Freitag, Walter H.

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Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 3 | Issue 4 Article 310-1-1977Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions: Perspectiveon Women's OrdinationWalter H. FreitagFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Articles is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationFreitag, Walter H. (1977) "Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions: Perspective on Women's Ordination," Consensus: Vol. 3 : Iss. 4 ,Article 3.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol3/iss4/3MINISTRYIN THE LUTHERAN CONFESSIONSPerspective on Women’s OrdinationWalter H, FreitagThe Lutheran Confessions have much to say about ordination, the office ofthe ministry, and the power and authority entrusted to this office. Luther andother reformers fought a war on two fronts against their Roman Catholicopponents: one against the tyranny of the papacy; the other against themonastic orders in the church. Many of the arguments employed in thatstruggle apply equally well to the subject of the ordination of women.The Augsburg Confession, Article V, The Ministry of the Church, states: “Inorder that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel andadministering the sacraments was instituted.” ^ And in Article XIV,Ecclesiastical Order, we read: “. . . no one should preach publicly in thechurch or administer the sacraments unless he is regularly called.”The fixed point of reference for ministry then is the Word of God which is tobe preached. That is the norm against which questions regarding ministry areto be measured.MEANING OF ORDINATIONThe initial question is: What does ordination mean? Of what does it consist?In the Apology to the Augsburg Confession, in the Article on the Numberand Use of the Sacraments, the following points are made: 1) priesthood isnot Levitical, where priests sacrifice for the people and merit the remission of1. Quotations from the Lutheran Confessions are quoted from Theodore G. Tappert, translator andeditor, The Book of Concord (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959).1516 Consensussins for others; Christ’s sacrifice is itself sufficient for the sins of the wholeworld; 2) but if ordination is understood to apply to the ministry of the Word,it may be called a sacrament; indeed, even the imposition of hands could, fromthis perspective, be called a sacrament; 3) the church has the command toappoint ministers, because God approves such ministry and is present in suchministry.Ordination then is the rite by which the church sets suitable candidatesapart for the office of ministry — ministry which is by divine command.Officials carrying out such a rite do not possess that power in their own right;they represent the whole church in the act of ordaining.THE POWER OF THE KEYSThe second question concerns the power of the keys, namely, the authorityto bind or to remit sins. This has to do with the jurisdiction of the office of thepastor.A sharp definition of the jurisdiction of the pastoral office is put forward inthe Augsburg Confession, Article XXVIII, Ecclesiastical Power, . . accordingto the Gospel, the power of the keys, or the power of bishops, is a power orcommandment of God to preach the Gospel, to remit and retain sins, and toadminister the sacraments.” This power is exercised only by teaching orpreaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments, according to theircalling, either to many or to individuals. For thereby are granted, “such eternalthings as eternal righteousness, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life.”It is exciting, in this connection, to follow the interpretation of the Lutherantheologians at Smalcald in 1537 in opposition to the view that the pope is theprimary bishop because St. Peter was the first among the apostles. Theirrefutation is as follows:1)Peter speaks as the representative of the entire assembly of the apostles,as the text of Matthew 16:18f itself makes clear. Further, the keys belong tothe Church as many clear and firm arguments testify. “For Christ, speakingconcerning the keys. Matt. 18:19, adds: If two or three of you shall agree onearth, etc. Therefore he grants the keys principally and immediately to theChurch, just as also for this reason the Church has principally the right ofcalling.” Moreover, the keys are nothing else than the office whereby thispromise is communicated to every one who desires it, just as it is actuallymanifest that the church has the power to ordain ministers of the church.”The church is not built upon Peter, but upon the Word which was the faithand confession of Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Therefore,the person of the teacher adds nothing to this word and office of ministry.2) Christ gave the apostles only spiritual power, to teach the Gospel, toannounce the forgiveness of sins, to administer the sacraments, toexcommunicate the godless without bodily force. He did not give them thepower of the sword.3) Even if the primacy of the Roman pontif were to be conceded, he shouldnot be obeyed if he were to defend godless services, idolatry and doctrineMinistry in the Lutheran Confessions 17conflicting with the Gospel. Since that is what he has done, he bears themarks of the Antichrist.The conclusion is clear. The power of the keys is not assigned exclusively toPeter, or to the pope, but to the church. It is a power which by divine right iscommon to all who preside over churches, whether they are called pastors,elders, or bishops. Indeed, it extends to the whole Church, including the laity.THE CALL TO MINISTRYThe third area of interest is the matter of the call to ministry. Articles VIIand Vlll of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession have this to say on evil orwicked men in the ministry: “When the sacraments are administered byunworthy men, this does not rob them of their efficacy. For they do notrepresent their own persons but the person of Christ, because of the church’scall, as Christ testifies, Luke 10:6, He that hears you, hears me. When theyoffer the Word of Christ or the sacraments, they do so in Christ’s place andstead.”Another dimension is brought into view when we ask about the offices ofministry, and the power of the various grades in ministry. The treatise on thePower and Primacy of the Pope provides very detailed instruction on thesematters. In it, the Lutheran reformers show that the pope, by divine right, isnot superior to other bishops or pastors.Eleven arguments are presented: 1) no