Such an “evil” thought has entered the mind of many a man considering seminary! Men who are excited about coming to prepare for the pastoral office often have their enthusiasm tempered by the reality that the first class they must take before formally beginning their seminary studies is New Testament Greek. They fear that they may not do very well because they do not like foreign languages or—even more frightening—they may fail the class and end their seminary studies before they have really begun.

As one of the professors who teaches Greek, I want to assure you that almost all of our students pass Greek and many do quite well. Moreover, most of our students find studying Holy Scripture in the original languages to be an exciting and rewarding experience, opening up a deeper and richer understanding of God’s Word. They come to realize why Martin Luther valued the Hebrew and Greek text of the Bible and urged the faithful use of these languages: “In proportion as we value the gospel let us hold to the languages. We will not long preserve the gospel without the languages. They are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit is contained; they are the casket in which this jewel is enshrined.”

Luther’s words remind us of a very strong motivating factor that has helped many students of Greek. We do not learn Greek for the sake of having another language on our resumé. We learn this language because it is the particular language used to reveal the very salvific words and deeds of our Lord Jesus, especially his sacrificial death and victorious resurrection for all sinners of all time. As we read the New Testament in Greek, we are reading the Spirit-inspired words of men who were eyewitnesses of Jesus. These life-giving words are the foundation of the faithful preaching and teaching done by pastors.

There is a familiar saying in education: “Repetition is the mother of all learning.” This is especially true of learning a language. It is not purely IQ that dictates how well students learn Greek, but how disciplined one is in repeating vocabulary, verb paradigms, and noun declensions. A very important element in taking an intensive course like our ten-week Greek class is that you simplify your life so that you can devote your time to learning the language. In fact, once Greek is over, you will probably no longer want to avoid Greek, but will be anxious to take an exegetical class and put your knowledge to work!

So, the bottom line to the question posted above is: no, but who would want to pass up this opportunity?

From Volume 2, Issue 3, May/June 1998

“Allowing students to begin their course of studies at any time will make it even more accessible for a greater number of people interested in learning to read the New Testament in the original Greek, especially if they are interested in coming to the seminary eventually,” said Dr. Douglas Rutt, dean for distance learning.

The Biblical Greek course is taught by Dr. John Nordling, eminently qualified as a professor of Greek.  Besides his seminary training, he has achieved a Master of Arts from Washington University, St. Louis, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  Dr. Nordling taught in the Department of Foreign Languages at Valparaiso University and the Department of Classics at Baylor University before coming to Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, in 2006. Rev. Mark Braden, former Greek instructor at the seminary, is the course tutor, who personally assists each student with questions, further explanation, grades quizzes and tests, and monitors progress through e-mail, the Internet and the phone.

“The response has been really incredible,”  commented Rev. William Johnson, who was responsible for preparing the course for online teaching.  “We’ve seen students who have invested the time in the course consistently doing well on the same benchmarks we use for our residential Greek students.”

Dr. Lawrence Rast, academic dean at the Fort Wayne seminary, observed: “Our purpose at Concordia Theological Seminary is to support the church by forming servants in Jesus Christ.  We are developing new approaches to accomplish that mission.  We hope that offering Biblical Greek online in this flexible way will make it possible for more people to identify and make use of their talents and gifts for serving in God’s kingdom as pastors and missionaries.”

The course is open to anyone, men and women, who have adequate academic preparation to do the course work and are planning on or considering church work, or who simply want to learn the read the New Testament in its original language.

An online demonstration is available at www.ctsfw.edu/greekdemo.  For more information contact Rev. William Johnson at (260) 452-3202 or william.johnson@ctsfw.edu.  To inquire about registering for the course contact Mrs. Barbara Wegman at (260) 452-2153 or registrar@ctsfw.edu.

This is a very important question for us to ponder. In fact, Jesus asked this all important question to Peter in Matthew 16:15, when, after discussing what everyone was saying about Jesus, He asked Peter: “What about you? Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered by confessing: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus was not merely a wise teacher. He wasn’t just a future telling prophet. He wasn’t just an example to us of how God wants us to live our lives. True, He was indeed all of these things, but He was much more than these. He was our sin sacrifice. He is our atoning Savior, paving the way to heaven for us by shedding His blood on the cross. He was God in flesh.

