Documentation: A Lutheran Stance Toward Contemporary Biblical Studies

When the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod instructed the Commission on Theology and Church Relations to conduct a comprehensive study of Biblical hermeneutics (1965 Proceedings, Res. 2-07, page 95), it did not thereby declare a moratorium on Biblical study and scholarship throughout the Synod. On the contrary, the church\u27s scholars, wherever their calling finds them, as well as all other members of the church, are expected to continue their daily searching of the Scriptures as vigorously as ever. The special study assigned to the Commission on Theology and Church Relations is simply a part of and, hopefully, a useful contribution to the effort in which we are all engaged together

Walther on Confessional Agreement and Church Fellowship

In its report, Church Relations in the 21st Century,1 the Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) addresses many of the challenges faced by the Missouri Synod as she enters a new era of global interconnection and is consequently confronted with a variety of church bodies near and far who seek support from, cooperation with, and even altar-and-pulpit fellowship with her. In this report, the CTCR helpfully points out that the differing histories of other church bodies around the world have caused their assumptions regarding ecumenical relationships to differ from those of the Missouri Synod, which were themselves shaped by her own history and the broader history of Lutheranism in America. In light of those differing assumptions, the CTCR puts forward the following proposal on how to approach the question of confessional agreement with other church bodies who seek fellowship with the Missouri Syno

The Mediation of the Spirit through the Word: A Critical Analysis of the Theology of Theodore Jungkuntz in the Light of the Lutheran Confessions

A critical analysis of any theology can be presumptuous at worst; unnecessary at best. This study was undertaken a number of years ago as the writer struggled to determine the critical area where the charismatic movement touches Lutheran theology most sensitively. To start with a premise that the Lutheran charismatic movement is heretical (as a few writers have assumed) did not seem scholarly or fair. To impose Lutheran terminology on charismatic and nee-Pentecostal concepts seemed equally unsound. After observing the growing pains of the Lutheran charismatic movement, the writer became aware that a study of one area--the mediation of the Holy Spirit through the Word--would be most helpful. The theology of a confessional Lutheran charismatic theologian, Dr. Theodore R. Jungkuntz, finally determined the parameters for this work. This study opens some specific areas of critical analysis. However, its scope does not go beyond the studies done by the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in the area of charismatic theology. The methodology undertaken, using Jungkuntz as a foil, was to isolate two key areas of his theology. A comparison was then made with the Lutheran Confessions in these two areas. The two most pertinent areas where the Lutheran Confessions and charismatic theology interface are the Word and prayer. Thus the scope of this study is again limited. Using Jungkuntz\u27 response to a report by the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod on the charismatic movement1 as a basis for analysis, this study incorporates other writings and ourlines of Jungkuntz as well as of other Lutheran and non-Lutheran charismatics. This is done so that the milieu in which Jungkuntz writes is better reflected and understood. The Lutheran confessional documents, presented in the Book of Concord of 15~0, contain the basic elements establishing the standard for what is Lutheran. The Smalcald Articles and the Formula of Concord in its Epitome and Solid or Thorough Declaration will be used extensively. Luther\u27s two catechisms, the Augsburg Confession and Apology will also be cited

It was he Who Gave Some to be : Toward an Understanding of the Role of the Female Prophet in the Lutheran Church

Murphy, Ann I. \u27It Was He Who Gave Some To Be\u27: Toward an Understanding of the Role of the Female Prophet in the Lutheran Church. STM thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2014,131 pp. This thesis addresses some of the ambiguities and inadequacies in Lutheran theological reflection regarding the prophetic office and attempts to integrate theological constructions pertaining to revelatory spiritual gifts, inspiration, the Ministry, and women\u27s roles in the church so that they more consistently inform one another

Addie Graves (1922-2007) and the Creation of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Columbus, Georgia

Addie Graves (1922-2007) grew up in Wilcox County, Alabama, which at the time was a center of Lutheran African-American missions. After moving to Columbus, Georgia, in the early 1950s, she became the first black member of a Lutheran church in the city (Lutheran Church of the Redeemer). This is significant because most other churches in Columbus did not desegregate until decades later. It was also prior to any official desegregation action by the Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod. She could have joined a different church, but she evidently felt strongly about her Lutheran faith and identity. In 1963, she helped establish Bethlehem Lutheran Church in her neighborhood, seeking to spread the gospel and benefit her neighbors. She did this, not out of an identification with Black Lutheranism, but because of her confessional, theologically conservative Lutheran faith

The Orders of Creation-Some Reflections on the History and Place of the Term in Systematic Theology

In this article, he argues that the concept associated, with the term orders of creation in current Missouri Synod, discussions of the ordination of women is not Lutheran but Calvinist in origin, and not a Biblical concept

Resume From a Forum on Lutheran Unity

At the jurisdictional church conventions in April, Map and June, 1974, Forums on Lutheran Unify were held. Tape recordings of these public discussions were made in several instances. Below is a resume of parts of one such public forum. It took place at the Ontario District Convention on June 8. Forum participants were the three Canadian church presidents — Dr. S. T. Jacobson (ELCC), Dr. O. A. Olson (LCA — Canada Section), and Rev. L. N. Scholl (LC-C); the two presidents of the jurisdictional units local to Ontario -- Rev. A. Stanfel (Ontario District - LC-MS) and Dr. Otto F. Reble (Eastern Canada Synod ~ LCA); and a prominent ELCC pastor. Rev. W. Riekert of Ottawa, Dr. T. Ristine, vice-president of the Ontario District moderated the forum. Rev. N. J. Threinen, executive secretary of the JCILR, introduced the speakers and provided back-up Information. Since some of the persons speaking from the floor are unidentified, only the forum speakers are named

History and Dogma in Christology

Careful examination of a recent convention resolution of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (Resolution 2-16, “To Affirm Historicity of New Testament, Denver 1969) provides a basis for the author\u27s discussion of the way in which church bodies can best prepare doctrinal statements and of the proper role of historical investigation and dogmatic formulations in the process of framing the church\u27s Christological confession

Selected U.S. Supreme Court Cases Viewed Through the Lenses of the Lutheran Two Kingdoms Doctrine

The aim of this research is to prove how the Lutheran traditions (Scripture, Luther\u27s writings, the Confessions, and Lutheran statements) to the citizen of a twentieth century democracy can help form a perception of selected cases of the Supreme Court of the United States in the light of the Two-Kingdom Doctrine of Luther. Certain Supreme Court decisions concerning the First Amendment of the United States Constitution will be chosen for their importance to the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod

Key 73: A Case Study in the Doctrine of Church Fellowship

This study is presented with the hope that it can help establish confessional Lutheran evangelistic and missiological practice on the bedrock of sound, Biblical and Confessional doctrine. The specific theological concern of this presentation is the doctrine of church fellowship. Key 73 is an excellent place to begin such a study because it is especially in evangelism and mission practice that the pressure to unite without prior doctrinal agreement is the greatest. Conservatives” are particularly vulnerable to these temptations, because of their zeal for reaching the lost with the Gospel. Those who believe that there is salvation in no other name than Christ\u27s (Acts 4:12) and that those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus . . . will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes (2 Thess. 1:8-10), the feeling may persist that we ought not take the time to test the spirits in matters of evangelism, church growth and world missions