<br />

24 MAYERHOFER, 94.<br />

25 GERHARD SEIDLER, Die christliche Gemeinde und die Angst vor Fremden: aufgewiesen am<br />

Beispiel der Sinti und Roma: seit 600 Jahren Fremde unter uns (Frankfurt am Main: Herchen<br />

1989), 34-35.


30 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

irritation. The gypsy`s love of freedom and disrespect for authority, living in<br />

the present although cherishing traditions and legends of the past, their<br />

spontaneity, their love of music and dance�all these and more have<br />

inspired countless works of music, literature and art�and proved almost<br />

insurmountable obstacles for evangelical outreach. 26 The numbers may be<br />

inflated. At least in the early 1800s in Württemberg, locals encountered few<br />

problems with their gypsy neighbours, nor was there much negative press.<br />

But where fears persist, there opposition to outreach remains.<br />

A third problem is the evangelical emphasis. Most gypsies were<br />

considered, and considered themselves, to be Roman Catholic. In practice<br />

gypsies tended to become whatever the locals were, to a certain degree.<br />

They adopted the local religious aspects that coincided with their own<br />

worldview. There was no objection to a Baptism�not even more than one if<br />

it brought additional gifts from local godparents�or to Christian<br />

celebrations. 27 Weddings, funerals, and pilgrimages were conducted<br />

accordingly. 28 Evangelical efforts sometimes encountered political<br />

opposition, such as when <strong>Lutheran</strong> foster parents were commanded to raise<br />

the gypsy children in their care as Roman Catholic.<br />

Wliscocki noted that despite Christian or Muslim appearances, gypsies<br />

live in a world dominated by spirits and determined by Schicksal (fate). Their<br />

Christian or Muslim faith is like festival clothing, but their belief in good<br />

and evil spirits is their everyday wear. 29<br />

The Christian message also sounds rather confusing to non-Christian<br />

ears. Mode reported on one conversation about Jesus supposedly overheard<br />

by a Richard Liebrich:<br />

26 See for example STEFANIE SABINE BACH, Die narrative und dramatische Vermittlung von<br />

����������������� in der deutschsprachigen Literatur (University of Strathclyde Ph.D.<br />

dissertation, 2005).<br />

27 ��������������������������������������-�����������������������������������������<br />

Geheim Staatsarchiv, Rep. 76 III. Sekt. 1. Abt. XIV, 165 Bd. I, Die in den diesseitigen<br />

Staaten sich aufhaltenden Zigeuner und die zu ihrer Zivilisation getreffenen Anordnungen.<br />

28 MAX PETER BAUMANN���������������������������������������� in Musik- und Kulturtage<br />

der Cinti und Roma, Berlin 1-11, Oktober 1992, n.p., observes that 80% of the Roma in<br />

Germany, France, Spain, southern Europe, and North and South America are Roman<br />

Catholic; Cinti and Roma groups in Greece, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Russia are mostly<br />

Orthodox; evangelical Cinti and Roma are found mainly in Niedersachsen; the Reformed<br />

Church attracts some Cinti and Roma in Hungary and the Hungarian-speaking parts of<br />

Romania; Cinti and Roma are mostly Muslim in Turkey, North Africa, Bosnia, Bulgaria,<br />

and other Balkan countries; Pentecostals have members especially in France, Spain, and<br />

America.<br />

29 WLISLOCKI, Volksglaube, 1.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 31<br />

A gypsy was talking with his wife about the essence of the Christian faith.<br />

Both remembered that there was a greater, older adult God and a smaller,<br />

�������� ����� ���� ������� ������ ���� ������ ���� ��������� ��� ��������� ����<br />

support, was that the great God no longer ruled but that he had stepped<br />

down for the benefit of the son. But the husband explained that the greater,<br />

older God had died a long time ago and that the world was now ruled by this<br />

small God, who nevertheless was not the son of his predecessor but of some<br />

poor carpenter. 30<br />

Despite all these obstacles, evangelicals, at least in certain parts of<br />

Germany, did make real attempts to bring Sinti and Roma into the fold of<br />

God`s people.<br />

Historically the action steps seemed to be: tolerate, eliminate, assimilate<br />

through legislation and education (then during Nazi era revert to eliminate<br />

again). Attempts that might make Canadian Christians shudder were similar<br />

to work among the natives. When establishing settlements did not seem to<br />

work, the next step was frequently removing children from their families to<br />

distance them from the language, culture, and wandering ways. Somewhere<br />

along the line questions of financing such ventures became key issues, and<br />

determinative.<br />

Friedrichslohra was one example of the interrelationship between state<br />

and religion in the German territories of the time. There were other<br />

settlements or gypsy colonies, too, that received less attention and quietly<br />

helped travellers become residents. 31 The situation at Freidrichslohra is<br />

better known because the evangelical media of the day got hold of the story<br />

and quickly demonstrated why two seminary students sent out by a<br />

missionary society as investigators for a short stay are not the most reliable<br />

reporters. Although the intentions were noble, the result was less than<br />

desirable. All mission stories then, like the television testimonials today,<br />

were meant to attract attention, stir emotions, and raise funds. Samuel<br />

Elsner (1778-1856), an active Berlin layman sometimes referred to as the<br />

soul of an organization, published Neueste Nachrichten aus dem Reiche Gottes<br />

(�Latest News from God�s Kingdom�, 1817-1856), a compilation of<br />

testimonies, reports and stories from a variety of sources, including many<br />

30 MODE, Zigeuner, 77.<br />

31 There were, for example, 130 Roma settlements established in Burgenland in Austria<br />

during the 19 th century. Homes were built on public lands and the residents not registered<br />

as owners. After the deportation during World War II almost all the approximately 1300<br />

homes were destroyed and none of the survivors received reparation because none could<br />

prove they ever owned a house. ���������������������������������������<br />

Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes, 1.


32 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

English ones, to encourage support. 32 When news of the living conditions in<br />

the settlement at Friedrichslohra was printed, this set off a flurry of letter<br />

writing to and from various government officials and friends and supporters<br />

of evangelical missions. Many of these letters, or copies of them, are<br />

���������� ������ ���� ���������� ��� ��������� Geheim Staatsarchiv preußischer<br />

Kultur-Besitz. Conditions were dismal, to be sure. Intense poverty produces<br />

such climates as those described in the correspondence and reports as<br />

�sittenloser Verwilderung� und ... Versunkenheit. 33 Great exception was taken to<br />

the observation that nothing was being done to correct them.<br />

The evangelical supporters of outreach were convinced that<br />

Christianizing would produce civilizing. The children were targeted. Within<br />

one generation the gypsies would be cured of their wandering and<br />

irresponsible life style.<br />

The Origins of �The Gypsy P�������<br />

By the end of the fifteenth century gypsies are mentioned in the public<br />

records of almost every European country. The first noted presence of<br />

gypsies in Germany is recorded in 1407 in Hildesheim. On 20 September<br />

that year these newly arrived Tartars enjoyed a refill of wine as officials<br />

checked their papers. 34 The first recorded expulsion took place in 1416 from<br />

the Meissen region. 35 A group of three hundred men moved into the North<br />

Sea region in 1417. Under the leadership of a duke and a count (Herzog and<br />

Graf), they moved on foot and on horseback, leading hunting dogs as a sign<br />

of nobility (although when they hunted it was silently and without dogs),<br />

with the women and children sitting on their goods in carts. 36 By 1418,<br />

gypsies were reported in many parts of Germany. That same year, near<br />

Zurich, numerous tribes came together under the command of a Duke<br />

32 �������������������Kirchliche Gesellschaften� described Elsner as the editor and businessman<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

knew how to help and organize. He arranged contacts with his many correspondents and<br />

is the centre above all for the mission of the ������������������WILLIAM F. MUNDT,<br />

Sinners Directed to the Saviour: The Religious Tract society Movement in Germany (1811-1848)<br />

(Zoetermeer: Uitgeverij Boekencentrum 1996), 100.<br />

33 Amtsblatt der königlichen Regierung zu Errfurt. ���������������������������Verordnungen und<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������II.<br />

34 DJURIC, 195.<br />

35 Patrin Timeline of Romani History, ,<br />

2.<br />

36 GUSTAV FREYTAG������������������������Spiegel Online: Project Gutenberg-De<br />

, 7.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 33<br />

Michel from Little Egypt. Among the more than 1000 present, were two<br />

dukes and two knights. They claimed to have been driven out of Egypt by<br />

the Turks, carried a lot of cash they said had been forwarded to them by<br />

relatives at home, ate and drank well, and paid generously. Never again<br />

were they reported to be so well off. 37<br />

King Frederick III provided a Geleitbrief (a letter of safe passage), dated<br />

15 April 1442, for Michel, Count of the Gypsies, and his companions,<br />

asking neighbouring rulers to permit safe travel and to allow them to buy<br />

provisions. In 1446 the city of Frankfurt conferred citizenship on a �Heincz<br />

von Mulhusen zyguner�, 38 but in 1449 the Roma were driven out of the<br />

city. 39 Towards the end of the 1400s letters of protection (Schutzbriefe)<br />

became less common and were replaced by greater oppression and<br />

persecution. Increasingly gypsies were forbidden to carry out their trade and<br />

driven away. The parliaments in Landau and Freiburg, 1496-98, declared<br />

�����Roma traitors to the Christian countries, spies in the pay of the Turks,<br />

and carriers of the plague.� 40 The Diet of Augsburg in 1500 renewed the<br />

resolution brought against gypsies at the Diet of Freiburg in 1498 forbidding<br />

entry or any accommodation to them. 41 It further declared them traitors to<br />

Christian countries and �accused them of witchcraft, kidnapping of<br />

children, and banditry.� 42 Expulsion edicts were repeated in resolutions<br />

from 1534 and 1544, as well as in the Reichspolizeiordnungen in 1530, 1548,<br />

and 1577. 43 The 1540 law for Branden���������������because we as ruler of<br />

this land have decided that in none of our lands gypsies nor foreign beggars<br />

shall be suffered; so if the gypsies approach our land�s border, our cities are<br />

37 FREYTAG, 7.<br />

38 ��������������������������������- und Kulturzentrum Deutscher Sinti und Roma, 2.<br />

39 Patrin Timeline, 3.<br />

40 Patrin Timeline. 3.<br />

41 �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

soll per edictum publicum ... ernstlich gebotten werden, das sie hierfür dieselben<br />

zeigeuner, nachdem man glaublich anzeig hat, das sie erfarer, usspeer und<br />

verkundschafter der christen land seyen, in oder durch ire land, gepiete oder oberkeit nit<br />

ziehen, handeln noch wandeln lassen, noch inen des sicherheit oder geleyt geben und das<br />

sich die zeigeuner daruf hinzwischen ostern rechtskünftig uß den landen teutscher nation<br />

tun, sich der eußern und darin nit finden lassen, wann wo sie darach betreten und yemants<br />

mit der tate gegen inen zu handeln fürnemen würde, der soll daran nit gefrevelt noch<br />

unrecht getan haben, wie dann soliches unser mandat wyter inhalten wir�������������<br />

Reemtsma, Sinti und Roma. Geschichte, Kultur und Gegenwart (München 1996), 36.<br />

42 Patrin Timeline, 4.<br />

43 REIMER GILSENBACH, Weltchronik der Zigeuner. 2000 Ereignisse aus der Geschichte der Roma<br />

und Sinti, der Gypsies und Gitanos, und aller ander����������������������������������������<br />

warden, Teil 4: von 1930 bis 1960 (Frankfurt, 1998), 115.


34 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

at liberty to assault them, raid them, and cast them down.� 44 By 1688,<br />

Kurfürst Wilhelm I had issued an edict that neither the gypsies nor their<br />

�������� ����� ��� ��� ����������� ����� ���� ����� ���������� with forced labor<br />

(building forts), the women with whipping and branding, and the children<br />

������������������� 45<br />

Control measures continued to be intense. In 1579, Elector Augustus<br />

ordered the confiscation of passports and banned gypsies from Saxony; in<br />

1661, then Elector Johann Georg II imposed the death penalty on any<br />

Roma caught in his territory; in 1711 Elector Frederick Augustus I<br />

authorized shooting any who resisted arrest. 46 Prince Adolf Frederick of<br />

Mecklenburg-Strelitz ordered in 1710 that �all Roma can be flogged,<br />

branded, expelled, or executed if they return; children under ten are to be<br />

removed and raised by Christian families.� At the same time in Prague,<br />

Joseph I issued an edict that all adult Roma men be hanged without trial<br />

and that boys and women be mutilated; in Bohemia, the left ear is to be cut<br />

off, in Moravia, the right one. 47 King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia, in his<br />

1725 �Instruction�, allowed authorities to hang all male and female gypsies<br />

over 18 without trial. �In order to be able to torture, break on the wheel, and<br />

������������ ��������� ��������� ���� ���������� ������������ �������� ���� �����<br />

important ruler of the Enlightenment, re-introduced the Peinliche<br />

Gerichtsordnung of Emperor Karl V. At the same time, the gypsies were for<br />

the first time brought to prison, work camps and orphanages.� 48 In 1734, the<br />

Landgraf of Hesse offered six Reichstaler for every gypsy captured alive and<br />

half that for each dead one. Such incen��������������������������������gypsy<br />

hunts� (Heidenjachten), a common, popular sport in Germany by the early<br />

1800s. 49 In Saxony this so-called Kesseltreiben (referring to driving them into<br />

an area where they were encircled), where the Roma were hunted like game<br />

������������������������������adventurous form of public entertainment.� 50<br />

Some were recorded, like this one in the Pfalz in 1760:<br />

The huts where the women and children lay were stormed by farmers and<br />

militia and the women and children stabbed and beaten contemptibly with<br />

bayonets and pitchforks. A small boy, 7 or 8 years old, was thus condemned,<br />

44 REEMTSMA, Sinti und Roma, 40.<br />

45 HELMUT SAMER������������������������� Rombase, , 2.<br />

46 Patrin Timeline, 5-7.<br />

47 Patrin Timeline, 7.<br />

48 SAMER, Rombase, 2.<br />

49 Patrin Timeline, 9.<br />

50 SAMER, Rombase, 3.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 35<br />

��� ����� �� ��� ����� ��� ���� �������� �� ������ ����� ����� ����� ���� ���������<br />

wounds. According to the testimony of vassal, in one hut a woman and her<br />

two children were burned alive. The community leader shouted again and<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

cannot sufficiently be described. 51<br />

Hundreds of similar massacres can be documented as well. In Bayreuth,<br />

on a single day in 1724, fifteen gypsy women, ranging in age from 15 to 98,<br />

were hanged and their bodies left on the gallows for many days as a warning<br />

to other vagabonds. In Dresden, gypsies were drowned in the Elbe river. 52 A<br />

landowner punished a run-away serf named Chutschdy Peter, returned to<br />

him by authorities, by having the soles of his feet beaten with rods until they<br />

bled and then forcing him to soak them in a strong lye solution. Next he cut<br />

����������������������������������, and made him eat it. Two other runaways,<br />

Rätyös Ferki and Tschingeli Andris, each received fifty blows, were forced<br />

to eat two wheelbarrows full of horse manure, and to kneel with bare legs<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

sick enough and this is how ����������������������� 53 The public execution<br />

of a group of Sinti accused of robbery took place in Gießen in 1726 based on<br />

the torture-induced confession of a Johannes des Glücklichen (John the<br />

Fortunate One). 54<br />

Persecution and criminalization continued. In Württemberg, decrees in<br />

1720, 1736, 1742 and 1751 called for the immediate arrest or elimination of<br />

the Jauner oder Zigeuner (robber or gypsy). While hunts were being<br />

organized, the gypsies usually moved on to less hostile areas. 55 Although<br />

passes were required, forgeries were easy to acquire. A new vagrant decree<br />

in 1805 made it possible for some gypsies to obtain Württemberg<br />

citizenship. 56 A general ordinance from 11 September 1807 did not name<br />

gypsies but did take aim at them. It referred to the control and registration of<br />

���� ������� ����� ��� ������ ��������� ���� ������� ������� ������� ����������� ���<br />

expelling and eliminating vagrants, thieves, beggars and other generally<br />

harmful occupations�� and introduced new regulations about door-to-door<br />

51 KRAUSNICK, 18.<br />

52 KRAUSNICK, 18.<br />

53 KRAUSNICK, 18-19.<br />

54 DJURIC, 205.<br />

55 See FRICKE, 187 ff., ���������������������������������������� ���������������������������<br />

experience and success, and applications for exemptions by hard-working gypsies.<br />

56 FRICKE, 29ff.


36 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

sales (Hausierhandel) and support for the needy despite a demonstrated need<br />

for the products and services gypsies were able to provide. 57<br />

Between 1500 and 1800 in the German Empire alone, approximately 150<br />

gypsy edicts were passed, and the new ones always surpassed the old ones in<br />

cruelty. 58 To make these new laws public, the authorities had them read out<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������������ ����������� ��������� ��������� ���� ���������� ������� ��� ������ ����<br />

territory were depicted�� 59<br />

Assimilation Policies<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

Europeans were at first patient, accepting these nomads as the penitent<br />

Christian pilgrims they claimed to be. In some places they were welcomed<br />

because they brought new technologies in working iron and metals. But as<br />

Roma became better known, initial support, seen as Christian duty, turned<br />

into disapproval and rejection. Hospitality waned partly because of the<br />

associated costs to the communities where they stayed as vagabonds and<br />

��������� ���� ������� ������� ���� ��������� �������� �������� ���������� ���<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�witchcraft�. During the sixteenth century sympathy for all strangers<br />

seemed to decline. Pilgrimages became less popular in light of Reformation<br />

teachings. Living from alms, as an appeal to Christian compassion and<br />

brotherly love, became reprehensible. �Having lost the protective status of<br />

pilgrims, the picture of the Roma as pitiable creatures changed and turned<br />

them into idle, useless beggars and thieves.� 60 Where gypsies did offer their<br />

57 FRICKE, 37, 80. For enforcement an initial corps of 200 (by 1822 it was 290, by 1825 it<br />

was 390, and by 1872 it was 500) was recruited to patrol roads, search remote homes,<br />

farms and mills, and arrest anyone suspicious or turn them over to local authorities. In<br />

1828 Württemberg again offered citizenship to any gypsies who would relinquish their<br />

wandering and accept constant supervision and discipline, 78. Hausierhandel, especially of<br />

used wooded articles (primarily pipe bowls) was their chief occupation. A chart on page<br />

79 gives a breakdown of occupations based on surveys in 1829 and 1854.<br />

58 SAMER, Rombase, 2.<br />

59 SAMER, Rombase, 1. In France during the 1700s, bounties of 24 francs for men and 9 for<br />

women, were established. The original plan to round up the gypsies and ship them to<br />

Louisiana ended when the territory was sold to the United States. Donald Kenrick,<br />

Grattan Puxon, Tilman Zülch, Die Zigeuenr: Verkannt-Verachtet-Verfolgt (Hannover:<br />

Niedersächsischen Landeszentrale für politische Bildung 1980), 17.<br />

60 SAMER, Rombase, 1.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 37<br />

services as manual workers local workers and guilds viewed them as threats<br />

to their own income and monopoly.<br />

Martin Luther contributed less to the stigmatization of the gypsies as<br />

socially and culturally inferior than he is at times accused of. Luther made<br />

no direct attacks on gypsies but frequently used them as examples of<br />

impropriety in writings against wandering beggars, monks, the pope, or the<br />

Jews. In a commentary on Isaiah 24, in talking about the punishment of the<br />

ungodly, Luther writes: �In the manner of Cain they will be fugitives and<br />

vagabonds, like the gypsies and Jews in our time.� 61 A forward to the 1528<br />

edition of Von den falschen Bettelbüberey accused travelling people of relying<br />

on begging rather than work of lies and deception. 62 In the Table Talk<br />

����������������Children Must be Disciplined with Understanding� between<br />

28 March and 27 May 1537, Luther, commenting that children should not<br />

be allowed to commit thefts, noted: ���������� ��� ��� ����� ����� �����������<br />

������� ����������� �������� ���� ���� ������ ��� ������ ������� ���� ���� ��������<br />

were.� 63 Such a negative Protestant view may explain why so many gypsy<br />

families moved to the Catholic south, especially into Baden. In his On<br />

Marriage Matters (1530), Luther accused itinerant people of treating<br />

�marriage as the Tartars and gypsies do, who continually celebrate<br />

weddings and baptisms wherever they go, so that a girl may well be a bride<br />

ten times and a child be baptized ten times.� 64 The repudiation found its<br />

way into the gypsy tracts of the seventeenth century and into many works of<br />

fine literature and lexica articles. In his book, Von den Juden und ihren Lügen<br />

(1543), Luther called for the destruction of Jewish homes and synagogues,<br />

��������� ��� ��� ������ ����� ��������� ������ ��������� ��� ���� ������� ���������� ����<br />

entrap them, like the gypsies, so that they will know they are not lords in<br />

���������������������������������� 65<br />

61 AE 16:191.<br />

62 SOLMS���������������������������ZTKG, 1. Sinti and Roma did retain their own culture<br />

and customs. Marriage and family were very important. Marriages were prearranged by<br />

parents, marriage to non-gypsies forbidden, and families organized into clans whose<br />

leaders were called king or queen. ��������������������������������Orientalisches<br />

Tanzlexikon, , 31 December<br />

2007, 1.<br />

63 AE 54:234. The other interesting reference Luther makes to gypsies is in observations<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

up by some gypsy or ���������������������������������AE 37:77.<br />

64 AE 46:294.<br />

65 SOLMS, 6.


38 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

The Council of Trent (1545-63) was not much kinder. Because gypsies<br />

maintained their own rituals they were suspected of heresy. Synods were<br />

directed to examine the origins of gypsy religious practices. Their usual<br />

occupations as fortune-tellers, healers and wonder workers earned them the<br />

label of schismatics, Islamists, or heretics, and promoters of superstition.<br />

The Archbishop of Mailand, Karl Borromäus, proposed at the Mailand<br />

Synod of 1565 that the only alternative to expelling the gypsies lay in<br />

��������� �������������� ����� ����� ������ ������ appropriate for Christians.� 66<br />

���� ������� ��� ������� ������� ���� �������� ������� ������� ���������� �������<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������� 67<br />

There were also supporters. Philipp Neri listened to the formal<br />

complaints of the gypsy women whose husbands had been recruited by force<br />

to be rowers for the papal fleet and called on Pope Pius V for relief. Instead<br />

he received a papal censure. In 1600 Josef von Calasenza was<br />

commissioned to evangelize the gypsies, and shortly thereafter a gypsy<br />

congregation was founded in Rome and throughout the seventeenth century<br />

served those visiting the city. Evangelical and Catholic theologians north of<br />

���� ������ ����� ������� ������� ��������������� ���-in-law) and the Jesuit<br />

Delrio accused the gypsies of black magic. Therefore D. Gerhardus and<br />

other theologians demanded that no one regard them as Christian or permit<br />

them to reside among Christians. 68 Astoundingly in Saxony during the<br />

period of gypsy hunts, more humane opinions began to surface also. In<br />

some ������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

result in the desired relocation or elimination. 69 Others too enjoyed a<br />

66 SOLMS, 7.<br />

67 SOLMS, 7.<br />

68 SOLMS, 7. This position was presented in tracts such as the �nützlichen Tractätlein� (1564)<br />

and in others about the Zigeuner by Jacob Thomasius (1652) and Ahasver Fritsch (1664).<br />

Since they were not considered Christian, the gypsies were spared the ordeal of being tried<br />

as witches, a process reserved for believers who had supposedly succumbed to the devil`s<br />

temptation.<br />

69 MODE, Zigeuner, 162. �Wir sind aber noch weit entfernt von dem Punkt, wo man bei der<br />

Lösung des Zigeunerproblems von dieser Erkenntnis ausging. Immerhin ließ sich schon<br />

1715 eine sächische Behörde von Menschlichkeit leiten, als sie über das Schicksal von drei<br />

Zigeunerinnen zu befinden hatte. Wegen Nichtbeachtung der Gesetze in Sachsen und<br />

Böhmen waren sie wiederholt grausam bestraft worden. Alle drei hatten bereits-eine sogar<br />

schon zweimal-den Staupbesen zu spüren bekommen. In Böhmen war jeder Frau ein Ohr<br />

abgeschnitten worden, in Sachsen aber hatte man der einen noch zwei Finger abgehauen,<br />

weil sie trotz eidlicher Versicherung, das Land nicht noch einmal zu betreten, doch<br />

wiedergekommen war. Jetzt mußten sie sich erneut verantworten. Die Gefangenen aber<br />

sagten, �sie hätten gar keine andere Lebensart bis jetzt erwählen können, indem man sie<br />

nirgends leiden wollen und von einem Orte zum andern gejagt, gleichwohl müßten sie


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 39<br />

protected existence for a time. A Jakob R���������� ������ ��� ����������,<br />

enjoyed a quiet, prosperous life, compliments of the Duke of Hessen-<br />

Darmstadt, until policy and ruler changes brought him and three<br />

companions to the gallows on 17 June 1787. 70 After 1722, for a time,<br />

gypsies were allowed to settle in the Duchy of Wittgenstein, where the first<br />

gypsy settlement was established in 1771 at Saßmannshausen. 71<br />

Because of a complete failure in banishing gypsies permanently, rulers<br />

������ �������� ������ ���������� ���� ���� ������� ���������� ���������� ��� ���<br />

mid-eighteenth century, assimilation by state decree was added to expulsion<br />

���� ������������� ���� �������� ����� ���� ��� ���������� ��� ����������������<br />

���������� ��� ������������� �������������� �������� ��������� �������� �����<br />

�������������� ��������� ���� ��������� �������� 72 Coercing them to settle by<br />

becoming farmers or learning trades, and the attendant destruction of their<br />

cultural identity, would result in assimilation into society. Although the<br />

primary motives for such attempts were undoubtedly greater control and<br />

���������� ����������� �� �������� ���������� �������� ����� ������� �� ������ ������<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������stian<br />

response to enforce their ���-�������������������������������������������� 73<br />

Heinrich Moritz Grellman, the Göttingen historian, was convinced that<br />

within two or three generations they would cease to be gypsies and have<br />

become productive citizens. Despite innate laziness, an inclination to<br />

stealing and an extremely strong sex drive (especially the women), these<br />

�����-�����������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

time reach the desired level of maturity. 74 Kaufmann�s proposal in<br />

Württemberg argued that helping gypsies settle in a colony would help not<br />

only the locals but the gypsies themselves. He saw the assimilation process<br />

as mainly a problem of proper discipline and as a question of morals. The<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

und um Duldung. Ferner erklärten sie sich bereit, einer ehrlichen Arbeit nachzugehen. Die<br />

sächsische Landesregierung befürwortete gegenüber den Geheimen Räten des Königs das<br />

Gesuch und gab zu bedenken, daß der wichtigste Grund für die Zigeunerverfolgungen,<br />

ihre herkunft aus Ägypten und die deshalb bestehenede Verbindung mit den Türken, jetzt<br />

hinfällig sei.�<br />

70 DJURIC, 205.<br />

71 DJURIC, 205.<br />

72 HELMUT SAMER������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

Enlightened Absolutism�� Rombase, , 1.<br />

73 SAMER����������������������������� 1.<br />

74 SOLMS, Kulturloses Volk, 50. DJURIC�� ������ ����������� ������ Historischer Versuch über die<br />

Zigeuner, betreffend die Lebensart und Verfassung, Sitten und Schicksale dieses Volkes in Europa,<br />

nebst ihrem Ursprunge appearing in 1783, contained the cliches and pseudo-scientific<br />

arguments later used to justify anti-gypsy sentiments in Germany.


40 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

government rejected his proposal each time, citing that the proposed land<br />

was unproductive because of a lack of water and other conditions, and<br />

because the government was not prepared to undertake the costs of<br />

establishing houses, wells, worship spaces, and training centres. 75<br />

������������� ��������� ������� ��� ���� ���������������� ����� ��� ������<br />

nature: individuals were capable of learning and improving. Progression was<br />

important for inferior cultures. Thus physical extermination of gypsies was<br />

replaced by a push for the total elimination of their culture and traditional<br />

way of life. As early as 1619 in Spain, authorities wanted to sedentarize<br />

wandering Roma and later forbade the use of Romani (1633), separated<br />

parents and children, placing the latter in orphanages and the men and<br />

women into separate workhouses (1686, 1725). 76 Johann Gottfried Herder<br />

(1744-1803) believed that military training was the quickest way to teach<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

them as army recruits. 77<br />

Maria Theresia, the Empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, imposed<br />

policies of assimilation quickly copied by other sovereigns. Her desire was<br />

to create equal rights for all classes and eliminate special privileges. Gypsies<br />

were not to be punished, exiled, persecuted, or eliminated but re-educated,<br />

indoctrinated, in order to integrate as partners in society. 78 She issued four<br />

great decrees during her reign (1740-80) to force the gypsies to give up their<br />

life style and become new citizens or farmers. The 1758 decree compelled<br />

settling by denying gypsies the right to own horses and wagons, otherwise<br />

used to support their wandering. Furthermore, they were issued land and<br />

seeds and had to pay tribute from their crops. They were supposed to build<br />

houses and obtain permission, stating an exact purpose, if they wanted to<br />

leave the village. A successful implementation of the decrees meant a<br />

Christian upbringing resulting in regular church attendance and<br />

demonstrations of a Christian mind-set. 79 In the next decree (1761) the term<br />

Zigani �����������������������������, ������������, ���������������, or<br />

����� ��������, They were to give up their old names, as well as their old<br />

ways, to accelerate assimilation. Boys would learn a trade or enter military<br />

service. In 1767 all gypsies became subject to local jurisdictions and were<br />

ordered to register. Conscriptions were carried out based on the registration.<br />

75 FRICKE, 48.<br />

76 SAMER����������������������������� 1.<br />

77 DJURIC, 206.<br />

78 CLAUDIA MAYERHOFER, Dorfzigeuner: Kultur und Geschcihte der Burgenland-Roma von der<br />

Ersten Republik bis zur Gegenwart, 23.<br />

79 SOLMS���������������������������Kulturloses Volk, 49.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 41<br />

The fourth decree (1773) prohibited marriages between gypsies. Mixed<br />

marriages were encouraged by subsidies and permission to marry was<br />

������ ��� ���� ������������ ��� ��� ������� ���� ��� ����� ���� ���������� ��� ����<br />

������������������� ���������� 80 All children over the age of five were to be<br />

������� ����� ��� �� ��������� ������, which received 18 gulden annually as<br />

compensation for providing Christian upbringing. 81 Isolated from their<br />

parents the children went to school and later learned trades or became<br />

farmers.<br />

Joseph II (1780-��������������������������������������������������������<br />

policies. Although he did release the Roma of Buchowina from bondage, his<br />

1783 decree, de Domiciliatione et Regulatione Zingarorum, imposed greater<br />

restrictions such as the compulsory use of local clothing and language,<br />

prohibitions against living in tents, owning horses and eating the meat of<br />

fallen animals, as well as requirements for religious education in the<br />

Catholic faith, and harsh punishments for those not conforming. 82 Such<br />

measures eventually succeeded in Burgenland, where the Roma settled and<br />

remained. Frequently children did not return to their own parents and in a<br />

few towns completely assimilated and Roma names disappeared. In most<br />

other areas, however, there was resistance to a state-ordered way of life, so<br />

the gypsies took to the road again and the state lacked the resources to<br />

enforce their own rules.<br />

In Germany similar measures were taken, although on a smaller scale.<br />

The Count of Wittgenstein established a settlement at Saßmannshausen in<br />

1771. According to a report from 1911, there were still forty gypsy families<br />

80 SAMER����������������������������, 2<br />

81 MAYERHOFER, 26, and others provide an eyewitness account of �official kidnapping�<br />

from the travel documentary of a French writer: �An einem für dieses Volk entsetzlichen<br />

Tag, an den es noch mit Schrecken zurückdenkt, erschienen Soldaten mit mitgeführten<br />

Karren, die Kinder, vom eben entwöhnten Säugling bis zu den Jungvermählten, die noch<br />

ihre Hochzeitskleider trugen, von den Zigeunern fortnahmen. Die Verzweiflung dieser<br />

unglücklichen Bevölkerung läßt sich nicht beschreiben. Die Eltern warfen sich vor den<br />

Soldaten auf den Boden und klammerten sich an die Karren, die ihre Kinder fortführten.<br />

Sie wurden mit Stöcken und Gewehrkolben weggestoßen, und da sie nicht fähig waren,<br />

den Wagen zu folgen, auf dem das Teuerste auf der Welt aufgeladen war, nämlich ihre<br />

kleinen Kinder, begingen viele Eltern auf der Stelle Selbstmord. Die Wegführungen<br />

konnten die Zigains weder von der großartigen Moral überzeugen, die man ihnen<br />

predigte, noch von der Nützlichkeit der Opfer, die man ihnen auferlegte.� MAYERHOFER,<br />

27-28, provides more details of this decree and a list of children relocated and their foster<br />

parents.<br />

82 MAYERHOFER, 27. SAMER����������������������������� �����������������������������<br />

�������������������������������������������������������MAYERHOFER, 26: Children over<br />

twelve received no provision from foster families but were required to work. All children,<br />

even <strong>Lutheran</strong> orphans, children with no religion, or those living with <strong>Lutheran</strong> foster<br />

parents, were to be raised Catholic.


