Dunno if you're ready to post this info yet, considering the big switch and the fact that I noticed that some other stuff hadn't been posted yet, namely the "zabra" entry from the OED. (Read that article on starnet, btw. Ick!) Anyway, I'll send this info now, and if you're not able to put it up now, then at least I have a copy of it in sent mail and can send it again later if you need me to. The postmark on the envelope is indeed Tucson, and looks like it was mailed right from your area. A friend of mine here was suspicious that it was in fact you who sent it. I'm sure "they" had that in mind.
(hance: I guarantee you, it wasn't me... I warned you that these people have a penchant for sending wacked out things via mail...)
Anyway, I believe that the contents is a copy of the preface of this
book:
Loci Theologici by Martin Chemnitz, J.A.O. Preus (Translator)
This book is a required text in a Systematic Theology class at Concordia
Theological Seminary taught by Dr. William Weinrich called "God and
Creation". Chemnitz's loci on the Trinity is expounded with much credit
to the Church Fathers, especially Augustine and John of Damascus. Note
that this is not a full translation of the Latin Loci (e.g., the Lord's
Supper is not included; Preus' translation of Chemnitz's "The Lord's
Supper" is an exposition on the Lutheran understanding of the Eucharist
with much support from the Fathers as well as Blessed Martin Luther).
This book is a must for anyone who desires the holy preaching office or
a lay person who wishes to understand orthodox Lutheran dogma. (This is
an abridged quote from a review of the book.)
A little background on the translator:
Eighth President of the Missouri Synod: 1969-1981
Born: 8 January 1920, St. Paul,
Minnesota
Died: 13 August 1994, Burnsville,
Minnesota
J.A.O. Preus graduated from Luther
Seminary, Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1945 after vicaring at Lake
Nocomis. He was ordained in February 1945 and received his Ph.D. from
the University of Minnesota six years later.
On 12 June 1943 Preus married Delpha Mae
Holleque (1919-1996). Preus served as a pastor for several years in St.
Paul, Luverne, and Mankato, Minnesota. In 1958 he became a professor at
Concordia Theological Seminary, Springfield, Illinois, and in 1962 he
became the school's president.
Preus served as the chair of both the
Concordia Mission Society and the Standing Committee on Pastoral
Ministry. From 1969 to 1981 he was the president of the LCMS, and in
1992, he was named president emeritus.
Preus is the author of What Stands
Between? (1949), It Is Written (1971), and The Second Martin: The Life
and Theology of Martin Chemnitz (1994). He has also translated several
works of Martin Chemnitz: Justification: The Chief Article of Christian
Doctrine as Expounded in Loci Theologici (1985), Loci theologici (1989),
The Lord's Supper (1979) and The Two Natures in Christ (1971), as well
as the Loci communes of Philipp Melanchthon (1992).
For more information about J.A.O. Preus
see James E. Adams, Preus of Missouri and the Great Lutheran Civil War
(New York: Harper and Row, 1977).
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I think "they" also may have sent this to me because Preus was of
Scandinavian descent...and where am I? Also, this man died only a few
years ago. Could he also have been involved in the May Day pages? One
wonders.
I'm including a picture of the envelope front (there was nothing on the
back) and the envelope contents (which suddenly had a purple background
after scanning, and so now the letters are filled in. Ignore that
part), plus a picture of Preus.