{"id":1196,"date":"2010-11-05T20:04:17","date_gmt":"2010-11-06T03:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?page_id=1196"},"modified":"2019-01-04T08:02:14","modified_gmt":"2019-01-04T15:02:14","slug":"pan-lutheranism-pandemonium","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?page_id=1196","title":{"rendered":"“Pan-Lutheranism” = pandemonium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is there some sort of general Lutheranism which provides a pan-Lutheran big tent for the 21st<\/sup> century?<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0 The LWF is pan-Lutheran. Most member churches subscribe to the CA[1]<\/a> but this means everything and anything in practice.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0 Is the LCMS Lutheran? Gospel plus inerrancy. Categorically denying ordaining women, on the basis of Scripture–as a requirement. See The DNA of the LCMS<\/a> and The LCMS Study Bible<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0 Is the ELCA Lutheran?\u00a0 Gospel plus the required, sacramental episcopate–and changing the constitution to do so! See The ELCA\u2019s Required Episcopate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0 What does CA 7 state?\u00a0 Proclaiming the gospel purely and celebrating the sacraments according to that gospel.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Any required add-ons change the gospel. Gospel-plus = another gospel.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0 Does that mean Lutherans are fanatics, purists? No, for it is not in doctrine (pure doctrine), but in the use (usus<\/em>) that the gospel is pure gospel–see Forde here<\/a>. That the gospel is so preached.<\/p>\n

7. \u00a0 But it does mean, for example, that a Roman Catholic priest, when celebrating the Lord’s Supper, cannot proclaim the gospel purely. He cannot because he celebrates as a functionary of the local bishop (ordinary) whose authority is the magisterium<\/em> (all the Roman bishops in unity with the bishop of Rome). This is not equivalent to the authority of proclaiming the gospel purely. In fact, it is in contradiction, for any other authority (requirement) is excluded. There is only one gospel.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0 If a Roman priest rejects the authority of the magisterium<\/em>, he is no longer a Roman Catholic.\u00a0 But what happens in Lutherdom? What of the little fish who are ignored by their leaders? They may later be in trouble. Do they financially support the denomination?\u00a0 Do they reject gospel-plussing? Ah! There’s the rub. See Here We Stand<\/a>, and Necessary Implications<\/a>. For example:<\/p>\n

a.\u00a0\u00a0 Gospel plus inerrancy (and its cognates: verbal inspiration, Biblical, and claritas<\/em>)[5]<\/a>:\u00a0 Does the gospel authenticate itself, or does (even by implication) the received text function as the prior miracle, in order to authenticate the gospel. See Bayer here<\/a>, and The Book of Concord\u2019s Key to Itself<\/a> \u2013 because “sole rule and norm” does not in the BC mean what Biblicism tries to make it mean.\u00a0 See also Tappert on quia\/quatenus<\/em>.[6]<\/a> And K\u00e4semann.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

b.\u00a0\u00a0 Gospel plus creeds (and\/or confessions):\u00a0 As Edmund Schlink points out–the doctrine of justification is the key to the creeds; the creeds are not the key to the doctrine of justification. See the Charter of Freedom<\/em>, Section I on Schlink, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

c.\u00a0\u00a0 Gospel plus office (Amt<\/em>, church order):\u00a0 As George Lindbeck states, for Lutherans –the gospel establishes the Amt, not the Amt the gospel.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0 The gospel authenticates (establishes) itself. See Roman 10:17 (and K\u00e4semann, Romans, on the whole chapter); 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13; 1 Peter 1:23-25. Any and every attempt to authenticate the gospel (not allowing the gospel to authenticate itself) is “another” gospel. See The Cross: The Twofold Scandal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But what then of the “truth of the gospel” (Galatians 2:5, 14)?\u00a0 The “truth of the gospel” in Paul’s remarkable formulation is the scandal and foolishness of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:17-31). And the “truth” of the cross, the meaning (interpretation) of the cross, establishes itself\u2014see Forde.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

a.\u00a0\u00a0 May then, as has been asserted, no one break unity unless \u201cthe saving work of Christ is denied,\u201d the very truth of the gospel (as for example, by the archheretic Arius)?\u00a0 With modern historicism, however, nothing holds. Arius has been rehabilitated !!![10]<\/a> As has Nestorius.<\/p>\n

b.\u00a0\u00a0 It all comes down to gospel-plussing. To CA 7. See We are not free to gospel-plus<\/a>, and Necessary Implications<\/a>, Here We Stand<\/a>, and Teaching Authority<\/a>.<\/p>\n

11.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This whole Lutheran way of doing the gospel \u2013 it\u2019s about election and the sacramental Word \u2013 applies to the hearer as well as the preacher. There is nothing the sinner can do \u2013 not even repent<\/a> rightly:<\/p>\n

“For Luther subjectivism is overcome only when one is grasped by that which comes truly ‘from without,’ the address of God in the gospel promise, in such fashion that one in turn gives sole authority to that address, to its actual content\u2026..One who hears the gospel promise \u2013 who is grasped, judged, and redeemed by the content of the Word of God \u2013 could not place himself above that Word, but only under it.”[11]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Outside of us, in spite of us. The Lord “snatches”[12]<\/a> us through Baptism, because sin is intrinsically rebellion–we are running in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

12.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pan-Lutheranism sounds good until you think about it. It doesn\u2019t work on the ground, however, wherever more than the gospel is required.<\/p>\n

