John William Baier's _Compendium of Positive Theology_ Edited by C. F. W. Walther Published by: St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1877 [Translator's Preface. These are the major loci or topics of John William Baier's _Compendium of Positive Theology_ as edited by Dr. C. F. W. Walther. These should be seen as the broad outline of Baier-Walther's dogmatics, but please don't assume that this is all. Each locus usually includes copious explanatory notes and citations from patristics and other Lutheran dogmaticians. Chapter Nine On the sacraments of the Old Testament. 1. After the human race had fallen into sins, and before the coming of the Messiah, God, especially with Abraham and his posterity, wished to enter a special covenant and to give them his grace, so it pleased him, not only by the revealed word, but also by instituting the singular rite of circumcision to show his grace to men. 2. The principal efficient cause of circumcision is the triune God. 3. The impulsive internal cause it the goodness and philanthropy of God; the external and meritorious is the merit of Christ. 4. The ministerial cause of circumcision was first Abraham, then the succeeding patriarches; afterwards the priestly Levites. Truly also extraordinarily circumcision was accomplished by laymen and women. 5. The foreskin constituted the material of circumcision, just as an external element, and its cutting, just as the action concerning that element. 6. The formal cause of circumcision was that same word of institution joined to the act of circumcision. 7. The end to whom of circumcision were Israelite males and their servants and converts, and indeed infants, when they reach the eighth day of life. 8. The nearer end of whom of the sacrament of circumcision, and it the principal, was the combination of the covenant grace about the forgiveness of sins; the lesser principal was the separation of the Israelites from other people and the warning about original sin and about the coming of the Messiah; the ultimate was the eternal salvation of the circumcised. 9. It is possible to define circumcision, that it was a sacred action divinely instituted, by which God in the Old Testament through the cutting of the foreskin, the word of institution having been added, which conferred faith, to the Israelite males and their servants and converts, even to infants, truly to believing adults it sealed and confirmed faith, the grace of the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation following. 10. The other sacrament of the Old Testament was called by the name of the Passover or the Passover Lamb. 11. The principal efficient cause of this sacrament is the triune God. 12. The internal impulsive cause is the goodness and free favor of God; the external or meritorious is Christ the mediator. 13. The lesser principal cause were partly Moses and Aaron, partly the fathers of the families of the Israelite tribes, partly the Levites. 14. The material of this sacrament was the lamb complete and lacking a defect, male and of one year, certainly they were occupied about that act, certainly the separation from the herd, the killing and the roasting, then the eating, and finally the sprinkling of the blood on the lintel and doorposts of the house. 15. The form of this sacrament was the words of institution. 16. The end to which, which is also the subject, being admitted to the eating of the paschal lamb, were all Israelites, without differences of sex or age, also servants and the circumcised male proselytes. 17. The end of which of the paschal sacrament was first, that humans possessing the sacrament were led back more surely to the grace of God, sins were not being charged, anyone in the house was passed by when others were struck down, and the injury to all would be turned away; then so that the meaning of this good deed was saved in following times and be celebrated, however both as a confirmation of faith in the promised Messiah, and then eternal life. 18. It is possible to define the passover, that it is a sacred action divinely instituted, by which a lamb or a young goat, whole and a yearling, separated from the herd, is slain, roasted, and consumed by the Israelites and circumcised proselytes, however its blood is sprinkled to the posts of the house and above the door for exciting faith in the Messiah and for obtaining and celebrating the grace of God and the forgiveness of blows and the following eternal salvation. -------------------------------------------------------------- This text was translated by Rev. Theodore Mayes and is copy- righted material, (c)1996, but is free for non-commercial use or distribution, and especially for use on Project Wittenberg. Please direct any comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary. E-mail: smithre@mail.ctsfw.edu Surface Mail: 66000 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA Phone: (260) 452-3149 Fax: (260) 452-2126 --------------------------------------------------------------