42 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

there who all belonged to the evangelical church and sent their children to<br />

school. 83 Better known is the settlement in Friedrichslohra, near<br />

Nordhausen in the Harz mountains, the first to be founded by Friedrich II<br />

��� ���������� ������� ��� ������ ������ ����������� ��������� ����� ����������<br />

Originally the king had thought to settle textile workers there, but since<br />

there were already gypsies in the region, begging and stealing their way<br />

through the area, they were ordered to settle in Friedrichslohra, where they<br />

lived separate from the other villagers. Gypsies from the Grafschaft of Glatz<br />

were moved into the area in the early 1800s.<br />

In the end it was not all the laws and ordinances that domesticated many<br />

gypsies. Rather increased bureaucracy and industrialization brought the<br />

gypsies into larger cities over the next 150 years, where they settled mainly<br />

in slums and homeless shelters.<br />

Settlements<br />

Saßmannshausen<br />

The first lasting gypsy settlement in Wittgenstein-Hohenstein was the lane<br />

in Saßmannshausen, a village not far from Siegen. Earliest references<br />

indicate that some gypsies were living in the area already in 1737. Of nine<br />

gypsies arrested in 1754, four women listed Saßmannshausen as their<br />

home. 84 In 1838, an ancestor of Ludwig Haßler declared that his forefathers<br />

had settled in Saßmannshausen eighty years earlier. Although 17 March<br />

1764 is given as the official incorporation of the settlement, clearly a gypsy<br />

band had settled there earlier. Archival evidence indicates another early<br />

unofficial settlement as well in Eisenstein, near Berleburg. 85 In the summer<br />

of 1721, a band of gypsies erected cabins in Hirzenhain (upper Hessen).<br />

When it looked like they intended to settle there, locals drove them off but<br />

only with reinforcements from neighbouring villages. 86 Around 1730,<br />

gypsies did establish a settlement near Elkenroth, and the local authorities<br />

did not want to risk going up against the well-armed, battle-ready group. In<br />

83 MODE, Zigeuner, 163.<br />

84 ULRICH FRIDRICH OPFERMANN���Daß sie den Zigeuner-Habit ablegen�: die Geschichte der<br />

���������-Kolonien� zwischen Wittgenstein und Westerwald (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang,<br />

1997), 69.<br />

85 OPFERMANN, 70.<br />

86 OPFERMANN, 72.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 43<br />

addition to such group settlements, individual gypsy families gave up<br />

wandering, either freely or out of necessity, as early as 1690. 87<br />

Extraordinary poverty characterized life in that Saßmannshausen<br />

laneway. Attempts to find regular employment failed and the gypsies<br />

resorted to their traditional ways of earning a living: tinkers, cooking-pot<br />

salesmen, rag-pickers, day workers, fortune-telling, music, and begging. 88<br />

The houses were humble:<br />

Small miserable huts out of clay, dirt, some rough wood, and covered with<br />

straw or ��������� ���� �������� ����� �� ���� �� ��� ���� ����� �� ����� ��������<br />

without much effort, could reach the top floor. In order to reach the second<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

in which the entire family, regardless of sex or age, sleeps side-by-side on the<br />

floor. 89<br />

Life expectancy was not high. Hunger and cold, infections and illness,<br />

took their toll. Anthrax was quite common, as were smallpox, scabies,<br />

erysipelas, typhoid, and cholera. Those too sick to work might sit on the<br />

side of the road to advertise their need. The other villagers regarded them as<br />

pariahs of society, although individual accounts of ordinary people<br />

providing needed assistance have been found. The wanderers might now be<br />

living in houses but their living standards had not improved.<br />

In the summer of 1829, Prince Friedrich wrote to the officials at<br />

Arnsberg that he wanted to close down the settlement. Not only was this<br />

becoming an expensive undertaking but the gypsy lifestyle was undermining<br />

public morality: half-naked people wander around in homes that look like<br />

cattle stalls, and there lead the most immoral lives one can imagine. They<br />

are reproducing rapidly but are too lazy to work. Therefore he suggests:<br />

1. All inhabitants (42 at that time) be sent to workhouses.<br />

2. Children to be raised in the evangelical faith, to distance them from their<br />

past.<br />

3. Intermarriage forbidden (which led to common-law arrangements,<br />

Concubinat, wilde Ehen). 90<br />

87 OPFERMANN, 74.<br />

88 OPFERMANN, 96. A survey in 1831 showed that 26 out of 40 inhabitants were 14 or older<br />

and thus to be employed. Eight were beggars; four had other family members begging for<br />

them, usually men sent out women and children; three were begging and stealing; three<br />

played music in order to beg from passers-by; two picked rags as a pretext for begging;<br />

eleven did nothing at all.<br />

89 OPFERMANN, 90.<br />

90 OPFERMANN, 93.


44 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

His philosophy: in this way their souls will be saved temporally and<br />

eternally, and God would bless the king for ridding the land of this plague.<br />

Not much changed. In the fall of 1840 a more aggressive tone was taken and<br />

correspondence between local authorities and officials in Arnsberg went on<br />

for five years. A six-point plan forbade the building of more homes, the right<br />

to marry, and passports. It proposed isolating the children from the parents,<br />

punishing any apprentice who returned after his training was complete, and<br />

a reward for anyone denouncing gypsy beggars. 91 The goal again was to<br />

promote an orderly life that harmonized with the other villagers. The most<br />

important goal was to make the building of new colonies impossible and to<br />

eliminate the existing ones as soon as possible. Such a view did little to<br />

foster the notion that gypsies might be worthy recipients of mission<br />

outreach. The failure of efforts in Friedrichslohra lent credence to the<br />

argument that this approach was not feasible. Despite all this pressure, the<br />

settlement grew from two buildings in 1807 and 1829 to seven by 1838, nine<br />

by 1870, and still six in 1911. The number of residents increased<br />

accordingly, from 23 in 1818/19, to 43 in 1841, 56 in 1895, and still 40 in<br />

1911. 92 Houses became better built, but still without water or sewer<br />

connections. Usually there were just two rooms on the main floor, hay<br />

storage in the attic, and cows in the basement. In 1895 the royal trustees<br />

began to buy homes and tear them down. It took over twenty years,<br />

increased offers, visits from health inspectors, and threats of taking away the<br />

children, to facilitate sales. Finally in 1913 the district council could decree<br />

��������� ����������������������������� �����������������������������������<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

into neighbouring villages. The last house was not torn down until the 1920s<br />

when its owner, Heinrich Janson, died. He had resisted all offers to sell it or<br />

to be forced out. 93<br />

Altengraben<br />

In the woods or along the road between Berleburg and Schüllar, the Lagarin<br />

family began a very small gypsy settlement. In 1810 one of the two small<br />

huts there since the beginning of the century burnt down and was rebuilt.<br />

Forty years later when it was in danger of collapsing, rebuilding was not<br />

permitted. Since they lived in the woods they frequently tried to bypass<br />

regulations but forestry superintendents kept a close watch on their<br />

activities. No more than a dozen people lived there at one time and the<br />

91 OPFERMANN, 102-3.<br />

92 OPFERMANN, 115.<br />

93 OPFERMANN, 118.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 45<br />

poverty exceeded that of the Saßmannshausen families. When Gustav<br />

Lagarin was conscripted in 1847, he had nothing to wear and no money to<br />

buy what was needed. 94 The families worked hard to improve living<br />

conditions. That may be one reason the Berleburg officials did not act<br />

immediately on a royal demand of 1845 that the gypsies vacate the premises<br />

and rely on social help. When a house collapsed in 1848, one family lived<br />

outside until illness, sympathetic neighbours, and the mayor led them to<br />

seek more suitable accommodations. Various attempts to rebuild the house,<br />

even calling it a shed, were prevented or torn down. Finally in 1909<br />

permission was granted.<br />

Berleburg<br />

The settlement here had a different character than those in Saßmannshausen<br />

and Altengraben. It was never considered to be a gypsy settlement, but<br />

simply a part of town with a mixed population that included gypsies.<br />

Marriages between locals and gypsies were not uncommon. Most were daylabourers.<br />

Some had learned trades or worked in forestry. As families<br />

moved in and out of the section, the number of gypsy families increased,<br />

including some from Saßmannshausen. They remained poor but not as<br />

desperate as in other settlements. Police record books show little conflict<br />

between the gypsies and their neighbours. 95 Already by 1831 the gypsy<br />

settlers expressed contentment with living conditions and made sure their<br />

children attended school. The officials, too, were pleased that their gypsies<br />

owned their own homes and did not join wandering, destructive bands.<br />

Gypsies continued to settle in other communities in the region too,<br />

especially after the 1850s.<br />

Württemberg<br />

Between 1835 and 1838, in order to develop gypsies into useful citizens,<br />

authorities in Württemberg decided not to concentrate them into settlements<br />

but to scatter them throughout the province and to keep related families as<br />

far apart as possible. There should not be more than one family within two<br />

neighbouring jurisdictions. These individual families received a place to live,<br />

furniture and utensils. Local authorities made sure that the adults worked<br />

and the children attended school. Several acres of land were also made<br />

available for the family. Those who could not do the farm work were taught<br />

how to provide other useful helps. Passes were required to be peddlers, but<br />

94 OPFERMANN, 119. He received a jacket, pants, two shirts, usable shoes, and 10 silver<br />

groschen for travel costs, compliments of the taxpayers.<br />

95 OPFERMANN, 127. Out of 760 cases between 1823 and 1826 very few involved gypsies.


46 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

these were difficult to obtain and valid only for six months at the most.<br />

Parents were prohibited from taking along children under the age of<br />

eighteen, and families with children younger than fourteen were not<br />

permitted to travel at all, or the mother would have to stay with the children<br />

at a permanent place of residence. 96 �������������� ���� ������ �������������<br />

desired goal was to send the children as early as possible to orphanages or to<br />

have them raised by non-gypsies.<br />

Friedrichslohra<br />

Between 1829 and 1837, a small settlement of gypsies on 22 nd Street in the<br />

village of Friedrichslohra, near Nordhausen, became the focus of intensive<br />

efforts by the Evangelische-Missions-Hulfs-Verein in Naumburg. The settlement<br />

had been established in the previously existing village of Lohra, by the<br />

decree of Friederich II of Prussia, in 1775, and renamed in his honour. By<br />

1828 there were 52 gypsies in residences, including some who moved into<br />

the area from the Duchy of Glatz. 97 Less stringent laws regarding vagrants<br />

and vagabonds seemed to be the draw, since the Westphalian government<br />

did permit gypsies to settle in communities where they could find living<br />

accommodations. 98<br />

News of the settlement, notice of the intent to begin work among the<br />

gypsy families there, and need for support, were brought to the attention of<br />

evangelicals, and government officials, by Samuel Elsner in the February<br />

1828 edition of his Neueste Nachrichten�� ����������� ����� �������� ���, the<br />

�������� ������� ���� ����� ���� ������ ��� �� ������ ����� ����� ������ ���� ����<br />

����������������������������������� 99 On a visit there in late fall 1827, the<br />

letter writer, a Baron von Wurmb, learned there were about 300 in and<br />

around the village living in squalid conditions. Neighbours reported that the<br />

gypsies lived from stealing, begging, and the women`s fortune-telling. About<br />

their faith, he reported:<br />

96 KRAUSE, Verfolgung, 71. Similar restrictions had already been imposed earlier elsewhere.<br />

The Annalen der Preußsichen innern Staats-Verwaltung, Herausgegeben vom wirklichen<br />

Geheimen Ober-Regierungs-Rath von Kampf in Berlin, Vierter Band. Jahrgang 1820, §31,<br />

S. 523 �den Hausirhandel betreffend� stipulated that all peddlers required a visa and were<br />

forbidden from taking their children along. Peddlers from other areas were completely<br />

forbidden and were to be sent back to their homes (§25, S. 597)<br />

97 I. HA Rep 76 Kultusministerium, III Sekt. I. Abt. XIV, 165 Bd. 1, Die in den diesseitigen<br />

Staaten sich aufhaltenden Zigeuner und die zur ihrer Zivilsation getroffenen Anordnungen (1828-<br />

1834), 131f. A report dated 19 November 1828 provides a list of the families by name and<br />

numbers.<br />

98 MODE, Zigeuner, 164 citing archive files.<br />

99 �������������������������������������-���������������������������������������<br />

Kultusministerium, III Sekt. I. Abt. XIV, 165 Bd. 1, 65f.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 47<br />

The majority of gypsies say they profess the Catholic religion, but this<br />

happens only because of the question, then they otherwise have no contact<br />

with the Catholic church, except that sometimes let their children be<br />

baptized, in order to get gifts from the godparents, and usually more than<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

born in the wild, removed from any official supervision. 100<br />

A guided excursion to those in the woods, and some friendly<br />

conversation, astounded the gypsies, who otherwise encounter only<br />

harshness and severity. He continued:<br />

O dear friend! Because this region is Prussian, I do not expect to meet with a<br />

refusal for these pitiable people, when I hereby implore you to show an<br />

interest in their souls and bodies and send them, as soon as possible,<br />

evangelical help and comfort. But of course caution is required and<br />

consideration needs to be shown in improving their external condition.<br />

Because gypsies generally avoid working, this makes helping them more<br />

difficult. But it remains a true mission post, where to each who understands<br />

it; the means must be placed in their hands to lighten where possible their<br />

pressing physical needs, and to provide the necessary support. And to this<br />

end, Christian hearts and hands will open to share their mites (like so many<br />

other Christian organisations), and they will certainly support those, which<br />

do not send their money overseas with some uncertain outcome, when there<br />

is now an opportunity for the conversion of pagans in their Fatherland. I am<br />

certain, that with the Lord`s help, the goal of bringing these unfortunate ones<br />

into Christian fellowship will be achieved. 101<br />

The writer is amazed that a group of over one hundred thousand, living<br />

for years in Germany already, is simply overlooked except by police. As<br />

they gathered for lunch (and offered him some of the dead pig carcass they<br />

had cooked, but he declined) he offered them some tracts from the Prussian<br />

society and discovered very few could read. 102 He argues that past treatment<br />

and present policies make this an opportune time for organized outreach.<br />

What moved me most was a very old woman among them who showed her<br />

joy with gestures and words as she heard that the Son of God had also come<br />

and died for her salvation. I leave the rest to your Christian love and insight,<br />

and only observe that if you are thinking about establishing a mission outpost<br />

here (which would not be difficult under the Prussian Christian government),<br />

a preacher of salvation to go there could find a place to rest about four hours<br />

away on the Oberspier estate, owned by Carl Zahn (who has offered to help<br />

in any way). There are also many Christian friends in Nordhausen, the first<br />

100 ������������������<br />

101 ������������������<br />

102 Der Hauptverein für christliche Erbauungsschriften in den Preussischen Staaten was founded in<br />

Berlin in 1814. See MUNDT, Sinners, 95-113.


48 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

and foremost being the nail-maker Freybe. May the Lord give His blessing to<br />

everything you decide to do in this matter. 103<br />

Elsner continued:<br />

What our Christian friend shared about his own encounter with this small<br />

group corresponds with what is otherwise known about these marvellous<br />

people who have resided in Germany since 1417. All reports indicate they<br />

are nomads who prefer to camp under the sky in woods or desolate places.<br />

And during the winter cower in caves, grottos, or earthen huts. Few find<br />

employment. Women in their younger years are often dancers, as they get<br />

older almost always fortune-tellers, a rewarding profession because of<br />

superstition, which even Christians have not yet renounced. The children run<br />

around naked until they are ten years old. Their nourishment likewise<br />

testifies to their crude condition: it is especially the meat from animals that<br />

have died, which means contagious diseases are welcomed, besides that,<br />

garlic and onions. Brandy is their favourite drink. Tobacco, smoked or<br />

chewed, is their greatest treat and one for which men and women will<br />

sacrifice everything. They do not have their own religion. They are Muslims<br />

when among the Turks, and in Christian countries they adapt the local<br />

customs without any concern for instruction or religious concepts. They do<br />

not get married but live together like animals. The young gypsy man, when<br />

he is fourteen or fifteen, takes the girl who pleases him, without any concern<br />

about blood relations, and if he gets bored with her, he drives her away.<br />

Training among such people is unthinkable. Parental love for children is<br />

more like animal instinct for their survival. Thus children are neither taught<br />

nor punished and grow into the customs of the adults and become loafers,<br />

thieves, cheats, cruel, also cowardly and vengeful, but of course with all the<br />

cleverness of their untrained nature. Has not such a sorrowful, spiritually<br />

dead folk earned the sympathy and aid of Christianity, which has the high<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

���� ���������� �������� ���� �������� ������� ��� ���������� ������ ���� ����� moral<br />

and civic improvement have, as lies in the nature of the matter, fostered little,<br />

and the harshness, which has increased to persecution, was of little use. But<br />

sending a messenger, who proclaims to them salvation in Christ with the<br />

wisdom and faithfulness of Christian love, and who works on their hearts<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing o the<br />

��������������������� ������� ������ ��������������������hts and intentions of<br />

���� ������� ��������� ������� ���������� ���� ������ ������� ��� �� ����������<br />

philanthropist will surely awaken the attention and active participation of our<br />

contemporaries. The Berlin Society for the Advancement of evangelical<br />

Mission among the Pagan (Die Berliner Gesellschaft zur Beförderung der<br />

103 ������������������


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 49<br />

evangelischen Mission unter den Heiden) is ready to receive remittances of every<br />

kind towards this objective. 104<br />

Shortly after the article appeared, Rev. Wilhelm Leipoldt, Secretary of<br />

the Barmen Mission Society, informed authorities that the Society now felt<br />

������ ��� ����� ����� ��� ������ ����������� ��������� ��� �� ����������� ���� �����<br />

�������� ��� ���������� ��� ���� 11 March 1828 letter, that this decision to<br />

obtain more information on the spot was motivated by ����������������������<br />

which these humans lived and the desire to meet their spiritual needs in<br />

����� ����, ���� ������ ����� ����� ����� ������ ��� ������� ������������ ���� ����<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������� 105 They were<br />

given strict instructions to limit their involvement to observation only, to<br />

refer to the Gospel in casual conversation only, and above all else to avoid<br />

creating any conflict with local authorities. Carl Wefelmeyer and Gottlieb<br />

Leipold then travelled to Nordhausen to evaluate the internal and external<br />

conditions of the gypsies and the possibilities of cooperating with local<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������������������ 106 They contacted Carl Zahn and Christian friends there,<br />

especially the nail-maker Freybe, and determined that an emphasis on<br />

God�s promise that Christ Jesus came to make sinners holy would be the<br />

best means for taming such crude and wild people. They recommended<br />

telling or reading Bible stories, since most gypsies could not read. The most<br />

suitable stories were those about the life, suffering, and death of Jesus,<br />

followed by selections from Acts and the epistles. Luke�s parables were<br />

particularly commended for the way in which they demonstrated Christ`s<br />

love for sinners. 107<br />

A local newspaper, the Naumburger Kreis-Blatt, published by K.<br />

Klassenbach, also reported on activities in Friedrichslohra in the 19<br />

September ����� ��������� ��� ������ ���� ������� ���������� ������� ���� ���<br />

something for the conversion of the pagan g�����������������������, 108 and<br />

added:<br />

It might at least be necessary that first the Gospel be preached to these<br />

heathen, that is, that at least the children be raised to be humane, genuinely<br />

Christian trained, useful citizens of the state. Along with that they should be<br />

taught how to nourish themselves through useful work, because it is well<br />

known that prayer alone, without any effort, succeeds as little as effort<br />

104 ����������������7.<br />

105 Rep 76, III, 165 Bd. 1, n.p.<br />

106 Rep. 76, III, 165, Bd. I, 9.<br />

107 Rep. 76, III, 165, Bd. I, 10.<br />

108 KRAUSE, Verfolgung, 66.


50 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

without prayer. Indeed last year some reasonable and well-intentioned men<br />

from a Christian society in Westphalia stayed several months in<br />

Friedrichslohra in order to become better acquainted with this pagan lifestyle.<br />

�������������������������� ��� ������ ������������� �����������������������������<br />

pagans, or the establishment of a training and educational centre through<br />

cash donations to the funds of mission societies, like the one at Halle, which<br />

is prepared to work with the Berlin society. Then state commissions, not<br />

forgetting their best and pure will and efforts, have accomplished very little<br />

with all the means at their disposal except to build churches and schools and<br />

give needy teachers pay increases. A trustworthy preacher of out times truly<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

our time, in the 3 rd part, if our times give people the right direction for their<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

remote nations, and sends proclaimers of Christianity to the darkest corners<br />

of the earth to rescue them from pagan darkness, without first having done<br />

enough in Christianizing our own folk and land. 109<br />

Soon government officials got involved. The Privy Councillor von<br />

Klewitz (Geheim Staats Minister), summarized what the state was prepared to<br />

do as of 3 January 1829 in three proposals, and his opinion about each. The<br />

first advocated allowing the gypsy families to stay in Friedrichslohra but the<br />

police should apply vigorously all existing regulations. Adult vagrants and<br />

those without proof of honest employment should be sent to workhouses.<br />

The costs for these, and for children thus left without parents, would be born<br />

by the state. Secondly, the families in Friedrichslohra could be given land<br />

and settled into colonies. The state would have to provide materials for<br />

homes and implements and seeds for farming. Thirdly, gypsy families<br />

should not all be relocated to one place, but individual families should be<br />

sent to different places, preferably to larger centres where they could find<br />

work as day-labourers. Klewitz noted that the first proposal would be<br />

difficult to implement and most likely not result in any reform of the adults.<br />

Taking away the children might be desirable but would be called a barbaric<br />

action no matter how it was presented. On top of all that, the great expense<br />

to the state makes it unfeasible. At first glance the second proposal seems<br />

friendly enough and one would have to see how the gypsies reacted to the<br />

plan. The danger, of course, is that their inborn urge to run free would lead<br />

most to abandon the houses and fields because of the amount of work<br />

required to maintain them. Additionally, to improve the morals of the<br />

people a pastor and a schoolteacher would need to be hired. The third<br />

proposal could not guarantee that accommodations and employment would<br />

109 Naumburger Kreis-Blatt, No. 38, Rep. 76, III, 165, Bd. I, 186. Preached by Witzleben, 13<br />

September 1829.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 51<br />

be available and that the gypsies would not move away in order to reunite<br />

with friends and family elsewhere. He concluded:<br />

It is no easy task for the state authorities to raise these wild humans to the<br />

same cultural level as the other residents, and to improve their moral<br />

condition and remove from them the most pressing needs and wants of every<br />

kind, and that the church and school could work on them appropriately. It<br />

seems risky to make proposals without first hearing more opinions, so that<br />

eventually the burden can be taken up. 110<br />

He proposed placing two or three families in major centres, providing<br />

them with free housing initially, and distribute clothes, utensils, etc., under<br />

the supervision of the local police so that the gypsies not be tempted to alter<br />

their living arrangements. Travel passes would be provided when proof of<br />

employment or of necessity could be shown. Local authorities would be in<br />

charge of the programme. Larger cities would offer more opportunities for<br />

employment as messengers, deliverymen, or similar door-to-door work.<br />

They might prefer this to steady work. There are also more types of work, so<br />

if a gypsy tired of factory work he could cut wood or find some other daylabourer<br />

position.<br />

In 1830, Elsner provided readers with a progress report. After expressing<br />

grat������ ��� ���� ����� ������ ���� ������ �������� ������ ����� ������ ������ ����<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

Christian who encountered their need and wrote to the Berlin society, he<br />

was pleased to announce an increased interest but saddened to say no<br />

donations had yet been received. 111 He attributed this lack to the absence of<br />

any firm plan. The article continued with a report from the two mission<br />

trainees sent out by the Barmen Mission Society. They encountered 79<br />

gypsies (one man had 24 children), with little to wear and little to eat.<br />

Women and children begged. The men might play music for dances.<br />

Fortune-telling was no longer lucrative because people in the area no longer<br />

believed in it. The Naumburg society took this report to heart and recruited<br />

Wilhelm Blankenburg as missionary. The fourth paragraph of the detailed<br />

instructions to him indicated that he was to ensure that:<br />

1. Each family would have its own rental accommodations.<br />

2. ����� ������� ������� ����� ���� ���� ������� ���� �hus carry out a necessary<br />

occupation. that would support it, with frugality and morality.<br />

110 Rep. 76, III, 165, Bd. I, 11.<br />

111 �������������������������������Neueste Nachrichten aus dem Reiche Gottes (Berlin) 14.Jg.<br />

1830, 353.


52 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

3. ��� ����� ������� ������ ����� ������ ��� ������� ������, and read by the<br />

youth. 112<br />

Blankenburg described the village and surrounding area in his reports<br />

and letters and noted that the residents were Protestant (evangelisch). 113 The<br />

gypsies rented unfinished rooms from locals. There were often four families<br />

in one house, each paying six or seven thaler. Despite their desperate<br />

situation, he was impressed with their attitude.<br />

They live in proper marriages. Their children are even baptized and<br />

confirmed. They go to Communion, and there is no indication of any idol<br />

worship, or icon worship. On the whole, I would rather deal with the gypsies<br />

than with the others. They only steal what they need in extreme<br />

circumstances. They often go hungry for days. The women must beg so that<br />

they do not starve. No one offers them work, and they also do not want to<br />

work. Still they have to pay the rent, in advance. They insult no one. I also<br />

find they are not seeking revenge, but neglected to the highest degree.<br />

Everyone curses and swears about them and wants to give them nothing. 114<br />

�������������� �������� ����������������������������������������� ���������<br />

from Berlin to round up the gypsies and send them off to prison. Children<br />

ran away from him in fear. When he was able to house the children, he<br />

invited the elders and explained in a calm manner that the rumours were<br />

false and that he had come, out of love, to instruct the children and to teach<br />

them all kinds of good things. But they still did not trust him and in despair<br />

one day he determined to seek advice from a neighbouring pastor. But<br />

illness prevented him at first. When he started his journey he met a gypsy in<br />

the woods who happened to be the son of one of the elders. After listening<br />

to Blankenburg, the man cried out for joy that he had come to believe there<br />

were no more people in the world who loved the gypsies. This man<br />

promised to speak with the others and to send his brother as the first<br />

student. A few days later he had a similar encounter with another gypsy. As<br />

the others began to see how much he cared, and how he spoke up for them,<br />

they began to trust him more. He cared for the sick and needy. All the<br />

children wanted instruction. He found work for some of the men, and<br />

���������� ����� ����������� ��� ������������ ��������� ������� ����� ����� ���<br />

appeal for donations to be sent to him at 40 Spandau Street or to Mr Heller<br />

112 KRAUSE, Verfolgung, 67.<br />

113 BARBARA DANCKWORTT�����������������������������������������������������������������<br />

in Diebstahl im Blick? Zur Kriminalisierung der Zigeuner hrsg. Von Udo Engbring-Romang<br />

and WILHELM SOLMS (Seeheim: I-Verb.de, 2005), 119, indicates that in 1837 of the 619<br />

residents, 326 were �evangelisch� and 293 Catholic.<br />

114 �������������������������������Neueste Nachrichten aus dem Reiche Gottes (Berlin) 14.Jg.<br />

1830, 355.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 53<br />

at 33 Französische Street. A few months later he reported that Blankenburg<br />

had married a woman who was just as determined to dedicate her life to the<br />

Lord in ministry to the gypsies. The needs never end, so he asks for prayers<br />

and donations. 115<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

and especially in regards to work among the gypsies at Friedrichslohra, the<br />

chairman and secretary, Göschel and Kinder respectively, appealed to the<br />

king on behalf of the Naumburger Hülfsverein der Berlinischen Gesellschaft zur<br />

Beförderung der evangelischen Mission unter den Heiden for free frankage<br />

(Portofreiheit). This was established on 25 March 1829 as a daughter society<br />

of the Berliner Gesellschaft zur Beförderung der evangelischen Mission unter den<br />

Heiden. The appeal pointed out how Blankenburg understood the<br />

importance of approaching these people with love and that he:<br />

sought to support them with advice and action, and encourage them to<br />

���������� ��� ����� ������ ����������� ����� �� �������� ����� �� ����� ��������<br />

faithfulness he instructs the children, who in part follow him with an<br />

abundance of love, in all kinds of useful crafts and at the same time makes<br />

them familiar with the Law and the Gospel through simple teaching and<br />

stories. 116<br />

The school grew quickly, but not without challenges. Already on 28<br />

October 1830, Blankenburg had eight students. Most were between eight<br />

and ten but one was twenty years old. By 21 December he reported eleven<br />

girls and six boys attended during the day, his wife was instructing women<br />

in their home, and ten men came in the evening to learn to read. The school<br />

day began at 9 a.m. with half an hour of songs, prayers and Bible stories<br />

������� ���������� Erzählungen). Then came lessons of reading, writing,<br />

counting, doing math in your head, and memorizing Bible verses and the<br />

Commandments. At noon, lunch was brought to the school. Trade school<br />

followed in the afternoon until 4 p.m. and local children came also. The<br />

girls learned sewing and knitting. All the boys were supposed to work in the<br />

straw fields, but some were too young and weak, and only three went.<br />

Another problem was that he had not yet been able to make wooden shoes<br />

for all the children so that they have something on their feet. From 4 to 5<br />

p.m. he is busy cutting quills and making copies. The adults arrive at 5 p.m.<br />

I tell them Bible stories from the very beginning, whenever there is<br />

opportunity to do so, and to speak comforting words to their hearts. You<br />

would not believe how eager they are to come to school, and what joy and<br />

115 �����������������������������������Neueste Nachrichten aus dem Reiche Gottes (Berlin) 14.Jg.<br />

