27 April 2012

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

The ancient eucharistic prayers with their long recital of God's great acts of salvation in biblical and ecclesiastical history, proclaimed the presence of the whole church at the liturgy - past, present, and future.  The great witnesses of the faith are present in the assembly because Christ is present in the liturgy.  The story of the world is told most completely in the liturgy because Christ is present in worship according to His divine and human natures.  -- Dr. Arthur Just, The Devotional Life of the Pastor in Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord, p. 95.

6 comments:

Chris said...

Does Eucharistic prayer=canon?

William Weedon said...

I think he's likely referring to Eastern anaphorae rather than Roman canon.

Dcn. Muehlenbruch said...

I am familiar with the Eucharistic prayer from El Culto Christiano which, I believe, was influenced or composed by Fr. Piepkorn. It is evangelical in all respects.

I wonder then, why many of our pastors seem to be opposed to a Eucharistic prayer?

If I am in error on this point, please correct me.

William Weedon said...

Deacon,

I believe that prayer was a slight revision of the Reed prayer that appeared in SBH. It was ingenious in its beautiful reworking of the ancient anaphoras in a "Western" key, and yet with great sensitivity to Lutheran theological concerns. I still think it one of the very best ever. It was also published in in the Worship Supplement of the Synod.

Our pastors have a problem with Eucharistic prayer because in seminary they were frequently exposed to a polemic that sought to identify a liturgical form (the prayer) with a human action, and did not at all take recognition of the fact that the Word of God itself is and may be prayed. Luther always objected to the DOCTRINAL CONTENT, not the prayer form of the Roman Canon. FWIW.

Larry Luder said...

Wow, it quote is a gem and I can’t agree more with Dr. Just. The Eucharistic prayer found in setting one is beautiful and cannot be mistaken for the “cannon mass.” I wonder why many of our pastors seem to oppose the Eucharist at every service on the Lord’s Day? If I am in error at this point, please correct me.

Larry Luder said...

oops, meant to say this quotes is a gem