Question of the week...

"So, what exactly is your job?"

Well, I have a lot of jobs.  I'm a part-time student in two schools, and haven't had a summer vacation in years.  I accompany services at my home church during the week, teach piano students there, assist with singing and playing for the senior choir, and also direct a children's choir, grades 2-4. During the year, I'm also taking organ lessons and preparing to give a recital, and starting work on my master's thesis doing research about a relatively unknown hymnwriter.  When I'm not doing that, I accompany music students at my alma mater, plus work night shifts at the library while writing and reading academic literature.

"No, I mean, do you have a real job?"

I give up...

You had me at "Let's go to Barnes and Noble."

You may wonder what it is with the obsession.  I'm always telling people about how we went to Barnes and Noble, and it's only fitting that I'm writing this post from one.  We did - we are either there checking in, coming back, or making plans to go there "when it's not busy."  That usually translates to "morning," but such plans never transpire as all of us get up late when we're at home - first me, then my mom, then my brother.

The two of us high school students had taken some homeschool classes at a church campus - pick and choose what you need to graduate, and we'll help what your parents can't do.  Gaps in the schedule were bound to happen, and there were these awkward gaps of 90 minutes at a time where mainly my brother had no class.  What to do?  Drive back home - impractical.  Wait in the car - fruitless and annoying.  The Barnes and Noble with cafe a mile-ish distant beckoned as a non-controversial location to look academic while being "homeschooled" at the same time.

Finally, I had a class while my brother was busy, and got to be treated by mom for a change.  Intro to Business lasted 12:00-1:30, and since I most certainly do not eat lunch before noon, aside from my two breakfasts (weird food rules...), this meant saving my appetite for a delicious treat PLUS a special coffee concoction PLUS a Seventeen magazine (buried in a Gramophone periodical or newspaper, or something).

The neat feature of that location is that while some Barnes and Noble cafes are crammed into an obscure corner (like the one I'm in right now), the thoughtful, strategically-mapped ones put it on a raised platform in the center.  This way, you may silently observe all surrounding occurrences:  the mom tracing her kids steps ("No, honey, you can't touch that.  Mommy will find you a book to read"), the weathered old men with rumbly voices having a semi-quiet discussion, the teens trying not to act awkward while their moms shell over the credit card for their cafe order, and occasionally that middle-aged woman on the phone with her sister about the mom in the nursing home.


Step one: Reconnoiter the premises, and spring on the prime property.  That means, the large four-person table over on the side with space enough for one or more laptops, a stack of cooking, magazines, a wobblier stack of fashion magazines, drinks, plates, and napkin piles (in case).  If you have the fair fortune of obtaining a Midwestern "bar," snag yourself a fork to make it a piece of cake.

Step two:  Leave the most decisive and stationary person to guard the table, who already has his or her order memorized.  This trustworthy saying is recited to the designated orderer, who has been awarded enough cash and the B&N membership card to retrieve all items from the counter.  If all goes well, the orderer will get the kind barista who remembers everything and smiles at people with his brisk countenance, who chatters to the one younger guy and the chirpy brunette girl while baking the premade frozen scones.

Step three:  Someone, probably the same person, has to wait around at THE counter with three other awkward people leaning on the condiment island thing with "Thank You" on the wastebasket flap. What exactly does the vanilla shaker do, anyway? You wait and watch all the other easier-to-make drinks go by until your tall "light" recipe pops out of the blender, they call your name, and you grimace as you turn around the damp plastic cup to peek at the spelling.  Miracle of joy:  they got it right.  Let's get the same barista next time.

Step four:  Crack open your reading material, if previously collected.  Otherwise, you have two choices:  stare at your laptop while it figured out that yes, the wifi network HAS been detected, or convince another person to wait at the table for you so that one older couple doesn't take it.  Hopefully this isn't the same person you asked before.

Step five:  Food item?  Okay, you have to stay and eat it - really slowly, so that the plate stays on the table and you look like a customer.
Drink item?  You are now free to move about the bookstore.  Now is the time to check out the music/DVD section, and attempt not to make it beep while you slip in.  It inevitably does, and then you have to declare your intent to the alert salesperson with something jingly on his neck.  "Just seeing what you have."  We actually know what you have.  Study the indie music so it doesn't look like you're actually eying the Top 40 releases, and spend a moment or two flipping over the vinyl bin for an extra 20 years of apparent wisdom.
Food and drink item?  Well, drink first, and then end with reading and a treat.  Still, make sure you get at least one bite of the two together.  Otherwise you'll never know...

Step six:  If you're trying to look like you're studying, you've done a decent job of it so far.  Keep typing (that's what I'm telling myself now).  People are probably not going to ask, "Are you in school?  Is today a vacation day?"  As soon as you peel open the sleek pages of InStyle, people have you pegged as one of those sorts of girls who orders chocolatey icy things and doesn't think critically.  In the case that you have some books and periodicals mixed in for variety, make sure that there's at least one serious-looking tome in there.  Like, "I go and read deep things for a nice break from reading more boring deep things."