1830, 448.<br />

116 Rep 89, 1829, 2. This appeal and subsequent ones were denied.


54 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

comfort it is for my often oppressed heart, when I see children and women<br />

beginning to hear and to learn something good. I must say, that I am totally<br />

revived, and the instruction is not at all difficult, then whenever God gives a<br />

responsibility, he also provides understanding. 117<br />

The latter is important because Blankenburg admitted he was frequently<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

convinced that the Lord called me to this office, my wife and I would not<br />

���������������������������<br />

A month later he described his work in more detail to family members.<br />

Elsner reprinted his letter from 12 January 1831 with this introduction: �A<br />

letter from the dear Blankenburg to his relatives, which was given to us to<br />

share, provides the friends of this undertaking with a description of the<br />

present conditions. We need add nothing more to it in order to encourage<br />

continued support.�<br />

I have not heard from you in a long time. How are you all then? We are<br />

doing well, are not at all bored. God has given us lots to do and we are<br />

rightly satisfied thereby. That there are also sad and difficult hours, you can<br />

of course imagine. But there are also many delightful hours and one joyful<br />

time sweetens ten sad ones, so one no longer thinks about them. My dear<br />

wife and I are happy. We are of one heart and mind and are glad to live and<br />

to work among the poor gypsies and God will not let our work go without<br />

fruit. We are busy all day with our gypsies and I have now started a gypsy<br />

school. My wife started already on 22 October to teach the girls sewing and<br />

knitting, at which time the children also receive a noon meal. I still do not<br />

have a place for the school, but God has provided so that I could begin with<br />

the children on 22 November, after I had primarily been occupied with the<br />

adult gypsies for four months. I now have 22 children who receive in the<br />

morning instruction in biblical history, writing, reading, math and<br />

memorization. During this time my wife prepares the noon meal. When the<br />

instruction time is ended, they are all fed in the schoolroom. You should see<br />

how good it tastes to the poor dark brown children. After eating, when<br />

everything is washed up again, the work school starts, where my wife teaches<br />

the children sewing and knitting and I do all kinds of other work. This goes<br />

on until 4 p.m. Then the children go home and around 5 p.m. the men arrive,<br />

who also learn to read and write. This lasts until 8 p.m. While I meet with<br />

the men in the school, my wife has village girls who are not gypsies in our<br />

apartment again for sewing and knitting. When I am done with the school,<br />

there are already men and women waiting, our neighbours, who want to hear<br />

something and so I read them all kinds of wonderful stories. So it goes from<br />

early morning to late at night with old and young; everyone wants to learn<br />

and to hear something good. The gypsy men are not at all ashamed to come<br />

117 The details in this paragraph, as well as the quotes, are from I. HA Rep. 76<br />

Kultusministerium III, Abt. XIV, Nr. 165 Bd. I, 78.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 55<br />

to school to learn the ABC�s. Seven can already read. With them I read and<br />

explain the New Testament. Others are just learning to recognize the letters.<br />

There is a lot of enthusiasm for learning to read and write; ten men attend the<br />

school. In addition to them, young and old from other villages in the<br />

surrounding area come throughout the day to obtain a Small Catechism and<br />

other literature. From this you can see that we are not lonely and do not get<br />

bored and for me living among the gypsies is a hundred times better than<br />

living in the palace gardens at Niederschönhausen and Schönholz (areas of<br />

Berlin with villas and palaces).<br />

Christmas was very beautiful for my poor children. Our dear friends in<br />

Nordhausen and Naumburg saw to it that I could give the children real joy.<br />

On Christmas Day I let them come to me already at 7 a.m. I had moved the<br />

tables and benches from the school into my living room. Two Christmas<br />

trees, decorated with many candles (wax lights), gold coloured nuts, apples,<br />

ginger bread and balls, had been set up. On each place was a brand new<br />

outfit. For the boys this meant a shirt, jacket, pants, stockings, scarf and<br />

handkerchief; for the girls it was a blouse, a warm dress, stockings which<br />

they had knitted themselves, an apron, scarf and kerchief. On top of each<br />

outfit for every child lay a large gingerbread, apple, nuts, dried plums, a<br />

white bread, and a school book. Also there were knitting baskets, knives and<br />

scissors, knitting and sewing needles and thimbles. The joy which these<br />

children experienced is indescribable. As they now stood in rows before the<br />

tables, the children sang that beautiful Christmas song, which they had<br />

learned by heart, �O, come little children, O, come one and all� (Ihr<br />

Kinderlein kommet, ach kommet doch alle). Then we prayed and the children<br />

were shown to their places. When this was done I told them about the birth<br />

of our Saviour and then breakfast, consisting of fresh milk and white bread,<br />

was brought out. After breakfast we thanked God for all the joy which He<br />

prepared for us through the birth of His Son. Then the old rags were removed<br />

and they put on their new clothes, and I led them into the church. Here there<br />

was a general stirring among the people as they saw the children so cleanly<br />

washed and clothed. During this time my wife was at home cleaning up<br />

everything and preparing the noon meal. What a joy it was for the children<br />

as they came home with me again that they could attend church. Previously<br />

they did not dare to enter the church because they were naked and bare. Now<br />

dinner was served, consisting of rice, beef, bread and beer. The fathers also<br />

came and rejoiced that their children had been treated so royally. The gypsies<br />

said: our children no longer look as if they were our children, but they look<br />

like nobility. After the meal I talked with the children for a couple of hours,<br />

and then the new clothes were taken off and the old ones put back on. They<br />

could not take the clothes along because they would quickly get dirty and<br />

covered in lice in their homes. Then the children said that they had never had<br />

such a day in their whole lives and went home again. On Second Christmas<br />

Day I went with my dear wife to Nordhausen because we had been invited<br />

many times by our friends. We had a very good time with them. The old year<br />

ended pleasantly and the new one began similarly. The New Year�s singing<br />

was overdone here; on the last day of the old year it went from early morning<br />

to late at night. The gypsies also came to us with songs and music. We


56 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

invited the men in to close the old year and to begin the new one with us.<br />

This happened with songs, music and prayer. We receive respect and love<br />

from all sides. Of course there are also opponents, but God watches over us<br />

and thwarts all unjust attacks. Therefore we praise His name.<br />

Next summer a new house is to be built so that we can keep the children with<br />

us and we will not have to live as cramped as now, so that the children will<br />

be raised by us entirely. God will provide the means and the ways for that! 118<br />

On 20 March 1831, Klewitz wrote from Magdeburg, praising the<br />

���������� ����� ��� ��������������� ����� ���� ������ ������ ���������� ����������<br />

political solutions that failed, he observed:<br />

The plan of the Missions-Hülfs-Verein in Naumburg is different, and I think<br />

more appropriate. Then more will be accomplished by example, together<br />

with instruction and assistance, and if one can believe the relationships<br />

reported in the latest edition of the Nachrichten aus dem Reiche Gottes ... then<br />

hope is at hand, that in this way not only will the gypsies get accustomed to<br />

work and an honest profession, but their morals will overall be improved by<br />

Blankenburg and his wife ... who appear to be solving this difficult task. ...<br />

All indications are it is true that they profess the Catholic faith, are<br />

themselves baptized and have all their children baptized. They swear all<br />

couples are married ... they have activated their ties with the Christian<br />

church by confession and communion. Their grasp of religious concepts is<br />

very imperfect and this aspect of their sad lives offers a sympathetic picture of<br />

moral depravity. The local Catholic pastor, along with the schoolteacher, is<br />

not enough. Schooling is not regular because the parents often move around<br />

in order to make a living. The children also lack clothing, without which they<br />

may not attend the local school. 119<br />

Two years later Klewitz reports that the society had purchased a property<br />

��� ������ ������ ���� ����� ���� ���� �������������� ���������� ���� ���� ����<br />

school. It also had a large yard where the adults could learn job skills. A<br />

local damask weaver was prepared to accept gypsies as apprentices. Bishop<br />

Draeske, who visited the school in June, shared with Klewitz his proposal<br />

that the government provide money for tools, school supplies and rent, as<br />

well as compensation for the weaver, named Bender, for any materials<br />

ruined by unskilled workers. 120<br />

The most pressing problems remained providing the necessities of life. In<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������rs of the<br />

work.<br />

118 I. HA Rep. 76 Kultusministerium III, Abt. XIV, Nr. 165 Bd. I, 19.<br />

119 I. HA Rep. 76 Kultusministerium III, Abt. XIV, Nr. 165 Bd. I, n.p.<br />

120 I. HA Rep. 76 Kultusministerium III, Abt. XIV, Nr. 165 Bd. I, n.p.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 57<br />

Continually the hungry must be fed, the thirsty given something to drink, the<br />

naked clothed and the sick cared for. The continuation of this rescue<br />

institution can only be accomplished through further, continual support. The<br />

need now is to find homes because four or five families, regardless of age or<br />

sex, are pushed together into one narrow room where the floor serves as bed,<br />

table and chair. As long as this emergency situation, and the harm that<br />

results from it, cannot be averted, any step towards improvement is<br />

endangered and the conditions for the discipline, orderliness and industry of<br />

the gypsies remain unfulfilled. Without their own hearth they cannot learn to<br />

love it and stop seeing themselves as homeless strangers .... 121<br />

As work progr������ ���� ����������� ����� ������� ��� ���� ����������<br />

accomplishment. Prussian officials in Erfurt showed their support in an<br />

edict issued on 14 February 1832. It called for generosity towards the<br />

institution and declared:<br />

The faith, in which the moral rescue of a group of people who have fallen<br />

into ruin at home is undertaken, cannot be faked, and the reaction of distant<br />

benefactors, who have given generously, will not prevent us from being<br />

����������������������������� 122<br />

Such a position encouraged supporters to seek support from public funds<br />

also. One requested a subsidy for an additional teacher. 123 Erfurt approved a<br />

grant of 100 Reichsthaler on 30 September 1835. 124 Another asked that the<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������the<br />

needy, because the name of the house father continued to be recorded as the<br />

����������������������������� 125<br />

There were setbacks. The 1 March 1835 edition of Neueste Nachrichten<br />

revealed that at last report a number of families had returned to their<br />

wandering ways and removed their children from the school. More arrived<br />

and so the number went up to 23, although two of them, one boy and one<br />

girl, were 14 and would be sent to the St. Martin Home in Erfurt. Two<br />

young children who grew up in the reform house would start soon. What a<br />

blessing it had been for them to be raised apart from their families, who had<br />

constantly been on the move until recently arrested and sent to a<br />

121 Verordnungen und Bekanntmachungen der Regierung ����������������������������������<br />

Regierung zu Erfurt. Stäck 7, Erfurt, den 25sten 1832� I. HA Rep. 76 Kultusministerium<br />

III, Abt. XIV, Nr. 165 Bd. I.<br />

122 KRAUSE, Verfolgung, 67.<br />

123 ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������Geh.<br />

Zivilkabinett, jüngere Periode Nr. 22691, Berlin, 4 September 1835.<br />

124 I. HA Rep. 76 Kultusministerium III, Abt. XIV, Nr. 165 Bd. I, Berlin, 13 January 1836.<br />

125 I. HA Rep. 76 Kultusministerium III, Abt. XIV, Nr. 165 Bd. I, Berlin, 13 January 1836.


58 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

workhouse. But Wanderlust remained a challenge to be overcome. The<br />

previous year, on 26 June, two gypsy women took a child from the home<br />

and six other adults, one of whom was an apprentice in the weaving-mill.<br />

They also secretly took a young boy, one of the best trainees. School<br />

officials searched in vain, hoping at least to bring back the boy. The fear is<br />

that the next gypsy released from a workhouse would misuse the new-found<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

such troubling experiences, withhold our help from this stubborn folk? Far<br />

be it! Each experience should serve to humble us, to strengthen us in love<br />

and patience, and to look to the Lord, who alone can give blessing and<br />

��������� 126<br />

The difficulties continued, even with the additional public funding. There<br />

were lots of suggestions but in the end everything was just too much for the<br />

Blankenburgs. Even the addition of a seminary student assistant, a Frenkel<br />

from Weißenfels, could not prevent the work coming to a standstill and<br />

finally breaking down completely. What happened? The old gypsies could<br />

not get used to new customs. Some got Wanderlust. Others became<br />

rebellious and refused to work. So the measures recommended by the<br />

government in Magdeburg were put into effect. Numerous children ended<br />

up in the Martinsstift in Erfurt; while 38 gypsies in Groß-Salze were sent to a<br />

workhouse. Another 23 trainees and 28 adults were brought to a new<br />

addition at the reformatory. Constant conflict between the Catholic priest<br />

and the Protestant pastor because of the children`s training programme<br />

worsened the climate in Friedrichslohra. 127 Even a little progress in<br />

Protestant work among the Catholic gypsy families was enough to arouse<br />

protests from the local priest. Sometimes the parents reacted the same. In<br />

January 1834 there was a formal protest recorded and some parents<br />

removed their children by force from the school. The reason for the revolt<br />

appears to be the 1834 conversion of two girls, Sophie Deutsch and<br />

Adelheid Steinbach, to Protestantism. They had been attending the Martin<br />

institute in Erfurt since 1832. The following year, two young men<br />

converted. 128 Franz Mettbach, a gypsy father, objected in a direct appeal to<br />

the Prussian king in a 20 April 1836 letter. He lamented first of all that<br />

shortly after his arrival in town; his six year old daughter had been taken<br />

away by force and entrusted to Blankenburg. He wrote:<br />

126 I. HA Rep. 76 Kultusministerium III, Sekt. 1, Abt. XIV, Nr. 165 Bd. 2, 23.<br />

127 MODE, Zigeuner, 163-164.<br />

128 DANCKWORTT������������������������- und Erziehungsanstalt für verwahrloste Kinder.�


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 59<br />

I have never opposed and will never object to my children receiving good<br />

school instruction. But I wish that they be raised in the Catholic religion,<br />

which will not happen under that Protestant teacher. 129<br />

The request was denied, but Montag convinced authorities to order the<br />

children be sent to him twice a week for religious instruction. In most areas<br />

the Catholic Church had otherwise been content simply to baptize gypsies<br />

upon request. 130<br />

Even without religious reasons, children kept running away, or were<br />

taken by parents on their travels but later arrested as vagabonds. The<br />

assistant Frenkel left in July 1836. Stricter decrees, such as forbidding the<br />

use of the Romani language simply accelerated the relocation of<br />

Friedrichslohra families. Declining numbers meant that the Mission Society<br />

lost the reason for its existence and the maintenance costs of the empty<br />

building became too great. Authorities suggested giving the house to the<br />

Evangelical church for use as a school, but the Minister of Culture opposed<br />

any hasty dissolution of the training centre, pointing out that one could not<br />

expect to accomplish significant change in two or three years among people<br />

who had already lived over four hundred years in Europe. The Erfurt<br />

government, having failed to force parents to return their children to the<br />

institute, formally closed it on 2 September 1837. They purchased the<br />

property from the Mission Society and turned it over to the local protestant<br />

church for use as a school. The three remaining children were sent to Erfurt.<br />

Blankenburg returned to Berlin and became teacher for children cared for by<br />

the Goßner Society. Some of the families returned to the area, but to nearby<br />

Lohra, closer to Magdeburg. Some, still fearing reprisal, changed their<br />

name. 131<br />

The experiment was over. What transpired is that non-gypsies learned<br />

more about the culture and language of a previously unknown people. A<br />

school board member named Graffunder produced extensive notes on their<br />

language. Frenkel had produced Romani translations of the passion of<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

The settlement attempt in Friedrichslohra failed because the impossible<br />

was demanded from the gypsies to achieve integration:<br />

1. They were to relinquish a life style determined by and defined by their<br />

identity as gypsies.<br />

129 DANCKWORTT, 127.<br />

130 SOLMS, 5-6.<br />

131 DANCKWORTT, 134.


60 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

2. They were expected to acquire in a short time the relational and work<br />

patterns of the locals as part of the organic, continuous socialization<br />

process.<br />

3. They were to sever family ties and the human conflicts connected with<br />

them.<br />

4. They were expected to accept inhumane living conditions, to work for<br />

low pay or no pay, and to despise their lifelong habits.<br />

5. They did not fulfil the economic expectations placed on them. Already in<br />

1832, Blankenburg proposed that the older gypsies be placed in<br />

workhouses, where they could be beaten if they did not want to work. 132<br />

In the end, the supporters of Friedrichslohra resorted to the same<br />

provisions already practised for over two hundred years for the care of the<br />

gypsies: put adults in prisons or workhouses and the children in orphanages.<br />

When the Friedrichslohra mission was finally closed in 1837, the children<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

appeals, and political pressure, compelled their return, but not without one<br />

more demand: children would be returned when the parents could provide<br />

proof of residency. 133 Sporadic settlement attempts remained the exception.<br />

German rulers generally forbade the gypsies to settle and thus deprived them<br />

of the chance to learn domestic occupations. One author summarized the<br />

results of the Friedrichslohra project thus:<br />

The gypsies again lived as they were accustomed to. Their descendants today<br />

are just as gypsy as their cousins, whose forefathers were not trained in<br />

Friedrichslohra. One cannot deny that the greatest blame touched on the<br />

incorrigibility of the gypsies, who considered the admission, care and<br />

education of their children in the institute an intrusion into their right to raise<br />

these children as they themselves were accustomed, that is fraud, begging,<br />

stealing, and a vagabond life. 134<br />

Krause observed that attempts to force the gypsies to settle in<br />

Friedrichslohra, and elsewhere, were at the same time attempts to dissuade<br />

them from the validity of their own cultural norms and values and to<br />

substitute the Prussian ones. Thus once again one sees that the real goal was<br />

not integration into society but the destruction of their culture and thereby<br />

their extermination. All such retraining attempts of the eighteenth and<br />

132 GEORGE VON SOEST, Zigeuner zwischen Verfolgung und Integration: Geschichte,<br />

Lebensbedingungen und Eingliederungsversuche (Weinheim und Basel: Beltz Verlag, 1980), 86-<br />

87.<br />

133 KRAUSE, Verfolgung, 69.<br />

134 KRAUSE, Verfolgung, 70.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 61<br />

nineteenth centuries resulted from a justification of the total subjugation of<br />

the Roma and Sinti. 135<br />

On the other hand, the Wittgenstein-Berleburg colonies lasted 150 years,<br />

until deportation to Auschwitz by the National Socialists. During the entire<br />

time there was minimal social interaction between gypsies and locals, and<br />

almost no marriage, because the other residents regarded the gypsies as too<br />

dirty and lice-infested. But the Berleburg model does demonstrate that<br />

creating a gypsy settlement is possible when the following factors are<br />

considered:<br />

1. A regard for ethnic peculiarities.<br />

2. A readiness for long-term involvement.<br />

3. Making land available.<br />

4. Providing appropriate employment opportunities. 136<br />

Another necessary factor, missing from the Berleburg colonies, was to<br />

aid both gypsies and locals to come to grips with their anxieties and<br />

reservations about the other group. In Berleburg each group was simply left<br />

to cope on its own. Locals showed little readiness to welcome people they<br />

regarded as strange, and even dangerous, into their community. The<br />

archives record some parents vigorously insisting that the gypsy children<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

one case the police had to intervene. 137<br />

Roma Religion<br />

��������������������������������� ������������� ��� ������� ���������������<br />

that I can eat, drink, dance, ����������� 138 �����������������������������������<br />

by belief in a higher power, ancestor worship, and an inner relationship to<br />

God. Belonging to a particular church or denomination is relatively<br />

unimportant. Although approximately ninety per cent of German gypsies<br />

call themselves Roman Catholic, their magical worldview gives them a<br />

pagan mentality. 139<br />

135 KRAUSE, Verfolgung, 70.<br />

136 SOEST, 87-88.<br />

137 I. HA Rep. 76 Kultusministerium III, Sekt. 1, Abt. XIV, Nr. 165 Bd. 2, 2.<br />

138 HERMANN ARNOLD, Die Zigeuner: Herkunft und Leben der Stämme im deutschen Sprachgebiet<br />

(Olten: Walter-Verlag, 1965).<br />

139 For specific examples see ENGELBERT WITTICH, Beiträge zur Ziegeunerkunde (Frankfurt am<br />

Main: Verlag Peter Lang, 1990).


62 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

Despite his Christian faith, demons and fetishes determine his behaviour.<br />

Superstition (Aberglaube) is essentially his real faith. Laws of logic are<br />

incomprehensible and foreign. An understanding that penetrates into his<br />

inner human nature is hardly possible. 140<br />

Pilgrimages may be one way gypsies sought to win the approval of other<br />

Catholics. Their most important destination is Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-<br />

Mer, where they worship the Egyptian Sara from 24-25 May each year. She<br />

is said to be the gypsy maid to Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James,<br />

and Mary Salome, the mother of the apostle John. The legend says that the<br />

three women were put to sea off the coast of Palestine in a boat without<br />

rudder or sail. As the ship was pushed out, Sara stepped into the boat of her<br />

own accord and the boat was safely and suddenly transported across the sea<br />

by angels, landing on the coast of Provence. 141<br />

Gypsy faith is influenced from their Indian origins even though much<br />

had been forgotten during the years of migration. Even the practice of<br />

accommodating themselves to the religion of the region they were in stems<br />

from their past experience as lower caste people, when the Brahmans, the<br />

priests, made all the religious decisions and conducted all the<br />

observances. 142 The Hindu belief in the transmigration of souls is still<br />

evident in gypsy faith. Their religion was tied to a language that was<br />

incapable of expressing the teachings and creeds of the Muslim or Christian<br />

world. 143 Their language became static after leaving India so the names of<br />

the deities were translated. During their migration into Iran they would<br />

����� ����� ���������� ������������� ���������������������� �����������������<br />

on the earthly battle between a good and an evil spirit. As Asia Minor<br />

became Christian, they, like other poor, displaced peoples, may have been<br />

attracted to this new teaching since the old gods had not done much to<br />

alleviate their misfortune. Zealous missionaries may not have given them<br />

any special attention.<br />

The gypsies may well have been prepared for this new faith which spoke<br />

to the irrational and spiritual needs of Asian people. But they converted<br />

themselves in a rather carefree way in that they accepted the new teachings<br />

along with their old demons and fetishes. This was easier for them than for<br />

those settled in cities and villages. Had they remained in one spot, they<br />

would have soon been branded by the church as sectarians and heretics<br />

140 IN DER MAUR, 53.<br />

141 ARNOLD, 167.<br />

142 MAYERHOFER, 90.<br />

143 DJURIC, 295.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 63<br />

because of the church�s increasing severity in the interpretation of the<br />

fundamentals of the faith. 144<br />

The next influential religion for them would have been Islam. In general,<br />

the gypsies felt that a religion placing more emphasis on ideology than on<br />

faith did not belong in the house of God. Thus they felt more attracted to<br />

sects and small fellowships. The Catholic, and more recently the Protestant<br />

(evangelische) churches in Europe tended to overlook this aspect of their faith<br />

and simply attacked them for belonging to a sect, or more commonly<br />

regarded them merely as a social problem and only rarely as spiritual beings<br />

who also wished to believe, to have a religious life, and thus to develop<br />

morality. 145<br />

In relation to Christianity, because of the high mortality rate due to<br />

tuberculosis, gypsy parents in Austria had their children baptized one week<br />

after birth. If they could not decide on a name, then the pastor advised<br />

them. In addition to the official name, which was commonly repeated, each<br />

child received a nickname that was also recorded. Between 1797 and 1850,<br />

out of twenty-four Baptisms, five were illegitimate. 146 Children were also<br />

brought to First Communion and later confirmed. Burial rites followed local<br />

customs. 147 If a pastor refused to enter a gypsy home, then the corpse would<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

since the gypsies were afraid of Mulo, the spirit of the dead. The wake lasted<br />

thirty-six hours. Men received wine; the women, nothing. Fables and stories<br />

filled the time. The entire extended family, and others from the community,<br />

came to accompany the body to the cemetery. Processions of 100 were<br />

common. Gypsies, even the men, made a great show of their sorrow and<br />

distress with crying and screaming, so much so that sometimes the pastor<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������� ������� ����� ������� ���� ����� �������������� �s the locals, too: if the<br />

coffin was let down crooked, it meant the deceased was doomed to hell.<br />

When a musician died, his comrades not only played funeral songs but also<br />

all his old favourites. When a married man died his wife pulled out bunches<br />

of hair and threw them into the grave. No one dared mention the deceased<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

���� ����������� ��������� ���� �������� ������ �������� ������� ��� ���� �������<br />

Sometimes the family would move into another house in an attempt to<br />

outwit the Mulo. Since the gypsies were poor, they were buried in separate<br />

144 IN DER MAUR, 78.<br />

145 DJURIC, 316.<br />

146 MAYERHOFER, 82.<br />

147 This description from MAYERHOFER, 88-91.


64 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

sections outside the cemetery; but families spared no cost on gravestones<br />

and frequently brought flowers and candles to the grave.<br />

Bad Mulos brought bad luck: possessions and meals disappeared; they<br />

might push a man down in the streets, or impregnate a woman. Children of<br />

such unions were either sickly, became vampires, or died. On the other<br />

hand, there could be good Mulos, too, who helped find money or lost items,<br />

who caused stepmothers to deal kindly with children, or who stopped men<br />

from beating their wives and drinking.<br />

The mysterious world of the gypsy mind made it extremely challenging<br />

for Christian outreach endeavours. Reinhold Urban lamented that little<br />

outreach to the gypsies was even attempted before the early 1800s.<br />

If one may assume that rare individual Christians occasionally would<br />

certainly have tried to tell a gypsy about the love of God, nevertheless the sad<br />

truth remains, that a well-planned, thorough work among the gypsies was not<br />

even once again attempted until most recent times. The Christianity, which<br />

today has already benefited the most distant and low standing people with<br />

the Gospel, has excluded from eternal salvation the gypsy people living in<br />

their own laps. 148<br />

Explanations can be offered, he noted, such as the largest number of gypsies<br />

live in southeast Europe, or are all Catholics, but the most common reason<br />

for lack of outreach is the belief that the gypsies are simply incorrigible in<br />

morals and faith. They are unreachable for the Gospel! Getting to know the<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

argues, go a long way to bringing these forgotten people into the Christian<br />

fold.<br />

Seelsorge for Sinti and Roma<br />

What did the church do? Very little, the archives and reports relate. Here<br />

and there approaches were undertaken. Grellmann praised Emperor<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

��� ����������� ������ ��� ���� ������ �� ��at upwards of eighty thousand<br />

miserable wretches, ignorant of God and virtue, deep sunk in vice and<br />

brutality, like only half men, wandering in error, were by him drawn out of<br />

�������������������������� ������������������������ ���������� ���������� 149<br />

The 1775 decree required:<br />

148 REINHOLD URBAN, Die Zigeuner und das Evangelium (Striegau: Verlag von Reinhold Urban<br />

1906), 18.<br />

149 GRELLMANN, 88.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 65<br />

FIRST, with respect to religion, they must<br />

1. Not only be taught the principles of religion themselves, but send their<br />

children early to school.<br />

2. Prevent, as much as possible, their children from running about<br />

naked, in the house, the roads, and streets, thereby giving offence and<br />

disgust, to other people.<br />

3. In their dwellings, not permit their children to sleep promiscuously by<br />

each other, without distinction of sex.<br />

4. Diligently attend at church, particularly on Sundays and holidays, to<br />

give proof of their Christian disposition.<br />

5. Put themselves under the guidance of spiritual teachers, and conduct<br />

themselves conformably to the rules laid down by them. 150<br />

Other parts of the decree dealt with their everyday behaviour and life style,<br />

such as, abstaining from feeding on cattle which died of distemper, change<br />

their appearance, discontinue using their own language, refrain from<br />

bartering, and keep up the necessary farm work. 151<br />

That the gypsies were in need of Christianizing, and missionizing, had<br />

already been established in the Friedrichslohra situation by the report of an<br />

Examination Commission (Untersuchungskommission) sent out by the Erfurt<br />

government in the fall of 1828. The delegation interviewed fifty-two<br />

individuals to determine their social wellbeing and their religious<br />

knowledge. They were expected to be able to read and to write and to recite<br />

��� ������ ���� ������� ������� ���� ���� ���� �������������� ���� ����� ��� ����<br />

religious knowledge was attributed to the hostile attitude of the local<br />

Catholic priest, �����������������������������������������������������������<br />

have to be made human, and then ����������������������� 152 This despite the<br />

fact that local officials spoke highly of some of the families who had<br />

demonstrated honesty and industry and for all practical purposes had<br />

become residents. 153 Nevertheless, the commission concluded:<br />

If being baptized and perhaps having gone only once to Confession and<br />

Communion is sufficient to characterize a person as a Christian, then the<br />

gypsies certainly are Christian. But in so far as the confession of the specific<br />

Christian doctrines is also required, one cannot consider them to be<br />

Christians. 154<br />

150 GRELLMANN, 85-86.<br />

151 GRELLMANN, 86-87.<br />

152 DANCKWORTT, 121.<br />

153 DANCKWORTT, 120. Officials indicated this in a 29 April 1828 letter to von Klewitz and<br />

to the Berlin Ministerium in a 8 December 1828 communication.<br />

154 DANCKWORTT, 121.


66 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

Since the gypsies were mostly unable to read, few publications were<br />

directed at them. Although the Religious Tract Society (RTS), organized in<br />

London in 1799, produced at least three tracts to use in personal witnessing<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

����� ���� ���� ���� when rejected by her lover. 155 The RTS publications<br />

���������� �� ������������� ��� ����� ������ �����, ���������� ��� ���� �����<br />

������ ��� �� ������, and in a Narrative Series tract provided ample, dire<br />

�����������������������������. 156 Later German evangelicals also relied<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

Missionsstunden (1874), for example, relates the experience of Rev. James<br />

Crabb when he was in Winchester in 1827. 157<br />

Ries relates the history and progress of Pentecostal outreach efforts<br />

among the gypsies in Romania and comments on developments in other<br />

areas. He observed that after B�������������������������������������������<br />

see themselves as merely a religious fellowship, which met twice weekly, but<br />

���������������������������� 158 He continued:<br />

�������� ����� ������ ����������� ����� ��� �������� �������-Rom churches<br />

����������� ����� ������� ���������� ��� ������������� ������� ����������������� ���<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

egalitarian comm�������� Nevertheless I characterize the gypsies in Trabes<br />

in the congregation of the converted not as an interethnic group, but I call it a<br />

transethnic congregation, then the discussion among the converted is not<br />

between different ethnic groups, but argues beyond all ethical classification.<br />

In the congregation of God these differences are removed and are no longer<br />

important. The German evangelist Stefan called out joyfully to the newly<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������ ������ ��� ��� ����� ���������� ��� ������ ��� ����������� ������ ��� ����<br />

people. Hallelujah, that is the new society. 159<br />

The trans-ethnic emphasis continues in the preaching:<br />

Each one of us is different. Here in this house sit different ethnic groups,<br />

different races, different nations and cultures. Brothers and sisters, we are all<br />

very different. One is perhaps a musician; another is a mathematician or<br />

155 ������������������������������������������������������������������������Die Tractat-<br />

Gesellschaft im Wupperthale (Barmen, 1819).<br />

156 London: The Religious Tract Society, numbers 460, 556, and 803, n.d.<br />

157 JOSEPH SCHLIER, Missionsstunden für evangelische Gemeinden, Viertes Bändchen<br />

�����������������������������������������������<br />

158 JOHANNES RIES, Welten Wanderer: Über die kulturelle Souveränität siebenbürgischer Zigeuner<br />

und den Einfluß des Pfingstchristentums (Würzburg: ERGON Verlag 2007), 166.<br />

159 RIES, 166.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 67<br />

physicist. Here sit poor and rich, strong and weak, thick and thin, we are all<br />

very different. What binds us together? Something exists in us that we have<br />

in common and that holds us together: the desire to be with the Lord. And<br />

this desire makes us all the same. 160<br />

Individuality subsumed by the focus on faith; all reduced to their basic<br />

connection to God�these emph������������������������������������������<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

on God, in which the converted are therefore interwoven with one another,<br />

�������� ���� �������� ���� ��� ����� 161 For many of the converts this family<br />

�������� ���� ������������� ��� ������� ��� ������� ����� ���������� ���� ���� ����<br />

������������������������������������������������������������ 162<br />

Each believer is to achieve purity in soul, spirit, and body. Hence the<br />

common goal also furthers a sense of equality. Supervision assures<br />

compliance and guards against superficial conversions. Believers are further<br />

expected to observe normal cultural norms. Thus a girl with a nose ring<br />

would be unacceptable in a Romanian group but perfectly normal in a<br />

church in India. 163<br />

Despite the emphasis on family-like unity, Ries cautions that gypsies<br />

never stop being gypsies and, especially in relation to non-gypsies, retain an<br />

������������� ��� ������������� ������ ������� ����� ������������� ��������. 164<br />

���������������������������������phasis in some denominations is more to<br />

their liking. Accepting a confession of faith ought not be confused with<br />

adapting the faith itself. Conversions, particularly of children, frequently<br />

result from the generosity of the missionaries. Physical needs become the<br />

������� ��� ��������� ��� ������ ��� ��������� ���� ������� ����� ������� ���������� ���<br />

