{"id":173,"date":"2009-12-07T15:48:46","date_gmt":"2009-12-07T22:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?page_id=173"},"modified":"2010-01-02T21:20:29","modified_gmt":"2010-01-03T04:20:29","slug":"say-it-aint-so","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?page_id=173","title":{"rendered":"Say it Ain’t So"},"content":{"rendered":"

Printable PDF<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

A Response to the Statement by ELCA Scholars found at:<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/wordalone.org\/archives\/articles_by_author\/donfried.htm<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Say it ain’t so, you Luther Seminary profs who taught and mentored so many of us. Is CCM so forgotten \t\t\t\tthat there can be a new alliance of pro-CCMers and anti-CCMers – an alliance that takes an Anglican \t\t\t\tstance on how to do theology?<\/p>\n

Four Luther Seminary profs have joined with thirteen other theologians in a public call to reject \t\t\t\tthe ELCA Task Force on Homosexuality’s recommendations because:<\/p>\n

“… if adopted, they would alter fundamentally the ecclesiology of the ELCA and that, in \t\t\t\tturn, would threaten not only the unity and stability of this church, but, as a consequence, its \t\t\t\tability to proclaim the truth of the Gospel.”<\/p>\n

What an un-Lutheran thing to say. It’s downright offensive.<\/p>\n

1) The chief offense: Making church trump truth. Now you claim that the unity and stability of \t\t\t\tthe church are foundational for proclaiming the truth of the gospel? What happened to Luther’s zinger \t\t\t\tthat councils can err? And bishops can err. Assemblies can err. Congregations can err.<\/p>\n

Luther’s rediscovery of the gospel attacked the pretension that the church can safeguard the gospel. \t\t\t\tThe gospel purely preached (CA 7) produces unity and stability. Not the other way around.<\/p>\n

The Statement’s section on “ecclesiology” incorrectly states: “In the New Testament, \t\t\t\thowever, the criterion for the discernment of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is a broadly based, ecclesial \t\t\t\tdetermination ….” Maybe in Acts but not for Paul, who says the plumb line is the truth of \t\t\t\tthe gospel itself (Gal 1:6-9), not bishops or assemblies – not even an angel from heaven, let alone \t\t\t\ta churchwide assembly. The pretentious claim for “the church” makes one shudder.<\/p>\n

The pro-CCM signers of The Statement must be laughing up their sleeves. They have gotten former \t\t\t\tCCM opponents to agree that church trumps gospel.<\/p>\n

2) The offense of making sex the issue. How could you identify sex with the truth of the gospel? \t\t\t\tGay sex is harmful. So is lesbianism. The costs for individuals caught in these life-styles, as well \t\t\t\tas for the church and society, are enormous – physically, socially, psychologically, financially, \t\t\t\tand economically. The ELCA has been weakened by its quiet accommodation to gay clergy and same-sex \t\t\t\tfamilies. Nevertheless gay sex is not a gospel issue. It’s a left-hand kingdom issue that is addressed \t\t\t\tby common reason and a concern for harmful consequences.<\/p>\n

The Statement resorts to inflated ecclesial rhetoric in order to make an ethical protest with the \t\t\t\tvolume turned up. This inflation wrongly confessionalizes social-ethical issues in a manner contrary \t\t\t\tto Christian freedom. It opens a Pandora’s box in which moral concerns, both serious and trivial, \t\t\t\tare carelessly identified with the gospel’s own unique word of promise.<\/p>\n

3) The offense of accommodating to CCM. How do you accommodate to the 1999 constitutional changes \t\t\t\t(\u00b610.81.01) requiring Episcopal structures and ordination rites? Not gay sex, but CCM has fundamentally \t\t\t\taltered the ecclesiology of the ELCA. CCM broke the unity and stability of the ELCA. CCM corrupted \t\t\t\tthe ELCA’s ability to proclaim the truth of the gospel.<\/p>\n

By adding ecclesial requirements for full communion, ordination, and eventually valid Eucharists, \t\t\t\tCCM has corrupted all ELCA preachers who accommodate to it. CCM is an attack on the solas – Christ \t\t\t\talone, Word alone, Scripture alone, the cross alone, faith alone, and grace alone. Having accommodated \t\t\t\tto additional requirements, you have moved on to other issues.<\/p>\n

It cannot be claimed that gay sex is REALLY the big issue because it deals with the authority of \t\t\t\tscripture. As Paul would say, scripture is ruled by the gospel which declares both forgiveness and \t\t\t\tfreedom – forgiveness in Jesus Christ through the cross and freedom to serve the neighbor, asking \t\t\t\tin all moral issues, with Romans 13:10: What harms the neighbor? What are the damages? But not exchanging \t\t\t\tChristian freedom for a third use of the law.<\/p>\n

4) The offense of pretending not to see. People in the pew can be forgiven for not knowing what’s \t\t\t\thappening in the ELCA; leaders cannot. It’s disingenuous for leaders not to notice that the ELCA \t\t\t\talready has a de facto “local option” for gay clergy. “More than 100 gay and lesbian \t\t\t\tpastors already quietly lead churches with the tacit knowledge of their local bishops,” according \t\t\t\tto the Lutheran Alliance for Full Participation (Boston Globe 1\/14\/05). A look at Higgins Road and \t\t\t\tthe 65 synods easily confirms this statistic.<\/p>\n

The facts on the ground suggest that CCM has taken hold. The bishops are in charge. Like their \t\t\t\tEpiscopal counterparts, they allow “local options” to safeguard unity, and they are not \t\t\t\tgoing back no matter what theologians say or assemblies do. The ELCA has left the Lutheran orbit, \t\t\t\tjust as your Statement does. Both make the truth of the gospel a consequence of unity. Please, say \t\t\t\tit ain’t so.<\/p>\n

Meg H. Madson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Printable PDF A Response to the Statement by ELCA Scholars found at: http:\/\/wordalone.org\/archives\/articles_by_author\/donfried.htm Say it ain’t so, you Luther Seminary profs who taught and mentored so many of us. Is CCM so forgotten that there can be a new alliance of pro-CCMers and anti-CCMers – an alliance that takes an Anglican stance on how to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":5,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-173","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/173","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=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":400,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/173\/revisions\/400"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}