God wants us to know this truth, and so He reveals it to us in His Word. This is why Jesus performed all of the miracles and healings. Not to call attention to Himself or to randomly provide thrills and entertainment, but to show the world that He was indeed God in flesh. God sent Jesus to reveal the Kingdom of God to the world, as it is written in Luke 4:43, “I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God, because that is why I was sent.” God loves us! Our sins are forgiven in Christ! Jesus is Lord! This is the reality of truth that God reveals to us in Epiphany, and this is what He wants us to know. See John 20:30-31 – “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name.” Thanks be to God for revealing this truth to us in His Son!

Dr. Hazen, the head of the Christian Apologetics program at Biola, points out that Maher never bothers to consult any serious scholars for the defense of Christianity, choosing instead to display fringe expressions as if they were representative.  His approach is lazy.  Of course, out of the billions of religious people in the world, you can highlight examples from kitsch to extremism to make your case the religion is useless at best, dangerous at worst.  Isn’t this the basic “straw man” fallacy where you caraciturize your opponent, making it easy to knock him down while avoiding a real confrontation of serious ideas?

Hazen notes that one of Bill Maher’s favorite attacks is that boring old canard that the Bible is unreliable as a historical document because the Gospels were all written generations after the death of Jesus.  One of my favorite refutations of that proposition comes from this article in Skeptic Magazine.  Non-Christian historian, Robert Sheaffer dismantles the more ludicrous claims of The Da Vinci Code, including the idea that the Gospels are late documents.

- Reprinted from The Burr in the Burgh

Dr. John G. Nordling

Associate Professor of Exegetical Theology
Concordia Theological Seminary
Ft. Wayne, IN 46825

For more on learning Greek (and Latin) in its initial stages, see John G. Nordling, “Why Should I Learn Latin When Everything has been Translated into English?” Logia: a Journal of Lutheran Theology 11.2 (2002) 27-33.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jeremiah was not real fond of his lectionary.  God had given him the unenviable task of calling the city of Jerusalem to repentance for their unbelief, their evil sacrifices to Baal, and their lackadaisicalness if not outright hostility toward the God of Israel, their God, who had redeemed them from the hand of Pharaoh, who had given them a name, a land and a city to call their own.  The reason they lived in Jerusalem, the city of peace, is because their heavenly Father had delivered it to them with a mighty hand.

So God had put His Word into Jeremiah’s mouth to speak to the people, to warn them of their coming destruction, and to call them to repentance and faith in the one God who would save them.  Just moments before our text, God had placed Jeremiah at the Potsherd Gate outside the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, told him to carry a potsherd with him, and that he was to preach against the city for their idolatry.  God renamed it the Valley of Slaughter, for it is there that the people of Judah would fall, some to death, others to captivity in Babylon.

No, Jeremiah was not fond of this lectionary, but he preached it nonetheless.  This perfect law of God, through which their only hope of survival lay, this perfect law of God was not going to be received well.  Not this time, and it was a part of the pattern of life for Jeremiah, the weeping prophet.  Jeremiah preaches in season and out of season, and breaks the pot in their sight, signaling the beginning of their destruction.

This is not how to win friends and influence people.  The weeper does not want this message, but he sends it.  That is part and parcel of the ministry, after all. Our Lord Himself wept over Jerusalem, crying out to her that this warfare was folly, that He would redeem them of their sins, that God would place a heart of flesh into their heart of stone, and that He would keep them alive in the time of destruction.

But, much like Jeremiah, our Lord is taken outside the gate.  Jeremiah was beaten, scourged for the Word of God which He had spoken and enacted against the people.  Jesus is taken outside the gate, scourged, beaten and murdered.  The high priest’s man goes after Jeremiah for his message of doom.  The high priest himself attacks our Lord.  The high priest’s man goes after Jeremiah for what he thought was a false word from God.  The high priest goes after our Lord Jesus for claiming to be the Son, the very Word of God made flesh.  Where Jeremiah is bound in stocks of wood, our Lord is nailed to the wood of the cross.  Jeremiah is a shadow of the one to come, the prophet like Moses, Jesus Himself.

When Jeremiah is beaten and imprisoned by Pashhur, the chief overseer of the Temple, Jeremiah changes the man’s name.  He says to Him, “The LORD does not call your name  Pashhur, but Terror On Every Side.  4 For thus says the LORD: Behold, I will make you  a terror to yourself and to all your friends.”  Jeremiah knows that this man will end in derision, confusion and death, as will all who steadfastly reject his gracious invitation.