��������������������������������������������������, a missionary observed.<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

���������� ��� ��������� 165 For the children conversion means the difference<br />

between corn chowder with bread and a piece of cake. The desire is that<br />

they also see it as entry into a better life for their souls and spirits also.<br />

160 RIES, 166.<br />

161 RIES, 167.<br />

162 RIES, 283.<br />

163 RIES, 179.<br />

164 RIES, 307, 338-39.<br />

165 RIES, 264-65.


68 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

What is the church to do? One papal answer: �For ministry to the Sinti<br />

und Roma the church itself has to become gypsy.� 166 In 2006 a Vatican<br />

council of the national directors of ministry to the gypsies called for the<br />

Gospel in its entirety to be offered to nomadic peoples, and not just social<br />

assistance. The failure in the past has been attempts at assimilation rather<br />

than at integration that allow them to keep their identity. Among the<br />

recommendations were:<br />

1. The church must become familiar with the gypsies anxieties and hopes so<br />

that the gospel can be lived and proclaimed according to their mentality and<br />

traditions. This has to happen in the liturgical and catechetical areas also.<br />

2. The church understands that its universality demands it enrich itself with the<br />

values of the gypsies, accept their opposition to assimilation, and condemn<br />

persecution. This means more attention to advocacy, and changes in practice<br />

such as:<br />

a. Creating more opportunities to listen to them.<br />

b. Strengthening their presence and responsibility.<br />

c. Intensifying efforts to develop gypsy priests, deacons, and orders.<br />

d. Multiply the number of places where they may express their faith,<br />

such as building more schools.<br />

e. Eliminate the usual pattern of preparation for the Sacrament.<br />

f. Think more in terms of ongoing pastoral care.<br />

g. Encourage pilgrimages and other opportunities for interaction with<br />

others to dispel the notion that one has to relinquish his gypsy identity<br />

to be a good Christian.<br />

h. To foster justice in the civil realm.<br />

i. To keep boards and councils informed.<br />

j. To co-ordinate the supervision of gypsy chapels with local clerics.<br />

k. To accept the nomadic nature of some.<br />

l. To increase co-operation with government authorities. 167<br />

Christian encounters with gypsies over the years have shown that these<br />

people have a rich oral tradition. This frequently includes references to<br />

biblical events and characters. Thus the church should not assume gypsies<br />

exist in some kind of religious vacuum or merely cling to fragments of<br />

166 ��������������������������������������������������������������������������Dokument:<br />

Kirchl. Seelsorge für Sinti und Roma (Studientreffen der National-Direktoren der Pastoral für<br />

die Zigeuner, Vatikanstadt, 11.-12. Dezember 2006) 19/01/07.<br />

167 ��������������������������������������<br />

. See also<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

, 89. Welttag der Migranten<br />

und Flüchtlinge (2003). The current impetus for gypsy mission began in 1964 when Pope<br />

Paul VI instituted the so-������������������������Seelsorge���Cf. SOLMS, Kulturloses Volk,<br />

59.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 69<br />

otherwise long-lost superstitions. Religious thought that impacts on the<br />

entire reality of life still prevails among the gypsies. Likewise the church<br />

needs to recognize that gypsy religious thought is based on a distinct<br />

mythology and oral tradition, and we cannot grasp their complexity and<br />

their connection with traditions because we only know fragments of it.<br />

Thirdly, what has been handed down over centuries in gypsy religion clearly<br />

reveals, in a most impressive way, an intensive engagement with basic<br />

Christianity. 168<br />

The church can become a meeting place for such diverse groups and<br />

facilitate dialogue for a better understanding of faith traditions. Such efforts<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

����� ���� ������ ������� ������ ����� ��������� ���� ����� ����������� ����� ������<br />

cultures live in other realities, equally practicable and by no means an<br />

��������� ���� ��� ������� ������ 169 Therefore the first goal for the c��������<br />

dealing with Sinti and Roma could be supporting and encouraging them to<br />

discover their own cultural expression of Christianity as proof of its<br />

universality.<br />

Conclusions: Christianity and Culture<br />

������ ���� ���� ����� ���, is a label used to justify marginalization. Colour,<br />

customs, and language form criteria for determining who belongs and the<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

you speak with these people in their own language, you find them more<br />

�����������������������������������������������������, and although they<br />

may adapt some Christian customs they continue in their pagan culture. 170<br />

The only conclusion can be: they lack true religion and fear of God. Thus an<br />

emphasis on their foreignness in a Christian-influenced society, coupled<br />

����� ����������� ��� ��������������� ������ ��� ���������� ��� ���������� ���� �������<br />

working against Christians. 171<br />

The first gypsies arriving in the German states received protection from<br />

the church and government because they were believed to be penitent<br />

168 FUCHS, Kirchliche Verantwortung, 261.<br />

169 BRIGITTE FUCHS������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�����������������������������������������������JOACHIM S. HOHMANN, Handbuch ur<br />

Tsiganologie (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang 1996), 256.<br />

170 ARNO HERZIG�������������������������������������������������������������������Die<br />

gesellschaftliche Konstruktion des Zigeuners: zur Genese eines Vorurteils, Wissenschaftliche Reihe<br />

des Fritz-Bauer-Instituts, Bd. 2 (Frankfurt/Main: Campus Verlag 1996), 38.<br />

171 HERZIG, 38.


70 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

pilgrims. But as doubts about their Christianity increased, they were<br />

considered pagans and the Council of Trent excluded them from<br />

consideration for the priesthood. Although Catholic priests might baptize,<br />

marry, and bury gypsies, there was no real mission work begun until<br />

Protestant outreach endeavours in the early 1800s, beginning with the<br />

Quakers in England in 1815. Other attempts in Scotland followed. The first<br />

significant German outreach began in 1828 when the Barmen Mission<br />

Society initiated the establishment of the educational facility in<br />

Friedrichslohra.<br />

Despite a variety of approaches over the years, gypsy missions had only<br />

minimal success. Every now and then a missionary might report some<br />

progress, but modern reports frequently resemble closely the comments of<br />

Crabb, who started a mission among the New Forest Gypsies in England in<br />

1837. He concluded that the gypsies are ungrateful objects of Christian<br />

mission endeavours, because despite all the intense efforts to lead them to<br />

repentance and faith, they show little interest for the Christian doctrine of<br />

salvation. 172<br />

Failure to penetrate, or to be permitted to enter into, the gypsy culture<br />

made outreach endeavours nearly impossible for Protestant evangelists or<br />

missionaries. Catholic clergy seem to have somewhat more success.<br />

Pentecostals today seem to be more effective than other groups. Outreach<br />

into such a culture leaves the Christian missionary in an awkward position.<br />

It is like riding a rail, Ries observed, because you have one foot in their<br />

culture (of which you will never fully be a part) and the other in your own<br />

culture (of which they will never fully be a part). An extreme emphasis on<br />

institutions, traditions, and theological formulas appears archaic, and<br />

inconsequential, in the gypsy worldview of moment-by-moment religious<br />

experience. Answers to questions about death and transcendence seem less<br />

���������������������������������������������<br />

Although we like to say that Christianity is a non-cultural form of faith,<br />

thus unlike Judaism and Islam which see state and church as one unit, the<br />

evidence shows that Christianity fares better in a supportive culture, too.<br />

�����������������������unchristian or anti-Christian society with its own<br />

standards and demands for tolerance makes outreach difficult. <strong>Lutheran</strong><br />

churches have difficulty retaining youth, for example, because there is little,<br />

if any, common or community support for the Christian faith and life. More<br />

likely, young <strong>Lutheran</strong>s will have friends of different faiths, or of no faith,<br />

and the friendship takes on a higher value than fidelity to a Confirmation<br />

vow. Little relevance may be seen between worship rituals and world<br />

realities.<br />

172 ARNOLD, 173.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 71<br />

Outreach to gypsies, or any other unique group, begins with some basic<br />

understandings: What factors contribute to the identity and/or lifestyle of<br />

the group? What does the Christian church and the Gospel have to offer?<br />

Encounters with other cultures prompt the question: ������������������<br />

������ �������� ������ ��������� ����� ��� ���� ������ ���������� ������� ��� ���� ����<br />

������ ��� ���������� ���� ���������� ���������� ������������ ��� ����� ����<br />

Christian revelation is a-cultural, that is universal, and therefore God does<br />

not concern Himself with any particular culture. Problems develop when<br />

people begin to think all other cultures except their own are false or<br />

inferior. 173 She likewise cautions against confusing evangelism with social<br />

���������� ���� ��� ���� ����������� ����� ���� ��������� �seelsorgerliche) and diaconal<br />

activities of the church be based on sociological, historical, or ethnological<br />

theories, whose implicit presuppositions cannot be tested by its real<br />

��������������������������������������� 174 Social work typically is oriented<br />

towards marginal or fringe groups. But appearances can be deceiving. For<br />

example, the nomadic nature of gypsies, which has earned them the name<br />

������������, is it an external or an internal drive? Thomas Acton described<br />

������������������������������������������� geographical and seasonal<br />

variations in the prices of goods and services, regularly moves his household<br />

���������������������������� 175 A theologically based theory of outreach and<br />

interaction therefore needs to realize there is more than one possible reason<br />

���� ���� ����������� ���� ��� ��������� ����������� ��� ���� �������� �����<br />

(explanation to the Eight Commandment) in order to prevent the<br />

��������������������������������� 176<br />

The <strong>Lutheran</strong> Church�Missouri Synod reports on its outreach activities<br />

�������������������������������������<br />

There are approximately 11 million Gypsies worldwide. Most of these people<br />

are unreached with the Word of God. They are blind in the sense that they<br />

������ ���� ���� ������ ���� ������ ���� �������� ����� ������ �������� ��� �������� ��<br />

Gypsy, he has an understanding of the culture and is able to gain entry<br />

among these people where white people cannot. Through our work in<br />

Slovakia, with the Evangelical <strong>Lutheran</strong> Church of the Augsburg Confession,<br />

some Gypsies have come to know Jesus. Several Gypsy men are now being<br />

173 FUCHS, 31.<br />

174 FUCHS, 26.<br />

175 FUCHS, 21, quoting THOMAS ACTON, Gypsy Politics and Social Change: The Development of<br />

Ethnic Ideology and Pressure Politics among British Gypsies from Victorian Reformism to Romani<br />

Nationalism (London and Boston 1974), 254.<br />

176 FUCHS, 35, quoting HELMUT PEUKERT, Wissenschaftstheorie-Handlungstheorie-Fundamental<br />

Theologie: Analysen zu Ansatz und Status theologischer Theoriebildung (Frankfurt a. M.: 1978),<br />

351.


72 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

trained as leaders to work among their people. Opportunities have also begun<br />

to open up for reaching Gypsies in the United States.<br />

Many Gypsies are convinced that they could not become Christians even if<br />

they wanted to, just because they are Gypsies. Another obstacle they face is<br />

that by becoming Christians they will be totally rejected by their families, and<br />

it is difficult for them to live outside of their tribes.<br />

Outreach activities include:<br />

� Consultation and leadership training<br />

� Development of culturally appropriate material for evangelism and<br />

discipleship of new Gypsy Christians<br />

� Networking among those involved in Gypsy mission 177<br />

Despite the nomadic nature of the early Israelites, who were able to take<br />

their faith and worship with them, breaking into a nomadic lifestyle with the<br />

Gospel is a serious challenge for concerned Christians and churches today.<br />

��� ����� ��� ���� �������� ��� ��������� ���� ��������� ���������� ���� ������ ��� ���<br />

identifiable group associated with the label. The average Christian knows<br />

few, if any, such nomads. They live and move and carry on their lives in<br />

their own circles, such as on the backstretch of racetracks, in theatrical<br />

productions, as seasonal migrant workers, and in a host of other<br />

occupations and pastimes. Unfortunately modern business practices seem to<br />

be creating more nomads, who frequently, but not always, encamp on<br />

weekends in suburbs or embark on other nomadic-type experiences from<br />

retreats to the cottage, sports competitions, shopping, home renovations,<br />

etc. These opportunities are endless. The opportunities for outreach are<br />

limited.<br />

��������� ������� ������ ������� �������� ��� ��������� ��� ����� ��� ������� ���<br />

everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do<br />

�����������������������������������I Pet. 3:15, NIV). The greatest and most<br />

lasting inroads in outreach to gypsies took place not by organized efforts or<br />

coercion, but individually and by ordinary Christians showing kindness and<br />

����� ��� �� ���������� ������������ �������������� ��������� ���������� �ove<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������II Cor. 5:14).<br />

All Gospel outreach begins and springs from the love of God we have<br />

received by His grace. Then that same love directs us to consider the needs<br />

of those around us and to seek ways by which effective communication<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

for all.<br />

177 , 1.


Mundt: Saving the Gypsy Soul 73<br />

Rev. William F. Mundt, Dr.Theol., is Associate Professor of Theology at<br />

<strong>Concordia</strong> <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Seminary</strong>, St. Catharines.


LTR 22 (Academic Year 2009-10): 74-93<br />

The Imprecatory Psalms:<br />

����s Enemies and Our Prayers in Christ *<br />

Jody A. Rinas<br />

Introduction<br />

I�D LIKE TO THANK THE PROGRAMME COMMITTEE for the invitation to speak on<br />

this topic, a topic which, if it doesn�t stretch your mind, certainly stretches<br />

mine. I can�t help but wonder if there was a bit of divine providence at work<br />

in this assignment, since already last spring our congregation�s Ladies� Bible<br />

Class had taken up the topics of both the penitential and imprecatory<br />

psalms. There�s some repetition in each category, in the sense that, once<br />

����ve done one or two, you�ve done th��� ����� ��� ���� ����t have to<br />

examine each one in order to see the pattern.<br />

Let�s set the stage by listening to a few words from Psalm 109, a psalm<br />

which is included neither in the red, green, blue, nor maroon <strong>Lutheran</strong><br />

hymnals. The NKJV appends the prescript, �Plea for Judgment of False<br />

Accusers�. Then we hear David sing,<br />

Do not keep silent, O God of my praise! For the mouth of the wicked and the<br />

mouth of the deceitful have opened against me. They have spoken against me<br />

with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,<br />

and fought against me without a cause. When he is judged let him be found<br />

guilty, and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, and let another<br />

take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his<br />

children continually be vagabonds, and beg. (vv. 1-2, 7-10)<br />

And this �plea for judgement� goes on for some thirty verses, with some<br />

particularly harsh words.<br />

Admittedly, it takes a bit of fortitude for a person to voice these grave<br />

words with conviction. To demonstrate the challenge in praying like this,<br />

one Rabbi David Blumenthal asked for �audience participation� in a<br />

presentation he gave at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical<br />

Literature some years ago. He asked for a volunteer to read out loud the<br />

acrimonious middle section of Psalm 109. He asked for a second reader, this<br />

* A devotional essay originally delivere�������������������������������� Fall Conference,<br />

6-9 October 2008, along with two other presentations devoted to the Psalter.


Rinas: The Imprecatory Psalms 75<br />

time requesting a more expressive reading. A series of readers tried their<br />

mouth at reading for him but failed to deliver on the desired amount of<br />

passion and vigour. He told his hearers that the psalm was to be prayed<br />

�only if you can sustain the anger.� 1<br />

Objections to Imprecation<br />

Such imprecatory or threatening psalms like Psalm 109 go beyond both the<br />

penitential psalms which confess and lament our sin, and the complaint<br />

psalms which grumble to or against God. The imprecatory psalms grumble<br />

against the enemy to the point of actually invoking curses upon him.<br />

�Imprecation� means curse. 2 The psalmist appeals to God for aid, that God<br />

would attack the enemy, bring misfortune or shame upon him (perhaps by<br />

physical inflictions), or carry out vengeance on him and his family.<br />

The immediate reaction to this is, �Well, that�s not loving the neighbour<br />

as Jesus commanded! Jesus said we should pray for our enemies, but I don�t<br />

think He meant that we should pray like this. We cannot pray such things as<br />

in Psalm 109.� 3 And if that is true, then we also cannot pray such other<br />

things as actually made it into the new <strong>Lutheran</strong> Service Book: �Oh, that You<br />

would slay the wicked, O God! Do I not hate those who hate You, O<br />

LORD? I hate them with complete hatred� (Psalm 139). 4<br />

A gentle and pious laywoman, for example, could possibly be tortured<br />

for years by psalms such as this, as she ponders whether or not she should<br />

pray such psalms against her abusive and unbelieving husband. Such a<br />

prayer makes her queasy. This reaction of revulsion toward the psalms is<br />

1 As recounted by MARTI J. STEUSSY in �The Enemy in the Psalms�� Word & World 28:1<br />

(Winter 2008): 5-12. Cf. 10. The essays found in this issue are devoted to the subject of<br />

�The Enemy��<br />

2 ODCC sugges�������������������������������� is a designation first used by W. Robertson<br />

Smith (1881) for those psalms that invoke divine vengeance. Smith was a Scottish<br />

theologian and Semitic scholar, an author and higher-critical professor. The Oxford<br />

Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross (London: Oxford University Press, 1957),<br />

683.<br />

3 See C. S. LEWIS, �The Cursings�� Reflections on the Psalms (New York: Harcourt, Brace and<br />

Company, 1958), 20-33. Cp. HEATHER WHITEHOUSE, �Reflections on Reflection on the<br />

Psalms (1958)�� <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 19 (2006-07): 97-104, esp. 99.<br />

4 On the false notion of �God hates the sin, but loves the sinner� see the terse comment in<br />

HORACE HUMMEL, The Word Becoming Flesh (Saint Louis: <strong>Concordia</strong>, 1979), 434. For a<br />

longer consideration, one may consult RONALD F. MARSHALL, �Beneath God's<br />

Righteous Frown�� The Bride of Christ, 26.3:10-14. See especially note 1, which pertains to<br />

Psalm 109.


76 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

especially prominent and appealing today when a non-judgemental God is<br />

what many people envision when they think of �God�. 5 Thus, neither is it<br />

surprising when psalms thought of as �imprecatory� are not included in LSB<br />

(12, 35, 52, 55, 58, 59, 69, 83, 94, 109, 129, 137, 140). Eighty years ago the<br />

proposed revision of the Church of England�s Book of Common Prayer<br />

permitted the omission of such portions of the Psalter from public recitation<br />

as were considered incompatible with the spirit of Christianity. 6<br />

Recently one of our members gave me a copy of a book he no longer<br />

wanted, The Comfortable Pew, in which the author tells the story of why he<br />

left the Anglican Church. One of the reasons he cited was that he heard the<br />

same old �string of religious clichés� issuing from the pulpit. As he puts it,<br />

�the repetition of old, familiar phrases� was not comforting to him. 7 I<br />

submit that, exercising ourselves in the complaint and imprecatory psalms<br />

will keep us from voicing the same grievance. In these psalms there are no<br />

easy answers. Repetition of clichés will not suffice. As we see in these<br />

psalms, followers of the true God have a challenging religion in both deed<br />

and word. Almighty God calls us to carry a cross; He also gives us some<br />

strong words to ponder in His Scripture. We do not sit in comfortable pews.<br />

Just as we cannot fathom why God �allows the pious to be met by<br />

misfortune and the godless to escape free�, devout souls also may not be<br />

able to �celebrate� or enjoy the imprecatory psalms because His words<br />

therein simply are hard for us to accept. This, though, is not God�s fault but<br />

ours. 8 �His behaviour is too difficult to grasp.� 9 In some cases, the praying<br />

Christian speaks contrary to his or her heart. 10 Thus the objective Word<br />

instructs our subjective feelings.<br />

A little over a year ago, the imprecatory psalms�particularly Psalm<br />

109�made national news when a Southern Baptist pastor in California<br />

5 Lee Strobel�s recent book, The Case for Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), popular in<br />

some circles as a lay manual for apologetics, devotes four of eight chapters to the task of<br />

explaining God�s judgement and the presence of violence in the world: Since Evil and<br />

Suffering Exist, a Loving God Cannot; God Isn�t Worthy of Worship If He Kills Innocent<br />

Children; A Loving God Would Never Torture People in Hell; Church History Is Littered<br />

with Oppression and Violence.<br />

6 ODCC, �The Imprecatory Psalms�� 683.<br />

7 PIERRE BERTON, The Comfortable Pew (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1965),<br />

23.<br />

8 PATRICK HENRY REARDON, Christ in the Psalms (Ben Lomond, CA: Conciliar Press,<br />

2000), 215.<br />

9 DIETRICH BONHOEFFER, Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible (Minneapolis: Augsburg,<br />

1970), 47.<br />

10 CARL AXEL AURELIUS, �Luther on the Psalter�� <strong>Lutheran</strong> Quarterly 14.2 (Summer 2000):<br />

193-205; cf. 203.


Rinas: The Imprecatory Psalms 77<br />

urged his parishioners to pray the imprecatory psalms against a group<br />

known as �Americans United for the Separation of Church and State�. 11<br />

Announcing his personal preferences in the early stages of the American<br />

presidential campaign, Pastor Wiley Drake had, on church letterhead,<br />

issued a statement endorsing Mike Huckabee as Republican candidate for<br />

president. Since churches are tax-exempt organizations, however, they may<br />

not do such �campaigning�. So �Americans United� asked the IRS to<br />

investigate the legal status of Drake�s congregation. Drake told his<br />

supporters that he had tried to address the issue directly with �Americans<br />

United�, in keeping with the Matthew 18 directive of going privately to<br />

show someone else his fault. But he had had no success. So he then urged<br />

his supporters to appeal to divine justice, by supplying them with Psalm 109<br />

and advising them to pray. 12<br />

So now the question becomes, whether this was the right thing for the<br />

pastor to advise his congregation. And in what circumstances does it<br />

become permissible for us to pray the same such psalms?<br />

One more story to get the pump primed. A few years ago a church<br />

member and volunteer Sunday school teacher commented on a nice gift she<br />

got for Christmas, the Bible on tape. She would listen to several chapters<br />

every morning as she rode her stationary bike. So she was getting both<br />

physical and spiritual exercise. She started with Genesis, and listened<br />

through I Samuel. She was eager to speak about how much she had heard.<br />

She writes to her pastor:<br />

Wow, I have learned many things that I never knew were in the Bible!<br />

However, there are some things that I just don�t comprehend; I am so glad<br />

that I didn�t live in Old Testament times, the rituals, the bloodshed; the<br />

expectations that were placed on them were pretty overwhelming. I had a<br />

hard time listening to Judges (especially the last three chapters) and was<br />

relieved when I finally reached the mild book of Ruth!! I am beginning to<br />

think that it�s dangerous for people to read the Bible without any explanation<br />

to go along with it. 13<br />

11 In August of 2007. For examples, see<br />

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/25/local/me-beliefs25 and<br />

. Drake reissued<br />

his call to imprecatory prayer six months later in February of 2008. See<br />

.<br />

12 A very few examples like this are recounted by Matthew Henry (who draws upon Calvin�s<br />

exposition) in his commentary on Psalm 109. See there under vv. 6-20. Matthew Henry�s<br />

Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 3, Job to Song of Solomon (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H.<br />

Revell Company, n.d.), 655.<br />

13 Someone who is never taught to understand and love the Scriptures, perhaps an atheist,<br />

will read the Bible and claim that it is full of contradictions; for such a person God is


78 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

Yes, indeed, certain parts of the Scripture may shock us, may cause us<br />

consternation or stress when we actually read it. What we read may even<br />

cause us to abandon cherished [heterodox] beliefs! The Bible is no tame<br />

book. Whether it be the books of Joshua and Judges and the idea of �holy<br />

war�, the �oracles� written by Jeremiah and the prophets against the pagan,<br />

blasphemous, idolatrous Gentile nations, or the imprecatory psalms and<br />

other severe passages, much in the Old Testament has been described, by<br />

scholars or even pious laypeople, as unfit for reading and meditation. That<br />

is, these books and passages demonstrate the inferior, low-grade quality of<br />

the Old Testament which does not achieve the lofty, high-minded, and more<br />

refined sentiments found in the New Testament. 14 Old Testament content<br />

does not achieve the required grade of �universal love and compassion�. It<br />

is the New Testament that describes and encourages superior prayers and<br />

morality.<br />

These arguments which criticize the Bible and destroy its unity are<br />

effective on less-informed Christians who may be tempted to believe that<br />

there are conflicting statements or contradictions in Holy Scripture. In some<br />

cases people are not comfortable talking about their enemies. So that they<br />

will not be judged, they themselves will not express judgements. Or at least<br />

they routinely avoid passages of Scripture which trouble their minds. Such<br />

persons are left in doubt.<br />

Now if psalms are not included in the hymnbook, they are automatically<br />

excluded from devotional consideration or at least deemed substandard.<br />

And if you pick up a Biblical study guide on �Selected Psalms�, you<br />

probably won�t find the imprecatory psalms included. Going back to look<br />

on my notes from Old Testament courses, we did touch ever so briefly on<br />

the imprecatory psalms in seminary training. 15 It may have been beneficial<br />

also to consider the pastoral practice or churchly use of these special psalms.<br />

Hints of Imprecation in our Prayers<br />

There should be no problem with praying the imprecatory psalms. On the<br />

one hand, the church is well-familiar with the petitions in the Lord�s Prayer<br />

which plead for God to let His kingdom come and His will be done. In the<br />

bloodthirsty and cruel. Hence there is the need for the ministerial office, sage housefathers,<br />

and theological scholars who are competent in the task of apologetics. Prerequisite is a<br />

careful reading of God's Word, with attention to context.<br />

14 RAYMOND F. SURBURG, �The Interpretation of the Imprecatory Psalms�� Springfielder 39<br />

(1975): 88-102; esp. 96f.<br />

15 One study question out of hundreds.


Rinas: The Imprecatory Psalms 79<br />

Small Catechism Pastor Luther explains the latter petition as breaking and<br />

hindering every evil plan and purpose of the devil who does not want to let<br />

God�s kingdom come or His will be done. 16 Then there is the petition where<br />

we ask to be delivered from evil. Christians are commanded to pray that the<br />

Holy Spirit would, until the end, preserve them from the enemy. In our<br />

hymnals we also have hymns categorized under the headings of �Christian<br />

Warfare� and �The Church Militant�. 17<br />

So the Christian�s prayers are not void of this thought of violence or<br />

conflict when it comes to his predicament between himself and the enemy.<br />

The opponent may even be the Christian unto himself. St Paul, who can<br />

describe himself as a wretched man, within whom there wages a war of<br />

wills, talks about pummelling his body and subduing it. We might also<br />

mention the preliminary judgement in the church known as<br />

excommunication, in which the wicked man is cut off from the altar, and<br />

the church commits the cause to the One who works repentance and judges<br />

justly (e.g., I Cor. 5; I Tim. 1). God must take serious action against His<br />

assailant or come to defend His people as He has promised. 18<br />

In a way we can all relate to the problem or dilemma in having an<br />

enemy. What shall we do about it? What can you do when you are at odds<br />

with other people? What are your options? There has been a significant<br />

attempt in our synod to promote the �Peacemakers� programme in order to<br />

defuse conflict or accomplish reconciliation not only in chaotic situations<br />

but as a part of everyday relationships. (To my knowledge, utilizing the<br />

imprecatory psalms is not a component of the �Peacemakers� curriculum.)<br />

And if we consider our holy mother the church and her Gospel, we might<br />

recall that reconciliation between God and His enemy is perhaps the chief<br />

motivation for the Son of God becoming man. That is, Christ becomes a<br />

friend of sinners.<br />

Psalm 109 as Imprecatory Exemplar<br />

Returning to Psalm 109, we can break it up into four sections. David first<br />

appeals to God and lodges a complaint against his enemies (vv. 1-5). Next<br />

he prays against his enemies, that they be condemned and punished (vv. 6-<br />

16 Cf. Large Catechism 3:59-70, in The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical<br />

<strong>Lutheran</strong> Church, trans. and ed. Theodore G. Tappert (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959),<br />

428f.; �The Sermon on the Mount� (1532), AE 21:101; What Luther Says, ed. Ewald M.<br />

Plass (Saint Louis: <strong>Concordia</strong>, 1959), 1100f., esp. entry 3517-19.<br />

17 CHAD L. BIRD, �Singing Against Our Enemies�, Gottesdienst 14.2 (Trinity 2006): 11-13.<br />

18 JOHN N. DAY, �The Pillars of Imprecation�� Touchstone 19.9 (November 2006): 32-35.


80 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

20). The tone shifts in the third part as David prays for God to supply help<br />

and comfort (vv. 21-29). Lastly there comes a doxology and a firm<br />

expectation for deliverance (vv. 30-31).<br />

We see that the Lord has given Psalm 109 to us through David. 19 Yet<br />

David gives no precise indication of the enemy. In the Davidic psalms we<br />

might think of Saul, the Philistines, or David�s rebellious son Absalom as<br />

the perpetrator of wickedness. We are wise to ask, �For what situation was<br />

this psalm written?� We seek for ourselves an intelligent reading of the Old<br />

Testament. Rightly we attend ourselves to the history and cult of Israel; we<br />

ask about the use of the psalms in the original setting of Hebrew life and<br />

worship. Yet here we have no exact historical circumstance to which we<br />

may attach this particular song. These songs, of course, are not simply<br />

religious history. As far as their literary genre, they can be categorized as<br />

poetry, better yet, prayers. 20 We consider this as we listen to them.<br />

What is significant is how the gifted David composes this psalm under<br />

the Spirit of prophecy 21 who has His divine eye set on Christ, His passion<br />

and persecutors. This is no shallow or flighty chorus of revenge; David has<br />

measured his words and guarded against voicing the selfish yearning for<br />

personal vengeance. We note well, in the New Testament, the most<br />

frequently cited Old Testament book is the Psalms. Following numerous<br />

excerpts in the Gospels, we see more citations follow as soon as the Lord<br />

has ascended into heaven. The book of Acts recalls the first order of<br />

business: find a replacement for the apostle Judas Iscariot. In that situation,<br />

a concrete evil had opposed incarnate God; Judas was an embodiment of<br />

the demonic. In overseeing the election of a new apostle St Peter quotes<br />

from two imprecatory psalms, one of which is Psalm 109. 22 To the church�s<br />

plight Peter applies v. 8: �Let another take his office.� In this verse David<br />

had first prayed that a certain enemy would die prematurely and that<br />

another, more responsible or faithful office-holder would come forth. This is<br />

one Christological fulfilment of the imprecatory psalm. 23<br />

19 73 psalms are attributed to David.<br />

20 JOHN YOCUM, ������������������������������� Touchstone 11.2 (March/April 1998): 29-35.<br />

21 Cp. Acts 1:16; Heb. 2:11f.; 3:7f.; 10:5f.<br />

22 The other quotation comes from Psalm 69:25. This, too, is a psalm of Christ�s passion.<br />

23 In commenting on Psalm 109:6 as a reference to Judas, Martin Luther says: �When he<br />

refused to listen to Christ, he had to listen to the wicked high priests; and although he was<br />

sorry afterwards and acted as though he wanted to do right, he did not return to the right<br />

path but fell into despair. For Satan was standing directly at his right hand and holding on<br />

to him.� �The Four Psalms of Comfort. Dedicated to Queen Mary of Hungary� (1526),<br />

AE 14:261.


