Theological #ThrowbackThursday: Martin Scharlemann on the parables

Throughout history, God’s people have been eager to learn his Word. We have record of this in the biblical writings which were addressed to these people, copied by scribes, and published by printing presses down to the present day. We are grateful that the Holy Spirit used the technologies of the alphabet, writing, and printing to preserve the word concerning Christ and to deliver it anew to each succeeding generation. In addition to the Holy Scriptures, the church has treasured the writings of the teachers of the church, great servants of the Word like Irenaeus, Augustine, Luther, and Walther. Their writings have come down to us also through the pen and the printing press. But in these latter days, we also give thanks for sound recordings and videos which deliver the Word of God to his people. Concordia Seminary Library has well over a thousand such recordings on cassettes, CDs and video tapes.

Now, thanks to the Generations Campaign and generous donations which continue to come in, we are able to digitize these historic recordings and offer them to the people of God, free of charge. Over the next weeks and months here at concordiatheology.org, we will highlight a few of these treasures of the church and show you where to find gobs more. We’ll hear from Scharlemann, Sasse, Franzmann, Piepkorn, Pelikan, J.A.O. and Robert Preus, Caemmerer, Hummel, Brighton, and Feuerhahn, among many others. This will be Concordia Seminary’s contribution to social media’s Throwback Thursday.

In 1976, the distinguished Graduate Professor of Exegetical Theology, Martin Scharlemann, delivered a set of lectures entitled “Jesus, Teller of Parables.” Divided into six parts over three sessions, Scharlemann explains why we might want to study the parables and how they relate to the kingdom of God. Halfway into the first session, Scharlemann defines parables as “little stories that convey some aspect of the kingdom of God at work among us, right where we are.” He also points out that this kingdom is a kingdom of grace.

You can download session one here, session two here, and session three here. Is God in Christ still at work in our messed up world? As you listen to this digital recording over the internet, you will hear how Jesus, the Teller of Parables keeps on breaking into today through his Word.