Church and Ministry (Kirche und Amt)

by C.F.W. Walther

Book Overview

A translation of Walther's famous treatise on church and ministry, Die Stimme unserer Kirche in der Frage von Kirche und Amt (3rd edition) explains the theological foundation for the congregation and pastoral office. Walther offers 9 theses on the church and 10 theses on the Ministry, supported from Scripture, the church's confessions, and patristic and confessional writers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0758662564
• ISBN13: 9780758662569
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Concordia Publishing House
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Compendium of Quotations on Church and Ministry

This is a valuable book for studying the doctrine of Church and Ministry. In separate halves of the book, Walther lays out the doctrines of church and ministry in a thesis-by-thesis style, with each thesis consisting of proof from 1) Scripture 2) The Lutheran Confessions 3) Luther and other Lutheran theologians, such as Chemnitz, Melanchthon, Gerhard, and dozens of others from that period and later; and 4) from other ancient church fathers, such as Augustine, Irenaeus, etc. While it may not be the most dynamic prose, the writing is very straightforward, and especially the lengthy quotations from Luther and Chemnitz are very instructive and helpful. Some of the downsides of the book are that Walther does not give much intervening commentary or explanation on the quotations--there is very little material in the book that is not a quotation. This sometimes leaves you a little unclear on how Walther himself reconciled some of the apparent discrepancies between quotations on similar matters. One example is on the issue of whether a head of the household should conduct family communion. But by in large, the book is very well organized, and I learned a great deal about what the Reformers taught about the role of the pastor in the church and various controversial matters concerning both. The Lutheran theologians amply show how the doctrines presented are in harmony with and flow from the Scriptures. Altogether this is essential reading on the topic, and well-worth the time spent reading it.