Rinas: The Imprecatory Psalms 81<br />

We may take a lesson here that, while no certain but only general<br />

information may be supplied by a psalm in itself, enlightenment may later<br />

come from the New Testament on how we should regard or use a psalm.<br />

And it may give us great satisfaction to read the sometimes dim Old<br />

Testament through the enlightening lenses of the New Testament. Really,<br />

we are no longer able to read the Old Testament without the completion of<br />

God�s revelation in Christ as it comes to us in the latter Testament, 24 nor<br />

should we. Here it is helpful to have some sort of �study Bible� or other<br />

resource in which, when you read the Old Testament, all the references to<br />

the New Testament are prominent or highlighted. 25<br />

We may look a little closer at the imprecations in vv. 6-20. At some<br />

length David directs his curses toward the adversary. Surely the Christian<br />

will not curse anyone due to personal hatred or a selfish desire to see<br />

revenge done. For we have those instructive collects in which we implore<br />

God to turn the hearts of all who have forsaken the faith, or to engender<br />

repentance in the hearts of the church�s enemies. So what of praying the<br />

curses?<br />

If we know how to bless, we will also then know how to curse. Or are we<br />

�not aware of the power� of sin? 26 We must not hesitate to acknowledge<br />

some of the more uncomfortable realities. A great conflict is in progress.<br />

Evil people do exist. Human beings embody wickedness and perpetrate<br />

heinous crimes. Some of this wickedness refuses to give heed, refuses to be<br />

forgiven. False teaching is perpetuated. If permitted to continue, heresy<br />

would become gangrene among those who are nourished by the true faith.<br />

Or perhaps God�s people would be exterminated by the enemy. Such<br />

wickedness can only be destroyed.<br />

24 Liturgically this Christological or Trinitarian fulfilment of the psalms is reinforced by the<br />

addition of the Gloria Patri at the end of each psalm. The Gloria Patri first encouraged<br />

people to join in the singing the psalms, which they didn�t know by heart. It also served to<br />

guard against heterodox Trinitarian teaching in the days of Arianism. The Gloria Patri<br />

also can prevent us from reading the psalms in a purely Zionist fashion. We understand<br />

that these are prayers about Christ and of Christ. Cf. JOSEF A. JUNGMANN, The Early<br />

Liturgy (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959), 192-95, 204f.<br />

25 In its treatment of Psalm 109, the CSSB does mention the reference to Acts 1, in both the<br />

study notes and the marginal cross-references. In its treatment of Acts 1, the CSSB<br />

includes study note, text note, and marginal cross-reference while offsetting the quotations<br />

with increased margin space. <strong>Concordia</strong> Self-Study Bible: New International Version, ed.<br />

Robert G. Hoerber (Saint Louis: <strong>Concordia</strong>, 1986), 905, 1656.<br />

26 Cp. SA 3.iii:20 (Tappert, 306). Speaking positively of the imprecatory psalms, James A.<br />

Reed says that �men lose sight of the enormity of sin before they utter their mawkish<br />

sentiments against these Psalms� (cited in SURBURG, �The Interpretation of the<br />

�������������������� 101).


82 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

For example, in Psalm 58 David draws a line between the righteous and<br />

unrighteous: �The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as<br />

soon as they are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a<br />

serpent; they are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear, which will not heed<br />

the voice of charmers, 27 charming ever so skilfully. Break their teeth in their<br />

mouth, O God!� Thus God has His enemies and He is �powerless� to<br />

change them. Accordingly, He will subdue them. These curses may then<br />

prove effective; as we observe in Psalm 83 where Asaph says, �Fill their<br />

faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O Lord� (v. 16). Their<br />

condemnation gives way to their salvation. In all things, God will get glory<br />

for Himself, as Asaph then sings, �Let them be put to shame and perish, that<br />

men may know that you whose name alone is the Lord, are the Most High<br />

over all the earth� (vv. 17f.).<br />

Who Prays these Psalms?<br />

We read or pray these psalms with a number of levels in mind. 28 First, the<br />

psalms are the individual prayers of David, Solomon, Asaph, Moses, and<br />

others, who are in that old covenant relationship with God. Second, the<br />

psalms are the prayers of the children of Israel, prayers now bequeathed to<br />

us that we might employ them in the church, the new Israel. So we are<br />

inspired and comforted by the psalms as we pray them in our Sunday and<br />

weekday corporate worship settings. This means that the psalms are prayers<br />

for the Christian, the child of God brought into the new covenant by holy<br />

Baptism. God�s Word has been transmitted to us; the hymns of the Jews<br />

have been given to us to sing and pray. Lastly and most importantly, these<br />

are the prayers of Christ our Lord, who Himself is Israel, the Son who is<br />

called out of Egypt. If David can complain of injuries he sustained in the<br />

course of battle with his enemies, how much more could Christ complain of<br />

the same. And since Christ is the head of the church, we as His body, His<br />

members, benefit directly through our incorporation into Christ. We as His<br />

brothers and sisters pray through Him.<br />

In the church, Christians find themselves in Christ, praying with Him<br />

concerning the enemies. In Psalm 109 then, David complains of unjust<br />

treatment and the torment inflicted by his foes. He appeals to God, to whom<br />

27 They cannot sing the third stanza of �Oh, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing�: �Jesus! The<br />

name that charms our fears, That bids our sorrows cease; �Tis music in the sinner's ears,<br />

�Tis life and health and peace� (LSB 528).<br />

28 DAVID P. SCAER, �God the Son and Hermeneutics�� <strong>Concordia</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> Quarterly 59.1-2<br />

(January-April 1995): 49-66.


Rinas: The Imprecatory Psalms 83<br />

judgement belongs. We have already seen the reference to Judas and Christ.<br />

In v. 25 David says: �I also have become a reproach to them; when they<br />

look at me, they shake their heads.� We cannot but hear the prophecy as<br />

fulfilled at the crucifixion and inscripturated in Matthew: �And those who<br />

passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads� (27:39). This affliction of<br />

David and Christ has been repeated many times as the church in different<br />

times and places has found herself under threat of punishment, violence,<br />

and extinction, whether it be from empire, nation, or regime. Corrupt<br />

governments and courtrooms commit grievous offences against humanity by<br />

not upholding justice. Praying in Christ, the church has recourse to the One<br />

who judges justly when God�s good order is perverted or reversed. Compare<br />

David�s opening salvo in Psalm 58:1: �Do you indeed speak righteousness,<br />

you silent ones? Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?� So that no more<br />

harm may be done, David contests with his enemies and calls on God to defang<br />

their hungry mouths.<br />

To avoid offending anyone, the easier thing to do would be to<br />

spiritualize the curses and apply them to our individual battles within the<br />

soul. And if you are particularly masochistic�or better, if you are aware of<br />

the wretchedness within your heart�apply the curses to yourself, because<br />

surely God�s judgement falls upon us and our transgressions. Sometimes<br />

Christians are their own worst enemies.<br />

If you are squeamish about praying against your enemies, you might<br />

then find it more acceptable to ask God to smite your personal demons such<br />

as lust, depression, or addiction. 29 This method then internalizes the<br />

external threats cursed by the psalmist. Or perhaps, if you follow St Paul<br />

you realize that you do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the<br />

principalities, powers, and dark rulers of this world. 30 You might ask God to<br />

curse the spiritual wickedness in high places. If the roaring lion is out there<br />

seeking to devour you, it may be good to pull out the big guns.<br />

There�s only one problem to limiting yourself to this spiritualizing, and<br />

that is, in the psalms, the enemies are human. The devil works through<br />

people. The �unholy trinity� of devil, world, and flesh are always at work<br />

through deceivers or lovers of wickedness. Even St Paul could say, in the<br />

�morally superior� New Testament, �If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus<br />

Christ, let him be accursed [anathema]� (I Cor. 16; cf. Gal. 1). Paul directs<br />

this statement as both a warning and a pronouncement to the Corinthians.<br />

As depicted in his first epistle, that congregation is portrayed as a riotous<br />

bunch of no good layabouts. If anyone should continue in this manner, Paul<br />

29 STEUSSY, �The Enemy in the Psalms�� 9f.<br />

30 Cf. THOMAS S. BUCHANAN, �Breaking Teeth�� Touchstone 17.2 (March 2004): 25.


84 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

intimates, he has already received the judgement. All that remains is the<br />

sentencing.<br />

The church will be reproached for not going along with the spirit of the<br />

times. She may be penalized for standing in her teaching. So the church<br />

recognizes that she will be hated just as her Lord was hated. She will be<br />

persecuted by the world just as He was. For example in John 15 Jesus tells<br />

His disciples, �They hated Me without cause.� In this Gospel Word, Jesus<br />

gives His own interpretation as He draws from Psalm 109:3, �They have<br />

also surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a<br />

cause� (cf. 35:7, 19; 69:4). True, the church may bring scorn upon herself<br />

through foolish decisions, petty arguments, and poor witness. Yet the reason<br />

she is persecuted is for the sake of Jesus who called her and established her<br />

as His bride. She finds herself praying not as detached victim with a<br />

personal vendetta; rather she prays with Him against the enemies, who hate<br />

God�s cause. 31<br />

Perpetually walking through the days and seasons of the liturgical<br />

calendar, we pray during the life of Christ. The praying voice is that of<br />

Christ. Our voice is �through Jesus Christ, our Lord.� The voice is not one<br />

of ruthless revenge. Yet the voice is of that heard for battle in these end<br />

times. Christ engages the forces of sin, darkness, and destruction. They must<br />

render an account for their lack of righteous deeds, not doing justice, loving<br />

mercy, or walking humbly with God.<br />

The church, however, does not pray the psalms in quite the same way<br />

that Israel prayed them. The nation of Israel had military enemies who from<br />

time to time attacked individually or in coalitions of the willing. Some of<br />

these are catalogued in imprecatory Psalm 83, where Asaph mentions<br />

familiar foes such as Edom, Moab, and Assyria. These cruel, political<br />

enemies of Israel then were also enemies of God. It becomes a bit easier to<br />

comprehend how Israel was able to give voice to sentiments of imprecation,<br />

since these were enemies of God�s people both church and state. 32 For Israel<br />

there was no separation of the two. Under assault was God�s kingdom, His<br />

cause, the destiny of His plan. In some cases these onslaughts commence<br />

without provocation, as David observes in Psalm 109:4-5, �In return for my<br />

love they are my accusers, and they have rewarded me evil for good.� In<br />

these words Christological tones again ring clear. 33<br />

31 The church is aligned with, and stands for, those commandments of God and Christ<br />

which the world finds offensive. In ������������� ������������������s inherent goodness<br />

and the teaching of works righteousness while persecuting the doctrine of grace.<br />

32 HUMMEL, The Word Becoming Flesh, 434.<br />

33 To sing this in modern expression, see LSB 430, stanzas 3-5.


Rinas: The Imprecatory Psalms 85<br />

The church, however, is a kingdom not of this world. As God�s bride she<br />

has no earthly crown, throne, temple, or acreage to defend. Instead she<br />

might understand Judas Iscariot as a sort of ecclesiastical Babylon to be<br />

prayed against. When persecution breaks out against Christ and His<br />

members, they turn to the imprecatory psalms. One might recall atheist<br />

Russia, communist China, Hindu India, eastern or African Islamic<br />

countries, or any place where pastors and their congregations, because of<br />

who or what they stand for, are subject to ridicule, torture, and execution. 34<br />

While Christians extend to their enemies love, they are in faith urged to call<br />

on the Lord who defends them from false teachers, workers of iniquity, and<br />

bloodthirsty men. 35 The church may not take up sword and shield, but she<br />

can pray. Then the Lord works to convert or confound the enemy as He sees<br />

fit.<br />

Thoughts on Preaching<br />

For the church, the imprecatory psalms fall into that preaching of the Law<br />

which takes seriously God�s command to be holy. 36 Just as the Law must at<br />

some point shut up so that the Gospel can be heard in all its sweetness, here<br />

the Gospel first must be mute so that the Law can hold court. 37 Almighty<br />

God holds human beings to a standard. When they do not measure up, they<br />

are punished. This thunderous preaching must persist so that we do not lose<br />

the valuable Scripture, �It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the<br />

living God� (Heb 10). This heavy-handed preaching must go on so that we<br />

are well prepared for that day which we confess in the Creed: �From thence<br />

He will come to judge the living and the dead�. We say back to God what<br />

He has first given us to say. The imprecatory psalms are the judgement of<br />

God which He first threatened and promised to those who did not abide in<br />

His way.<br />

34 Sometimes the use of the imprecatory psalms may go unmentioned. JOHN WILCH,<br />

�Islam�s Jihad and the Bible�s Holy War: Answering the Questions�� Canadian <strong>Lutheran</strong><br />

23.5 (July/August 2008): 8-10.<br />

35 Luther says that Christians employ �curses of faith�� See his rationale in �The Four<br />

Psalms of Comfort�� AE 14:257f. He also says that our cursing hinges upon the office that<br />

we possess. See AE 21:118-29.<br />

36 �What we have here is the announcements of the judgments of God upon evildoers. We<br />

might call it the Law in its most terrifying aspect.� W. ARNDT, Bible Difficulties (Saint<br />

Louis: <strong>Concordia</strong>, 1932), 56.<br />

37 To use the words of Hosea, God must first tear us, must first strike and kill us before He<br />

heals and binds, revives and raises us up (6:1f.).


86 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

The church carries on this preaching as well, for the sake of her hearers<br />

who may have lost their way or who assumed a soft or non-judgemental<br />

God. God speaks to the human heart, which is very hard, tolerates injustice,<br />

loves arrogance and plots evil. This evil man against whom the church<br />

prays, is quite close to each one of us. 38 Jesus had something to say about<br />

the hearts of men (e.g., Mk 7). Those who refuse to deal justly, or who<br />

simply refuse to hear Him, will be doomed. It is both instructive and<br />

cautionary that the church extols private confession and often includes a<br />

confession of sins in her worship. �Ye who think of sin but lightly Nor<br />

suppose the evil great Here may view its nature rightly, Here its guilt may<br />

estimate� (LSB 451:3).<br />

In an early lecture on the Psalms, Luther also offers a remark on<br />

preaching Psalm 109. He observes that the engine of this psalm is found in<br />

its opening verse, where David complains about his reputation which<br />

suffers. Luther says that �the imprecation of the whole psalm is also<br />

properly directed against those who disparage another�s reputation.<br />

Therefore let him who wants to preach against disparagement take this<br />

psalm in hand.� 39<br />

Wrapped up with the imprecatory psalms is the question of how God<br />

actually executes His vengeance against wickedness. We leave it to Him to<br />

do this. We may or may not see how He carries out His curse. Dr Luther<br />

provides an example under the Fourth Commandment in the Large<br />

Catechism. This is the sole reference to Psalm 109 in the <strong>Lutheran</strong><br />

Confessions. 40 Luther writes:<br />

Again, as we know from experience, where there are fine old families who<br />

prosper and have many children, it is certainly because some of them were<br />

brought up well and revered their parents. On the other hand, it is written of<br />

the wicked in Ps. 109:13, May his posterity be cut off: and may their name be<br />

cut off in one generation. Learn well, then, how important God considers<br />

obedience, since he so highly exalts it, so greatly delights in it, so richly<br />

rewards it, and besides is so strict about punishing those who transgress it.<br />

In this case Luther sees the psalm fulfilled in wicked parents and their<br />

families.<br />

In another case, Luther applies this same verse (13, �May his posterity be<br />

cut off; may their name be blotted out�) to the Jews. He writes: �Here<br />

[David] returns to a consideration of many; He says their name, not his<br />

38 REARDON, Christ in the Psalms, 114.<br />

39 �Psalm One Hundred Nine� (1515), AE 11:353.<br />

40 LC 1:138 (Tappert, 384).


Rinas: The Imprecatory Psalms 87<br />

name, to show us that he is talking about an entire nation. All this was<br />

fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem.� 41<br />

In a third application of this verse, Luther largely widens the scope of the<br />

fulfilment. He says: �But everything that the wicked leave behind disappears<br />

and vanishes from sight, as Ps. 109:13 says: His memory will be blotted out<br />

in the second generation. We can see this very thing happening in our<br />

everyday experience.� 42 Luther�s remarks indicate that �the wicked� who he<br />

has in mind are �the apostates� as opposed to �the righteous�.<br />

We may be surprised to find that Psalm 109 is classified by Luther as a<br />

�Psalm of Comfort�. 43 He could call a psalm of cursing also a psalm of<br />

comfort because within the imprecatory psalms he found some of the most<br />

pleasant phrasings of Gospel consolation. On v. 21, where David calls the<br />

Lord to �Deal with me for Your name�s sake�, Luther exclaims: �It brings<br />

satisfaction and joy to a heart before God when it can pray for itself against<br />

the wicked in the assurance that our work and our suffering are on behalf of<br />

the Word and work of God, not on our own behalf.� 44 This insight directs<br />

Luther to throw the calumny back on God, so that if God forsakes David,<br />

God is thereby forsaking His own holy name, and this cannot happen.<br />

Therefore, in His steadfast love God will deliver David, a deliverance which<br />

is �sweet and pleasant�. Revelation 18�19 incorporates similar imprecations<br />

and consolations�the judgement against Babylon the Great and the<br />

rejoicing of God�s servants who exult in the God who avenges them.<br />

As with all psalms, Christ is the bridge. Only Christ can truly say of<br />

himself, �I have done no wrong� (Ps. 59) and thus pray these prayers. It is<br />

Christ who can claim, �They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for<br />

my thirst� (Ps. 69). The One who also then endures the heat of God�s wrath<br />

called for in the imprecatory psalms is Christ Jesus. By virtue of their sin<br />

and inclining themselves against God�s cause, all of humanity falls under<br />

God�s righteous indignation. Yet God has executed His intolerable<br />

judgement by putting�in our place�His own dear Son to suffering,<br />

crucifixion, and tomb: this is the New Testament message. God�s wrath for<br />

41 ����������������������������� AE 14:264. On the next verse he then says: �I would like<br />

to know what the Jews could say about this psalm. They have to admit that the Scriptures<br />

are talking about them, as St. Paul says in Rom. 3:19. All the verses of this psalm force<br />

one to the conclusion that they are describing a man, whether David or someone else,<br />

who is suffering this among the Jews and cursing them. History supports this text, because<br />

for the past fifteen hundred years no nation under the sun has been as cursed as the Jews.<br />

This did not happen to the enemies of David; but it is happening to the enemies of Jesus<br />

Christ, the Jews, just as these words des����������������������������������������265.<br />

42 ����������������������������� AE 14:228.<br />

43 ����������������������������� AE 14:257-77.<br />

44 �The Four Psalms of Comfort�� AE 14:272.


88 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

sin has been appeased. Christ has borne it in His body and soul. All of us<br />

who were God�s enemies now are His friends. If the imprecatory psalms<br />

should trouble us by their harsh pronouncements, we should more be<br />

troubled by the fact that God willed His own perfect and beautiful Son to<br />

die and be condemned for foul and depraved creatures. Let us be unsettled<br />

by the free grace of God and what it cost. For all the thoughts of the New<br />

Testament being a softer, more enlightened canon, this wrath of God is just<br />

as prominent a feature in the New Testament as it is in the Old. Yet we can<br />

escape this wrath through Christ, �who delivers us from the wrath to come�<br />

(I Thess. 1:10c). The threatening psalms are the stiff and sharp utterances of<br />

the Law which humble us for the healing Gospel of Christ, which then in no<br />

way becomes repetitious cliché.<br />

In some sense it may be easier to preach or pray the imprecatory psalms<br />

correctly when one is not party to the rage expressed by the psalm writer.<br />

The one who prays is innocent, and is not confusing his prayer with a selfish<br />

desire to obliterate some personal enemy. Yet he prays in solidarity with<br />

fellow saints who happen to be afflicted. His prayer is sober, sane, unblinded<br />

by anger or grief. He has cause to deliberate on why he should pray these<br />

psalms and who prays in concert with him (Rev. 6:9-12).<br />

It is of great comfort to know that the Lord will come to your aid. He<br />

will forgive all sin and has indeed done so in Christ; but in the end He also<br />

will not brook rejection of that Gospel. The only sin that remains is unbelief.<br />

We have a strong assurance that the Lord of heaven and earth will judge His<br />

enemies, those who reject the blessings of the crucifixion. Psalm 58: �Surely<br />

there is a God who judges on earth.� He guarantees their destruction. They<br />

will bear the wrath themselves if they reject the One who bore it for them.<br />

The cause of His people�His cause�will be vindicated. The church<br />

therefore prays that the Righteous King will separate the good and the bad,<br />

if not now then in the Last Day. Sometimes nothing will do for our<br />

condition better than an antiseptic�perhaps an imprecatory psalm�which<br />

stings at first yet leads to ultimate relief. Psalm 109 closes: �For He shall<br />

stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those who condemn<br />

him.� These words apply to David and the Christian, for together they find<br />

themselves praying in Christ who was that poor Man condemned yet saved.<br />

And here is yet another �reversal� in the scope of God�s work: though God<br />

stood at their right hand to help them in their earthly trials, He also will call<br />

them to His right hand, where they will rule and reign with Him in glory.<br />

Frequency of Imprecation<br />

Luther loved the Psalter. His life in the monastery was steeped in the<br />

psalms. There he prayed the Psalter daily and was shaped by it. He then<br />

lectured on it frequently and went on to publish numerous editions of the


Rinas: The Imprecatory Psalms 89<br />

Psalter. In the American Edition of Luther�s Works we have five volumes of<br />

psalm lectures. In the Daily Lectionary printed in the <strong>Lutheran</strong> Worship<br />

hymnal, some directions from Luther are quoted as follows: �But let the<br />

entire Psalter, divided in parts, remain in use and the entire Scriptures,<br />

divided into lections, let this be preserved in the ears of the church.� 45 We<br />

therefore have Luther�s encouragement to follow the whole counsel of God.<br />

Perhaps this will only interest you if you are convinced of the value of<br />

daily Bible reading�but it is instructive to observe how our recent <strong>Lutheran</strong><br />

hymnbooks encourage us to observe the whole counsel of God in our<br />

individual meditation. 46 In The <strong>Lutheran</strong> Hymnal, we were given a reading<br />

schedule which charts the entire Psalter to be read over a period of one<br />

month. 47 That computes as each psalm read twelve times per year. In LW<br />

the Daily Lectionary (p. 295) appointed each psalm to be read twice over a<br />

year�s time.<br />

There is a significant change with LSB. The whole Psalter is not<br />

appointed for reading. Instead we are given a chart for daily psalms which<br />

follows more the seasons of the liturgical year (p. 304). This chart is an<br />

adaptation of the framework given thirty years ago in <strong>Lutheran</strong> Book of<br />

Worship. 48 In some cases now, a psalm is repeated one or more (or many<br />

more) times a year while others are skipped. So if you did follow this<br />

reading plan, you would perpetually ignore some psalms while becoming<br />

much more familiar with others.<br />

We can telescope in on the imprecatory psalms. In this LSB Daily<br />

Lectionary, 53 psalms are not assigned for reading. That means, over the<br />

course of a year, you will jettison one-third of the Psalter, though the other<br />

two-thirds you may become quite familiar with, depending on how many<br />

times certain psalms are repeated.<br />

We might ask how many of those 53 psalms excised from the Daily<br />

Lectionary are actually located in the pew edition? As it turns out, ten of<br />

those 53 are printed�so they certainly could have been appointed for daily<br />

reading. This is immaterial, however, since neither TLH nor LW had the<br />

45 LW, p. 295.<br />

46 For corporate meditation, other charts are supplied in the hymnbooks which specify<br />

psalms for the occasional services of the church.<br />

47 TLH, p. 166.<br />

48 Inter-<strong>Lutheran</strong> Commission on Worship: <strong>Lutheran</strong> Church in America, The American<br />

<strong>Lutheran</strong> Church, The Evangelical <strong>Lutheran</strong> Church of Canada, The <strong>Lutheran</strong> Church�<br />

Missouri Synod, <strong>Lutheran</strong> Book of Worship [LBW] (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing<br />

House, 1978), 178. A cursory look reveals that, in the appointments for Advent,<br />

Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Pss. 145-50, LSB relies heavily on this LBW plan.


90 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

Psalter in its entirety, yet appointed each and every psalm to be read.<br />

Assumed was your access to those psalms not supplied in the hymnbook.<br />

The obvious question to ask is why those 53 psalms were not<br />

prescribed. 49 But what you might�ve guessed, peculiar to the imprecatory<br />

psalms, is true�they are bypassed. Sixteen psalms which I might classify as<br />

imprecatory (3, 10, 12, 35, 52, 55, 58, 59, 69, 70, 83, 94, 109, 129, 137, 50<br />

140) are omitted from the daily rotation. Two of these imprecatory psalms<br />

are included in the LSB Psalter (3, 70), so they certainly could have been<br />

assigned for reading. Four other psalms, which contain only a verse or<br />

verses of imprecation, were included in the rotation (5, 68, 139, 149).<br />

Against Luther�s advice then, we are not observing the whole Psalter. A<br />

pious yet unsuspecting reader of the LSB Daily Lectionary might presume<br />

that he was covering the entire Psalter when in fact that was not the case. 51<br />

He would, however, be repeating other psalms and thus learning them well.<br />

Unfortunately, our Sunday school teacher who is surprised at what she<br />

reads in the Bible will never experience the shock, revulsion, or comfort<br />

aroused from the divine thoughts contained in the imprecatory psalms�if<br />

they are omitted from the reading plan.<br />

What are the devotional implications of this? None, I suppose, if you<br />

don�t use the LSB Daily Lectionary or any lectionary at all. 52 We do<br />

49 The LBW model, on which the LSB plan is based, appears (by Pfatteicher�s words) to have<br />

been crafted after their hymnal editors considered the practice of the Episcopal Church.<br />

The Episcopalians had made revisions to the Psalter in their Book of Common Prayer. These<br />

revisions followed the tenor of the liturgical seasons, moving away from a recitation of the<br />

Psalter in its entirety. See the pertinent comments in a companion volume for the LBW:<br />

PHILIP PFATTEICHER, <strong>Lutheran</strong> Book of Worship: <strong>Lutheran</strong> Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context<br />

(Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1990), 381-86.<br />

50 The Service Book and Hymnal omits the offending verses (vv. 7-9) from their pew edition<br />

without giving any notice to the worshipper. The Commission on the Liturgy and The<br />

Commission on the Hymnal, Service Book and Hymnal of the <strong>Lutheran</strong> Church in America<br />

[SBH] (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1958), 210.<br />

51 The prefatory notes to the LSB Daily Lectionary (p. 299) make clear that the goal is not to<br />

read through the entire Bible.<br />

52 Many devotional readers choose to follow the Portals of Prayer, popular among <strong>Lutheran</strong>s.<br />

According to one of its editors, the Rev. Scot Kinnamon, Portals has no guiding blueprint<br />

for psalm usage. Each contributing author is responsible for selecting the particular psalms<br />

for his or her month�s devotionals. In light of this, it is amazing how few psalms are<br />

missed. I examined the psalm distribution for the Portals issues in the years 2005-2008. We<br />

can assume that 365 psalms have been chosen per year, one for each day of the year. (It<br />

turns out that not every day has an assigned psalm.) By far, Psalm 119 is the most<br />

frequent. Number of individual psalms not employed at least once during the year: for<br />

2005, 17; for 2006, 20; for 2007, 21; for 2008, 19. Only three psalms did not appear once<br />

during the entire four-year span: 83, 109, 129, all imprecatory psalms. The following<br />

psalms appear only once during the same span: 58, 60, 74, 76, 108, 134, 141. Imprecatory


Rinas: The Imprecatory Psalms 91<br />

appreciate LSB for incorporating many more psalms than we have in LW. 53<br />

Snubbing the imprecatory psalms, however, does us no good, in that we<br />

remain untroubled by these severe but salutary words from the Lord.<br />

Sometimes it is when we are unsettled that God does His best work on us.<br />

Because I may in my life have no enemies at present, or because I do not<br />

care for the tone of these psalms, I may feel that such psalms have nothing<br />

to offer. Yet I would be mistaken if I therefore disconnected them from the<br />

Scriptural narrative. This might lead to presumptive or dangerous thoughts.<br />

A case in point: while I was a seminary student I was renting a room from a<br />

family that attended the United Church. A few times they would pass along<br />

to me their church bulletins. The following paragraph was regularly<br />

included in their congregation�s Sunday worship bulletins. Here they<br />

describe or explain how they use the Scriptures in their worship setting: �In<br />

the biblical narrative, we are reading through the Bible. Repetitive verses or<br />

words may not be read in the interest of clarity and brevity. Some sections<br />

will not be read because they may be objectionable, boring, or too far<br />

removed from the general theme of the Bible.� On the basis of this statement<br />

of faith, it would be my guess that this church does not employ, for<br />

example, �objectionable� psalms in their reading. Obviously there is a<br />

different hermeneutic at work here, a frightening one.<br />

Which Psalter?<br />

Just a couple remarks on the translations we employ. Growing up on the old<br />

red (or blue or black TLH) hymnal I remember the use of psalms every<br />

Sunday. The pastor spoke the Introit and the congregation sang the Gloria<br />

Patri. Another excerpt was to follow with the gradual or alleluia, and then<br />

we later sang the Offertory taken from Psalm 51, and �Blessed is He� in the<br />

Sanctus. But my most direct shaping and forming came at seminary and<br />

then in the parish, with one or more psalms used at Morning Prayer. This<br />

was by my count twelve straight years of following the LW hymnal and<br />

either speaking or singing the psalms according to the NIV. This figure must<br />

be compounded for those pastors and people who have followed the NIV<br />

since its 1982 incorporation in <strong>Lutheran</strong> Worship. The New International<br />

Version may be sharply criticized for various exhibitions of Reformed<br />

theology. It may not, however, be criticized for its ease of phrasing and<br />

psalm 137 appears only twice during that four-year span. On one of those occasions, the<br />

offending verses are omitted from the reading. I thank Mrs Lisa Dickey and Mrs Marja-<br />

Leena Kovanen for their assistance in the counting process.<br />

53 Out of 150 total psalms: TLH has 93; LW has 60; LSB has 107; LBW has 122.


92 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

pleasant readability. The memorization of various psalms is made even<br />

easier by singing them according to their assigned tones.<br />

I must confess, then, being jarred when making the jump to the LSB. I<br />

found myself reading the psalms in the hymnbook in the new ESV<br />

renderings but still saying out loud the old NIV wordings! I am so<br />

accustomed to the NIV that the ESV comes hard. There is something<br />

salutary to Luther�s dictum in the Small Catechism that you pick a version<br />

to learn and stay with it.<br />

For ESV readers, things get worse. Even within the short seven-year<br />

lifespan of the ESV it has gone through a revision, so that what was not long<br />

in place has already been altered. Were those changes necessary? 54<br />

Countless Bible translations are doing us no favours in helping us to learn<br />

one fixed form and stick with it. 55 The proliferation of feminism, inclusive<br />

language, and gender-sensitive Bible versions further discourages us to read<br />

the psalms in a Christological way. So now instead of Blessed is the man<br />

we may read Blessed is the one, the person, he or she, or they. Bible<br />

versions can make a big difference. 56<br />

Conclusion<br />

I want again to thank the programme committee for the choice of subjects<br />

and the encouragement to pray the psalms. I noted a number of times<br />

during my preparation for this essay that I was feeling guilty. I was feeling<br />

guilty because I kept asking myself how this is relevant. I wasn�t really<br />

trying to accomplish anything other than a consideration of the psalms. I<br />

wasn�t trying to convince you of anything, just trying to listen to what these<br />

difficult psalms had to offer.<br />

Perhaps my reservation is my own perception that so much of what we<br />

hear today seems very utilitarian or pragmatic in its approach, so much so<br />

that, if we are not �accomplishing� anything or not �achieving� a tangible<br />

goal, we are wasting our time. Yet so much study of God�s Word could<br />

simply be considered �tracking down leads.� We enjoy this Scriptural trek<br />

as we follow the current of the river. We let God�s Word carry us; we go<br />

54 At least one of the changes was helpful. See<br />

.<br />

55 Recall the switch from old to new wordings in the Small Catechism, carried out<br />

midstream in the publishing of the LW hymnal.<br />

56 Cf. �The Present Impiety��in PATRICK HENRY REARDON���Christology and the Psalter:<br />

The Church's Christian Prayer Book�� Touchstone 7.2 (Spring 1994): 7-10.


