Posset, Franz. The Two-Fold Knowledge: Readings on the Knowledge of Self and the Knowledge of God, Selected and Translated from the Works of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (Collected Works Volume 1). Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2018. 152 Pages. Paper. $17.00 (Discounts available.) https://wipfandstock.com/the-two-fold-knowledge.html
Posset, Franz. Luther's Catholic Christology: According to His Johannine Lectures of 1527 (Collected Works Volume 3). Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2018. 267 Pages. Paper. $29.00 (Discounts available.) https://wipfandstock.com/luther-s-catholic-christology.html
Some of these titles are overdue for my attention.
I ask pardon of these publishes and our readers given recent months of additional pastoral care duties!
Rhetoric.
Rhetorics.
I believe there is a difference. As a classical Lutheran educator and Lutheran pastor, I note a variety of rhetorics in use today in the church and the world.
We favor classical rhetoric.
Consider this new title from IVP Academic, Seasoned Speech.
The Christian faith depends to a great degree on persuasion. In one of his letters to early Christians, the apostle Paul wrote, "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone" (Col. 4:6). Yet rhetoric—the art of persuasion—has been largely ignored by most Christians.
In this book, James Beitler seeks to renew interest in and hunger for an effective Christian rhetoric by closely considering the work of five beloved Christian communicators: C. S. Lewis, Dorothy L. Sayers, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Desmond Tutu, and Marilynne Robinson. Moreover, he situates these reflections within the Christian liturgical seasons for the essential truths they convey.
These writers collectively demonstrate that being a master of rhetoric is not antithetical to authentic Christian witness. Indeed, being a faithful disciple of Christ means practicing a rhetoric that beneficially and persuasively imparts the surprising truth of the gospel. It means having seasoned speech.
Author James Beitler uses rhetoric to teach about rhetoric and persuasion in Christian preaching. He selects five notable Christian speakers and pairs each of them with a season of the Christian Church Year.
The concept sounds great, if a bit forced.
If I'm being picky, and I usually have reason to be, given my vocations, I could quibble with the choice of each Christian communicator. I can make sense of the first three.
Virtually all in-print (and most out-of-print) titles by C. S. Lewis and Dorothy Sayers sit in a dedicated bookcase along with most titles by J. R. R. Tolkien and some of my other favorite Christian authors. My Faithlife/Logos Bible software library includes a complete set of Bonhoeffer's works. I have over half of the hardcovers, too.
I have read little of Tutu and Robinson. I can see why the author would associate Tutu with the rhetoric of repentance in the civil realm, yet I personally struggle with the choice of Robinson for Easter. This point alone was so distracting that it delayed this review for months even before the COVID-19 pandemic. A Lutheran will have differences with a Calvinist (Please also pay attention the controversy noted by Haddox in footnote 11, page 165, and the author's response). Robinson's fiction may well "serve as an important prelude to Christian witness" (191, note 102), but that does little to make her inclusion the best choice to actively, clearly, and accurately proclaim the message of Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus.
In summary, I really like what the author was trying to do. I welcome more books about classical rhetoric and other rhetorics that may be useful to Christians and the proclamation of the Gospel. Mastery of rhetoric is NOT at odds with a true Christian proclamation of the Gospel. A Christian who makes use of rhetoric does need to actively, clearly, and accurately proclaim the Gospel of Jesus. Read this title if you get a chance because Beitler has much to teach Christian communicators. There are other titles that introduce rhetoric that I could and would recommend more highly.
Another title that has impatiently waited to be reviewed is the following, also by IVP Academic:
Lutherans at LCMS seminaries are taught to properly distinguish the Law and the Gospel. Seminaries (and other schools) are institutions of the law in service to the Gospel. One of my seminary professors recommended (in jest) that seminarians of each year (first, second, and fourth; the third-year men were serving congregations on vicarage/internship) should observe the ancient monastic rules, one after another to better appreciate the freedom of the Gospel!
The pastoral office has always been a difficult calling. Today, the pastor is often asked to fulfill multiple roles: preacher, teacher, therapist, administrator, CEO. How can pastors thrive amid such demands?
What is needed is a contemporary pastoral rule: a pattern for ministry that both encourages pastors and enables them to focus on what is most important in their pastoral task.
This book, coauthored by three experts with decades of practical experience, explains how relying on a pastoral rule has benefited communities throughout the church's history and how such rules have functioned in the lives and work of figures such as Augustine, Calvin, Wesley, and Bonhoeffer. It also provides concrete advice on how pastors can develop and keep a rule that will help both them and their congregations to flourish.
