Lutheran Teachers Rock
I owe a lot to Lutheran teachers who understood their vocations and that which they pledged to uphold (i.e., Scripture & the Confessions) upon becoming Lutheran teachers in an LCMS school. I am ever thankful for the education I received from the good teachers at East Bethlehem (Detroit - K-2), St. John (Rochester, MI - 3-8), and Lutheran High North (Mt. Clemens, MI) over the course of my elementary & secondary educational years.
Over at Cranach, Dr. Veith has a great entry that illustrates the blessing of faithful Lutheran teachers, but also a refreshing example of the properly submissive attitude that we are all required to bring to our studies of Scripture & Confessions. I’ll not steal the thunder of the posting, entitled Being confessional when it hurts, but just ask you to head on over to Cranach for a good read…
-ghp
Good Things
Yesterday evening was one of the times when it’s a joy to be on the Board of Elders at Heritage Lutheran Church (LCMS). I had the great honor & privilege of assisting in the examination of two of our eleven confirmands. It was a joy to see that these two young ladies had not only learned the letter of the lessons during their two years in confirmation classes, but that they had indeed given great thought about what those lessons truly meant and will continue to mean throughout their lives.
They were nervous, as is quite understandable for a 13 y/o who is having to be examined in the presence of her parents, Pastor, & Church Elder. That nervousness, though, did not preclude them from a clear confession of that which they have learned from the Small Catechism. These young ladies have been blessed with good Christian parents and a wonderfully caring Pastor. They have also been blessed with the knowledge that Confirmation is not a graduation - i.e., an end to learning. No, these young ladies are armed with the knowledge that staying in the Word is a life-long journey — one in which God’s Means of Grace are active tools through which the Holy Ghost keeps us safe in the steadfast faith that was given to us at our Baptism.
Yes, evenings like last night gladden my heart, and give me encouragement & hope about the continued strength & vitality of the Church Militant, even as I continually hope & yearn for the arrival of the Church Triumphant.
-ghp
Simpler is better
Here’s a blog topic, twice removed…
Watersblogged! summarized nicely the principle underpinnings of a longer posting/discussion over at Be Strong in the Grace, (see - there’s the twice-removed! 
) that generally centered on the topic of scriptural inerrancy. The eight bullet points underpinning the discussion are:
- The Bible in its entirety is the inspired, inerrant Word of God. The Scriptures are to be used to interpret Scripture. The Holy Spirit is the true interpreter of the Bible. The Holy Scriptures are profitable “for teaching, for refutation, for correction adn for training in righteousness.” The Bible is the supreme and final authority in all theological matters.
- The entire Bible is Christ centric. The Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament. Christ is the center of the Bible and of all interpretation. The centrality of justification by faith is the chief article of biblical revelation. In the Holy Scriptures, God speaks a word of Law and a word of Gospel.
- The Bible comes to us in human speech, so the laws of human speech (grammar, syntax) are to be observed. (This point stresses the important of knowing Hebrew and Greek.)
- All doctrines must be based on clear passages. Obscure, figurative, and symbolic passages are to be understood in the light of clear passages.
- Scripture is to be interpreted by the Analogy of Faith (the sum total of all clear passages).
- No passage is to be taken out of its context.
- Each passage has one spirit-intended meaning.
- The literal meaning is the usual and normal one.
This is simple and straightforward, and squares with what God has revealed to us in the Bible.
And that, my friends, is why so many folks rebel against it. We like complex, especially when the complexity depends on us or our abilities.
It’s why the Historical-Critical Method (short-form definition, longer-form definition) rose to ascendancy throughout the 20th century, and still reigns supreme amongst the theological intelligentsia. Why work to accept what God’s Word clearly tells us, when we can reinterpret it according to whatever human whim is currently in vogue?
These people make me cranky…
-ghp
Strawmen ain’t got no brains
As per the norm, Theresa has done us all a service with one of her latest postings over at Be Strong in the Grace — this time dealing with the subject of the oft-constructed strawman argument warning against “too much” doctrinal purity.
Theresa does a nice job of summarizing another blogger’s posting on the subject, along with a good bit of her own insights on the subject. I highly recommend that y’all head over there to read it in full, particularly as there’s a nice, lively discussion thread in progress.
I find this whole false dichotomy between doctrine & evangelism to be quite distressing. It is disingenuous, misleading, intellectually bankrupt, and just plain-old-wrong. Even worse, it threatens to lead even more folks off the narrow path, if only because it sounds so “good” and so “loving.”
In reality, however, it’s dangerous, untrue, and quite easily disproven.
- “Doctrine” merely means “teachings” or “that which is taught.”
- “Evangelism” is based on the root “Evangel” or “Good News” — i.e., The salvation earned for us by Christ on the cross, told to us in the Bible, and given to & strengthened in us by the Sacraments.
- Thus, it behooves us to have good, solid, orthodox doctrine, because
- Why would you not want to proclaim the Truth?
Having all your doctrinal ducks in a row WILL COMPEL YOU TO CONDUCT EVANGELISM! It will, however, be a Biblical evangelism, (i.e., one done out of our vocations and based on the Law & Gospel properly divided) and not the feel-good, meet-their-felt-needs based “evangelism” found in so today’s Methobapticostal neo-Evangelicalism.
Simply put, if you’re not even concerned (for whatever reason/rationale…) about trying to ensure that what you’re teaching is the Truth, then what you’re trying to sell isn’t Christianity.
-ghp
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