But here the comparison takes a different turn.  Jeremiah knows this man’s fate, along with all of Jerusalem.  Our Lord, too, knows their fate and ours.  But where Jeremiah changes Pashhur’s name to “Terror on Every Side”, our Lord, for them and for you, gives you a new name, a different name.  The name He gives to you is son.  For you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus, according to His word.  St. Paul reminds us:

“So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:24-29 ESV)

The Law was your guardian and tutor, to teach you the will of God, until Christ. Christ has come, and though He was murdered outside the gate, He rose again.  Though we have abandoned Him just as the people of Judah in Jeremiah’s day, He has not abandoned us.  He gives you a new name.  That name has washed you and made you white in His blood.

“You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.  A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.” (Psalms 91:5-8 ESV)

Jeremiah did not like the lectionary which God had given to him, but he delivered it nonetheless.  Even Jeremiah, in his crosses, could see the coming dawn of eternal life.  So weep and rejoice with the prophet, Jeremiah.  Weep that your sins are great, that you deserve the terror of the night like Pashhur and all Judah.  But rejoice, for though you deserve it, you do not bear it.  The terror of this day is but a shadow.  The joy of tomorrow lasts to all eternity.  Believe it for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

Jeremiah 20:1-6
Kramer Chapel
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana
June 26, 2008 (Jeremiah)
Rev. Todd A. Peperkorn

There have been some misnomers out there that describe deaconesses as “nuns” or “mini-pastors.” This blog post hopes to develop a primer discussion of what a deaconess is and what she is not, and leave you to understand the important distinctions of both. In relation to what deaconesses are alongside any other offices, this will hopefully offer development of a healthy attitude, not only about deaconesses, but the Word of God demonstrated in these instruments of Christ’s mercy.

A DEACONESS IS NOT A NUN:

• A Deaconess reaches out into the community and congregation to the lost and suffering. She has no vows or oaths that she must take, apart from being in agreement and faithful to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions (because it agrees with Scripture).

• A Deaconess is able to be married and carry on deaconess service. Again, no vows of celibacy or monasticism are required or encouraged. Likewise, a deaconess is not required or encouraged to be married, either, if she does not desire these things; so long as she acts in accordance with Scripture in propriety and obedience to the Sixth Commandment (which goes for all people, not just deaconesses!)

• A Deaconess knows the richness of our Lutheran theology, and is able to articulate and act, in mercy, on our confession of faith with grace and wisdom for the edification of the Church, especially to the ones who she has been charged to serve.

A DEACONESS IS NOT A PASTOR:

• The deaconess is consecrated (set apart for godly service), not ordained. Her service begins at the nave and door of the Church. While she does not preach or administer the Lord’s Supper, she can certainly prepare the Altar for the Sacrament prior to the Divine Service, but does not participate in the distribution of it.

• The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod upholds and respects God’s Biblical order of Creation. Woman was created as helper of man (Gen. 2:18). Deaconesses exemplify this and other expressions of God’s Word (Eph 5:25, 1 Timothy 3:12). This is to be understood as the inerrant Word of God truly freeing both men and women to be exactly who they are, in Christ Jesus, as the ultimate focus.

• Diaconal emphasis of service is on care, teaching and reaching out to women, children, and elderly

This primer hopefully brings clarity to some otherwise confused or misleading views. The most important aspect of deaconess service is giving all glory to God, and pointing others to our Savior, Jesus Christ. A deaconess serves as a “buffer”-many times between the world and the Altar and Font, where Jesus promises to be. While all children of God are called to bear witness to the Gospel and show where God is located, a deaconess is a leader and resource to those she serves, helping and encouraging all to works of mercy and compassion. Glory be to God for sending all laborers into His Harvest!

Teach. If our curriculum were a tree, the roots would be Jesus Christ and the trunk would be the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Sacrament.  I’ll talk about the role of the Eucharist momentarily.

As a student at CTS, you will become immersed in the texts of the Old and New Testaments.  Every seminarian studies, in their original languages, all four Gospels, all five books of Moses (Gen-Deut), the epistles of Paul, the major OT prophets and the Psalms.  Every student takes a Greeks Readings course for six of the nine on campus quarters.  That’s the minimum.