\"\"1.\u00a0\u00a0 Gospel plus inerrancy (or Biblicism) makes \u201canother\u201d gospel
\n\"\"2.\u00a0\u00a0 Gospel plus earnest repentance makes \u201canother\u201d gospel
\n\"\"3.\u00a0\u00a0 Gospel plus a required church structure makes \u201canother\u201d gospel
\n\"\"4.\u00a0\u00a0 Gospel plus sentimentalized Luv, ignoring damages, makes \u201canother\u201d gospel
\n\"\"5.\u00a0\u00a0 Gospel plus required conversion experiences makes \u201canother\u201d gospel<\/p>\n

Endnotes<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"
\n[1]<\/a> Some Moravians subscribe to the CA, and thus are in the LWF. Some Sumatran Lutheran churches do not subscribe to the CA; yet with their own Batak Confession as a basis they are accepted by the LWF.
\n\"\"
\n[2]<\/a> For example, the ELCA has a required sacramental episcopate and is yoked to the Episcopal Church; the Germans are invested in the Leuenberg Agreement (with the Reformed) which does not involve the required sacramental episcopate. The Swedes have a lesbian bishop; Tanzanians object but go along. The LWF has gatherings, goes through motions, fights AIDS and poverty. The NALC wants to join.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> To proclaim the gospel purely means to overthrow all authorities\/required add-ons that appeal to something else besides faith alone in Christ alone.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Christian freedom includes the adiaphoristic principle, that is: 1) that whatever does not stand in the way of proclaiming the gospel and celebrating the sacraments purely and rightly is a matter of Christian freedom, an adiaphoron<\/em>; 2) that something good in itself, such as ecclesiastical ranks \u201ccreated by human authority,\u201d cannot be made a requirement for salvation and the lack thereof cannot be allowed to cast doubt on being fully in Christ\u2019s body; and 3) that an adiaphoron<\/em> is only an adiaphoron<\/em> when it is an adiaphoron<\/em> for both sides involved.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> \u201cChrist\u2019s theanthropic actuality called for a revolution in language. There could now be no uniform concept of (logical) truth that would apply both to theology and philosophy. In short, Luther did not allow semantic logic to function as a straightjacket for capturing the event of God\u2019s becoming flesh\u201d (Piotyr Malysz in a review of Oswald Bayer, \u201cThe Word Became Flesh: Luther\u2019s Christology as Doctrine of the Communication of Properties,\u201d [pp. 5-35] Creator est Creatura: Luthers Christologie als Lehre von der Idiomen-kommunikation<\/em>. Review available at www.Lutherantheology.wordpress.com<\/a>) Malysz\u2019s critique applies also to the attempt of the Lutheran Neo-Thomist school, represented by Bielfeldt, Mattox, and Hinlicky (The Substance of the Faith. Luther\u2019s Doctrinal Theology for Today<\/em> [Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008]), to create a \u201cstraightjacket\u201d to prove the existence of God and demonstrate the reliability of theological language.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> \u201cThe Confessions themselves therefore assert both a quatenus<\/em> and a quia<\/em>, both that the Confessions should be acknowledged only in so far as (quatenus<\/em>) they agree with the Scriptures and then also because (quia<\/em>) they agree with the Scriptures\u201d (Theodore Tappert, \u201cThe Significance of Confessional Subscription,\u201d Essays on the Lutheran Confessions Basic to Lutheran Cooperation<\/em> [1961] 30).<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> \u201cNeither the scriptures nor the world can be adequately grasped except through belief in the justification of the ungodly\u2026. But everything depends on the right coordination of the two. Just as the church must not take precedence over Christ, but must be Christ-determined without itself determining Christ, so salvation history must not take precedence over justification. It is its sphere. But justification remains the centre, the beginning and the end of salvation history. Otherwise the cross of Jesus would also inevitably lose its central position and then everything would be distorted \u2013 anthropology and ecclesiology as well as Christology and soteriology\u201d (Ernst K\u00e4semann, \u201cJustification and Salvation History,\u201d Perspectives on Paul<\/em> (Fortress; Minneapolis, 1971) 75-76.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> George Lindbeck, \u201cThe Lutheran Doctrine of the Ministry: Catholic and Reformed,\u201d Theological Studies<\/em> 30 (1969) 611.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> \u201cThe cross is not to be understood by means of another <\/em>system, the cross is <\/em>its own system.\u201d (Gerhard Forde, Where God Meets Man<\/em> (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1972) 36. See the whole section 35-44.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> George Lindbeck, The Nature of Doctrine. Religion and Theology in a Post-liberal Age<\/em> (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1984) 108-109.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Forde, \u201cInfallibility Language and the Early Lutheran Tradition,\u201d (L\/RC 6; p.126) Read it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a>Large Catechism, Baptism, #83; Tappert, p. 446.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is there some sort of general Lutheranism which provides a pan-Lutheran big tent for the 21st century? 1.\u00a0\u00a0 The LWF is pan-Lutheran. Most member churches subscribe to the CA[1] but this means everything and anything in practice.[2] 2.\u00a0\u00a0 Is the LCMS Lutheran? Gospel plus inerrancy. Categorically denying ordaining women, on the basis of Scripture–as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":25,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1196","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1196"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2943,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1196\/revisions\/2943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}