Listening to God’s Word

“And behold, a  lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to  inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” (Luke 10:25-26). It is possible to know and read the Scriptures—yet not understand them. The teacher of the law in Luke 10 knew the Scriptures, but he did not understand. The church today wrestles with how to read the Scriptures faithfully and properly as we face questions old and new. And as we face this new questions and turn to the Word, at times some people do not understand.

Answering such questions is best done in conversation with others. To that end, eight members of the exegetical department of Concordia Seminary have travelled this week to our sister seminary, the Lutherische Theologische Hochschule in Oberursel, Germany. They are hosting their annual “Dies theologicus” (Theological Day), with the theme: “Listening to God’s Word: Exegetical Approaches.” Confessional Lutheran scholars from around the world are gathering for this symposium; four of Concordia Seminary’s faculty will be presenting major papers.

The symposium begins formally tomorrow, but we have already gathered to break bread and have informal conversation with our colleagues at LThH (and recover from jet lag). Lutherans around the world face so many of the same challenges in a post-church, western culture, and it is encouraging to support one another in faithful witness to the Gospel.

Reports from each day’s sessions will begin tomorrow. To whet your appetite, hear are books and essays on hermeneutics from Concordia Seminary’s participants in this symposium. Most can be accessed through Concordia Seminary’s library. Alumni can receive free access to these articles online; if you are not yet registered please contact the library.

One article and one book are the grandaddies of them all:

Franzmann, Martin, “Seven Theses on Reformation Hermeneutics,” Concordia Journal, 36.2 (2010): 120-133. [this was reprinted in 2010; still a classic, and very helpful in defining a Lutheran hermeneutic]

Voelz, James W., What Does This Mean?: Principles of Biblical Interpretation in the Post-Modern World, 2^nd edition (CPH, 1997).

The essays are:

Voelz, James W., “The discourse on the bread of life in John 6 : is it eucharistic?” Concordia Journal 15.1 (1989): 29-37

Arand, Charles P.  and Voelz, James W., “The Lutheran Confessions as Normative Guides for Reading Scripture,” Concordia Journal 21.4 (1995): 366-384.

Raabe, Paul R. ; Voelz, James W. “Why Exhort a Good Tree? Anthropology and Paraenesis in Romans,” Concordia Journal 22.2 (1996): 154-163.

Voelz, James W., “Anti-Semitism in the New Testament : Is It a Problem of Semantics?” Concordia Journal 24.2 (1998): 121-129.

Voelz, James W., ““Reading Scripture as Lutherans in the Post-Modern Era.” Lutheran Quarterly 15 (2000): 309-34.

Kloha, Jeffrey, “The problem of Paul’s letters: loss of authority and meaning in the “canonical approach” of Brevard Childs,” Concordia Journal 35.2 (2009): 156-169.

Kloha, Jeffrey, “Theological Hermeneutics After Meaning,” Lutheran Theological Journal 46.1 (2012): 4-16

Kloha, Jeffrey, “Was ist Das? The Basis and Nature of Theological Hermeneutics,” in Built on the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets. Papers from Westfield House International Symposium on Lutheran theology, held in Cambridge (UK) in August 2012, ed. Tapani Simojoki (2013).

And, you may wish to review the contributions by our faculty to the Concordia Commentary Series:

Jeff Gibb’s two commentaries on Matthew (so far — here and here).

Bruce Schuchard on the Johannine Epistles

And … Jim Voelz’s brand-new commentary on Mark 1:1-8:26 will be available by Monday!