Lutheran Carnival X- All Saints Edition

Here we are, at Lutheran Carnival X. There have been numerous highs and lows that this crazy carnival has created. The high of numerous submissions, the low of threatening to close it down, the going semi-monthly (sort of). So now here we are, at the tenth edition of this Carnival.

When I originally started designing the first carnival, in the space up here, I put what I called "Lutherans that you don't know but should" blurb. This space was to have theologians, musicains, and others who left their mark on Lutheranism, but now are largely forgotten except to pastors and well-educated laypeople. This blurb has gotten a little off track recently, so to put it back on track, I give you David Chytraeus.



The last of the big three that helped produce The Formula of Concord, he was quite possibly better known than either Melancthon or Andreae at the time, he is now the least well know. You can read a little more about him here. Try googling his name, and see how many pages come up in German. He is still known in Germany. He is quite unfortunately unkown here.

As many of you saw, my great uncle was called to the Church Triumphant this past Reformation Day. So this Year, All Saints Day will be emphasized.

Behold a host, arrayed in white,
Like thousand snow clad mountains bright,
With palms they stand. Who is this band
Before the throne of light?
Lo, these are they of glorious fame
Who from the great affliction came
And in the flood of Jesus’ blood
Are cleansed from guilt and blame.
Now gathered in the holy place
Their voices they in worship raise,
Their anthems swell where God doth dwell,
Mid angels’ song of praise.

Despised and scorned, they sojourned here;
But now, how glorious they appear!
Those martyrs stand a priestly band,
God’s throne forever near.
So oft, in troubled days gone by,
In anguish they would weep and sigh.
At home above the God of Love
For aye their tears shall dry.
They now enjoy their Sabbath rest,
The paschal banquet of the blest;
The Lamb, their Lord, at festal board
Himself is Host and Guest.

Then hail, ye mighty legions, yea,
All hail! Now safe and blest for aye,
And praise the Lord, Who with His Word
Sustained you on the way.
Ye did the joys of earth disdain,
Ye toiled and sowed in tears and pain.
Farewell, now bring your sheaves and sing
Salvation’s glad refrain.
Swing high your palms, lift up your song,
Yea, make it myriad voices strong.
Eternally shall praise to Thee,
God, and the Lamb belong.

Just because I didn't post about Reformation Day doesn't mean nobody else did. We had quite a few posts on the Reformation. I wonder why.

Staring us out is Necessary Roughness and his post Theses Here and Now. Martin Luther wrote his 95 Theses in protest of what was happening with the Church. Fast forward 500 years, and some preaching by people who claim religious heritage from the Reformation is still not in line with the Luther's objections backed by Scripture.

Next is dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos theophilos on Reformation Sunday. He describes Reformation Day in 1517 and in 1988.

Aardvark Alley discusses All Hallows' Eve and the Dawn of the Reformation. As came the early hours of Reformation Day, he looks briefly at contemporary Halloween practices before examining Luther's legacy.

Amor Et Labor gives us Reformation Over? - The Quiz. How important are each of these issues to your Ecclesiology. Fundamentalists think exact agreement over every point is necessary and liberals don't draw the line at any differences. What about confessional Lutherans?

On a funnier note, Hot Lutheran on Lutheran Action in Happy/Merry/Blessed Reformation uses his seemingly useless God-given talent of Awesome Pumpkin Carving, Sean finds a way to reconcile two of our favorite holidays that happen to fall on October 31st. Behold, the Luther-O-Lantern!

Hornswoggled also took his funny pills and produced this story about Rick Warren posting 9.5 Purpose-Driven(TM) Theses. Horn+Swoggled reports that the 2nd Reformation has finally arrived!


Now that all the Reformation Day posts are out of the way, let's get on to the the rest of what everyone was writing.

Deaconess Carter of Quicunque vult... titles her submission Ste. Em revisits St. Gregory. Jesus is the sort of teacher whose words did not always leave His in their comfort zone. He also spoke hard sayings that offended. Still, even those His words are filled with Himself for our sakes (cf. John 6!). Paul, as His apostle, speaks hard sayings to women. Shall we not also speak them, fearing that women will run off as Jesus' disciples did? Or shall we speak these hard sayings instead, but demonstrating how Jesus has filled them with Himself? Perhaps St. Gregory provides the key for how this might be done.

Dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos theophilos sends another post entitled Who is most excellent Theophilus? It seems fitting to me that on October 18th, the feast day for Saint Luke, he identifies the person to whom he wrote his gospel.

Be Strong in the Grace send in Fears and the Word. She discusses the fear that griped her as an Evangelical and how Lutheranism taught her not to be afraid.

Katie's Beer sends in the post You may be exhilarated... on Purpose-Driven Drinking. Katie's Beer posts on the importance of moderation in exercising our Christian freedom.

Cross Theology in a fascinating post called Hating Knowledge. What does a modern mystic Buddho-Romanist have to say that is relevant to the Lutheran liturgical wars? More than you might think. This post explores the implications.

Amor de Labor also sends me a post asking Whether a psychopath, too, can be saved. Is salvation possible for someone who possesses no conscience and therefore cannot feel remorse? He answers tenatively and would like input.

In our Canadian Corner, A Beggar at the Table submits The Chick Tract. Pastor Klages finds a hilariously bad tract on his front walk. His wife, writer of Kelly's Blog, submits this post called Free statue in the mail. Kelly describes a statue which her husband received in the mail.

The Burr in the Burgh gives his thoughts on the "Veggie Tales Jesus". He decided to add his two cents to a discussion begun over at Rev. McCain's Cyberbrethren website on the merits and demerits of the latest Veggie Tales product.

Wretched of the Earth sends in a post on Idolatry. Idolatry seems, ostensibly, to be the commandment you don't have to worry about in a church-sated society like the United States, whereas in Thailand it's pervasive. But he thinks any red-blooded American is just as guilty of breaking the 1st commandment as your everyday Thai Buddhist. And he's got pictures!

Full Throtle on an Empty Gas Tank gives us a tour of his Bible in two parts: Part One and Part Two.

Aardvark Alley sends in his post naming his Golden Aardvark Aawaard winners. As if there weren't already enough awards and honors zipping around cyberspace, Aardvark Alley has invented the Golden Aardvark Award. The Aardie (Aardvark Award for Raillery, Doctrine, or Intellect in Exposition) is capriciously bestowed at the whim of Orycteropus himself.

Ask the Pastor discusses Becoming a Christian. Is Becoming a Christian a series of complicated steps or does it happen in one fell swoop? Rev. Walter Snyder shows that while there may be stages of assimilation into the body of Christ and a particular congregation, there's no halfway point in belonging: Either you are a Christian or you aren't. He also gives us
Alone but not Lonely: The Solas of Theology. Rev. Snyder maintains that Lutherans are not sectarian inventors of new and strange doctrines but that we stand firmly in the Scriptures and with the early Church fathers. He shows how the faith confessed by Wittenberg's heirs is the same faith confessed by John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Athanasius, and others in Alone but not Lonely: The Solas of Theology.

IntolerantElle send a post called A Woman Needs a Career Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle. Are young women rejecting the feminist movement? Maureen Dowd seems to have noticed the trend and Elle writes about how she is part of it. [ed. I'm glad she's part of it too].

Finally, at my blog, Random Thoughts of a Confessional Lutheran, I give my thoughts on my great uncle's funeral mass in Part One and Part Two. In part one, I comment on the musical decline of Rome and in Part Two I discuss the good things I saw, all from my cantankerous Lutheran Perspective.

That is the Tenth Lutheran Carnival. The schedule of future hosts can be found here and will be updated as I find new hosts. If you would like to be a host, email me.

I also want to remind you all of a few things. First and foremost, write your descriptions in third person. More than a few of you forgot to do this. Secondly, two posts per blog and one third-party submission per person. A couple of people sent me three posts for one blog, and the extra posts are being sent to the next host. Please keep these limits in mind.

Before ending this, I want to thank everybody who stepped up and hosted this carnival. I really do appreciate everybody who helped. Secondly, thank you to everybody who submits posts, especially to all you who have submitted posts for all ten carnivals. I really do appreciate that. It's you all that keep this thing rolling.

If you used to submit but haven't for a while, please consider doing so. If you don't submit, are a Confessional Lutheran, and have a blog, please consider submitting a post. Your input will be more than welcome.