Graebner - Prophecy and the War, Was It Foretold?
I have tried to post treatments of major theological issues in 19th Century fights over Lutheran identity, but I have yet to post a solid treatment on Chiliasm. Part of this is probably because I have so little sympathy with it that I have a hard time taking it seriously and so have little knowledge of it or patience dealing with it.
Theodore Graebner was a major figure in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod partially from his teaching, partially from his translations of Walther, and greatly from all the popular articles he wrote for The Lutheran Witness. In addition he wrote a few books of his own of topics of concern at the time.
World War 1 was a traumatic event for many Lutherans in this country. For German-Americans, we were at war with the motherland. Even Scandinavian Lutherans were suspect with their neighbors since they looked/sounded "German". And so we had to face American culture and figure out where we fit in with it. Some may dismiss this booklet as "sour grapes" from a population that in 1918 didn't like the war celebration about a war they wanted nothing to do with, but examination shows that it is rather a reaction against certain cultural forces based on long standing doctrinal positions.
I admit that my eyes glazed over at some of the analysis of Dr. Gray and Gaebelein, et al, One passage was interesting to me, knowing some issues for the next World War, and how Lutherans are sometimes blamed for Hitler was the following:
As for “Aryan,” a term employed with such confidence by our author, Max Mueller’s warning appears to have been ignored: “‘Aryan’ in scientific language is utterly inapplicable to race; it means language and nothing but language.”22) No anthropologist would in our day assume a blood-relationship, for instance, between the French, the Spanish, and the Portuguese, because their languages are so much alike. To speak plainly, scientists are completely at sea regarding the early history of the races now inhabiting Europe and Asia. Attempts have been made to classify the families of men according to physical peculiarities called “race characters”: the color of the skin, eyes, hair; stature, proportion of limbs and trunk, conformation of the skull, the capacity of the cranium, relation of height to breadth, etc., and still, says the Encyclopedia Britannica,23) “detailed anthropological research more and more justifies Blumenbach’s words that ‘innumerable varieties of mankind run into one another by insensible degrees.’“ Man has been variously divided by scientists into 3, 5, 11, 15, and 16 races. The working out of the problem for such complex nations as those of Europe is now regarded as “a task of almost hopeless intricacy.”24)
Graebner, T. Prophecy and War, Was it Foretold? (66).
This clearly shows to me that at least in some conservative German Lutheran circles, what Hitler would soon proclaim was preposterous.
Some notes on the edition... The source of this is http://books.google.com/books?id=VOsrAAAAYAAJ . I downloaded the book as a epub, and then converted it to RTF via Calibre, and then edited it in MS Word. I did edit many biblical references by reversing periods and commas so that Logos recognized the tags. In addition I inserted page numbers, chapter headings and footnotes and fixed a few obvious typos, but the editing has been relatively light. The Krauth I released last week was a labor of love, This, instead is an easy labor.
SDG,
Ken McGuire
The Gospel is not ... a "new law," on the contrary, ... a "new life." - William Julius Mann
L8 Anglican, Lutheran and Orthodox Silver, Reformed Starter, Academic Essentials
L7 Lutheran Gold, Anglican Bronze
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I've uploaded this one and look forward to reading it. Thanks for sharing.
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Peace, Ken!Kenneth McGuire said:World War 1 was a traumatic event for many Lutherans in this country. For German-Americans, we were at war with the motherland. Even Scandinavian Lutherans were suspect with their neighbors since they looked/sounded "German". And so we had to face American culture and figure out where we fit in with it. Some may dismiss this booklet as "sour grapes" from a population that in 1918 didn't like the war celebration about a war they wanted nothing to do with, but examination shows that it is rather a reaction against certain cultural forces based on long standing doctrinal positions.
Am quite excited about this one! Am very grateful! Right now I'm very much behind where I want to be with Logos and other items in my Study. Spent more than two weeks in hospital this summer and am recovering quite well, thank you! *smile*
My Pastor asked me to preach again this Sunday - Elijah! will limp along and do the best I can! *smile*
Anyway, thanks for all your sharings, Ken! I mentioned that I do occasionally pray for you and your personal needs and blessings.
World War 1 was also traumatic for Lutherans in Canada. I did my vicarage (internship) at St. Paul's in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada and was quite enlightened by so many old timers who lived there when it was named Berlin, Ontario. They actually changed the name of the city because of the War! That area also included not only Lutherans of various backgrounds, but also Amish and Mennonites and others with German-sounding names.
Blessings and Kindest personal greetings. Yours in Christ, Peace Always! and ... Joy in the Lord! *smile*
Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........
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