Notable quotes:
95: Walther "has not written a separate book or treatment on the important subject of Biblical hermeneutics".
95: "Hermeneutics set forth the proper rules of interpretation, while exegesis applies these principles in the interpretation of the Bible." [Excellent concise definitions and distinction.]
96: "the use of the historical-critical method with its devastating and emasculating effects on Lutheranism".
96: "hostile types of Biblical criticism… form criticism, tradition criticism, redaction criticism, and in recent years a type called structuralism".
96: "key hermeneutical principles in the Bible itself".
97: Walther "studied the Lutheran Confessions of the Book of Concord of 1580, in which he found the same hermeneutical principles as he had discovered in Luther’s works".
97: "The second source for doctrine, tradition, was repudiated by Luther and the Lutheran Confessions." [Prof. Joel Biermann teaches the opposite.]
98: "Walther in his lifetime saw the origin of such cults as Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, … all of which claimed new revelations from their founders and leaders". [This directly contradicts claims made by Profs. Joel Biermann and A. C. Piepkorn.]
98: "Human reason as a source of religious knowledge is rejected by the Apology…The Apology … reject[s] tradition as another source for revelations… New revelations as a source of knowledge in religion are… are condemned in the Smalcald Articles."
98: "The average Christian does not need a church council, a pope, the consensus of the Church fathers or tradition to teach him what Holy Writ states".
99: "Walther wrote: “Whoever thinks that he can find an error in Holy Scripture does not believe in Holy Scripture but in himself.”".
99: "…this basic hermeneutical principle that only Scripture is able correctly to interpret itself".
102: "'…the literal sense has but one sense.' This hermeneutical principle eliminates allegorization of the text".
102: "…critical scholarship has repudiated the New Testament’s interpretation as erroneous. …many miracles of the Bible… are reinterpreted by historical critics as sagas, myths, legends, and parables…"
103: "interpreting, is guided by the context and intention of the author".
104: "“dark passages are to be interpreted by the clear ones” (Thesis XVI G).…Luther affirmed this principle … as follows: 'That is the special nature of the whole of Scripture that it explains itself through all passages that belong together and by the analogy of faith.'"
105: Luther: "…where the Holy Scriptures establish something to be believed one should not deviate from the words as they are expressed".
105: "Analogy of Faith": “The Ev. Lutheran Church rejects out of hand every interpretation not in harmony with the analogy of faith (Romans 12:6)” [Prof. Joel Biermann confuses what the "analogy of faith" is.]
106: "Walther ruled out the practice of claiming that those teachings and practices [of the Bible] which modern culture … finds unacceptable are time-bound and no longer binding."
106: The Lutheran Church "makes the teaching concerning Christ, or justification, the foundation and marrow and guiding star of all teaching."
107: "It was Luther who emphasized the proper distinction between Law and Gospel as a procedure in Biblical hermeneutics."
108: "…this principle [on adiaphora] is in harmony with the Lutheran Confessions".
108-109: "'…no teaching as an article of faith which is not contained in God’s Word.' … This principle eliminated a whole host of teachings, many of which are based upon the consensus of the Church Fathers, the decisions of the teaching magisterium and the tradition…"
109: "rule out teachings of certain Protestant denominations…gone beyond the clear teachings of the Bible" cults claiming new revelations as a source for their theological teachings
109: "many different cults claiming new revelations as a source for their theological teachings". [Prof. Joel Biermann teaches that cults get their theology from the Bible, not their "new revelations".]
110: The Lutheran Confessions are "the hermeneutical criteria for the evaluation of the theology of the Enthusiasts, of Calvinism and of Roman Catholic doctrines".
110: "Unfortunately, after 1947 the position of Walther and The Lutheran Confessions on Biblical interpretation was not adhered to by many in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod". [This is certainly still true today! Prof. Joel Biermann teaches explicitly against Walther's teaching, particularly on "tradition" and "the analogy of faith". See the other blog series starting with Part JB01.]
In the following "reprint" one will find that practically all references are hyperlinked to their sources. Highlighting is mine:
One may download the complete essay without highlighting >> HERE <<.
One caveat to this essay is that Surburg refers, in his footnote # 3, to Prof. Martin Scharlemann's entry for "Hermeneutics" in the 1975 Lutheran Cyclopedia. But Scharlemann avoided the 1954 edition’s assertion of an errorless Bible. Although Scharlemann did not participate in the 1974 "Walkout", his early writings on Holy Scripture were devastating. Another issue is Surburg's reference, in footnote #90, to a writing of Prof. A. C. Piepkorn, but Piepkorn clearly brought into question the inerrancy of the Bible. — The next blog post in this series, should there be one, will be Part Hrm04…
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