apostle is to lord it over another(Luke 22:25); rather are the apostles to be equals in the common ministry ofthe Gospel; 2) apostles are not to be sovereigns, but like children who neitherseek nor take sovereignty (Matt. 18:2); 3) on the basis of John 20:21, Christsends forth his disciples without distinction, so that no one of them was tohave more or less power than any other; 4) Saint Paul did not get hisauthority from Peter, but independently of him, and his ministry dependsexclusively upon the Word of God; 5) 1 Cor. 3:6 shows that ministers areequal, and that the Church is above the ministers; 6) the increase in theauthority of the Roman bishop began with decisions from the time of theCouncil of Nicea, that is, by human authority; 7) the same Council of Niceaagreed to election of bishops by their own churches and ordination, in thepresence of bishops from neighbouring areas, but not under the superiority anddomination of the Roman bishops; 8) many ancient synods were held withoutthe Roman pope; 9) Jerome teaches that bishops are equal in dignity;10) Gregory refuses to allow himself to be called universal bishop; 11) theChurch has the power to decide the election, yet popes have been confirmedby emperors, how then are they popes by divine right? Consequently,distinctions and grades in ministry are due to human authority and18 Consensusarrangement; but they are neither more meritorious nor necessary forjustifying faith.CELIBACYThe battlefront of the Reformation did not only stand over against thepapacy. It also faced another enemy — the institution of celibacy andmonasticism. As a result, the Confessions lay down a barrage of articlesagainst monastic vows, enforced celibacy and various and assorted abusesassociated with the ascetic way of life.Celibacy was defended on the ground, among others, that priests had to bepure, and cited the Levitical priesthood as proof. In reply, the Apology to theAugsburg Confession, Article XXlll (XV) says: “The Gospel frees us from theseLevitical impurities and regulations about impurity. If anybody supports thelaw of celibacy in order to burden consciences with these Leviticalobservances, we must definitely resist him as the apostles in Acts 15 resistedthose who required circumcision and tried to impose the law of Moses onChristians.”SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONA number of critical assertions can now be made about the Lutheran view ofthe ministry.In the first place, the Word of God is exalted in connection with ministry asthe minister is humbled in relation to it. The ministry is Christocentric, notanthropocentric. Its authority, power, dignity, title, function, use and operationstems from Christ, depends upon him, and relies upon the work of the HolySpirit. In this respect, the person of the minister is irrelevant and immaterialto the essence of ministry. He is not in himself the substance of ministry.In the second place, the ministry is necessary for the Church by thecommand of God, so that the Gospel be preached and the sacramentsadministered. But the ministry in itself does not justify anyone, does not givegrace, cannot forgive or declare absolution. Nor does the person occupying anoffice of ministry become worthy or virtuous because of it, nor impart suchqualities meritoriously to that office. All these things can be done by Christalone.In the third place, ministry is not a matter of position, rank and officialprerogative; on the contrary, it is a matter of the function to be performed andof the service to be given. ^ It is ministry when the Gospel is preached andthe sacraments administered. The authority it is given is the spiritual authoritylacking the weapons of force and coercion, of political, civic, or legal power.The norm of that authority is the Lord.In the fourth place, ministry is subject to the church and not above it; butboth Church and ministry are subject to the same norm — the Gospel of Jesus2. W. Pauck, "Luther and the Ministry" The Springfielder, Vol. 36, No. 1 (June, 1972), 3-11.Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions 19Christ. Therefore the Church has the right to call, elect and ordain pastors.Yet should it fail to do so, or abuse that right, God can and will raise upministers to feed the sheep.In the fifth place, ministers are not assigned a superior place of status in theChurch. Pastors are not less sinful nor are pastors different from the laity insuch things as marriage, customs and habits.These affirmations all have a bearing upon the question of the admissibilityof women into the office of the public ministry. The Word to be preached is notdiscriminatory; it does not speak only to men and not to women. Since theperson of the pasto|^ — character, qualities, traits, sins, failings - does notdetermine the office, nor give it merit or virtue or justification, the sex of theperson also does not enter into the matter. Nor is the spiritual authority of theministry confined to the male gender of the human community, preciselybecause the pastor is never given control over that authority. While the churchhas the right to call, elect and ordain pastors, that right is not exclusive andunrestricted; it is subject to the norm of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Moreover,if pastors are free with respect to marriage and celibacy, then they should alsonot be restricted as to candidacy on the basis of sexual gender. To prohibitcandidates for the ministry on the ground of sexual differentiation is, inprinciple, no better than to ban them from it because they are married. It isnot the function of ministry, or of ministers, to make a man out of a woman,or a woman out of a man or to make either sexually neuter.Indeed, if the issue is to be forced upon the church, the rule to be followed isnot the Law, whether of Moses or of human tradition and custom, but thedoctrine of the Gospel. “Unto the pure, all things are pure.” Every other routeleads to the doctrine of devils, according to the confessions. It is anotherquestion whether or not such an action is prudent; whether it will make forgood order; whether it will disturb tender consciences; or, whether thecongregation will have the right to accept or reject it. Here, the issue hingessolely on the matter of admissibility of women to iqinister on the basis of theGospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions: Perspective on Women\u27s Ordination

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions: Perspective on Women\u27s Ordination

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