Rinas: The Imprecatory Psalms 93<br />

wherever it winds. There is something to be said for simply resting ourselves<br />

in God�s Word and speaking it aloud, that it might have its way with us.<br />

Psalm 119: �Oh, how I love Your law!� We love the Scripture; as we pray<br />

it, God will accomplish what He wants, when and where He so chooses. As<br />

we pray that Word, the bride of Christ may actually become effective in her<br />

intercourse with Him and with others. This devotion to praying the psalms<br />

is an expression of faith and love.<br />

The Rev. Jody A. Rinas is Pastor of Trinity <strong>Lutheran</strong> Church, Quesnel, British<br />

Columbia.


LTR 22 (Academic Year 2009-10): 94-108<br />

����������������������������������������������������������<br />

Translated by John R. Stephenson<br />

[Introduction: August Pfeiffer (1640-98) studied in Wittenberg under<br />

�������� ������ ��� ������ ���� ������� ������������ ��������� ���� �������<br />

him into a fellow theologian of the Silver Age of <strong>Lutheran</strong> Orthodoxy, whose<br />

works later found a place in the library of J. S. Bach. From 1681 (as<br />

�������������� ���� ������-ranking clergyman at St Thomas in Leipzig, he<br />

taught, from 1684, as professor of Hebrew in that u������������ �������� ���<br />

theology. In 1689 Pfeiffer accepted the call to be superintendent of the<br />

imperial city of Lübeck, where he served till his death. While still in Leipzig,<br />

Pfeiffer published, in 1685, under the title Der wohlbewährte Evangelische<br />

Augapfel, a 1408-page series of sermons on the successive articles of the<br />

Augsburg Confession. I here offer readers of LTR an English translation of<br />

���� ������ ��� ����������� ���� �������� ��� ��� 5 (Vom Predigtamt, De ministerio<br />

ecclesiastico), which affords us a glimpse into the understanding of this article<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

of a town and gown congregation, breaking frequently into Latin, sprinkling<br />

his oration with French loan words, and quoting Greek and Hebrew with<br />

gusto. Explanations are offered in the footnotes, and the page numbers of the<br />

original are given in square brackets. I have made no attempt to reproduce<br />

the Sperrdruck/wider spacing with bold printing of which Pfeiffer makes<br />

lavish use for the purpose of emphasis. JRS]


������������������������������������ 95<br />

[373] Preface<br />

WE HAVE HITHERTO BY GOD�S GRACE considered the first four articles of our<br />

evangelical 1 confession of faith, which are contained in the following rhyme:<br />

����������������������������������������������<br />

����������������������������������������������� 2<br />

In this process we dealt with (1) God; (2) man afflicted with original sin<br />

after the fall; (3) the Mediator between God and sinful man, Christ Jesus;<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

office brings about.<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

office of the Spirit or the preached Word as the means of reception through<br />

which God causes our justification to be offered and conferred according to<br />

���� ������ ��� ���� ��������� ������������ ���� �������� ����� ������ ����<br />

instituted the preaching office, gave Word and sacrament, through which as<br />

through means He gives the Holy Spirit, �����<br />

[374] Text: II Cor. 5:20<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������� us. So we<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������<br />

Introduction<br />

Here and there in Scripture the Holy Spirit ascribes to bona fide 3 preachers<br />

and teachers, for their especial comfort, sundry glorious predicates and titles<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

(I Cor. 4:1)�� ������ ����������� (I Cor 3:9); 4 anointed ones of the Lord (Ps.<br />

1 ��� ����������� ���� ���� ���������� ����������� ����������� ���� ����� �evangelical�� �����������<br />

and denied this style to the Reformed.<br />

2 The rhyme works in German, where Knecht (= slave) matches gerecht (= righteous), but not<br />

��� �������� ������������� ������ ��� ���������� ����� ���� ��������� ������ �������� ���� ������<br />

���������������������������������������������<br />

3 rechtschaffen.<br />

4 Pfeiffer specifies the non-existent I Cor. 3:59, doubtless meaning I Cor 3:9, where the<br />

������� ������ ����������� ������� sunergoi, with Mitarbeiter ������� ����� ����� �����������<br />

Gehülffen.


96 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

105:15); the salt of the earth and lights of the world (Mt. 5:13-14); good<br />

soldiers of Jesus Christ (II Tim 2:3); indeed, saviours (Obad. 21); 5 those who<br />

through their word save themselves and those who hear them (I Tim. 4:16);<br />

and so on.<br />

And yet perhaps no title presents 6 their office more completely than<br />

when Paul calls them, as we have already mentioned, ambassadors in<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

Lord Sabaoth (Mal. 2:7).<br />

There are especially four things to notice in a bona fide legate or<br />

ambassador: (1) his credentials and legitimation; (2) his respect and<br />

reputation; (3) his prescribed instruction; and (4) his skill in carrying out his<br />

task.<br />

[375] Anyone who wants to pass himself off as an emissary must first of<br />

all get himself legitimated and have in his hand and be able to produce letter<br />

of credence from his principal (whether a potentate or a republic) to the one<br />

with whom he has business to transact; otherwise folk will consider him to<br />

be more a spy than an ambassador. Thus anyone who wants to be a bona<br />

fide preacher must get legitimated through letters of credence, that is,<br />

through his orderly vocation, and prove that Christ, either immediately or<br />

mediately, has said to h�������� ���������� ���� ����� ��������� ��� ��������<br />

�����(Jn 20:21)�������������������������������(Mt. 10)�����������������<br />

�����������������������������������(Rom. 10:15)���������������������������<br />

����� ��������� ���� ��� ������� ��� ����� ����� ����� ������� (Heb. 5:4). Slovenly<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������(Jer.<br />

23:21).<br />

(2) If a legate can show his legitimacy through credentials from his<br />

principal, he has such respect and reputation that his person is regarded as<br />

sacred and inviolable (according to the law of all peoples) in keeping with<br />

the proverb, pre,sbij ouvc v u`bri,zetw. 7 And what he says has the same force<br />

and vigour as if the principal himself had said it with his own mouth. Thus<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������� (I<br />

Tim. 5:17)����������������������������������������������������, so runs<br />

5 Pfeiffer specifies the non-existent v. 24.<br />

6 praesentire.<br />

7 According to Liddel-Scott-�������� Greek-English Lexicon, the proverb, pre,sbij ouv tu,ptetai<br />

ouvde. u`bri,zetai �let not an ambassador be beaten or mistreated��������������������������������<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������tead of<br />

passive and puts the accent on the wrong syllable. (Thanks to T. Winger and J. Grothe for<br />

tracking this down.)


������������������������������������ 97<br />

his safe conduct 8 (Ps. 105:15). And what he says to people in the name of<br />

his principal has the same force and vigour and is in effect 9 as much as if<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������(Mt.<br />

10:20).<br />

(3) But a legate must also have a prescribed instruction and order from<br />

his principal [376] concerning what he is to accomplish with others and how<br />

far he should go. These are his limitations that he should not exceed. Thus<br />

teachers and preachers have their instruction in Holy Scripture, to which<br />

they must strictly 10 and precisely conform in their office. Secular potentates<br />

are indeed accustomed to subjoin to their instruction the general proviso,<br />

����������������������������������������������������� 11 Yet teachers and<br />

preachers have no such comparable provisos (as respects their works in and<br />

���� ������������� ���� ����� ����� ��� ��������� ���������� ��� ����� ���� ����<br />

���������� ��� ����� (Is. 8:20)�� ���� ������� �������� ���� ���� ������ ��� ������<br />

������(I Pet. 4:11), neither adding to nor subtracting anything from it. Even<br />

so, the manner in which they present and put things forward is left to their<br />

�������������������������������������������������<br />

For just as (4) it is not enough for a legate to have his letter of credence,<br />

nor for him to have his respect because he also has his right instruction, but<br />

skill in carrying out his task also belongs to the mix�he must have good<br />

knowledge especially in matters of state, he must also otherwise have good<br />

qualities and, as we say, have a fine conduite about himself, for which reason<br />

great potentates are in the habit of using for this purpose one of their faithful<br />

counsellors or such persons whose skill is known to them. So also it is not<br />

enough for a preacher to have his vocation, the respect and vigour of his<br />

office, and the prescribed instruction and force, but i`kano,thj 12 also belongs<br />

��������������������� ������������������������������ (II Tim. 2:2). Thus we<br />

would have to consider in the ambassadors of Christ:<br />

� Their credentials and legitimation.<br />

� Their respect and reputation.<br />

� Their prescribed instructions.<br />

� Their skill in carrying out their task.<br />

8 salvus conductus.<br />

9 in effectu.<br />

10 stricte.<br />

11 Reliqva committimus tuae prudentiae & discretioni.<br />

12 fitness.


98 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

We shall devote a special treatment to only the first point in the<br />

fourteenth article on the calling of preachers, 13 and for now we want to stick<br />

with the second poin�������������������������������������������������<br />

[377] Authority of Preachers<br />

May it please God that we should treat the two remaining points in the<br />

following sermon. D. D. G. S. S. A. 14<br />

Exposition<br />

When we now want to contemplate the authority of an ambassador of<br />

Christ, we have to look at:<br />

I. Legati Personam, the person of the ambassador. We, says Paul, namely<br />

I and my equals, my assistants, my fellow-servants, 15 my fellow-elders in the<br />

Lord, as also my successors, 16 presbeu,omen, Legatione fungimur, are in the<br />

�������� ��� ������������ ���� �������� ��� ��������� ������� ���� ����������� �����<br />

not carry out His teaching office personally and with His own mouth, but<br />

uses us as middle-persons for this purpose. He as the Teacher of all teachers,<br />

as the General Superintendent 17 �������������������������������������������<br />

some as apostles, some as evangelists, some as shepherds and teachers, that<br />

the saints may be fitted to the work of the office, 18 whereby the body of<br />

��������������������(Eph. 4:10-11). And because the Church was not meant<br />

to end with the time of the apostles, it is obvious that teachers of the Church<br />

could not end with the apostles, but rather that the Lord of the harvest sends<br />

workers into His harvest at all times until the Last Day (Mt. 9:38), and<br />

13 In his sermon on AC 14, Pfeiffer teaches that God calls men into the preaching office<br />

through the whole Church that consists of the three orders made up of clergy, political<br />

������������������������������������������������������Mittels-Personen] does God use for<br />

this purpose, and through whom He calls and sends preachers? Answer: The whole<br />

Church at this and that place, consisting of three distinct chief estates, to which belong not<br />

only the clergy [die Geistlichen], but also the civil authorities [die Obrigkeit], and the people<br />

or congregation [Gemeine����Evangelischer Augapfel, 818.<br />

14 A specialist in the literature of this period has suggested to me that this abbreviated<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

likely means Deus det gratiam Spiritus Sancti. Amen�May God give the grace of the Holy<br />

Spirit. Amen.<br />

15 Mit-Knechte.<br />

16 Successores.<br />

17 General Superintendens.<br />

18 Pfeiffer quotes this much-�����������������������������������������������������������


������������������������������������ 99<br />

hence that every properly called preacher can say with Paul, presbeu,w, I am<br />

��������������������������������<br />

[378] But to contemplate the person somewhat more closely, the<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

(1) humans 19 and (2) men. 20<br />

It admittedly seems as though it would catch more attention if with<br />

respect to this office God would simply let His majesty shine or else<br />

deputize His holy serf-spirits, 21 the angels, for this purpose. And yet God has<br />

laid this office on men 22 alone, and we must marvel that Christ Himself<br />

directs Saul or Paul (with whom He speaks in person) to Ananias, a man, 23<br />

who would tell him what he should do (Acts 9:12). Similarly, while an angel<br />

speaks with Cornelius the centurion in Caesarea, he directs him to Peter,<br />

who would tell him what he should do (Acts 10:16). It strikes reason as<br />

somewhat puzzling that God directs men 24 first and foremost to men. 25<br />

Why does He do this, you ask? It happens (as much as we can deduce a<br />

posteriori) for four special reasons:<br />

1. In testimonium divinae Filanqrwpi,aj, 26 in witness of His special love:<br />

God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son for its best (Jn<br />

3:16). Yet for the still loftier praise of His name it must not be angels who<br />

propose and present this to men, 27 even though they would otherwise have<br />

gladly taken this commission upon themselves inasmuch as they desired to<br />

��������������������������(I Pet. 1:12), but it must be men 28 in order that the<br />

dear Friend of men 29 should bind us men 30 still more to Himself and show<br />

how much He loved people 31 (Deut. 32:3). Oh what is man, 32 after all, that<br />

19 Menschen, nominative plural. The German Mensch corresponds to the inclusive use of<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

20 Männer, nominative plural of Mann.<br />

21 Frongeister.<br />

22 Menschen, pl., i.e., humans.<br />

23 einen Menschen, accusative singular.<br />

24 Menschen, accusative plural.<br />

25 Menschen, dative plural.<br />

26 In witness to divine love for mankind.<br />

27 Menschen, dative plural.<br />

28 Menschen, nominative plural.<br />

29 Menschen-Freund.<br />

30 Menschen, accusative plural.<br />

31 die Leute.<br />

32 Mensch, nominative singular.


100 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

You think of him and the son of man 33 that You esteem him so highly? (Ps.<br />

144:3).<br />

2. In signum divinae evnergei,aj, 34 as a sign that the transcendent power<br />

belongs to God and to no creature (II Cor. 4:7). If He had set angels over us<br />

as teachers, we might easily have ascribed the power to the angels, even<br />

though no cherub or seraph is competent to forgive the least sin by his own<br />

power. But now that weak men 35 do this and carry about [379] the priceless<br />

��������� ��� ���� ����� ���� ����������� ��� �������� ��������� ��� ������� ������<br />

finger on a fresh deed.<br />

3. In Ludibrium Satanicae avlazwnei,aj, 36 to insult and defy the wicked<br />

devil. What can more vex the proud spirits than that not angels and thrones<br />

but poor wretched sinful earthworms must turn into knights before them<br />

and tear one soul after another out of their claws and the devil must let this<br />

happen although he would gladly break their necks? The hellish Goliath<br />

must see that, now here now there, a David rises up against him (I Sam.<br />

17:49). He would like to pine away with venom and rage, only:<br />

�����������������������������<br />

Scowl fierce as he will,<br />

He can harm us none,<br />

������������������������������<br />

One little word can fell him.<br />

4. In subsidium humanae avsqenei,aj, 37 in aid of our inborn weakness, about<br />

which God knows best, being aware that we can endure neither the<br />

splendour of His majesty nor the glory of the angels. How the children of<br />

Israel creep to the cross when God allowed a glimpse of His majesty to be<br />

���������� ���������������������� �������� ������������, ����� �����������<br />

shall obey, a�������������������������������������������(Ex. 20:19).<br />

Daniel fainted before an angel (10:9). For this reason God in fatherly<br />

fashion stoops down to the level of our weakness and deals with us through<br />

�������� ������� ����� ��� ������ ����� ��� ������ ���� ��������� ���� ���� ����<br />

equals, who are of our flesh and blood, with whom we can have friendly<br />

and brotherly conversation, to whom we can boldly disclose our concerns;<br />

who are our comrades in battle 38 and confreres; who are also subject to<br />

33 des Menschen Kind.<br />

34 As a sign of divine power.<br />

35 Menschen, nominative plural.<br />

36 In mockery of Satanic pride.<br />

37 For relief of human weakness.<br />

38 Commilitones.


������������������������������������ 101<br />

human weaknesses; who know how to encourage poor sinners and are also<br />

able to sympathize with us and to restore the weak in a gentle [380] spirit<br />

(Gal. 6:1). Moreover, it serves for our greatest comfort that it has pleased<br />

God to appoint not the lofty ones in the world but men of simple or<br />

common condition to this work (I Cor. 1:26f.).<br />

Moreover, God has selected men 39 or male persons 40 as His legates and<br />

ambassadors and decreed that a woman shall be silent in the congregation (I<br />

Cor. 14:35)�����������������������������������������������������������������<br />

��������(I Tim. 2:12). Nevertheless, women should not get it into their heads<br />

��������������������������������������������������is is not the meaning! A<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

����� �������� ���� ���� ������� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ��� ������� ������� (Gal.<br />

3:28). God also wills to pour out His Spirit as much upon women as upon<br />

men, to equip and illumine women as much as men with His gifts (Joel<br />

2:28-29). Women as well as men have vocationem Charitatis, the calling to<br />

love, or are authorized to teach privately their children and servants and<br />

others who need it, just as Paul wants old women to be good teachers (Tit.<br />

2:3). He celebrates Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Persis, since they have<br />

laboured in the Lord (Rom. 16:12). Only the public teaching office shall not<br />

be conferred on them, among other reasons because the punishment<br />

imposed on them in Gen 3:16 would not permit them to look after the office<br />

of the Church without hindrance. Moreover, they have another prerogative<br />

over men in that the eternal Son of God willed to be born without<br />

involvement of man only of the seed of the woman or from a woman (Gal.<br />

4:4).<br />

�������������������������������<br />

But the Spirit of our God<br />

Made the Word of God be flesh<br />

���������������������������������<br />

[381] For since Christ excluded all men from helping in His bodily birth,<br />

women, conversely, will not begrudge us men the prerogative of His not<br />

willing to use women as mediating persons to bring about His spiritual birth<br />

�������� 41 hearts (Gal. 4:4).<br />

II. Personae evxousi,a, 42 the authority and power of an ambassador of Jesus<br />

Christ is not auvtokratorikh, self-generating. 43 Teachers and preachers are<br />

39 Männer.<br />

40 Manns-Personen.<br />

41 der Menschen, genitive plural.<br />

42 Authority of the person.<br />

43 eigenthätig.


102 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

�������������������������������������(I Pet. 5:3). They do not have power to<br />

teach what they want. They cannot make sacraments as the papist mass<br />

priests 44 boast of being Creatores Creatoris sui, creators of their own Creator.<br />

Nor ��� ����� ����� ������ ��� ������ ��������� ����������� ���� ��� ��������<br />

according to their own whim with the keys of heaven and to use them like<br />

lords of the manor, no, they are not principals or lords of our faith (II Cor.<br />

1), but they are servants and ambassadors, and what they do, they do u`pe.r<br />

Cristou/�� ��� ��������� ������� ����� ����� ���� ������� �����di v auvtw/n, through<br />

������ ������������� ������ ���������� ��������� ��� ������ ������ ����� ��� �������<br />

instruments and middle-persons. When they preach, absolve, baptize,<br />

a���������� ���� �������� ����� ���� ������sunergoi, or assistants (I Cor. 3:9),<br />

who lend Him their mouth, hand, and understanding (Jer. 15:19). It is a<br />

single avpote,lesma (a divine work), unus et indivisus actus, 45 that they<br />

����������� ��� ������ ������ ���� ����� �od accomplishes through them;<br />

therefore their office is called an office of the Spirit (II Cor. 3:6), because He<br />

is present in grace and works through them.<br />

������ ���������� ��� ��������� ����������� ��� ����� ������ ������� ��� ����������<br />

through them, 46 and to his ��������������� ������� ���� ��������� ����� ���<br />

������ ������������������� �������������������������� �������������������� ���<br />

������ ���� ��� ������ W����� ������ ��� ��� ����� ��� ���� ���� ��������� (I Thess.<br />

2:13)��������������������������������������������������������������ak, but<br />

�������������������������������������������������(Mt. 10:20).<br />

Their B������������������� B����������������������������������������������<br />

����������������������������������(Tit. 3:6)����������������������������������<br />

the baptized (Gal. 3:27).<br />

Their abs�������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

��������������������������������� �������������������������������������<br />

������������������������������������(Mt. 9:2)��������������������������������<br />

����� ���� ������ ������ ���� ����� ����� ��� ������ ������ ��� ������ ��� ��������<br />

(Mt. 16:18)�� ������� ����� ���� ������� ����� ���� ���������� ���� ������ ����<br />

���������������������������(Jn 20:23).<br />

������ ������������� ��� ���� ���������� ������� ��� ��������� �������������� ���<br />

often as we hold the holy Supper, the symbols of bread and wine<br />

consecrated by them are the communion of the body and blood of Christ (I<br />

Cor. 10:16)�� ������ ������ ����� ����������� ��� ���� ����� ��������� ����� ����<br />

blood, nevertheless they powerfully dedicate the symbols of bread and wine<br />

to this end.<br />

44 Meßpfaffen.<br />

45 A single and undivided act.<br />

46 Pfeiffer is alluding to his sermon text, II Cor. 5:20.


������������������������������������ 103<br />

Experience has shown that Christ in such measure exhorts through them<br />

and is active through their preaching and service. Through his preaching<br />

Peter converted around 3000 souls (Acts 2:41). It struck their heart, which<br />

Cicero with all his persuasiveness 47 would never have accomplished. When<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

���� ������� �������� ����� ���������� ��� ���� ����� (Acts 16:14). When, while<br />

still a Manichean, Augustine listened to Ambrose out of mere curiosity,<br />

because he knew his reputation for eloquence, the preached heavenly truth<br />

simultaneously worked in his heart so that he went into himself and finally<br />

came to knowledge of the truth. Simon Pauli 48 relates how he knew an<br />

Epicurean who never came to church, who wallowed in every kind of vice<br />

and in particular slandered and persecuted preachers. Once when a stranger<br />

was to preach in that place, he said [383] he would go and hear the new<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

the process expressly exhorting to repentance to the effect that those who<br />

����� ������� ����� ����� ������� ����� ����� ����� ����� ��������� ��� ������ ������<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������ (Ezek. 33:11)�� ���� ������� ���� ���� �ecome mighty there the grace of<br />

��������������������������������(Rom. 5:20). Hence Cain committed a<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

��������������������������������������������������Mentiris Cain! Major est<br />

DEI misericordia, qvam omnium hominum miseria. You lie, Cain (by saying<br />

your sin is too great to be forgiven), ���� ������ ������ ��� �������� ����� ����<br />

misery and wretchedness of men, �������������������������������������������<br />

God touched his heart so that after the sermon had ended he said to a<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������� ��� ����� ��� �� ����� ���� ����� ���� ��� �� ������ ������ �� ���������� �����,<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

God ����������������������������(Rom. 1:16)���������������������������������<br />

sharper than any two-edged sword and penetrates till it separates soul and<br />

spirit and also marrow and bone and it is a judge of the thoughts and desires<br />

��������������(Heb. 4:2).<br />

How though, you say, if my preacher, whom I am meant to consider<br />

worthy of twofold honour, does not behave in a way that elicits respect, or is<br />

not favourable towards me, can I even then still draw comfort from his<br />

office? Answer: Inasmuch as he simply abides by his prescribed instructions,<br />

���������������Word purely and performs the holy sacraments according to<br />

47 Svada.<br />

48 Either Simon Pauli the Elder (1534-91), a Melanchthon student who became<br />

superintendent in Rostock, or his grandson, Simon Pauli the Younger (1603-80), who<br />

emigrated to Denmark where he became a physician to the king; probably the former.


104 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

��������� ����������� ���� ������� ��� ����� ������ �������� ����� ���� �������<br />

(although it would be desirable that he not preach to others and himself be<br />

rejected), [384] just as his favour or disfavour cannot prejudice the power of<br />

the preached Word in the hearers. Someone can bring you a princely gift,<br />

and although the bearer is not well disposed towards you, this takes nothing<br />

from the intention of the giver or the value of the gift. A physician can<br />

indeed prescribe a good diet for others, even though he himself does not live<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������can take nothing<br />

from the power of the heavenly treasure, the divine Word, nor can his<br />

����������������������������������(Rom. 3), since the effect of the preached<br />

Word derives not from the worthiness of the preacher but from the divine<br />

power; just as the fruitlessness of the seed derives not from the hand of the<br />

farmer who scatters it, but from its inner power, etc.<br />

Application<br />

This, then, is gnw/sij avlhqei,aj, 49 the divine truth so much as it pertains to<br />

the authority and vigour of the preaching office. Now we want to go to<br />

pra,xin evusebei,aj 50 and our edification. My concern will be to awaken the<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

the Anabaptists, Schwenkfeldians, and Enthusiasts, who wanted to throw<br />

out the preaching office and take from it all power and authority, contrary to<br />

the clear Scripture I have quoted to this point. Nor do I want to look at the<br />

Calvinists, who believe that the preached Word has only significative<br />

power 51 or that it shows only how we are to be saved or where we should<br />

seek our salvation, but does nothing to effect our salvation. What else is this<br />

����� ��� ������� ������� ���������� ����� ���� ��� �� ������� ������ ��� ����� ��� ���<br />

maintain that it cannot effect our salvation? Nor do I want to examine the<br />

papists, who want to deny all efficaciousness and authority to our<br />

evangelical 52 preaching office. Against them we intend to demonstrate our<br />

credentials and calling at the 14 th article and thus legitimize our persons<br />

[385]. Rather, I now have to do with false evangelicals 53 or such persons as<br />

are whitewashed with the evangelical name and yet hold in poor esteem the<br />

evangelical preaching office.<br />

49 Knowledge of truth.<br />

50 Practice of piety. Even though a determined foe of Pietism, Pfeiffer repeats the Pietist<br />

mantra praxis pietatis.<br />

51 vim significativim.<br />

52 =<strong>Lutheran</strong>.<br />

53 Pseudo-Evangelicis.


������������������������������������ 105<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

ambassadors (who were intended to bring him c���������������������������<br />

������� ���� ����� �������� ����� ������������ ���������� ��� �������� ��� ����<br />

their beards cut off, along with half their hair and their clothes halfway up to<br />

their loins, and sent them away in this state. Not only among the Jews, but<br />

also among other nations this was a great injury, just as feudal law 54 later on<br />

�������� ��� ����� �������� ���� ��������� ���� �� ������ ������ ��� ���� ���������<br />

him calida manu, 55 with dry fists. And as if this were not enough, he had<br />

their coats, that is, according to the custom of the country at that time, their<br />

long coats, cut off to the belt, in Hebrew ~h,yteAtv. d[;, usque ad partes<br />

aversas ipsorum, or up to their behinds. In this way (because at that time the<br />

Jews generally wore nothing on their legs) he shamefully stripped them and<br />

made them an object of public scorn and laughter (II Sam. 10:4). Just such<br />

�������� ��������� ���� ��� ��� ������ ������ ������ ���� ����� �����������<br />

evangelical Christians, folk who mock and despise servants of God and the<br />

Lord, the ambassadors of Jesus Christ. How many cavaliers are there who<br />

look down on a poor little parson! How seldom do people sit down at a<br />

meal where preachers do not have to be the drinking song that folk gladly<br />

sing (Ezek. 33:32)? The most popular fellow is the one who comes up with<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������(Jer. 18:18).<br />

Paul admonishes that we should examine everything with the diligence of<br />

bees and keep the good, but they behave like spiders [386] and keep the evil,<br />

on the lookout for something to slander in the sermon.<br />

I now want to confront such people partly with the heavy burden of<br />

preachers, partly with their special dignity. 56<br />

Their burden is not slight. Indeed, they have severe toil. Anyone who<br />

takes his office seriously and wants to do a good job of parakalei/n and<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������� ��������<br />

wisdom, there is much vexation, and whoever must teach much must suffer<br />

������(Eccl. 1:8)�����������������������������������������������������<br />

(12:12). People say that we shake sermons out of our sleeve, except that<br />

54 in jure feudali.<br />

55 With hot hand.<br />

56 Burden (Bürde) and dignity (Würde) rhyme in German, giving Pfeiffer the opportunity for<br />

pulpit emphasis.


106 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

such sleeve sermons are right pitiful sermons 57 that usually boil down to<br />

pitiful tautologi,aj, 58 a mere logodia,rroian, 59 and unfounded chatter.<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�����������������������������������������������(Phil. 2:20), but he must also<br />

carry concern day and night for so many souls who are bound to his own<br />

soul (II Cor. 11:28). Indeed, he shall give account for them on the Last Day<br />

(Heb. 13:17). These factors beget such concerns as these: Have I paid heed<br />

to parakalei/n? 60 Have I spoken with due earnestness to secure sinners?<br />

Have I comforted depressed and sick persons according to my best ability?<br />

Have I also applied all possible diligence 61 in my office? Have I not perhaps<br />

neglected this or that soul, so that God will condemn them for their<br />

godlessness while demanding their blood from my hands (Ezek. 33:8)?<br />

There is great danger that in time of persecution we preachers shall be<br />

targeted beyond others as heretics in chief and deceivers of the people and<br />

accorded the worst treatment. And as hunger, war, and pestilence break in<br />

upon the land, we must stand our ground and let things happen as God will.<br />

������ ��� ���� ������������ ���� ������� ��� �������� ����������� ��� ��� ������<br />

preach to them anything good according to their own ideas (I Kgs 22:8)<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

yo��� ������ ������� ���� ����� ��� ���� ������� ����������� ������� ����� ��������<br />

���������������������������(Amos 7:12)�������������������������������������<br />

���������������������������������������<br />

Bearing all this in mind, people should rather have sympathy with<br />

preachers as in truth wretched persons than want to inflict more injury and<br />

agony upon them. Yet in this context I also want to confront such slanderers<br />

with the dignity of preachers, which God has granted and given them.<br />

����������� ���� ��������� ������� ��� ��� ��������� ��������� ���� ��������� �����<br />

������ ��������� (I Cor. 4:1). What potentate likes to let his servants, his<br />

legates, be badmouthed? David regarded the affront to his legates as done to<br />

himself. Likewise God will revenge the badmouthing inflicted on His<br />

preachers in the setting and for the sake of their office as an injury to<br />

��������� ��������� ��������� ���� ��������� ���� ���� �������� ��������� ���<br />

��������� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ��� ����� �� ���� ����� ���� ������������<br />

57 The German word play cannot easily be rendered in English: sleeve (Ärmel) sermons,<br />

pitiful (erbärmlich) sermons.<br />

58 Saying the same thing over and over again.<br />

59 Flow of words.<br />

60 Exhorting.<br />

61 omnem diligentiam.


������������������������������������ 107<br />

redounds upon God Himself, says Christ in Luke 10:1��������������������<br />

���������������������������������(Zech. 2:8).<br />

����������������������������������������� 62 just concerned with your<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������(Ps.<br />

115:1). We are absolutely not concerned with external caresses, much less<br />

do we seek in the manner of the Pharisees everywhere to sit in the highest<br />

places, or to flourish our persons as top dogs. In particular 63 we are well<br />

aware what respect we owe to the authorities and patrons placed over us by<br />

God, to those who stand and watch over us in our capacity as cives et membra<br />

Reip. 64 and also as beneficiarii 65 and clients. We are gladly and willingly<br />

subject to the authorities that have power over us (Rom. 13:1). And for our<br />

own persons we would gladly yield to everyone according to the example of<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

gracious lords, but not so with you, but the greatest shall be as the least<br />

�����������������������������������������(Mt. 22:25-26). In this context we<br />

are pressing only for respect to our office and for people to regard it as only<br />

�� ��������� ������� ������� ���� ����� ����� ���������� ���� ����������� ������� ���<br />

worthy of reverence, and when he sees his pastor 66 in the pulpit, in the<br />

�������������� ��� ���� ������ ��� ������� ���� ������� ��� �������� ������ ��� ���� ����<br />

whom Jesus Himself has sent to me so that He can bring me into heaven,<br />

������������������������������������������������� Word and work, ���������<br />

the heart is full of such respect for the office, everything will soon fall into<br />

place and a reasonable Christian will immediately be able to strike a happy<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������e<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

also display fitting honour to the person and consider it the dearer and the<br />

more worthy on account of the work, and he will also avoid slandering the<br />

office by despising the person.<br />

I will close with this alone since I know that there will be no one in this<br />

Christian congregation who does not agree with me. On the contrary, as one<br />

of the least ambassadors of Jesus Christ I revel in all the undeserved love<br />

and honour that I have hitherto enjoyed. I can say with good conscience of<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

of God, yes, if it were possible, you would have ripped out your eyes and<br />

62 Geistlichen.<br />

63 In specie.<br />

64 Citizens and members of the commonwealth, republica.<br />

65 Receivers of good.<br />

66 Seelsorger.


108 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

������������������(Gal. 4:14). I have exercised my office till now with joy<br />

without sighing. And in the process I wish that I might apply myself to my<br />

legation and embassy among you in such a way that I might one day be able<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

Your Spirit I have been a fortunate emissary in this place, I bring a good<br />

report, here am I, and here are my people, whom You have entrusted to me,<br />

let them all with me see Your glory! When I issue this wish and petition,<br />

[389] although not in these precise words, yet in the same understanding<br />

(which happens daily), then You will hear me in Your holy heaven, and<br />

when You hear me You will be gracious and seal my heartfelt petition with<br />

����������������������������<br />

John R. Stephenson is Professor of Historical Theology at <strong>Concordia</strong><br />

<strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Seminary</strong>, St. Catharines, Ontario.