Step seven:  In the event that your literature and homework situation is really static (congratulations, I guess!) the people-watching alleviates it.  Find at least one cute older husband and wife (let's face it, when they're together, they're all cute), one stylishly-dressed woman of unknown background, one mom holding a pacifying conversation with her tiny troop, and a man unaware of his loud political opinions.

Step eight:  It's time to leave.  Figure out how to not provoke others to shoplifting by leaving your technology on the table, and put away ALL the things you removed from their rightful places.  The eyes are sometimes more than the reading capacity.  Try not to run into the people waiting to snatch your four-person table upon exiting, and put back everything in the proper order.  Make a run for the car, so strangers don't pause to interview you about why you don't have class.  Of course you do; you're classy every day of the week.  But especially when you're at B&N.

Awake, my heart, with gladness!

Why is Good Friday the "sad" church service, and Easter Sunday the "happy" one?  Have you ever thought about that?  Still, why is it "Good" Friday and not "Bad" Friday?  Why does the progression of sorrow to joy occur in Holy Week?

The Three Marys at Jesus' Grave, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

It may not be for the reason you usually think of, anyhow.

The Friday on which Jesus died, the week of Passover in the lunar calendar, is called "Sorrowful Friday" in some German and Scandinavian countries, in the sense of mourning, as well as "High" or "Holy" Friday.  Nevertheless, we can still understand it as Good Friday in the real sense, in that on that day of Passion Week, our sins were actually indeed accomplished.  Jesus cried out "It has been accomplished!" (John 19:30) at three o' clock in Friday, because the act of full payment for sins was completed then and there.  It was not left incomplete for three more days.

At the chapel of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg 

Some children's Bible storybooks seem to present another motivation for being sad on Good Friday.  "Oh, poor Jesus.  See how everyone is hurting Him.  I should have taken His place and helped - I feel really bad that that had to happen."  Yes, it is true that what happened to Jesus Christ, the innocent Lamb of God, was sad.  Yet, the Bible presents us these things as the raw facts.  He was whipped, beaten, teased, stripped, and paraded about in the streets, at last given the lowest possible death as a criminal - crucifixion, about the most pain the body can endure without going unconscious.  That is what really happened, and we can't change history the way God laid it out.

Still, no one could have taken His place there - as the Son of God and Savior of the world, Jesus had to go through the Passion on His own.  God knew from the beginning what His plan would be to save the world, and the human events and people surrounding it came into place just as He ordained it to be.  "God...desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Timothy 2:3-6).  Again, the theology of the cross:  God is good, and we must rely on His own revelation of Himself that what He does is good, even if it appears evil in how we perceive it.  "Every good and perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17).

The real cause of sadness should be the open reviewing of what happens to sin.  This is how God thinks about everyone's original guilt and active disobedience - only His innocent Son suffices to pay, and the burden He bears encompasses the punishment for ALL iniquity. "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross . (1 Peter 2:24).  No stone has been left unturned, and there is no room for doubt.

Good Friday also brings to light the doctrine of universal objective justification, which intimidates those who confuse it with universalism.  That day, the sins of the entire world were declared righteous, effective immediately.  "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them" (2 Corinthians 5:18).  Without this, there is no real basis for evangelism, if you are unsure the person with whom you are speaking is able to be justified.  No, instead you are bringing this good news to the person, where the Holy Spirit works faith in the heart which grasps this justification for its own (subjective justification, by faith).  

Why are we happy, then, on Easter?  We see the effects of the reconciliation that occurred on Good Friday - if Christ has defeated all sin, then He has won victory over death.  "If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile - you are still in your sins!" (1 Corinthians 15:17).  

Joy on Easter morning doesn't come from relief that  people can touch and talk to Him again face-to-face, or that they don't need to remember the cross any more.  Today, many make it primarily into a spring celebration, and totally elude the origin.  It's not all about your eight-year-old daughter in a bright pink dress, showing off all the presents she got in her Easter basket.  Life's cheer is not based on looking great and eating chocolate (though America would love to have us believe that).  

It's about the true and simple fact that "Jesus lives, the victory's won!" because "death is dead, the true Life liveth!"

He is risen indeed!

The Man Who Trusts In Him Is Blest: The Life and Work of Nikolaus Selnecker

In Hersbruck of Bavaria, Germany on December 5, 1532, a future co-author of the Formula of Concord and influential hymnwriter named Nikolaus Selnecker entered the world of post-Augustana Europe.  His father, a protonarius (clerk and notary public) to the magistrate at nearby Nurnberg, soon relocated the family to the city in 1536.[1]  There, father Selnecker took office as the chief clerical administrator, forming acquaintance with Reformation-era figures such as Philip Melanchthon, Veit Dietrich, and Emperor Charles V.[2]

At the tender age of 12, his early organ skills were enlisted at the Kaiserburg chapel.  This affluence in the area of church music would supplement his later post at Leipzig, establishing the choir J.S. Bach would later direct, as well as his interest in supplying new hymns for the church.[3]  His “Gymnasium” education as a youth followed the via moderna humanist tradition, and despite his father’s intentions of legal study, his future path in theology grew from the influence of his classes there.[4]  Catherine Winkworth reports that King Ferdinand of Spain along with his Italian confessor conspired to abduct the boy for his “remarkable musical gifts and personal beauty,” but his father concealed him in Wittenberg.[5]  Her source is unconfirmed, and the tale may be spurious. 