Martin Luther's concerns with monasticism are noted (37), particularly the abuses and spiritual dangers. The benefits of a "rule" are noted by chapter:
- The Grace of Theological Friendships: Augustine
- "The Work of Obedience": Benedict
- The Holiness that Stoops to Serve: Gregory the Great
- "All the Ministers Shall Meet Together": John Calvin
- Choosing Your Words Carefully: John Wesley
- The Pastor's Study: John Henry Newman
- The Gift of Physical Presence: Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Chapter 8 offers A Contemporary Pastoral Rule (for alternates, see the Conclusion).
The chapter themes are well taken. It is a blessing to read theology. We are given to adorn our Office with a holy life. We are servants with authority. Pastors of each LCMS Circuit are given to gather together monthly. Words should be chosen wisely, after deliberation, and everything in a sermon MUST be true. Our congregation has a Church Office, but each of our pastors has a Study. You show your priorities as a pastor by where and how you spend your time.
Having read this volume twice, I still prefer my tradition's Call Document language and the pastoral qualification verses of the Pastoral Epistles to that of this book's advocated Contemporary Pastoral Rule.
I believe my brothers can learn something from this book that will be edifying and encouraging to them, yet the overwhelming conclusion I come away with is this: This is law. Sinners want a law that they can do. The law leads to hypocrisy and/or despair. The Law cuts, accuses, and condemns. Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner!
The most helpful and recommendable book of these three by IVP Academic is our next title, Paul and the Giants of Philosophy.
I requested a review copy of this title because of my recent, years-long study of Cicero.
What forces shaped the intellectual world of the apostle Paul? How familiar was he with the great philosophers of his age, and to what extent was he influenced by them? When he quoted Greco-Roman sources, what was his aim?
Pauline scholars wrestle with such questions in journal articles and technical monographs, but now Paul and the Giants of Philosophy brings the conversation into the college classroom and the church. Each essay addresses Paul's interaction with Greco-Roman philosophical thinking on a particular topic, such as faith, slavery, gift-giving, and the afterlife. And each chapter includes discussion questions and reading lists to help readers engage the material further.
Dodson and Briones have gathered contributors with diverse views from various traditions who are united in the desire to make Paul's engagement with ancient philosophy accessible to many readers.
The thirteen contributors to this title us in our "Reading [of] the Apostle in Greco-Roman Context," the very subtitle of the book. This book lives up to its back cover descriptions and pre-publication endorsements!
The conversations created here do not presuppose that Paul had read Aristotle, Cicero, Epictetus, or Seneca: comparison can work very well without a genetic link. The purpose of these chapters is not to prove that Paul knew this or that philosophical idea (though it is certainly possible that he did). The purpose, rather, is to put Paul into dialogue with other people in his cultural context who thought just as deeply about many of the topics that mattered to him (x).
You know Paul. Meet the Giants of Philosophy by reading their descriptions on page 7. Other charts compare an ancient author and Paul noting similarities and differences (e.g., 19, 48,71, 153, etc.).
Here's one example from pages 158-9: Paul makes use of a quotation from Aratus, a Stoic, in Acts 17:28. He then argues against idolatrous images in Acts 17:29.
If you love learning about the world behind the Bible, this title is worth the price, time, effort, and shelf space.
We thank IVP for there generosity in sharing review copies of their titles and for their patience.
Our remaining three titles were provided by 1517 and Wipf &Stock. First up: Mark Mattes
Luther.
Walther.
These are the giants of the best understanding of a proper distinction between Law and Gospel. Among the many recent books from Lutherans about Law and Gospel, 1517 offers us Law and Gospel in Action: Foundation Ethics Church.
Mark Mattes’ hope is not only to secure believers’ consciences in Christ but also to reclaim theological and social turf which mainline Protestants have too quickly ceded to various secular agendas.
The collected essays engage the reality of believers’ death and resurrection in Christ, and how that bears upon the life of faith while also attending to a wide range of relevant theological topics such as scriptural authority, apologetics, a critique of contemporary mainline Protestant and Evangelical Catholic ethics, a critique of Lutheran-Reformed ecumenism, and the church’s mission and outreach.
The collection concludes with several sermons based on Old Testament lessons seeking to show how the theology embedded in the essays can be used for proclamation.