LTR 22 (Academic Year 2009-10): 109-31<br />

Mission and Confession:<br />

Mission Impossible or Unbeatable Twins? *<br />

Armin Wenz<br />

Introduction:<br />

The Augsburg Confession as a Mission Document<br />

FOR MANY DECADES LUTHERANS HAVE BEEN TOLD that the <strong>Lutheran</strong> church and her<br />

theology is great in doctrine but bad in practice. Ever since the rise of<br />

missiology as a theological discipline one has heard the complaint that,<br />

especially in comparison with most major Christian church families, the<br />

<strong>Lutheran</strong> church acted passively both in mission theory and mission<br />

practice. Recent research has shown, however, that <strong>Lutheran</strong> theology has<br />

been mission-minded from the beginning. This research also has made it<br />

clear that the question should not only be whether someone is missionminded,<br />

but also, what kind of mission someone has in mind. Nevertheless,<br />

while it seems that these insights are more and more acknowledged by many<br />

Luther scholars and church historians, they have not yet reached the<br />

ecclesial grassroots, including many of those who have responsibilities in<br />

churches and parishes, the church-leaders, the pastors, and also the missionminded<br />

laymen. When it comes to questions concerning Christian outreach,<br />

evangelization, the growth of the Church or even foreign missions, no<br />

denomination seems to be more distrusting and suspicious over against her<br />

own theological foundations and ecclesial practices than the <strong>Lutheran</strong><br />

church. Most of the recipes, methodologies, sometimes even expensive<br />

measures for evangelization and mission eagerly welcomed and uncritically<br />

used by many <strong>Lutheran</strong>s in our day can be traced back to trend-setters from<br />

churches and movements that share beliefs which Luther and his friends<br />

considered to be ��������������� �schwärmerisch) aberrations from the true<br />

biblical faith. Many, of course, consider this an overdue progress in a time<br />

of ecumenical tolerance and global challenges, such as aggressive atheism,<br />

dull materialism, the growth of Islamic populations in the Western world,<br />

and so on. I wonder, however, whether the imitation and propagation of<br />

Western pop and entertainment culture, including the principles of<br />

* Presentation on occasion of the ������������������������������������������������������<br />

Bleckmar, Germany (Mission of <strong>Lutheran</strong> Churches).


110 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

economic growth, by many missiological trend-setters of our time will really<br />

help the church to meet these challenges in the long run.<br />

This year (2008) the <strong>Lutheran</strong> church celebrates the 200 th birthday of<br />

Louis Harms and Wilhelm Loehe. These great fathers of the church were<br />

faithful adherents of the <strong>Lutheran</strong> Confessions, and they were missionminded,<br />

both in theory and in practice. Werner Elert, one of the early<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

church, ������� ����� ���� ��� ��� ��������� ����� ������������� ����� �����������<br />

Scheibel, Loehe, L. A. Petri, Louis Harms, and Graul were at the same time<br />

restorers of the confessional consciousness of the church.� 1 The question<br />

then remains whether this combination of being mission-minded and able to<br />

motivate and ignite broad mission movements, on the one hand, and of<br />

being confessional, on the other hand, is merely accidental or whether this<br />

combination grows out of an inner necessity. My thesis, on which I would<br />

like to expound in this presentation, is that mission and confession, both of<br />

the <strong>Lutheran</strong> kind, are two inseparable twins. The first time I became more<br />

thoroughly aware of this, might have been accidental humanly speaking, but<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������25 June 2000 I<br />

was invited to preach on occasion of a mission festival at a parish of our<br />

church. The parish pastor left it up to me to decide what to preach about.<br />

Since it was the 470 th anniversary of the public declaration of the Augsburg<br />

Confession I decided to make the experiment of reading and preaching the<br />

Augsburg Confession as a mission report or a mission document.<br />

Is there any plausibility for such an endeavour? Well, mission reports in<br />

our church usually include information about the specific geographical<br />

context the missionary works in and about the activities and efforts he is<br />

engaged in for the sake of bringing the Gospel to the people in order that<br />

some may believe and be saved where and when the Spirit wants. Now,<br />

how did Chancellor Brück introduce his report? He explicitly states that he<br />

��������� �������� ���Confession of our preachers and of ourselves, showing<br />

what manner of doctrine from the Holy Scriptures and the pure Word of<br />

God has been up to this time set forth in our lands, dukedoms, dominions,<br />

1 WERNER ELERT, The Structure of <strong>Lutheran</strong>ism (St. Louis: <strong>Concordia</strong> Publishing House,<br />

1962), 402. Cf. JOHANNES AAGAARD, Mission�Konfession�Kirche. Die Problematik ihrer<br />

Integration im 19. Jahrhundert in Deutschland, 2 vol. (Lund: Gleerups, 1967). For Loehe see<br />

CHRISTIAN WEBER, Missionstheologie bei Wilhelm Löhe: Aufbruch zur Kirche der Zukunft, Die<br />

Lutherische Kirche�Geschichte und Gestalten, Band 17, (Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus,<br />

1996); DAVID C. RATKE, Confession and Mission, Word and Sacrament: The Ecclesial Theology<br />

of Wilhelm Löhe (St. Louis: <strong>Concordia</strong> Publishing House, 2001). For Louis Harms see<br />

JOBST RELLER, Heidepastor Ludwig Harms�Begründer der Hermannsburger Mission (Stuttgart:<br />

Hänssler Verlag, 2008).


Wenz: Mission and Confession 111<br />

���������������������������������������� 2 This statement refers to a specific<br />

geographical context where the Gospel is preached. And it names activities<br />

that are fundamental for the mission of the church. The German original is<br />

even more specific than the English translation, when it speaks about<br />

preaching, teaching, observing, and catechizing. 3<br />

But is there any biblical motivation for the confession that makes it an<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������Gospel to the<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

���� ��������� ���� ������� ��� ����� ���������� ��� ���� ���rt a Christian? The<br />

��������� �������� ���� ���������� �������������� ������������ ���� ������ �����<br />

justified by a lack of the use of Matthew 28:18-20, the so-called Great<br />

Commission. To be sure this passage is used in the <strong>Lutheran</strong> Confessions,<br />

for example, as words of institution for the sacrament of Baptism in the<br />

Catechism. It is also quoted as a proof text for infant Baptism in the<br />

Apology. 4 This at least proves that basic mission activities included in the<br />

������� ��m��������� ���������� ��� �atthew 28 were fundamental for the<br />

life of the <strong>Lutheran</strong> churches of that day.<br />

And even if the Great Commission is not used explicitly as spiritual<br />

motivation for the Confession at large, there might be other biblical texts<br />

that imply mission activity that are used as spiritual motivation. Albrecht<br />

Peters, in his unsurpassed essay on the spiritual intention and theological<br />

structure of the Augsburg Confession, refers to a letter Luther wrote to<br />

Konrad Cordatus on 6 July, just a few days after the public proclamation of<br />

the Confession at the diet of Augsburg. 5 Luther rejoices in the fact that the<br />

confession could be proclaimed before all the dukes and powers of the<br />

Empire. He rejoices in the privilege of having experienced this hour, in<br />

which Christ through his confessors was proclaimed in such a big assembly<br />

with such a wonderful confession. He then quotes two words from<br />

Scripture: Psalm 119:46 and Matthew 10:32-33. Psalm ���������������������<br />

2 AC, Preface, 8.<br />

3 �unserer Pfarrner, Prediger und ihrer Lehren, auch unseres Glaubens Bekenntnus, was<br />

und welchergestalt sie, aus Grund göttlicher heiliger Schrift, in unseren Landen,<br />

Furstentumben, Herrschaften, Städten und Gebieten predigen, lehren, halten und<br />

Unterricht tun���BSLK, 45f.).<br />

4 �Igitur necesse est baptizare parvulos, ut applicetur eis promissio salutis, iuxta mandatum<br />

Christi: Baptizate omnes gentes. Ubis sicut offertur omnibus salus, ita offertur omnibus<br />

baptismus, viris, mulieribus, pueris, infantibus� (BSLK, 247.18-24, Ap 19:3). In FC 8 and<br />

in the Catalogue of Testimonies it is used as proof text for the doctrine of the universal<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

5 ALBRECHT PETERS, �Zur Aktualität der geistlichen Intention und theologischen Struktur<br />

der Confessio Augustana������Zur bleibenden Aktualität des Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses, FuH<br />

25 (Hamburg: Lutherisches Verlagshaus, 1981), 157-59.


112 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

speak of your testimonies also before kings, a������������������������������<br />

thereafter this word was added to the title of the Augsburg Confession as its<br />

motto. 6 It is printed in our editions of the Book of Concord up to this date.<br />

Psalm 119:46 is taken up by St Paul in his programmatic mission statement<br />

in Romans 1:16-����������������������� I am not ashamed of the gospel of<br />

Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for<br />

���� ���� ������ ���� ����� ���� ���� �������� ����� �������� ��� ������������ ����<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������� efficacy<br />

of the Gospel or the ministry of the Word in the Confessions. 7 The Psalm<br />

text about ���������������������������������������������������������������<br />

for the apostolic mission as it is reported in Acts, where the whole book<br />

moves toward the climax o�������������������������������������������, to<br />

whom he has appealed as Roman citizen�a situation that was quite similar<br />

to that of the confessors of Augsburg. It would be surprising if all these<br />

biblical relations were not in the mind of at least some that took part in<br />

those events surrounding the Augsburg Confession. Matthew 10:32-33, the<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.<br />

But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father<br />

������������������������������������������������������Gospel of Matthew is<br />

not only a command of mission or public proclamation given by Christ to<br />

his disciples. It refers to a very specific mission situation, namely, a mission<br />

that is endangered by physical persecution. So, although it is true that the<br />

Confessions do not quote the Great Commission of Matthew 28 as<br />

motivation for mission work, they were in the eyes of the reformer Martin<br />

Luther certainly motivated by a mission text that asks for a faithful<br />

testimony in a situation where proclamation imminently means danger of<br />

persecution for the confessors. To be sure, the confessors did not know<br />

whether the emperor and his court would turn out to be enemies or friends<br />

of their confession. Yet the confessors were aware that together with their<br />

confession their very life was at stake. Albrecht Peters reminds us in his<br />

essay that the dukes and city counsellors subscribing to the Augsburg<br />

Confession acted most courageously during the diet of Augsburg. This, by<br />

the way, points us to another analogy between confession and mission. In<br />

both cases we are dealing with joint endeavours of the ordained ministry<br />

and the priesthood of believers. Complaints that all of this is not yet<br />

mission-minded enough have to realize what this focus on the situation of<br />

confession implies. It takes into account not only the possibility, but also the<br />

imminent threat of persecution according to Matthew 10. It implies that at<br />

6 BSLK, 31: �Et loquebar de testimoniis tuis in conspectu regum et non confundebar.�<br />

7 Cf. AC 28:10; Ap 4:67; 13:11; FC Ep 7:4; FC SD 5:22; 11:29.


Wenz: Mission and Confession 113<br />

least in the <strong>Lutheran</strong> Confessions we meet the mission of the church<br />

militant and not of triumphant crusaders who are about to take over the<br />

whole world.<br />

Moreover, the universal perspective is another aspect the confession<br />

shares with mission activity. Luther wrote in ���� ������� ������������ ���<br />

1528 that with this work he wanted to confess his faith article by article<br />

before God and the whole world. 8 ����������������������������������������<br />

preface to the Apology, where he writes: ��� ����� ���������� ���� ������<br />

arguments, that there might be among all nations a testimony concerning us<br />

that we hold the Gospel of Christ correctly and in a pious way.� 9 The<br />

universal context includes future generations who through the confession<br />

should be able to get in touch with the true Gospel discovered by the<br />

confessors. This is also emphasized by Luther in the preface of the Smalcald<br />

Articles 10 as well as by his students in the Formula of Concord. 11<br />

All these texts about the universal validity of their confession also refer to<br />

����������������coming for the last judgement as the most urgent motivation<br />

for being sincere, faithful, and uncompromisingly unashamed in<br />

expounding their proclamation of the Gospel. Albrecht Peters writes:<br />

In the necessary polemical expression of the true testimony for Christ the<br />

whole existence of the believer is focused and finds protection�not only<br />

against temptations from the outside, but also against those temptations that<br />

rise from the depths of our own hearts�in the saving action of the triune<br />

God which is praised in our Creed. Insofar the confession holds and bears<br />

the confessor and not vice versa. 12<br />

Thus the confessors see their confession as part of the Trinitarian work of<br />

salvation. The mission narrative has its starting point in the sending of<br />

Christ from the Father, continues with the universal sending of the Spirit,<br />

and includes, as fruit of the Spirit, the confession of those who have become<br />

aware of their divine call to proclaim the Gospel purely. This awareness<br />

includes both the responsibility of the church at large (that is, the royal<br />

8 PETERS, 159.<br />

9 Ap, Preface, 15-16.<br />

10 BSLK, 409.19-�����apud omnes nationes!�<br />

11 BSLK, 745.6-11; 748.24-26; 750.12-19 (this passage also refers to what is actually preached<br />

in the churches and taught in the schools); 759.13; 1099f.<br />

12 PETERS�� ����� �Im notwendigen Streitwort rechten Christuszeugnisses konzentriert sich<br />

die gesamte Existenz des Glaubenden und birgt sich nicht nur gegen von außen<br />

andringende Anfeindungen, sondern auch gegen die im eigenen Herzen aufbrechenden<br />

Anfechtungen hinein in das Heilswirken d������������������������������������������������<br />

preist. Insofern hält und trägt das Bekenntnis den Bekenner und nicht der Bekenner sein<br />

Bekenntnis.�


114 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

priesthood) and the responsibility of the called and ordained servants of the<br />

word. Interestingly enough, their divine calling or vocation is the theme of<br />

the article at the very centre of the Augsburg Confession, Article 14. And<br />

their responsibility is the topic of its last big article, the one on the authority<br />

of the bishops or pastors (AC 28). Thus, there is a line of continuity from<br />

article 1 to article 28 of the Augsburg Confession: the Trinitarian mission of<br />

the Son and of the Spirit is continued through the mission of the church at<br />

large that speaks in this confession and of the ministers of the Wword whose<br />

Gospel proclamation is displayed in that very confession.<br />

This serious responsibility includes the call to conversion in AC 28 over<br />

against those who fall short of their very mission calling. Luther quite<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������O<br />

ye bishops! [to whom this charge has been committed by God,] what will ye<br />

ever answer to Christ for having so shamefully neglected the people and<br />

������ ���� �� ������� ����������� ����� �������� 13 And he concludes this<br />

preface with words that reveal both that he was mission-minded and what<br />

kind of mission he had in mind, when he writes:<br />

Our office is now become a different thing from what it was under the Pope;<br />

it is now become serious and salutary. Accordingly, it now involves much<br />

more trouble and labour, danger and trials, and, in addition thereto, little<br />

reward and gratitude in the world. But Christ Himself will be our reward if<br />

we labor faithfully. To this end may the Father of all grace help us, to whom<br />

be praise and thanks forever through Christ, our Lord! Amen. 14<br />

Before we turn to the material contents of the Augsburg Confession as<br />

mission report, let me summarize the analogies between confession and<br />

mission we have discovered up to now:<br />

1. The Confession discusses activities that are fundamental for Christian<br />

mission: preaching, teaching, catechizing.<br />

2. A geographical context: the Gospel displayed in the Confession is<br />

preached in a specific place on this earth as it was before in other places.<br />

3. A universal horizon: the Confession is an invitation to all people of all<br />

times to join in the praise of the true, triune God. 15<br />

4. An eschatological pe����������� ��������� ������� ������� ������ ����<br />

������������������������������� her mission and her confession.<br />

13 BSLK, 502.9-13.<br />

14 BSLK, 507.21-21.<br />

15 PETERS�� ����� �so transzendiert ein jedes rechte Bekenntnis die Glaubensgemeinschaft<br />

oder gar den einzelnen Zeugen und ruft alle Christen, ja alle Menschen herzu zum<br />

gemeinsamen Gotteslob und zur gegenseitigen Fürbitte.�


Wenz: Mission and Confession 115<br />

5. A consciousness of being part of and being a continuation of the<br />

Trinitarian chain of mission in the history ��� ������ ������ ���� ������<br />

church.<br />

6. A consciousness and responsibility of being called, sent, and asked to<br />

give account before the world by Christ Himself; this responsibility is<br />

taken on by both the church at large and those ordained into the ministry<br />

of the Word.<br />

Thus we have reason enough to expound the different material aspects of<br />

the Augsburg Confession as part of a mission report. What I am going to do<br />

is to develop a lively skeleton of mission thinking in the Augsburg<br />

Confession. To this skeleton I want to add living flesh from Luther���������<br />

missionary thinking. In doing so, I will broadly refer to the huge study on<br />

Luther and world mission by the late Swedish scholar Ingemar Öberg which<br />

has just recently been published in an English translation. 16<br />

When we read the Augsburg Confession, according to its motto from<br />

Psalm 119:46, as a mission report, at least four major facets become visible<br />

which are relevant for a mission-minded <strong>Lutheran</strong> church of all ages.<br />

1. The non-Christian, heathen religions are perceived in the light<br />

of the triune God.<br />

It has often been emphasized that one major characteristic of mission work<br />

��� ����� ��� ����� ��� ������� �Grenzüberschreitung�� that is, the crossing of<br />

boundaries. 17 Of course, one first thinks of geographical boundaries, then of<br />

trans-national, cross-cultural boundaries. But when we discuss Christian<br />

mission work it is obvious that all of these boundary-crossings take place for<br />

the sake of enabling the hearers of the message to make a deeper, a spiritual<br />

boundary-crossing. So first the representatives of the church cross into a<br />

different culture in order to help those on the other side to cross into the<br />

church. Maybe this can be highlighted with the help of the wonderful prison<br />

story from Acts 16. The apostles Paul and Silas enter the prison of<br />

heathenism in order to take the heathen along with them through the open<br />

16 INGEMAR ÖBERG, Luther and World Mission: A Historical and Systematic Study, trans. Dean<br />

Apel (St Louis�� ���������� ����������� ������� ������� ����� ��� �������� �������� �����<br />

highlighted already before by scholars like HERMANN DÖRRIES�� �������� ���� ����<br />

���������������� ��� Wort und Stunde, Dritter Band, Beiträge zum Verständnis Luthers<br />

(Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1970), 327-46 and WILHELM MAURER,<br />

������������������������������Luther und das evangelische Bekenntnis, Kirche und Geschichte,<br />

vol. 1 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1970), 159-76.<br />

17 �������������������������������������Was ist Mission?����������eneral convention of SELK<br />

in May 1973 in Radevormwald, p. 8.


116 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

doors into Christian freedom. It is, by the way, most exciting to perceive<br />

how much mission work the apostle Paul was able to accomplish while<br />

sitting in prison! In a similar way, mission-minded Christians must know<br />

the prisons of those not yet saved. In order to be able to cross the boundary<br />

it is necessary to perceive clearly where the boundary runs.<br />

Therefore one of the first things the confessors of Augsburg do is to draw<br />

the line between the saving Christian faith and representative heathen<br />

beliefs. The confession of the triune God makes the difference between<br />

Christians and other believers. This is made explicit when AC 1 first<br />

confesses the Trinity in accordance with the fathers and then rejects those<br />

who deny the Trinitarian creed, both in history and present day. It is not the<br />

confessors who draw this demarcation line. It is the very contents of their<br />

creed that establishes and marks the boundary that exists objectively<br />

between the living God and the dead idols. Whoever does not confess the<br />

divinity of Christ and the divinity of the Spirit lives outside of salvation,<br />

outside of ��������� �hurch. Accordingly, Luther writes in the Large<br />

Catechism:<br />

These articles of the Creed, therefore, divide and separate us Christians from<br />

all other people upon earth. For all outside of Christianity, whether heathen,<br />

Turks, Jews, or false Christians and hypocrites, although they believe in, and<br />

worship, only one true God, yet know not what His mind towards them is,<br />

and cannot expect any love or blessing from Him; therefore they abide in<br />

eternal wrath and damnation. For they have not the Lord Christ, and,<br />

besides, are not illumined and favoured by any gifts of the Holy Ghost. (LC<br />

2:66)<br />

Here we realize that it is the very integration of the church into the<br />

Trinitarian mission that manifests the boundary between Christianity and<br />

heathenism. God himself draws the line in the midst of this world where he<br />

������������������������������������������������������������ saving work in<br />

Christ alone which he bestows on us through the Holy Spirit. Heathenism,<br />

����������������������������������������������� �����������������������������<br />

and salvation is thus turned into a variety of works-righteousness. This is the<br />

case, when the divine is perceived as remaining only transcendent so that<br />

the incarnation or immanence of God is denied, as we find it in Islam. This<br />

is also the case when the divine is perceived as fully immanent and<br />

creaturely phenomena are thus identified with the divine, as happens in the<br />

manifestations of Gnosticism. The struggles of the early church that led to<br />

the ancient creeds confessed in the Book of Concord show that these<br />

aberrations represent a persistent temptation for the church and Christians.<br />

So the line is not only drawn over against pre-Christian religions but also<br />

over against post-���������� ��������� ����� ������������ ��������� ������<br />

gracious condescendence in Christ and through the Spirit is denied, the<br />

communion with God and salvation is lost. The demarcation line, drawn in<br />

AC 1, therefore makes clear right from the beginning that the greatest


Wenz: Mission and Confession 117<br />

danger for the Christian mission is the contamination of the Trinitarian<br />

Creed. 18 Wherever the doctrinal content of the message entrusted by God is<br />

spoiled, the church is in danger of falling away from the mission chain<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������<br />

To cross boundaries cannot mean to adapt the Christian message to the<br />

criteria of pagan religiosity. But it means that one of the major<br />

presuppositions for mission work is a thorough comparison of the different<br />

religious faiths with the Christian creed in all its facets. This is one reason<br />

why Luther supported the publication of a German translation of the<br />

Quran. 19 Only if both sides of the line are perceived honestly is a theological<br />

evaluation of the religions and a comparison with the biblical faith<br />

possible. 20 This is relevant for mission in two directions. The differences<br />

between both faiths and the specific Gospel character of the Christian<br />

message can be made manifest, for example, by comparing how Christ acts<br />

when he is confronted with sinners and how Mohammad acts in a similar<br />

situation. On the other hand, the discovery of the works-righteousness and<br />

philosophy of self-assertion in Islam can lead Christians to the self-critical<br />

reflection on where they might have fallen to these temptations. Johannes<br />

Wirsching, who expounded this kind of theological comparison of the<br />

Christian faith and Islam in a praiseworthy way, makes the point that the<br />

Christian mission will only be faithful if the Christians themselves<br />

continuously repent from their sinful self-assertions and turn to Christ.<br />

This suggestion of Wirsching must also be applied to the Gnostic<br />

temptation which from time to time seems to plague mission-minded<br />

Christianity when tendencies grow that confuse the human spirit or the<br />

consciousness of the believer with the Holy Spirit, as it was already the case<br />

among the enthusiasts Luther was fighting. 21 The mission task of the church<br />

is most certainly harmed when Christians knowingly or unconsciously take<br />

over and fall into such Gnostic temptations. To be ready for the mission of<br />

the triune God therefore demands not only thorough theological apologetics<br />

and knowledge about the different religions but also a thorough and ongoing<br />

self-critical dogmatic reflection on the actual practice and<br />

18 �������� ������� �������� �Es gibt sowohl für die Kirche als auch für die Mission als dem<br />

Weg von Kirche zu Kirche nur eine tödliche Gefahr: die Verfälschung der Botschaft�������<br />

19 ÖBERG, 443-47.<br />

20 ���������������������������������������������Aufgrund des vollen biblischen Zeugnisses<br />

����� ������� ��� ��� ������ ������� ������������������� �������� ���� theologisch, nicht nur<br />

religionsgeschichtlich durchschlüge.��JOHANNES WIRSCHING, Allah allein ist Gott: Über die<br />

Herausforderung der christlichen Welt durch den Islam (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2002),<br />

120.<br />

21 ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

������������������


118 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

proclamation of the church. This self-criticism on the basis of Scripture and<br />

confession does include the mission activities of the church. Öberg writes:<br />

When Luther so broadly explains the doctrine about Christ, justification, the<br />

Word and the Sacraments, etc., the reader ought to remember that the<br />

reformer wants to ensure that the apostolic Gospel is proclaimed and nothing<br />

else. He often is extremely critical of the workers who have gone out and<br />

proclaimed a false doctrine. It is not important simply to go out, one must<br />

proclaim a true Gospel; otherwise, one does not do mission or<br />

evangelization, regardless of the zeal with which one does it. 22<br />

If we therefore in our time want to remain faithful to the demarcation line<br />

drawn in the Augsburg Confession, we should not lightly ignore those<br />

voices that rightfully warn modern Christianity to beware of Gnostic<br />

tendencies that cannot be overlooked by learned observers. I want to name<br />

here but two systematic theologians, one from the Reformed camp, the<br />

American Michael Horton, and one from the <strong>Lutheran</strong> camp, the German<br />

Reinhard Slenczka. Both persistently issue the warning that if the mission of<br />

the church aims at human self-realization connected with a prosperity<br />

religion instead of persistent repentance and a life under the cross of Christ,<br />

the danger of falling into the Gnostic trap is not just pending, but real. 23<br />

The Trinitarian dogma confessed in Augsburg therefore is most relevant<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

is not enough to be just mission-minded, but that it is necessary to reflect<br />

upon the question whether it is really the mission of the triune God we have<br />

in mind. The specific Christian understanding of mission as Trinitarian<br />

excludes both depravations: a crusade in the name of a distant God<br />

demanding total submission as well as the Gnostic way of adapting a<br />

���������������������G��������������������������nd the artificial needs of<br />

God-seeking natural man and to help him in this way on his path to human<br />

self-perfection. All articles of the Augsburg Confession that follow serve this<br />

one purpose: to ensure that it is the mission of the Father, the Son, and the<br />

Holy Spirit in its unaltered biblical fullness from which we live and in which<br />

we are engaged.<br />

22 ÖBERG, 319.<br />

23 MICHAEL HORTON, In the Face of God (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1996). REINHARD<br />

SLENCZKA, Kirchliche Entscheidung in theologischer Verantwortung. Grundlagen�Kriterien�<br />

Grenzen (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1991).


Wenz: Mission and Confession 119<br />

2. A specific solidarity with heathenism is declared by confessing<br />

the universality of original sin.<br />

The realistic assessment of heathenism�which by definition is non-<br />

Christian�is not simply a matter of Christian pride and prejudice. Quite the<br />

opposite is true. When analysing the principles and beliefs of the heathen,<br />

Christianity meets the very temptations it has to deal with. And most of all<br />

in doing so, Christians perceive where they themselves have come from, or<br />

better, from what they have been freed and escaped.<br />

This is reflected when the Augsburg Confession discusses original sin in<br />

article 2. The missiological relevance of this article of faith is quite obvious.<br />

In confessing original sin the reformers make clear that the difference<br />

between Christians and non-Christians is nothing natural, but is the result of<br />

�������������������������Baptism and the Holy Spirit. What is natural is the<br />

unity of mankind liv����������������������������������������������������������<br />

true fear of God, no true faith or trust in God. St Paul writes: ����� ����<br />

natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are<br />

foolishness to him; nor can he know ����� (I Cor. 2:14). The free will of<br />

man, without the help of the Holy Spirit, only pertains to earthly things, not<br />

to spiritual things (AC 18). Man, by his own powers, is not capable of<br />

turning to a God who is giving Himself. Blinded by Satan (AC 19) man has<br />

turned away from God. But due to his innate longing for the divine, his<br />

heart has turned into what Luther calls a factory of images of God. Öberg<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

faith coupled with the pursuit of good ��������� 24 All this is not a description<br />

of exotic pagan tribes, but the state of all mankind. All live under divine<br />

wrath, all are lost unless God takes the initiative to save them.<br />

So there is a legitimate and even necessary solidarity of Christian<br />

confessors with pagans, not in the sense that they are told, �Never mind,<br />

����� ��� ���� ����� ��� ����� ���� ������ ��� �������� But in the sense that the<br />

Christian never forgets the unfortunate past that lies behind him and that<br />

remains a constant threat even for him, the desperate situation of man<br />

longing for the divine and not being able to reach it. It is interesting to see<br />

how often St Paul emphasizes what great a sinner he was before Christ took<br />

the initiative. Not a sentiment of superiority drives his mission, but a deep<br />

terror concerning the desperate, utter sinfulness from which Christ has saved<br />

him and in which many of his Jewish brothers and the Gentiles still live.<br />

The Christian faith, therefore, is nothing natural, nothing European,<br />

German, nothing that organically has grown out of our abilities or out of<br />

our needs. If we subtract the faith from our very existence nothing but<br />

24 ÖBERG, 53.


120 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

heathenism and unbelief remain; nothing but sin and condemnation. This is<br />

our natural heritage and constant source of temptation. The confession of<br />

original sin, therefore, destroys human self-consciousness and any sentiment<br />

of superiority as basis for mission work.<br />

This, by the way, is one reason why, as Ingemar Öberg repeatedly<br />

������������ ��� �������s mission thinking there is an essential unity of<br />

domestic and foreign preaching of the Gospel. Öberg writes:<br />

���� �� ����� ����� ��� ����� ������� ������ �������� �������������� ������������<br />

churches and Christianity as something completely different from foreign<br />

missions. Luther certainly saw the important and the unique in foreign<br />

�������� �. ��� ���� ����� ������ ��� ������ ��������� ��� ����������� ���� ���������<br />

expansion of the Gospel in the West and on the front lines with non-<br />

Christians. The reformer starts from the basic premise that Jews and Gentiles<br />

are the audience for the Gospel and develops a mission universalism in<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

Mission happens on both fronts based on the same commission and sending<br />

of Christ. According to Luther, we have in principle one battle with two<br />

battle lines. 25<br />

��������� ����� �������������� ��� ��������� ��� a universal tendency of the<br />

human heart as expounded in the Large Catechism extends not only to<br />

pagan deities but also to materialistic love for money and to many religious<br />

practices that have crept into the church of his day, including the belief in<br />

������ ���� ����� ����� ���� �����. 26 ������������, for Luther, ��������� ����<br />

����� ��� �������� �������� ���������, �������� ������ ������ ����� �� �����������<br />

25 ÖBERG, 9. See also pages 53, 61, 140-41, 150-51. Öberg shows that Luther never gave up<br />

the conviction that the Gospel should be preached to Jews and pagans alike. A hundred<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

mission among the Jews (326-428). Öberg argues that some of the very problematical<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������-�����������������<br />

he did not really apply his own missiological principles.<br />

26 �������������������������������������������������������������trust is properly your god.<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

and possessions; he trusts in them and boasts of them with such firmness and assurance as<br />

to care for no one. Lo, such a man also has a god, Mammon by name, i.e., money and<br />

possessions, on which he sets all his heart, and which is also the most common idol on<br />

earth �� [Y]ou can easily see and judge how the world practises only false worship and<br />

idolatry. For no people has ever been so reprobate as not to institute and observe some<br />

divine worship; every one has set up as his special god whatever he looked to for blessings,<br />

help, and comfort. Thus, for example, the heathen who put their trust in power and<br />

��������� ��������� �������� ��� ���� �������� ���� �� Besides, there is also a false worship<br />

and extreme idolatry, which we have hitherto practised, and is still prevalent in the world<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

salvation, presumes to wrest heaven �����������������:1-23).