We believe that it is extremely important for the pastors of the church to have competency in reading the Greek and Hebrew texts of God’s Word.  This is possibly more important today than it has been in over a thousand years.  The society in which our graduates will be placed is more pluralistic and religiously diverse than America has ever been.  We are also more drenched in communication technologies.  This adds up to a  very confused and confusing mess.  False teachings abound.  People need and often hunger for someone to give them good spiritual food to eat.  We must be able to speak the Truth clearly, winsomely, and with precision.  Lives depend on it.

Add an in depth examination of the Lutheran Confessions, Liturgics and hymnody, pastoral practice, preaching, etc.  Not only are there specific courses in each of these fields, but our faculty strives to bring a wholistic approach to the classroom.  In other words, it is not beneficial to teach the Gospel of Luke, for instance, without talking about how to preach these texts, how they’ve been understood by historical heros of the church, how they appear in the liturgical life of the church, their significance for counseling and outreach.  We practice an intentionally inter-disciplinary form of instruction.  So when you study the Psalms, to take another example, you will have two professors.  One will teach you the Hebrew constructions and the interpretation of the texts while the other will tie that in with the liturgical and devotional use of the psalter.

Central to everything is our chapel.  This is because we understand that our students, as their primary identity, are children of God.  They must receive the Lord’s gracious gifts in scripture, preaching, Eucharist, prayer and song.  Their own heart are nourished by the presence of Christ in our midst.  That much is fundamental.  Otherwise, we become a stagnant academy of abstract ideas and theories.  God is not a “subject” to be autopsied by our skilled technicians.  He is a living person who relates to us by His Son.

These emphases of our curriculum form a person into a well equipped teacher and preacher.

The Deaconess Program at Concordia Theological Seminary is enjoying the remaining weeks of Spring quarter, rounding out its established success of five years at Fort Wayne. Joyfully, we can report that there were 10 women eligible for internships this spring, and all 10 were filled by congregations and institutions. These internships will allow them to learn and better prepare for professional service post graduation, as certified Deaconesses in the LCMS. Further, in CTS tradition, we greatly anticipates the Placement Service for many of this year’s class of interns next Thursday, May 15th, in Kramer Chapel. However, like some seminarians, not every deaconess intern may receive a placement at the ceremonial time. These placements take time and work to cultivate as we educate congregations about the need that these church workers can serve.

One of the delights of my internship this year has been exactly that; educating the Church at large about diaconia and the richness a deaconess can add to the life of it. I don’t think there has been a single person that I have spoken to about deaconess service that didn’t understand its value, and hoped to see more deaconesses serving in their churches someday.

Of course, there are logistical realities when deliberating over calling any church worker. But the first step to creating these opportunities begins with prayer. There is no magic involved. It is simply talking with God and asking for His wisdom in what direction your church should go. Asking your pastor and council members to discuss new church worker possibilities also prepares the way for careful deliberation. But God’s timing, the resources, and right people to be involved in the decision making- not to mention the right person to be called upon to serve- is key in making it all happen. This is how God works and He always answers our prayers. No matter what the outcome, God provides for the needs of His church.

I often think about the Israelites deliverance out of Egypt in the book of Exodus in terms of how God uses people for His glory and our redemption. It was through Moses, who God chose to act on His behalf; but also Aaron and Miriam (Micah 6:4), who helped lead Israel to the Promised Land. This is the very same endeavor of the church today. There will always be needs in the church, and pastors simply cannot and should not shoulder it in entirety. Sharing the responsibility that God has commanded us to do (Gal 5:2), is truly a blessing to all. A deaconess’s goal, just as a pastor’s, is to lead people from their wandering. Outside of the liturgical setting, she points them to the Promised Land [heaven], Jesus Christ, and where He is found in His Word with His Sacraments through teaching the faith, acts of mercy and spiritual care.

If you or your congregation is considering a deaconess, continue to pray about it. Further inquiries can be directed to 260.452.2178, or melissa.degroot@ctsfw.edu.

I realize that the Early Church Fathers used the LXX and that many of the quotes of the Old Testament in the New Testament are from the LXX, but my question to you is, “Why eat hamburger when steak is right in front of you?”

