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Gottesblog

A blog of the Evangelical Lutheran Liturgy

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We Have Got to Talk About Usury (Part VIII): Medieval Theologians
We Have Got to Talk About Usury (Part VIII): Medieval Theologians

Pope Leo the Great’s epistle Nec hoc quoque (c. 443) was the first prohibition of all lending at interest for both clergy and laity issued with supreme ecclesiastical authority. Several centuries later, around 774, this text was incorporated into the Hadriana, the official collection of canon law presented by Pope Adrian I to Charlemagne. From that point onward, there emerged an ever-greater consensus among both church and state in Christian lands that all lending at interest is inherently sinful and thus forbidden. (Note: the capitularies of Charlemagne cited Nicaea in addition to Leo’s epistle.) And significantly, in Nec hoc quoque, Psalm 15 is cited as definitive proof of the universal moral prohibition against charging interest. It seems that for many in the first millennium of the church’s history, this psalm served as the most glaring evidence that the Old Testament prohibition was not just civil law, but moral, and is therefore still binding on the Christian. 

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Guest Author Comment
Throwback Thursday: The Ministry of Prayer
Throwback Thursday: The Ministry of Prayer

The ordination vows in the LSB ordination rite are stated as questions. The first questions are related to doctrine. “Do you confess the Unaltered Augsburg Confession?” and so forth…. The very last question is: “Will you be constant in prayer for those under your pastoral care?”

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David PetersenComment
On Authenticity
On Authenticity

“Authenticity” and “authentic” are front-burner words today. And this is true especially for us confessional Lutherans at this time of great debate about Lutheran identity. Given that we are bombarded 24-7 by ads, marketing, and propaganda, the quest for authenticity is a big deal in our day, especially in matters of worship.

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Larry Beane Comments
“Let’s Take It to the Next Level”
“Let’s Take It to the Next Level”

This is one of the inherent problems with the Church Growth mindset. It’s all about number-lust, and it is never enough. The Church Growther is never satisfied. It’s built-in to the fabric of the universe. For numbers are infinite. There is always a higher number. In the world of mathematics, there is always a “next level,” even as the flesh is never satisfied.

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Larry Beane Comments
Put Not Your Trust in Princes... or Princesses
Put Not Your Trust in Princes... or Princesses

This misguided trust - especially in matters of sex and reason - is based on our progressive culture. A lot of people are confused when I use the word “progressive,” thinking that this means politically left-wing, that is, what often (and often erroneously) is described as “liberal.” Progressivism is a deviation from conservatism, but there are both left- and right-wing progressives.

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Larry Beane Comments
The Latin Mass in the Lutheran Church
The Latin Mass in the Lutheran Church

Last year’s Institute on Liturgy, Preaching, and Church Music in Seward, NE featured a wide array of presentations on many matters pertaining to the worship of the Church, and KFUO Radio has been releasing recordings of some of these presentations on its various media platforms in the last few weeks. I had the opportunity to do a brief historical overview of the Latin Mass (and, to a lesser extent, the Office) in the history of the Lutheran Church, and you can hear that presentation here. I was, perhaps, slightly overambitious in my preparations, and so the presentation moves along at a rather speedy clip, but you can find the slides being referenced during the presentation here.

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Stefan Gramenz Comment