Many of our readers will object to some the author's praise of the theology of Oswald Beyer and Gerhard Forde. The author is a rostered pastor of the ELCA as of this writing. What he does say is encouraging in the midst of developments in the ELCA. The book itself is a critique of Lutheranism gone wrong, and is an autobiographical account of one who decided to stay and fight.
Rev. Dr. Mark Mattes is Adjunct Professor of Theology, North American Lutheran Seminary; Professor of Theology and Philosophy, Grand View University;
Chair of Philosophy and Religion, Grand View University; with these degrees:
PhD, The University of Chicago
MDiv, Luther Seminary
BA, St. Olaf College
AA, Waldorf College
Diploma, The Lutheran Bible Institute
The subtitle of the book, Foundations, Ethics, Church (plus Sermons) serves as an effective outline of the book.
No, I would not be comfortable being on today's ELCA clergy roster. I do have significant differences with the NALC, LCMC, and other moderate/progressive "Lutheran" bodies. Rev. Dr. Mattes has his work cut out for him in writing to those he serves and serves with. We should pray for his efforts and for repentance and reformation among his readers and hearers.
I recommend Law and Gospel in Action for my brother pastors who wish to better understand what is going on in North American Lutheranism more so than I would recommend it for better understanding Law and Gospel.
Readers of Lutheran Book Review may remember the name Franz Posset.
Volumes 1 and 3 of his Collected Works are before us today.
Franz Posset is a German-American independent church historian and lay theologian in the Catholic Church. He is an internationally recognized ecumenist, specializing in the history and theology of the Renaissance and early Lutheran Reformation.
Franz was born in 1945 in Glöckelberg in the Bohemian Forest (Sudetenland), and between 1965 and 1970, he was a student of Hans Küng, Josef Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI emeritus), and Walter Kasper (Cardinal). He earned a diploma in Catholic theology at University of Tübingen, and received a PhD in Religious Studies, with his dissertation directed by the late Kenneth Hagen at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI.
How are these two volumes of benefit to the Lutheran reader?
Volume 1, The Two-Fold Knowledge, presents Readings on the Knowledge of Self and the Knowledge of God Selected and Translated from the Works of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. If you are a Lutheran, you need to know St. Bernard of Clairvaux. (Franz Posset made a good case for this in Volume 2.) Known in some circles as "the Difficult Saint," he and Luther would benefit from a parallel biography along the lines of the Luther/Erasmus tome Fatal Discord, but without the bias. Note: Luther differs with Bernard regarding the will and grace.
Some Letters of Saint Bernard, also known as SLSB, is quoted in The Lutheran Study Bible. I also appreciate Lane's Bernard of Clairvaux: Theologian of the Cross. This brief book of excerpts complied and arranged by Posset is a great introduction to other fuller works by Bernard of Clairvaux.
Volume 3 of Posset's Collected works focuses in on Luther's Johannine Lectures of 1527, Luther's Catholic Theology, where Posset makes the case for the catholicity of Luther's teaching. I will disagree with the author's assertion in the preface regarding the simul of Luther (9, cf. 209-210, Summary in Conclusion), given that this is Luther in 1527. This is a reprint of a book originally published by Northwestern Publishing House (WELS). I like this book as a prequel companion to the magisterial The Two Natures of Christ by Martin Chemnitz.
We believe that the two Posset volumes and Paul and the Giants of Philosophy will be of the most use to our readers. We commend them to you.
Rev. Paul J Cain is Senior Pastor of Immanuel, Sheridan, Wyoming,
Headmaster of Martin Luther Grammar
School and Immanuel Academy, a member of the Board of Directors of
the Consortium for Classical Lutheran
Education, Secretary of the Wyoming
District of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and a member of its
Board of Directors, Wyoming District
Education Chairman/NLSA Commissioner, and Editor of Lutheran Book Review. He has served as
an LCMS Circuit Visitor, District Worship Chairman and District Evangelism
Chairman. A graduate of the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln and Concordia
Seminary, St. Louis, Rev. Cain is a contributor to Lutheran Service Book, Lutheranism
101, the Hymnal Companion hymn
and liturgy volumes, and is the author of 5
Things You Can Do to Make Our Congregation a Caring Church. He is an
occasional guest on KFUO radio. He has
previously served Emmanuel, Green River, WY and Trinity, Morrill, NE. Rev. Cain
is married to Ann and loves reading and listening to, composing, and making
music.