Prof. Jeffrey Pulse, Associate Professor of Exegetical Theology, CTS

In a commentary on Psalm 39, Luther states in a paradigmatic shift, “This is what happened to Christ…silencing himself from the good (Ps. 39:2), and becoming sorrowful for the unteachable and jealous souls.[2]” Who are these souls? Take a look in the mirror. Even though we may believe we constantly turn away as if WE can take Jesus’ place and save ourselves. Other examples of Christ’s anguish is His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane [Luke 22:39-46] and his cries on the cross. Consequently Jesus utters “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me [Mt 27:46]” on the cross, just as the Psalter had uttered in Psalm 22:1. Yet this was His own lament for all the world and himself! Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man was scorned, afflicted and humiliated for us, became sin in our stead, and fully atoned for us in His death and resurrection.

We cannot pretend that laments are somehow a ‘good thing’. Pain and suffering exists and that is exactly what it is. However, our prayers of lament, as in the Psalms, are conversations that acknowledge the truth about sin, and our relationship to God. The reality is that there is no earthly or temporary quick fix that will make sin, death and the devil go away. The testing and trials can and will happen. May these things turn us to Jesus Christ, the only One who truly understands and still paid for all of our sins at the cross. If your heart is heavy with sorrow, know that Jesus laments with you, and has taken your sorrow unto himself. Be encouraged to read the Psalms and all of Scripture; so you may realize that you are not alone. May you come to know that you can take all your laments to our Triune God, and receive the continuous and mysterious Words of consolation (Ps 34:18) through your Christ-sent pastor (Mt 28:20) and the Church, the only place that can give it.

Apart from job security for yours truly, an Old Testament Professor at the Seminary, there are many important and significant reasons to tackle Hebrew. First and foremost, it is one of the original languages in which the Holy Scriptures were written. Generally, that alone is considered reason enough to be about the task. However, there is much more. It is in the Old Testament Scriptures that we first hear the beautiful Gospel promises of a Savior. Man who is separated from God by sin is told, clearly, that this separation is unacceptable in God’s eyes and because man is unable to come to God, God promise to come to man in His Son. Unfortunately, translations are not always able to convey the depth of this promise or the rich texture of God’s covenant.

Knowing Hebrew opens up the Scriptures in a way no translation can hope to accomplish. Knowing Hebrew will not only help you preach and teach the Old Testament it will make you want to preach and teach it! Knowing Hebrew “sets the table” for the New Testament fulfillment of the covenant in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Knowing Hebrew is an essential tool for the pastor. Greek, well…

By Prof. Jeffrey Pulse, STM, Associate Professor of Exegetical Theology

Such an “evil” thought has entered the mind of many a man considering seminary! Men who are excited about coming to prepare for the pastoral office often have their enthusiasm tempered by the reality that the first class they must take before formally beginning their seminary studies is New Testament Greek. They fear that they may not do very well because they do not like foreign languages or—even more frightening—they may fail the class and end their seminary studies before they have really begun.

As one of the professors who teaches Greek, I want to assure you that almost all of our students pass Greek and many do quite well. Moreover, most of our students find studying Holy Scripture in the original languages to be an exciting and rewarding experience, opening up a deeper and richer understanding of God’s Word. They come to realize why Martin Luther valued the Hebrew and Greek text of the Bible and urged the faithful use of these languages: “In proportion as we value the gospel let us hold to the languages. We will not long preserve the gospel without the languages. They are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit is contained; they are the casket in which this jewel is enshrined.”

Luther’s words remind us of a very strong motivating factor that has helped many students of Greek. We do not learn Greek for the sake of having another language on our resumé. We learn this language because it is the particular language used to reveal the very salvific words and deeds of our Lord Jesus, especially his sacrificial death and victorious resurrection for all sinners of all time. As we read the New Testament in Greek, we are reading the Spirit-inspired words of men who were eyewitnesses of Jesus. These life-giving words are the foundation of the faithful preaching and teaching done by pastors.

There is a familiar saying in education: “Repetition is the mother of all learning.” This is especially true of learning a language. It is not purely IQ that dictates how well students learn Greek, but how disciplined one is in repeating vocabulary, verb paradigms, and noun declensions. A very important element in taking an intensive course like our ten-week Greek class is that you simplify your life so that you can devote your time to learning the language. In fact, once Greek is over, you will probably no longer want to avoid Greek, but will be anxious to take an exegetical class and put your knowledge to work!

So, the bottom line to the question posted above is: no, but who would want to pass up this opportunity?

Reprinted from “Pilgrimage,” Volume 2, Issue 3, May/June 1998