Moving to the university in Wittenberg did not come without its trials, but Selnecker’s experience may have been extreme.  In 1549, en route to the school, a wandering man named Schlappenhauer fired several serious shots at him, leaving him unable to walk for months, and postponing his baccalaureate studies until the next year.  This event unfortunately cast traumatic effects over the rest of his life – he remained predisposed to illness and psychological fear even being “secretly bothered by apparitions,”[6] which certainly motivated many of his hymns. [7]  He was known for being short-statured and mild-mannered, thus predisposing him to accusations of being a “weather vane,” and probably promoting his own personal feelings of insecurity in preaching and writing.[8] 

Following his 1550 arrival at Wittenberg, Selnecker boarded at Melanchthon’s home, replacing recent student David Chytraeus.[9]  Reportedly, Philip Melanchthon esteemed Selnecker the highest of all his students at the University of Wittenberg.[10]  In a letter to the young man’s father, the reformer and assistant of Martin Luther commented on the youth’s “genius, modesty, and piety.”[11]

On July 31, 1554, he graduated with an M.A., and following that taught at the university with the title of privatdocent, administering courses on biblical books, philosophy, rhetoric, and (unsurprisingly) Melanchthon’s writings.  Assisting with his further education were Johann Bugenhagen, George Major, and other reformers in the area.  His classes seemed quite well-sought – apparently 200 students attended one of his lectures – and his mind was growing as an academic.  Suddenly, the Elector of Saxony, August, called him to be the third court chaplain at his Dresden court, upon Melanchthon’s referral.  Hesitantly, he left the university with a farewell speech entitled “On Preferring Academic Life to Life at the Court.”[12]
            Later on, he was graced with the title of second court preacher at Dresden around 1558, also assuming the direction of the royal chapel’s boy choir.  In addition, he tutored six-year-old Prince Alexander, heir apparent.[13] This situation prepared him in due time for family life – in 1559 he married the daughter of the superintendent, Margaretha Greiser.[14] What is more, his output of literature blossomed in all disciplines of religious study.  Theodore Jungkuntz categorically lists Selnecker’s writings during this time:

Philosophy – an epitome of Aristotle’s Physics (1561)
O.T. Exegesis – Proverbs (1558); Psalms (1563)
N.T. Exegesis – Johannine Epistles (1561)
Church History – a catalog of the chief church councils from the time of the apostles to the present (1564)
Systematic Theology – a study on man’s fall and on the structure of human institutions (1560); two pamphlets on the Lord’s Supper (1561); a study on the providence of God (1564)
Practical Theology – a versified catechism (1562); a book on catechetical methodology      (1564).[15]

 Nevertheless, the theologians leaned toward a Calvinist view of the sacrament, accepting that the presence of Christ’s body and blood in the visible elements might additionally be understood in a spiritual sense.  Discerning the shift in terminology, Selnecker opposed the movement, increasingly resigning himself from the position.  A consultation about this doctrine held at Dresden revealed that he disproved reading Luther through the eyes of Melanchthon.[16]  Finally, the Neustadt pastor Martin Hoffman openly vocalized against Elector August’s affinity for game hunting one Sunday while Selnecker took ill.  Grain fields belonging to Hoffman’s mother had been damaged as a result of royal intrusion, and the pastor seized this opportunity to defend the peasantry.  After Selnecker recovered, he reiterated a similar sentiment.  “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he quoted, threatening that the dog-like nobility would face God’s condemnation if such violation kept up.  He appeared to evaluate his argument not as infringement of the Fourth Commandment respect for God-given authority, but the elector’s infringement upon the Seventh Commandment.  Selnecker defended himself:  “Every Christian ruler should daily consider these two points – who has placed him in this high office…(and) why he has been given such an office and position.”[17]  Unsurprisingly, Hoffman was forced from his post in 1564, and Selnecker was likewise asked to leave. [18]

On March 15, 1565, Selnecker preached his last sermon there at Dresden, then commenced work at the University of Jena 11 days later, dealing with a shift of power to the Philippists.[19]   However, when the Flacian theologians such as Johannes Wigand returned to the faculty upon Duke Johann Wilhelm’s takeover, Selnecker was once again released from his services, holding less-extreme views than the Gnesio-Lutherans. [20]

Nevertheless, a new venture at a location accepting Selnecker’s faith opened soon after.  Elector August called him in 1568 to the ministry at St. Thomas’ in Leipzig, as well as positions of superintendent of the city and professor at its university. [21]  Replacing Viktorin Strigel, a Philippist, he worked on a Genesis commentary and lectured on Melanchthon’s Loci.  Shortly thereafter, Selnecker met his future colleague (and infamous source of anxiety) Jakob Andreae, whom Duke Julius had called to reform his territory.[22]