Wenz: Mission and Confession 121<br />

border between the reformation of the church/inner mission and the<br />

exterior mission among non-������������������� 27<br />

These observations should make us more hesitant or should even make<br />

��� ������ ��������� ��� ����������� ��������� ��� �� ���������� ��������<br />

hemisphere. The very confession of original sin which results in universal<br />

idolatry reminds us that the frontline between Christianity and heathenism<br />

runs right through any nation, any time and place on this earth, even right<br />

through any human heart. If those who are engaged in mission forget that<br />

the confession of original sin also pertains to them, their mission activity is<br />

in danger of becoming more and more spoiled by sentiments of superiority<br />

that will most certainly backfire and harm the results of their activity. Only a<br />

church in which the knees are regularly bent for the sake of confession of<br />

sins original and actual will be able to invite more sinners to join in this<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

to the third facet in the Confession that is relevant for the mission of the<br />

church.<br />

3. ����������������������������������������������������������<br />

narrative by those who have already been saved. This<br />

narrative is effective and includes the faithful administration<br />

of divine institutions the Spirit uses to create faith and build<br />

the church.<br />

A church that confesses original sin with all mankind and that believes that<br />

even the best good works of the believers are spoiled with sinful thoughts,<br />

will put the focus in mission proclamation not on pointing to the good<br />

works or good motifs or even the burning of the heart as proof and<br />

legitimization for the truth of the message, as it is characteristic for<br />

Gnosticism. 28 The focus will be on the proclamation and narrative of the<br />

story that has but one plot: how the triune God brought it about and still<br />

brings it about to save human beings from their dreadful situation as sinners<br />

living and being responsible before God.<br />

And since the mission our Confession is a part of is essentially<br />

Trinitarian, the very focus of the Confession and of the mission of the<br />

church, after having clarified the divinity of Christ and of the Spirit, is<br />

nothing but the saving work of these two messengers whom the Father sent<br />

27 ÖBERG, 53.<br />

28 ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

��� ������� ������ ���������� ��� ���� ������ ��� ���� ������������� ������������� ������ ����� ����� ���<br />

���������������������������


122 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

for the sake of His lost creation. Thus, having discussed original sin, the<br />

confessors turn to the Saviour in the Third A������������������������������<br />

work of salvation by joining in the Creed of the fathers. The reception of the<br />

Creeds of the early church reminds us that for the <strong>Lutheran</strong> Reformation<br />

not only the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost is fundamental for the<br />

�������������� ��� ��������� ���� ����� ��������� ����������� His ubiquity<br />

according to both natures, and His universal reign. 29 AC 3 puts it as follows:<br />

������������������������������������������������������� hand of the Father,<br />

and forever reign and have dominion over all creatures, and sanctify them<br />

that believe in Him, by sending the Holy Ghost into their hearts, to rule,<br />

comfort, and quicken them, and to defend them against the devil and the<br />

power of sin.�<br />

AC 3 binds together the saving work of Christ and the sending of the<br />

Spirit through whom Christ Himself works for the sake of the believers.<br />

�������� ������� ����������������� ����������������� ���� �������������������������<br />

through faith that receives that for����������������������������������������������<br />

death. This article is a summary of Romans 3 and 4, and is thus based on<br />

one of the fundamental mission texts in the New Testament. The same<br />

message that Paul proclaimed in the capital of the Roman Empire is now<br />

summarized by the confessors before the representatives of another Roman<br />

Empire.<br />

AC 4 thus, at least very briefly, clarifies the central and most important<br />

contents of the mission message according to St Paul. In article 5 the<br />

confessors turn to the divine institutions designed by the triune God for the<br />

sake of creating the justifying faith that St Paul and AC 4 talk about, and<br />

that has its contents in AC 1 and AC 3. AC 5 binds together the divine<br />

institution of the office of the ministry with the sending of the Spirit. This<br />

follows the historical order reported in the New Testament, where Christ<br />

first calls His apostles and assigns to them the ministry of proclaiming His<br />

Gospel and administering His sacraments, and then equips them with the<br />

Holy Spirit. The activities commanded to the apostles by Christ around the<br />

time of His passion and His resurrection, such as Baptism, absolution, and<br />

Holy Communion are expounded in articles 7 through 13. Article 14 finally<br />

makes clear that these divinely instituted actions, on which the church and<br />

her mission are built, shall be publicly administered in the Church only by<br />

��������������������������������������rite vocatus).<br />

29 See ÖBERG, 157: �������� �������������� �������� ������ �������� ��� ��������� ������ ����<br />

������������� ���� ������������ ��������� ������������� ��� ���� ������ ����� ��� ���� ������� ����<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������


Wenz: Mission and Confession 123<br />

��������������������������������������������������������-article of the<br />

<strong>Lutheran</strong> Reformation�, 30 then we can, we even must read articles 6<br />

��������������������������� programme for the Church that lives under the<br />

conditions of this world and awaits the second coming of Christ for the day<br />

of the last judgement. If we combine these observations with what we find<br />

���������� ��� ���� ��������� ������������� ����������� ��� ��������� �����������<br />

(which can also be regarded a church-�����������������me�), we discover<br />

that the New Testament mission commands (including the Great<br />

Commission) are frequently applied when the Confessions discuss the<br />

necessity that these institutions actually take place and shape the life and<br />

growth of the church. This includes the right and duty of the church at large<br />

to ordain ministers 31 who by virtue of their divine call share in the mission<br />

of the apostles and bear the responsibility to continue their ministry as<br />

messengers. Their task is to proclaim the same Gospel and administer the<br />

same sacraments that Christ himself entrusted to His apostles. AC 28 very<br />

clearly summarizes this with the following words:<br />

But this is their (that is, our) opinion, that the power of the Keys, or the<br />

power of the bishops, according to the Gospel, is a power or commandment<br />

of God, to preach the Gospel, to remit and retain sins, and to administer<br />

Sacraments. For with this commandment Christ sends forth His Apostles,<br />

John 20, 21 sqq.: As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you. Receive ye<br />

the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them;<br />

and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained. Mark 16, 15: Go preach<br />

the Gospel to every creature. This power is exercised only by teaching or<br />

preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments, according to their<br />

calling either to many or to individuals. For thereby are granted, not bodily,<br />

but eternal things, as eternal righteousness, the Holy Ghost, eternal life.<br />

These things cannot come but by the ministry of the Word and the<br />

Sacraments, as Paul says, Rom. 1:16: The Gospel is the power of God unto<br />

salvation to every one that believeth. (AC 28:5-10)<br />

In our introduction we have already seen that this very awareness of being<br />

called and sent into that serious and salutary office to proclaim the Gospel<br />

purely before the nations is the central motif that proves that the confessions<br />

are considered as part of the divine mission initiated by Christ Himself.<br />

And since the confessors with good reasons are convinced that the<br />

Gospel message they confess is salutary for the growth and well-being of the<br />

30 AUGUST KIMME, ����� ������� ���� ����� ���������� ��� JOACHIM HEUBACH, ed.<br />

������������� ��������� ���� ������� ������ ������������������� ���� ������-Akademie<br />

Ratzburg 3 (Erlangen: Martin-Luther-Verlag, 1982), 100.<br />

31 See the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope����������������������������������<br />

��������������������������BSLK, 457f.).


124 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

church of all ages until the coming of Christ, their mission programme is<br />

still relevant and valid for our time.<br />

Again I want to add some remarks of Ingemar Öberg who, having<br />

himself been active in the mission of the church, makes excellent<br />

������������� ������ ������������ �������s rich mission thoughts with<br />

aberrations that have become prevalent in our day.<br />

When Luther identifies the divine institutions as marks of the church<br />

(notae ecclesiae) and as decisive mission activities at the same time, a specific<br />

ecclesiology results that does not draw lines around the church which are<br />

invented by humans. Öberg names many practical consequences of<br />

<strong>Lutheran</strong> ecclesiology. He writes, for example:<br />

In the congregationalism of the Anabaptists, the voluntary decision, the<br />

degree of faith, and the holiness of the individual members becomes too<br />

central. Luther does not speak about how one associates with sanctified faith<br />

fellowships, but how one is won by the Gospel, is given faith, and is, thereby,<br />

incorporated into the church �. ��������� ������������� ��� ����������<br />

incorporating and not exclusive, demarcating and sectarian. The church�<br />

built by the Father, Son, and Spirit through the Gospel, by unconditional<br />

grace and justification through faith alone�does not know any hopeless<br />

cases. In this context Luther calls the church a hospital. 32<br />

The exclusion of a substantially hierarchical ecclesiology, on the other<br />

hand, ensures that even though the public proclamation of the Gospel is<br />

entrusted to the ministry, the whole church is responsible for the<br />

continuation of the divine mission. ������������������������������������������<br />

���� ��������� ��������� ��������� ����������� ���� ��������������� ��� ���������<br />

����������������������������� 33 The objectivity of the marks of the church<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������ission, but<br />

gives certainty that she is really part of the Trinitarian mission and not a<br />

human invention based on subjective emotions or arbitrariness of selfproclaimed<br />

messengers. Öberg �������� ������� ������������ ��������<br />

movements of the last two centuries have primarily emphasized the personal<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

outer call of the congregation to the ministry of Word and s����������� 34<br />

The Swedish scholar is convinced that the strong position of the divine<br />

��������� ���������� ��� ��� ��� ���� ���� ��� ���� ���� ������� ��� ��������� ����<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

32 ÖBERG, 85-86.<br />

33 ÖBERG, 95.<br />

34 ÖBERG, 95.


Wenz: Mission and Confession 125<br />

����� �������� �������-oriented <strong>Lutheran</strong>ism and evangelical Christianity<br />

guards the place of the ordered, ������������������������������������������� 35<br />

Another example of refreshing insights that are at hand if one takes<br />

serious not only the fact that Christ wants mission but also the way He<br />

wants H��������������������������������������������������������������itution of<br />

the office of the keys in the Gospel of John connected with the sending of<br />

the Spirit to His apostles. Luther observes that the starting point of mission<br />

here is the Saviou����������������His victory on the cross. This peace gives<br />

birth to a faith and joy that is able to ease all anxiety in His disciples<br />

throughout the ages. The peace they experienced they are supposed to pass<br />

on in their mission activity by forgiving sins. Öberg comments:<br />

Contemporary <strong>Lutheran</strong> mission has often failed to see that John 20:23<br />

includes private confession and absolution. It is extraordinarily important<br />

that world mission should follow Luther by integrating the general sending<br />

and the Word and sacraments with a well thought out, evangelical use of the<br />

power of the keys in pastoral care and church discipline. It is especially<br />

sorrowful that private confession has such a weak place on the mission field<br />

�. A sign of the church ought also to be a sign of mission, according to<br />

������������������������������������������. 36<br />

One could also point to Matthew 16 here, where Christ Himself ties the<br />

building of H���������������������Christological confession and to the office<br />

of the keys.<br />

Summarizing these observations, ������������� ��� �������s paradoxical<br />

dictum that the poor Holy Spirit knows nothing but Christ, as a second<br />

paradox that the poor Holy Spirit in His mission to mankind knows nothing<br />

but Word and sacraments as real means of grace. The Reformers obviously<br />

were not puzzled by these findings. Their problem, yes, their very mission<br />

was not to help the Spirit and add more means of the church to those<br />

instituted in the Scriptures; but their problem and mission was to regain<br />

these means and to free them from all human additives invented by the<br />

medieval church in order to make the Christian message more easily<br />

accessible and compatible with human needs. In the first part of the<br />

Confessions the reformers were engaged in regaining the true contents of the<br />

Christian message and the genuine tools and methods of the Holy Spirit.<br />

The second part then can be read as a battle against the human additives<br />

which, quite contrary to the good intentions of their inventors, turned out to<br />

������������������ ����������������������������������������������������������<br />

So we turn to the fourth aspect of the Augsburg Confession as mission<br />

document.<br />

35 ÖBERG, 303.<br />

36 ÖBERG, 165.


126 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

4. The mission of the church at large is not the execution of<br />

human laws or programmes, but an expression of Christian<br />

freedom.<br />

In Apology 7 Melanchthon names another missiological consequence of<br />

binding the church to the means of grace for the universal freedom, spread,<br />

growth of the church, when he writes about the Church catholic,<br />

that we may not understand the Church to be an outward government of<br />

certain nations, but rather men scattered throughout the whole world, who<br />

agree concerning the Gospel, and have the same Christ, the same Holy<br />

Ghost, and the same Sacraments, whether they have the same or different<br />

human traditions. 37<br />

Anyone who might be afraid of boredom, considering the few means of<br />

grace through which the Spirit works, will here discover that under the<br />

���������� ��� ������������� ��� ��������� ������������� ���� ���� ����� ��� His worldwide<br />

mission there is no community of persons except the church which is<br />

so flexible and able to live under all nations, with different customs and<br />

local traditions, with different languages, and mentalities. To be sure, the<br />

Gospel has the power to shape and reform all these mentalities, traditions,<br />

customs, and even languages. But what is preached and spread out in the<br />

mission of the church is never cultural imperialism of any kind but the reign<br />

of Christ. The spiritual character of this reign makes earthly<br />

contextualization of a Christian life possible, and at the same time sets the<br />

limits for this contextualization. 38 The awareness of belonging to His<br />

kingdom thus enables Christian missionaries and even laymen to live under<br />

all kinds of earthly reigns without necessarily being forced to disobey these<br />

������������� ������ ������ ����� ��������� ����� ��������� ������ ������ ����<br />

reformer points to the ability of believers to cross cultural and geographic<br />

boundaries, which is due to the fact that they believe in an eternal home.<br />

Abraham in Canaan, Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, Jonah in<br />

Nineveh, are early role models for Christian missionaries explicitly named<br />

by Luther. 39<br />

One main aspect of this specific Christian freedom certainly is the radical<br />

distinction between the power of the Word and the power of the sword. By<br />

criticizing the Roman system, the reformers free the mission of the church<br />

37 Ap 7:10-11.<br />

38 ÖBERG, 114; cf. p. 187.<br />

39 ÖBERG, 103-��������������������������������� ecclesia peregrinans is ultimately a preaching<br />

���� ����������� �������� �� ������ �������� ��� ���� ����������� ��� ����� �� �������� ��� ��������<br />

���������


Wenz: Mission and Confession 127<br />

from methods that are necessary in the state or in businesses, but if applied<br />

to the church would spoil everything. AC 28, after pointing to the institution<br />

of the office of the keys as fundamental for churchly authority, solemnly<br />

states: �����efore the power of the Church and the civil power must not be<br />

confounded.�� ���� �������, to whom the means of grace and mission are<br />

entrusted, are to focus on their specific ecclesial calling. And in doing so<br />

����� ����� ���� �sine vi, sed verbo��� without human force, simply by the<br />

Word. 40 This methodological reductionism certainly robs the church of<br />

privileges, money, and power. But at the same time it sets free spiritual<br />

activity, divine riches, and power. Faith is a miracle of the Spirit that cannot<br />

and must not be forced by means and techniques taken from the realms of<br />

politics or economy, as was the case, for example, in the missiology of<br />

indulgences, which were supposed to help the church grow in heaven as on<br />

earth by having people pay for the wellness of their souls.<br />

At the same time, the anti-hierarchical aspect of <strong>Lutheran</strong> ecclesiology<br />

and missiology results in a rediscovery of the three estates, politia, oeconomia,<br />

and ecclesia, in which the Christian as fruit of his saving faith has the task to<br />

act in love by serving his neighbour in the very vocation he lives in. No one<br />

who has come to faith in Christ, and is preserved therein through Word and<br />

sacraments, needs to bring forth additional marks of holiness by leaving<br />

behind his natural life. Quite to the contrary, the <strong>Lutheran</strong> Confessions<br />

teach that Christians live their faithful lives together with and next to non-<br />

Christians in the orders of creation instituted by God for all mankind. 41<br />

Thus every Christian serving faithfully where God has called him already<br />

contributes to the mission of the church, since he shows that the Saviour<br />

who died for him and the Spirit who brought him to saving faith have their<br />

origin in the one loving God who is the Creator and Preserver of mankind.<br />

The <strong>Lutheran</strong> Reformation therefore teaches that Christians as part of the<br />

priesthood of believers should first of all focus on being Christian witnesses<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

����� ��� ���� ������ ��� ������� ���� ����� ��� �� ������������ ����������. 42 Being a<br />

faithful mother or father, or a teacher, and regarding children as a gift from<br />

God to whom the G������ ������ ��� ������������ ��� ����� ��� ������ ����������<br />

mission. Being a ruler and preserving peace, freedom, and justice for all<br />

citizens is also part ����������������������������I Tim. 2:1-7).<br />

40 AC 28:21. See ÖBERG���������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

��������������������������������������������inst the Turks is a blasphemy against Christ<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

41 ÖBERG, 25-32.<br />

42 ÖBERG����������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

faith, but a mild and honest life ��������������������������������������������������


128 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

The notion of the priesthood of believers for Luther is especially<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

homeland and public Christian worship is not allowed. This happened to<br />

the south-eastern part of Europe, and was considered a serious threat also<br />

����������������������������������������������, when Turkish troops had<br />

come as far as Vienna. Under an explicitly pagan rule it is up to the<br />

Christians to give a faithful witness in word and deed. Since the church is<br />

not bound to any local ideology or mentality or political or economic rule, it<br />

can survive under any historical circumstances. However, it always has to<br />

���������������������������������������������������ss and persecution always<br />

follow the expansion of the Gospel.� 43 Luther especially meditates on this<br />

when discussing mission work among Muslims. He knows that in former<br />

Christian regions that have fallen to the Ottoman Empire many Christians<br />

have turned into Muslims. ���������� �������� ����������� ������ ���� ��� ����<br />

������ ����� ��� ������ ��� ����������� ��� ����� ����� ���� ������ ��� ���� ������� 44<br />

Nevertheless, those Christians taken captive by the Turks can give a<br />

Christian testimony in a situation where public worship is not possible.<br />

Luther exhorts these captives to be patient and faithful as the Jews in<br />

Babylon were. And he encourages his fellow Germans to pray and meditate<br />

on the Catechism in order to be prepared before they are captured so that<br />

they might be spiritually equipped. 45 To convert someone from the Turkish<br />

����������������������������������to be the highest and most costly work.� 46<br />

But not only among the Muslims can it what Luther learns in the book of<br />

Acts be observed������������Gospel will always be opposed and received by<br />

������������ 47 No force must be applied by the church, but the church might<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������� 48 from a<br />

�����������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

of the Gospel as a wandering torrential rain moving from one land to<br />

another do not imply for him that mission work should not be done in lands<br />

that had received the Gospel already earlier in history. Öberg makes the<br />

important remark: ������ ��� ������ ������� �������� ���� ���emost arch-<br />

<strong>Lutheran</strong>s have sometimes been cold to mission/evangelization in post-<br />

43 ÖBERG, 116.<br />

44 ÖBERG, 479.<br />

45 ÖBERG, 480-85.<br />

46 ÖBERG����������� ��������������������������� �������������������� �������������� ����������<br />

�������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

47 ÖBERG, 183.<br />

48 ÖBERG, 137.


Wenz: Mission and Confession 129<br />

���������� ���� ������������ ������� 49 Where doors are completely closed,<br />

according to Luther, the preachers should leave, since sometimes God can<br />

hinder mission work, thereby telling the missionaries that He is the one who<br />

���������� ��������� ����� ���� �������� ����.� 50 ����� ������� �������� �������<br />

learns that in such situations, and generally in mission work, the<br />

proclamation of the Gospel must be accompanied by continuous prayer.<br />

Mission work takes place on the battlefield between God and Satan, so it is<br />

never without the old evil foe who tries to destroy the seed while it is sown.<br />

Therefore, as Öberg ������������������������������������������������������<br />

the Reformation frontlines bend their knees and pray to the Father that<br />

������ ����� ���� ������ ������ ��� ������� ����� ���� ������� ��� ������� ��� ����<br />

������������������������������������������������������� 51<br />

Luther never spoke, for example, of a planned and programmed church<br />

growth �to evangelize the world in this generation.� Church/mission stood<br />

������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

could decide the future of the church. It was God who led the growth of his<br />

own reign, and this reign would never be accepted by all people. 52<br />

5. Conclusion and impulses for our present situation<br />

Truly, the <strong>Lutheran</strong> Confessions can and should be read as mission<br />

��������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

of missiological insights that are still relevant for us today. I would like to<br />

finish my presentation by taking up some of these insights and turning them<br />

into three challenges both for the home front and for the foreign front. For<br />

Luther and the Confessions both fronts are one for theological reasons. In a<br />

globalized world we have even more reasons for not separating them<br />

anymore.<br />

Challenges on the home front<br />

Every reflection on mission work and every mission activity should be<br />

accompanied by what Christian Möller calls the conversion of the<br />

49 ÖBERG, 321.<br />

50 ÖBERG, 190.<br />

51 ÖBERG, 274-75.<br />

52 ÖBERG, 132-33.


130 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

converts, 53 that is, a self-critical examination of the motifs, methods, and<br />

means we apply in our mission thinking and mission activity. This<br />

examination should take place according to the theological principles<br />

displayed in the <strong>Lutheran</strong> Confessions, since they are a true expression and<br />

part of the Trinitarian mission of the Church catholic. The Confessions help<br />

us especially to become aware of the Gnostic temptations which easily turn<br />

���������������������������������������������������������������, when it is used<br />

as means for self-perfection or self-assertion. Then the condemnation of<br />

religious natural man through the Law and the justification of the sinner<br />

through the Gospel easily are replaced by the notion of grace that perfects<br />

nature by satisfying its needs and desires. This would turn the Christian faith<br />

into a works-righteous and basically pagan system in which God is made<br />

����� ��� ����� ���������� ��� ������ ������� �������� ��������� ������� ���� ��<br />

tendency to get rid of the Old Testament, with its anti-pagan, antipolytheistic<br />

power. The conversion of the converts, therefore, includes both,<br />

the rediscovery of the Old Testament as a missiological source and the<br />

obligation to pray and work for the conversion of Israel to Christ. To refrain<br />

from mission among Jews�be it due to anti-Semitic sentiments or be it due<br />

to post-modern inclusiveness������� ����� ��� ����� ������ ��� ���������<br />

command.<br />

One major challenge on the home front is Islam. Since Luther had<br />

already taken into account a Muslim majority or reign in Germany, his<br />

reflections on mission among Muslims could be most helpful in our<br />

situation. Any Christian activity to get deeper knowledge of Islam must be<br />

supported. 54 The church needs gifted members who learn the specific<br />

languages of Muslim people. Muslims who have been baptized could serve<br />

as lay missionaries both in Germany and in their homelands.<br />

Another challenge still is post-Christian atheism, the silent, mainly<br />

practical version, and the aggressive polemical version that is on the rise<br />

������� ���� ��������� ����� �ere is to clarify and refute the atheistic<br />

misconception of the Christian faith, which is very often confused with<br />

general religiousness by atheists. 55 In testifying to atheists it is important to<br />

realize that the Christian message does not necessarily satisfy and answer<br />

the burning needs and questions of natural man. Not only the atheist but<br />

53 ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

10,16). Missionarische Kirche ja � aber wie?� at the district convention Hessen-Sued of<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

54 A great example is the work of ELRIM, a Finish mission society working in Istanbul and<br />

Mannheim.<br />

55 A fine and promising example of how this could be done is the essay by MICHAEL ROTH,<br />

�Welches Gespräch kann der Glaubende dem Atheisten anbieten���Lutherische Beiträge 13<br />

(2008): 225-40.


Wenz: Mission and Confession 131<br />

any addressee of the Gospel will rebel against this message, since it turns<br />

natural religious thinking upside down.<br />

Challenges abroad<br />

Educated and ordained missionaries should be sent and taken care of by the<br />

church at large where the doors are open and the missionaries are welcome.<br />

The theological education of local pastors and the thorough<br />

catechization of laymen are of overwhelming importance. This is a mission<br />

field where churches with a rich and orthodox theological heritage have a<br />

deep responsibility. Öberg in his book reminds us that from 1520-60, 5000<br />

foreign students from all over Europe studied at Wittenberg, many of them<br />

from countries which had hardly any higher education.<br />

The last challenge on the foreign front I want to mention is persecution<br />

which takes place in many Muslim or Communist countries. Luther in his<br />

����������������������������������������������������������������������<br />

marks of the church. The churches in the free world must learn to<br />

acknowledge persecution of brothers and sisters in the world as integral part<br />

of their own mission. More urgent prayer and help for persecuted Christians<br />

might not only make the free churches more mission-minded. It might even<br />

be helpful as preparation for persecution which cannot be excluded in future<br />

Europe, either.<br />

If these challenges drive us into prayer�asking for the salvation of both<br />

Jews and heathen people�, and humility concerning our own power, we<br />

will be prepared to join joyfully in the mission of the triune God with whom<br />

alone all things are possible. Öberg writes in his excellent book, ���������<br />

seen from a human perspective is an impossible undertaking. But through<br />

His Word, God makes the impossible possib���� 56<br />

Rev. Armin Wenz, Dr.Theol.���������������������������������������� (SELK),<br />

Oberursel, Germany, and a regular guest instructor at Lutherische<br />

Theologische Hochschule.<br />

56 ÖBERG, 498.


LTR 22 (Academic Year 2009-10): 132-34<br />

Sermon<br />

They Come Cringing (Psalm 66:1-7) *<br />

Kurt A. Lantz<br />

DEAR CHILDREN OF ADAM,<br />

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.<br />

�������������������������Say to God, �How awesome are your deeds! So great<br />

is Your power that Your enemies come cringing to you.��������������������������<br />

We would like to see that. Watch the enemies of God come crawling on<br />

their bellies, faces in the dust, begging for mercy. But when does that<br />

happen? We don�t see it.<br />

We don�t see those who kill our brothers and sisters in Christ end up on<br />

their hands and knees. We don�t see the leader of North Korea or the<br />

government of China, or militant Muslims and Hindus who have attacked<br />

God�s people bow their heads in shame and plead for forgiveness. We don�t<br />

see those who made fun of us at school for believing that God created the<br />

world experience the humiliation they made us feel. We don�t get to watch<br />

those who ridiculed us for spending a beautiful Sunday morning in church<br />

get blasted by lightning while playing golf.<br />

If we don�t see it, when does it happen? How does it happen? Is it even<br />

true that God�s power is so great His enemies come cringing to Him? Do we<br />

have to wait until the final Last Day before we get to see anything like that?<br />

Do we have to take action ourselves in order to get things rolling? Should<br />

we start another round of Christian Crusades, invading Muslim countries,<br />

throwing eggs at the houses of our Muslim neighbours, ridiculing our<br />

classmates and co-workers of different faiths�perhaps beating them up in<br />

the schoolyard or parking lot�so that they learn to cringe before God?<br />

No, most definitely not. Jesus gave quite different instructions to the<br />

seventy-two He sent out ahead of Him (Luke 10). He warned them that they<br />

����������������������������������Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the<br />

midst of wolves�� ���� ���� ����� ����� ��� ���e no moneybag, no knapsack, no<br />

sandals. Their only provision was the Word of God. That was all they took<br />

* Preached on the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, 4 July 2010, at Resurrection <strong>Lutheran</strong><br />

Church, St. Catharines, Ontario. The Gospel of the day was Luke 10:1-20.


Lantz: They Come Cringing (Ps. 66) 133<br />

as they went out into enemy territory. Was it enough? Were they wellequipped?<br />

Did it work?<br />

They preached the w������The kingdom of God has come near to you���vv. 9,<br />

����� �They returned with joy, saying, �Lord, even the demons are subject to us in<br />

Your name!� And He said to them, �I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.<br />

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the<br />

power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you����vv. 17-19).<br />

In the preaching of the Word of God, in the announcement that the<br />

kingdom of God has come near, the demons crawled. Satan fell to the dust.<br />

In the Word of the Lord there is power that causes His enemies to come<br />

cringing.<br />

�����������������������������������������������The kingdom of God has<br />

come near to you.�� ����� ����t want the kingdom of God anywhere near<br />

them. They don�t want the King Jesus to be near them. They hate Him.<br />

They are jealous of Him. They tried to destroy Him and could not. That<br />

infuriates them. And since they cannot defeat Him, but rather are defeated<br />

by Him, they go after His people. They go after us, attacking us with doubts<br />

and misinformation and persecution as they whisper in our ears lies and<br />

half-truths that would convince us we don�t want the kingdom of God near<br />

us either.<br />

We don�t want the kingdom of God taking control over our beautiful<br />

Sunday mornings. We don�t want the King telling us what we should and<br />

should not do. We don�t want the Lord to control our lives, making us feel<br />

guilty about our sins, telling us that there is only death and hell for us if we<br />

do not repent.<br />

�������������������The kingdom of God has come near to you.��������������<br />

gracious love of God in sending the King to a people like us. We hear a<br />

����������������������������������������������������The kingdom of God<br />

has come near to you.�����������������������������������������������������<br />

sinner who deserves death and hell has been given the kingdom of God.<br />

The King, Christ Jesus, has come to you, becoming flesh and blood to<br />

die for your sins. He came to bring you into the kingdom, to make you an<br />

heir with Him of a priceless inheritance that does not spoil or fade. The<br />

King has come to adopt you into the royal family, to save you from what<br />

you deserve and to give you what you could never achieve on your own.<br />

�The kingdom of God has come near to you�, and that good news makes<br />

Satan cringe. It makes the demons crawl. It works. It is God�s power and<br />

you are the proof that it works.<br />

As a sinner you are God�s enemy, and it is only by the power of His<br />

Word that you come cringing to Him. You come to Him cringing because<br />

of your sins. You know what you�ve done. You know that He knows what<br />

you�ve done. You know what you deserve because you heard it in His<br />

powerful Word. You know that you have nowhere else to go than to come<br />

cringing to Him. And so you do because by the power of His Word you


134 <strong>Lutheran</strong> <strong>Theological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 22<br />

know that He is gracious and merciful and forgiving to those who come to<br />

Him.<br />

God�s Holy Law makes you cringe, and His Holy Gospel makes you<br />

come to Him. It is that powerful. We confess in the explanation to the<br />

������� ��� �������� ����� �� ������� ��� ��� ���� ������� ��� ��������� �������� ���<br />

Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by<br />

��������������� 2, 3 rd Article). That�s the power that His Word has. It calls<br />

you into faith. It converts you from sinner to saint. It takes away the guilt of<br />

your sin. It causes you to praise God, not to rebel against Him.<br />

All of this power is what Jesus gave to those He sent out ahead of Him.<br />

It is the same power that He still gives to those whom He sends. His<br />

�������������������������������The one who hears you hears Me����������������<br />

That is good because we know that our words can do nothing. It is His<br />

Word that is powerful. It is His Word that makes His enemies come<br />

cringing. It is His Word that brings about repentance and bestows<br />

forgiveness. When we hear the voice of those whom He has sent, we hear<br />

Him.<br />

When we come cringing to Him with our sins, He lifts us up with His<br />

holy absolution. When we hear those whom He has sent say that we are<br />

forgiven, we hear Him. What He does for us children of Adam is awesome.<br />

He removes every trace of our guilt and shame and makes us His children,<br />

holy and pure. He saves us from death and hell, so that we pass into our<br />

promised inheritance in heaven on dry ground, following the footsteps of<br />

our King Jesus who died and rose again for us.<br />

In God�s superabundant mercy He gives us men who carry with them<br />

His powerful Word, and He sends them out to places where the enemy<br />

holds His people captive. Places far away and places very near, right here<br />

even. Because there are wolves here, too, and without the preaching of<br />

God�s powerful Word to announce that the kingdom of God has come near<br />

to us, we would never know, would soon forget, and would certainly perish.<br />

But as it is, under His gracious care, with His eyes upon the nations, His<br />

men proclaim His Word even to us and the enemies of God come cringing.<br />

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and<br />

minds in Christ Jesus.<br />

Rev. Kurt A. Lantz is pastor of Resurrection <strong>Lutheran</strong> Church, St. Catharines,<br />

Ontario.

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