Ministry of the Word

by John F. Brug

Publisher:

Northwestern Publishing House

, 2009

Overview

This is a professional book on the doctrine of the ministry. The first half is a thorough study of what the Bible teaches about the concept and term "ministry" in church usage, the priesthood of believers, the divine institution of the public ministry, forms of public ministry, the office of pastor, the ministry of the apostles, the call into the public ministry, ordination, women and ministry, and the purpose of ministry. The second half focuses on how the ministry has been practiced in various historical forms: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Enthusiasts, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists. This section also contains a lengthy discussion of the ministry debates between WELS and the LCMS. This book represents the most thorough modern treatment of the doctrine of the ministry written from a confessional Lutheran perspective. The book looks at the Confessions, Luther, and other prominent Lutheran theologians only after a thorough study of Scripture on the topic.

This is a professional book on the doctrine of the ministry. The first half is a thorough study of what the Bible teaches about the concept and term "ministry" in church usage, the priesthood of believers, the divine institution of the public ministry, forms of public ministry, the office of pastor, the ministry of the apostles, the call into the public ministry, ordination, women and ministry, and the purpose of ministry. The second half focuses on how the ministry has been practiced in various historical forms: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Enthusiasts, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists. This section also contains a lengthy discussion of the ministry debates between WELS and the LCMS. This book represents the most thorough modern treatment of the doctrine of the ministry written from a confessional Lutheran perspective. The book looks at the Confessions, Luther, and other prominent Lutheran theologians only after a thorough study of Scripture on the topic.

Key Features

• Contains an index of Subjects & Scriptures
• Contains a Lutheran Confessions Index

Contents

Top Highlights

“When members of the church are trained and called to serve in certain positions within the congregation that help the pastor in the ministry of the Word, this is not, strictly speaking, an exercise of the priesthood of all believers. These positions are additional forms of the public ministry of the church.” (Page 52)

“The new thing in Matthew 28 is not the institution of new means or new offices but the announcement that the time to extend the mission from Israel to the whole world was at hand.” (Page 78)

“Only Christians who are properly qualified and who are called by the church may exercise this ministry publicly, that is, in the name of the church. We call this ‘public ministry’ or ‘representative ministry.’” (Page 17)

“Christ instituted one office in his church, the ministry of the gospel. Another way of saying this is that Christ assigned one task to his church: the office of preaching the gospel.” (Page 3)

“This one ministry may be exercised privately by any Christian or publicly by those who have been called by the church to do so.” (Page 51)

Product Details

• Title: The Ministry of the Word
• Author: John F. Brug
• Publisher: Northwestern Publishing House
• Publication Date: 2009
• Pages: 545

About John F. Brug

John F. Brug has a Ph.D. in ancient Semitic languages and archaeology from the Center for Ancient Studies of the University of Minnesota. Using this knowledge, Brug participated in excavations at Tel Michal, Tel Gerisa, and Jaffa, Israel.

Brug taught Old Testament, Psalms, Christian Doctrine, and Church Fellowship at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary for more than thirty years. He also taught short-term at six other seminaries around the world and served as a professor at Dr. Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota, from 1978 to 1983. He retired from teaching in 2015.

In addition to his academic contributions, Brug served as a parish pastor from 1971 to 1978, organizing three mission congregations in western Pennsylvania.

More recently, Brug served as the General Editor and Old Testament Editor of the Wartburg Project. He has also served as the editor of Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly for more than twenty years. Brug lives in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, with his wife Irene.