Julius, duke of Brunswick, took Selnecker from this parish once again to Wolfenbuettel, where the latter served as a superintendent and court preacher. [23]  In order to obtain this title, however, the duke required a doctoral degree of him.[24]  One of the events for himself and the other candidates was a debate over the personal union and communication of attributes in
Christology.  Chemnitz and Andreae recognized this as false doctrine, so the duke requested that Selnecker act as an intermediary.  He did come up with a document initiating peace between the opposing sides, but later this was invalidated.  Upon the presentation of Chemnitz’s The Two Natures of Christ, it additionally took Selnecker a while to fully agree on the multivolipresence of Christ.  Pressured to calm the doctrinal rumblings of both Philippists and Gnesio-Lutherans, Selnecker wrote to Elector August with nostalgia for Dresden. [25]

During this period, his official entrance into the controversy concerning the sacramental presence occurred, as his doctoral promotion in Wittenberg nonetheless.  Professors such as moderate Paul Eber and Philippist Caspar Peucer (Melanchthon’s son-in-law) raised the question of the terms of Christ’s ubiquity, taking a classical view of spirit and matter that finite material could not bear the infinite spiritual.  For the 1570 ceremony honoring six doctoral candidates,

130 theses were assembled, and Jakob Andreae pointed out the heresy of the 30^th thesis, which denied the omnipresence of Christ according to his human nature.  Duke Julius called on both Selnecker and Andreae, likeminded in doctrine if not in temperance, to examine the personal confession of the Wittenberg faculty, and after a written record was established that they were found orthodox, the argument was laid to rest.[26] While in Brunswick, he assisted in enforcing the Saxon Confession amongst the clergy, moved to Gandersheim in 1572 when the Gnesio-Lutheran Timotheus Kirchner relieved him of his stress, and penned a church order for Oldenberg-Jever. [27]  Yet, not appearing as orthodox as other pastors in the area, especially Martin Chemnitz, Selnecker again sought a change of theological scenery, and returned to his same career under Elector August at Leipzig in 1574. 

            During 1576, the Crypto-Calvinist controversy involving the nature of the sacramental presence penetrated Leipzig teaching, and Elector August realized that the Philippist doctrines Flacians accused his land of upholding were erroneous, particularly the nature of the Lord’s Supper. [28] Selnecker plunged into a confessional response. [29] In his sermons, he attempted to point out the coherence of Melanchthon’s beliefs with Luther’s, proving that the Philippists could and should accept the same teachings in order to understand their leader rightly.  “To secure the Melanchthonian church for Elector August in the wake of the Crypto-Philippist collapse, Selnecker was anxious to show how Luther and Melanchthon had agreed throughout their careers… (Selnecker) stated that Melanchthon referred to Luther as Father, Preceptor, and

the Elijah of the last times.”[30] However, Selnecker often came across as overly irenic between the two parties, and a change of attitude towards apologetics required outside influence, such as that of Chemnitz and Andreae. 

At the preliminary convention at Lichtenberg, a city 20 miles northeast of Dresden, he rallied the regional theologians to compose a public confession, advising them to assemble the future writers of the Formula.[31]  This contemporaneous prayer of his, typically referring to the pure means of grace, reflects his thoughts: 

            In these last days of sore distress
            Grant us, dear Lord, true steadfastness
            That pure we keep, till life is spent,
            Thy holy Word and Sacrament.[32]

Over the course of merely 10 days in May and June, Jakob Andreae led meetings to compile the Torgau Book, with Selnecker preaching for the festival service upon conclusion.  Then, the elector distributed it throughout the land to other rulers and theologians, receiving 25 Gutachen, or opinions regarding it.  He turned over the rest of this task to Chemnitz, Andreae, and Selnecker for extensive revision, and later David Chytraeus, Christopher Koerner, and Andreas Musculus joined them.[33]  This grew into the Bergic Book, published May 1577.[34]  Working together with Chemnitz, Chytraeus, and Andreae, Selnecker helped to finalize the Formula of Concord, released July 22, 1577.  Right away, however, it was severely critiqued by both Philippists and Gnesio-Lutherans, effecting a natural polemic defense from the authors.

Selnecker’s “year of patience and sadness” 1579 soon gave way to a time of rest and stationary church work in Leipzig.  Quite likely, he used this season to put down most of his hymns, and without a doubt his strained relationship with Andreae provoked some of this grief. Earlier, in diaries from 1576, Selnecker recorded Andreae’s opinions about the decision to call Chemnitz and Chytraeus: 

            Chemnitz was supposedly devilish and unfaithful and Chytraeus was nothing but a philosopher and skeptic…Dr. Jakob would not permit my point to     stand…finally he expressed himself that he wished to speak with (Elector August)   personally and convince him that both Chemnitz and Chytraeus should best be left       uninvited.  All this set me to   thinking and resulted in my becoming suspicious of Dr. Jakob…[35]

