God's Ideas are Old Ideas

of theological partaking

Sep 11, 2024

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1/ God’s Children Living in a Strange Place (Philippians 2:14-18)

2/ Martin Luther’s Chronology of the World

As we are studying through Luther’s Genesis commentary in the Worldwide Bible Class there are a lot of references to Luther’s Chronology of the World. This is not a well-known work, but Luther himself was not only proud of it, he insisted on the importance of reading the Bible as a history book.

You can take a look at the PDF here.

It’s another reminder of the axiom:

Before the Bible is Theology, it is History.

3/ Every Altar has “Partakers”

There is a Greek word Paul uses through his argument in 1 Corinthians 10, κοινωνία, but it’s hard to see in the English translation. In fact, the ESV uses three different English words to translate this one Greek word: “communion”, “partakers”, and “fellowship”.

Paul talks about κοινωνία with four things:

the blood of Christ,
the body of Christ,
the altar, and
demons.

The idea, which is so strange to us in our modern world, is that there is a real fellowship at an altar. When we go to an altar we are sharing in its confession, the God (or god or gods) it confesses, and we do this with all those who come to that altar as well.

This is the framework for the church’s practice of closed communion. (For more on that topic, see here.)

We are called to be partakers at the altar of Christ.

4/ Pastor Steve Parks on Why He Didn’t Become Roman Catholic

I’m 1/3 through this fantastic video.

5/ Martin Luther on Enoch

This commentary from Luther on Enoch gives a good flavor of his Old Testament approach: https://wolfmueller.co/martin-luther-on-enoch/

6/ Young Adult Conference, October 11-13, 2024

October 11-13, 2024 hosted by St Paul Lutheran Church, Austin, TX. Ya’ll come.

All the info is here: https://wolfmueller.co/event/grounded-a-really-really-old-faith-young-adult-conference-in-the-heart-of-texas/

Could I ask a favor? Would you mind advertising this in your congregation’s bulletin? Thanks!

Please add your own theological recommendations in the comments.

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Remember to go to your pastor's Bible Class this week and, read old theology books. (If you don't have a pastor or congregation, click here. If you don't have old theology books, click here.)

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Thank you, again, for your time and attention, and for your prayers. Please keep in touch.

Christ is Risen!
Pastor Wolfmueller

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

www.wolfmueller.co