Continuing on, the offended Formula of Concord co-author says of his colleague”  “he never kept his promise,”[36] he complained that Selnecker had no “real understanding” and should be chained or dismissed.  At the end of the entries, he airs some previously-stifled harsh language concerning Andreae, immediately conceding that he wishes for it never to come to knowledge for the sake of Christian duty toward his neighbor and government.[37]

As one of many short examples of his intimidation, he expressed his tense emotions in a letter to his benefactress Anna, Elector August’s wife:

…Dr. Jakob has repeatedly issued threats against me as to how he intends to drive a wedge between me and my gracious lord.  Up until now I’ve been inclined to let him make his attacks and let the Lord Christ speak for me, something I still intend to do. ..O God, how this offense hurts me, sapping all my strength and making me sick.  But okay – may God settle it to His glory![38]

            Selnecker might have felt defensive toward Andreae because of his Gnesio-Lutheran background and especially strong will to centralize church government, as in his hometown Wuerttemberg.  Andreae seems to have been aware of this, and did try to reconcile the awkwardness in his own manner, via a letter on New Year’s Eve 1580. 

I pray good God that He grant you a right and true repentance and acknowledgement of this sin and that He not reserve you this grave temptation for your deathbed hour but that He preserve you from all evil…

This only distanced Selnecker further from amiable relations with him.  After this, they rarely spoke,[39] and Jakob Andreae soon took leave of the region.[40]

During this decade, roughly 1580-90, the greatest wealth of his literary contributions came to light.  The theologian and musician once more restored the venerable St. Thomas boys’ choir, producing his comprehensive Christliche Psalmen, Lieder und Kirchengesange (1587) of original service music for his parish.  Featured in this volume were six hymns teaching the chief parts of Luther’s Small Catechism.[41]  On top of that, he formulated and upheld a standard plan for chief hymns throughout the Sundays of the church year, explaining, “We here in Leipzig have long had a good Christian scheme for which hymn is to be sung in church on every Sunday and festival, according to what best fits that day’s Gospel, and this scheme has been kept up to this day.”[42]  His plan may be summarized as follows:

                                                                                                                       

Advent	Savior of the Nations, Come; German Litany
Christmas	We Praise Thee Jesus at Thy Birth; Now Praise We Christ, the Holy One; Thanks Let us Render (Sequence); From Heav’n Above to Earth I Come; From Heav’n the Angel Troop Came Near; Why, Herod, Fearest Thou the Foe; Hail the Day So Rich in Cheer
Epiphany 2 (if Christ’s Baptism is preached)	To Jordan Came The Christ, Our Lord
Candlemas	Lord, Now Lettest Thou Thy Servant Depart In Peace; In Peace And Joy I Now Depart
Epiphany 5	In Peace And Joy I Now Depart; O Lord, Look Down From Heav’n, Behold
Septuagesima	Salvation Unto Us Has Come
Sexagesima	Our Father, Thou In Heav’n Above
Estomihi	By Adam’s Fall Is All Forlorn
Invocavit and all Sundays in Lent	O Christ, Who Art The Light and Day, German Litany
Palm Sunday	From Depths of Woe before chanted St. Matthew Passion
Maundy Thursday	Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior
Good Friday	Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice before chanted St. John Passion
Easter until Rogate	This Is Such A Holy Day; Christ Is Arisen From The Grave’s Dark Prison; Jesus Christ Our Savior True, Who Death Overthrew
Rogate	Our Father, Thou In Heav’n Above
Ascension	Dear Christians, One And All, Rejoice; Christ Rose to Heaven
Exaudi	If God Had Not Been On Our Side
Pentecost	We Now Implore God the Holy Ghost; Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord
Trinity	God the Father, Be Our Stay; May God Bestow On Us His Grace
Trinity 1	May God Bestow On Us His Grace; The Mouth of Fools God Doth Confess
Trinity 2	Lord, Hear The Voice of My Complaint
Trinity 3	Have Mercy on Me, Lord, My God; The Only Son from Heaven
Trinity 4	That Man a Godly Life Might Live
Trinity 5	Were God Not With Us At This Time; If God Had Not Been on Our Side
Trinity 6	Wilt Thou, O Man, Live Happily; Salvation Unto Us Has Come
Trinity 7	My Soul, Now Bless Thy Maker; My Soul Now Magnifies the Lord
Trinity 8	O Lord, Look down from Heav’n, Behold
Trinity 9	The Mouth of Fools Doth God Confess
Trinity 10	Beside the Streams of Babylon
Trinity 11	In Thee Alone, O Christ, My Lord; From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee
Trinity 12	By Adam’s Fall Is All Forlorn
Trinity 13	Salvation Unto Us Has Come; That Man a Godly Life Might Live
Trinity 14	Have Mercy on Me, Lord, my God; In Thee Alone, O Christ, My Lord
Trinity 15	A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
Trinity 16	In the Midst of Earthly Life; In Peace and Joy I Now Depart
Trinity 17	Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice
Trinity 18	The Only Son from Heaven
Trinity 19	Lord, Hear The Voice of My Complaint; My Soul, Now Bless Thy Maker
Trinity 20	O Lord, Look Down from Heav’n, Behold
Trinity 21	Salvation Unto Us Has Come; May God Bestow on Us His Grace
Trinity 22	Have Mercy on Me, Lord, my God; From Depths of Woe I Cry to thee
Trinity 23	The Mouth of Fools Doth God Confess
Trinity 24	In Peace and Joy I Now Depart
Trinity 25	God the Father, Be Our Stay
Trinity 26	Our Father, Thou In Heav’n Above
Trinity 27	Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice; A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
Annunciation	The Only Son from Heaven
Conversion of St. Paul	Have Mercy on Me, Lord, my God
Feasts of Apostles	Lord God, We Sing Thy Praise
John the Baptist	To Jordan Came Our Lord, the Christ
Visitation	My Soul Now Magnifies the Lord
St. Michael	Lord God, We All to Thee Give Praise; My Soul, Now Bless Thy Maker

All in all, Selnecker penned roughly 150 hymns and about 175 theological writings of every kind, from exegesis per biblical book to systematic textbooks to polemic pamphlets.[43] (See Appendix.)

Nevertheless, this output would again be disrupted by the changing theological winds.   A 1591 shift in power to Dr. Nikolaus Crell, Elector Christian I’s chancellor, saw the removal of orthodox Lutherans in the district in favor of Philippists.  In fact, the succeeding court preacher Salmuth distributed a Bible integrating Calvinist study notes, prompting Selnecker to necessarily rebuke him by way of a polemic pamphlet.  Taking this risk only deposed him of his office once more, and after continued opining through publications, the authorities requested him to stop.[44] 

After passing a while in Halle and Magdeburg, he quickly assumed superintendence at Hildesheim.  Over this period, he left to settle a dispute at Augsburg, but contracted a serious illness and returned gravely ill to his new residency.  The religious atmosphere inclined towards true Lutheranism as consequence of the elector’s death, and his widow both dismissed the troublesome chancellor and reinstated the former staff.  Considering this to be his sixth call, he stated:

            The seventh call will make me then
            In yonder life a citizen.[45] 

Eagerly, he readied to leave despite his infirmity, but died May 24, 1592, merely five days after arriving in Leipzig for the last time.[46]  Jungkuntz describes,

            At hand to comfort this reluctant “soldier” of the cross were theologians Hunnius,             Mirus, and Mylius.  They asked him:  “Are you ready to die on the basis of the             doctrine which for so many years you have joyfully confessed?”  He bowed his           head deeply and answered the question with a broken but a joyful “Yes.” 

As a homiletician, Selnecker’s sermons exemplify adherence to Luther’s lens of doctrine, as well as a personal, applicable approach to the text.  He himself exclaimed that he did not have the time to write down his sermons, but students and arts colleagues transcribed an anthology of 170 homilies.  These meditations on lessons outside the pericopes also were a popular form of
devotional literature.[47]  From these, we can gather many characteristics of his preaching style.  On such occasions, he made clear the power of death over God’s creation, thus treating the deceased with honor and respect as something Christ has redeemed.  Additionally, he did not advocate a denial of grief, but emphasized godly sorrow in Christian love for the departed, accompanied by comfort. 

Usually, Lutheran pastors of the Reformation era, including Selnecker, either took a didactic and exegetical view of the text, or centered the sermon on the themes of godly sorrow, repentance, sanctified life, and most of all comfort.[48]  The means of grace – Word, Holy Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper – held a prominent place in his vocabulary of imagery and themes.  Supporting his true, Scriptural view of Holy Communion, he declared:

            Oh, how rich a blessing comes from using the holy sacraments!  They seal and        strengthen us in the faith, and as surely the words say “Given for you” and “Shed    for you,” so surely do they testify to and confirm our salvation.[49]

Evidently, he took care to acquaint himself intimately with his flock – frequently, he would comfort the congregation attending a funeral based on an illustration from the deceased parishioners’ life.  For example:  Aegidius Becker, a student in God’s Word, was now finishing his theological education in heaven.[50]  An engaged young woman, Miss Schwartz, was now clothed in the “gown of salvation and the robe of righteousness.”[51]  In these and many other instances, Selnecker based the overarching theme of comfort on the biblical promises concerning the resurrection and the “Joyful Exchange.” 

            Overall, contemporaries of Selnecker may have labeled him a “weather vane,” easily blown by theological trends, but by the end of his life that caricature no longer applies.  In the development of the Formula of Concord as well as his evident departures from difficult work situations, he evidently opted in favor of orthodox Lutheranism.  In keeping with that, Lutherans accept his homiletical, exegetical, and hymnic works as sound and beneficial.  May Christians today remember the faithful fruits of Nikolaus Selnecker, and thank God for his furtherance of the Lutheran Reformation.  As he himself illustrated,

            The man who trusts in Him is blest
            And finds in Him eternal rest;
            This world's allurements we despise
            And fix on Christ alone our eyes.
            Alleluia![52]

Appendix

Selnecker’s Published Works and Hymns Translated into English

 

Published Works

Epitome in libros octo Physicorum Aristoteles, 1560
Argumenta et annotiones in librum sapientiae Salomonis, 1561
Catalogus praecipuorum Conciliorum Oecumeniorum et Nationalum a tempore Apostolorum        usque ad nostra tempora, 1561 and 1571
Epistula prima St. Johannae, 1561/62
Theophania sive Comoedia de primorum parentum conditione et ordinum sive graduum in            genere humano institutione, 1562
Libellus brevis et utilis de coena domini, 1562
Vera et invicta doctrina de coena contra sacramentarios, 1562-63;
50 Psalmen des königlichen Propheten David ausgelegt, 1563
Capita doctrinae christianae quam Catechismum nominamus, versibus reddita, ca 1563;
Der ganze Psalter des königlichen Propheten David ausgelegt, 1565-66
Pädagogia christiana, 1566, 1567², 1571³, 1577⁴, dt. 1569, 1570²
Bericht, wie sich ein Christ in Sterbensläufen trösten und halten soll, 1566;
Tröstliche Sprüche und Grabschriften aus der heiligen Schrift, 1567;
Posodia, 1568
Commentar in Genesim, 1569
Psalter Davids mit kurzen Summarien und Gebetlein, 1572
Institutio religionis christianae continens explicationem locorum theologicorum, 1573, 1579
Historia Lutheri, 1575, dt. 1578
Commentarius in omnes Pauli epp., 1578
Commentarius in harmoniam evang., 1578;
Noatio de studio theologiae, 1579; Colloquia oder Tischreden M. Luthers, 1580
Jungfrauenspiegel und von Notwendigkeit wahrhafter Kirchenzucht, 1580
Examen ordinanorum aut Forma explicationis examinis ordinandorum, olim scripti a Ph. Melanchthone, instituta et accommodata ad veram confessionem, 1582, 1584 und 1592
Operum lat. partes IV, 1584-93
Christliche Psalmen, Lieder und Kirchengesänge, 1587
Ehe und Regentenspiegel, 1589
Trostsprache für Christen, 1594[53]

Hymns Translated into English

Supplementary to his ministry, Selnecker composed Christian poetry as well.  Christopher Boyd Brown mentions that he “wrote hymns and edited hymnals for a popular market,” active still in his last tenure at Leipzig.[54]  The Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996) contains the largest number of translations of his texts; other modern hymnals bear the same with slight alterations.  

“Now Christ, the Sinless Son of God” (ELH 248) from Christus, der wahre Gottes Sohn
“Let Me Be Thine Forever” (v. 1)  (ELH 427) from Lass mich dein sein und bleiben
“Lord Jesus Christ, With Us Abide” (ELH 511) from Ach bleib bei uns
“O Faithful God, Thanks Be To Thee” (ELH 522) from Wir danken dir, O Jesu Christ
“O Lord My God, I Cry To Thee” (ELH 573) from O Herre Gott, in meiner Not
“We Thank Thee, Jesus, Dearest Friend” (ELH 394)

Works Cited:

Brown, Christopher Boyd.   Singing the Gospel:  Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the   Reformation.  Cambridge, MA:  Harvard University Press, 2005.  8. 

Carver, Matthew.  “The ‘Burr’-Quote:  Selnecker’s Funeral Sermon for Catherine of          Mecklenberg.”  Lutheran Orthodoxy.  Posted 17 Oct 2011.  Accessed 28 Mar 2015.              http://lutheranorthodoxy.blogspot.com/2011/10/burr-quote-selneckers-funeral-       sermon.html

--.  “Nicolaus Selnecker:  a Scheme for Chief Hymns.”  Lutheran Orthodoxy.  Posted. 7 Feb         2012.  Accessed 28 Mar 2015. http://lutheranorthodoxy.blogspot.com/search/label/           Nicolaus%20Selnecker

De.wikipedia.org. “Nikolaus Selnecker.”  Wikipedia Deutsch.  Accessed 28 Mar 2015.             http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaus_Selnecker#Literatur_2

Hauck, Albert, ed.  The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.  Google          Books.  Accessed 28    Mar 2015. https://books.google.com/ books?id=TZ1AAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA346&dq=selnecker+thomaskirche&hl=en&sa=X  &ei=   

Julian, John.  “Selnecker, Nicolaus.”  A Dictionary of Hymnology.  New York:  Charles     Scribner’s Sons, 1892. 

Jungkuntz, Theodore R.  Formulators of the Formula of Concord.  St. Louis:  Concordia   Publishing House, 1977. 

Klug, Eugene F.A. and Otto F. Stahlke.  Getting Into the Formula of Concord.  St. Louis:             Concordia Publishing House, 1977. 

Kolb, Robert.  “Historical Background of the Formula of Concord.”  A Contemporary Look At     The Formula of Concord.  St. Louis:  Concordia Publishing House, 1978. 

--.  “Pastoral Practice in the Funeral Sermons of Nikolaus Selnecker (1530-1592).”  Lutheran        Quarterly.  XXVIII: 2014. 

Kolb, Robert, Irene Dingel, and L’ubomir Batka, ed.  The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther’s    Theology.  Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 2014. 

Lueker, Erwin Louis.  “Selnecker, Nicolaus.”  Lutheran Cyclopedia.  St. Louis:  Concordia           Publishing House, 1954. 

Oron, Aryeh.  “Nicolaus Selnecker (Hymn-Writer, Composer).”  Bach Cantatas Website.  Posted             May 2003.  Accessed 19 Mar 2015.  http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Selnecker.htm

Polack, W.G.  The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal.  St. Louis:  Concordia Publishing House,   1958. 

Winkworth, Catherine.  “Nicholas Selnecker.”  Christian Singers of Germany.  Google Books.      Accessed 30 March 2015.  https://books.google.com/

            books?id=A14XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA148&dq=christian+singers+of+germany+selnecke            r&hl=en&sa=X&ei=bJwaVf_AOYO7ogTDiYLIAw&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepag            e&q=christian%20singers%20of%20germany%20selnecker&f=false.  . 

Worship Committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.  Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary.  St.      Louis:  MorningStar Publishers, 1996.

---

[1] Aryeh Oron, “Nicolaus Selnecker (Hymn-Writer, Composer.”  Bach Cantatas Website.  May 2003.  Accessed 19 Mar 2015.  http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Selnecker.htm

[2]Theodore R. Jungkuntz,  Formulators of the Formula of Concord.  St. Louis:  Concordia Publishing House, 1977.  90.

[3]Julian, John.  “Selnecker, Nicolaus.”  A Dictionary of Hymnology.  New York:  Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1892. 

 1039.

[4] Jungkuntz, 90.

[5] Winkworth, Catherine.  “Nicholas Selnecker.”  Christian Singers of Germany.  Google Books.  Accessed 30 March      2015.  https://books.google.com/

                books?id=A14XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA148&dq=christian+singers+of+germany+selnecker&hl=en&sa=X&ei=bJw                aVf_AOYO7ogTDiYLIAw&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=christian%20singers%20of%20germany%20  selnecker&f=false.  151. 

[6] Jungkuntz, 108.

[7] Ibid., 90. 

[8] Ibid., 108. 

[9] Jungkuntz, 90.

[10] Julian, 1039.

[11] Jungkuntz, 90.

[12] Ibid., 91. 

[13]Ibid., 91.

[14]Ibid., 91.

[15] Jungkuntz, 92.

[16] Ibid., 95. 

[17] Ibid., 94. 

[18] Julian, 1039.

[19] Jungkuntz, 96.

[20] Julian, 1039.

[21] Ibid., 1039.

[22] Jungkuntz, 96.

[23] Julian, 1039.

[24] Jungkuntz, 96. 

[25] Ibid., 97.

[26] Kolb, A Contemporary Look, 48-49. 

[27] Julian, 1039.

[28] Jungkuntz, 99.

[29] Julian,1039.

[30] Kolb, et. al. The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther’s Theology,  Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 2014. 530.

[31] Jungkuntz, 99-100.

[32] Worship Committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.  Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary.  St. Louis:  MorningStar Publishers, 1996.  511:2.

[33] Klug, 21-22. 

[34]Jungkuntz, 101.

[35] Ibid., 146-7

[36] Ibid., 147

[37] Ibid., 153-4.

[38] Ibid., 101. 

[39] Ibid., 101. 

[40] Albert Hauck, ed.  The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.  Google Books.  Accessed 28           Mar 2015. https://books.google.com/                books?id=TZ1AAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA346&dq=selnecker+thomaskirche&hl=en&sa=X&ei= 

[41] Hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com, “Early German Lutheran and Reformation Hymnals.”  Hymns and Carols of             Christmas. par 26.  Accessed 30 Mar 2015.  Par 26. 

[42] Matthew Carver,  “Nicolaus Selnecker:  a Scheme for Chief Hymns.”  Lutheran Orthodoxy.  Posted. 7 Feb 2012.      Accessed 28 Mar 2015. http://lutheranorthodoxy.blogspot.com/search/label/ Nicolaus%20Selnecker

[43] W.G. Polack, The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal.  St. Louis:  Concordia Publishing House, 1958.  579. 

[44] Julian, 1039.

[45] Jungkuntz, 105. 

[46] Julian, 1039. 

[47] Robert Kolb, “Pastoral Practice in the Funeral Sermons of Nikolaus Selnecker (1530-1592).”  Lutheran Quarterly.  XXVIII: 2014.  24. 

[48] Ibid.,27. 

[49] Jungkuntz, 106.

[50] Kolb, “Pastoral Practice…,” 30. 

[51] Ibid., 37. 

[52] Worship Committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.  Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary.  St.          Louis:  MorningStar Publishers, 1996.  394:3.

[53] De.wikipedia.org. “Nikolaus Selnecker.”  Wikipedia Deutsch.  Accessed 28 Mar 2015.                 http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaus_Selnecker#Literatur_2

[54] Christopher Boyd Brown, Singing the Gospel:  Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation.  Cambridge, MA:  Harvard University Press, 2005.  8.  

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