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| They didn't affirm each other's ministry... |
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| Luther Vs. Zwingli at the Marburg Model Theological Conference on Worship |
"The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, is never present where lies
are told. There is actually more unity of the church present where Christians of differing confession honorably determine
that they do not have the same understanding of the Gospel than where the painful fact of confessional splintering is hidden
behind a pious lie."
-- Hermann Sasse, "Union and Confession"
From Charles Porterfield Krauth:
When error is admitted into the Church, it will
be found that the stages of its progress are always three. It begins by asking toleration. Its friends say to the majority:
You need not be afraid of us; we are few, and weak; only let us alone; we shall not disturb the faith of others. The church
has her standards of doctrine; of course we shall never interfere with them; we ask only for ourselves to be spared interference
with our private opinions. Indulged in this for a time, error goes on to assert equal rights. Truth and error are two balancing forces. The Church shall do nothing which looks like deciding between them; that would
be partiality. It is bigotry to assert any superior right for the truth. We are to agree to differ, and any favoring of the
truth, because it is truth, is partisanship. What the friends of truth and error hold in common is fundamental. Anything on
which they differ is ipso facto non-essential. Anybody who makes account of such a thing is a disturber of the peace
of the church. Truth and error are two co-ordinate powers and the great secret of church-statesmanship is to preserve the
balance between them. From this point error soon goes on to its natural end, which is to assert supremacy. Truth
started with tolerating, it comes to be merely tolerated, and that only for a time. Error claims a preference for
its judgments on all disputed points. It puts men into positions, not as at first in spite of their departure from the Church’s
faith, but in consequence of it. Their recommendation is that they repudiate that faith, and poistion is given them to teach
others to repudiate it, and to make them skilful in combating it.
(From Charles Porterfield Krauth.
The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1872, pp. 195-96.)
Confessional Lutherans are Evangelical Catholics...
It is not we who call ourselves Lutherans. Rather, our adversaries call us that. We allow this to the
extent that this title is an indication of the consensus that our churches have with the orthodox and catholic doctrine that
Luther set forth from Holy Writ. Therefore we allow ourselves to be named after Luther, not as the inventor of a new faith
but as the asserter of the old faith and the cleanser of the church from the stains of Papist dogmas. Consequently, we also
do not reject the names “Christian” and “catholic,” nor do we render ourselves unworthy of them by
the approval of any heretical dogma, as did the Arians, Nestorians, Eutychians, etc. Rather, we are called “Christians”
from Christ as the only Author and Teacher of our faith. We are called “catholics” from our consensus with the
catholic faith. We are called “Lutherans” from Luther as the asserter and defender of that faith, but especially
as the reformer whom God raised up.
+ Johann Gerhard, On the Church (Theological Commonplace XXV), § 156.
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In Tough Economic Times: Put Your Money Where Your Confession Is... Lutheran Missions and Organizations to Support
EVANGELICAL AND CATHOLIC
Welcome to Reformation Today! Reformation Today is an independent Lutheran
publication which strives to be forthright and fair. Our contributors may, at times, disagree somewhat in their analysis
of issues and in their suggestions for remedies. Those participating in Reformation Today believe the status quo must change and that this change can only come about through
the faithful and deliberate proclamation of the law and gospel, catechesis, and the application of our biblical and confessional
doctrine in the life of the Church.
We certainly acknowledge that there will be no outwardly
perfect church body or synod on this side of heaven. But if you believe that the time has come to end the partisan politics,
closed door dealings, straw man arguments, and abuse of power in favor of an approach based on Holy Scripture, the Lutheran Confessions, Christian charity, as well as accountability to the Lutheran confessional standard, then lend us your ears.
Reformation Today seeks to uphold a sound understanding
of Scripture, faithfulness to the Book of Concord, and to promote and maintain the full use of the historic liturgy in Lutheran parishes. RT also seeks to foster unity
and harmony among confessional Lutheran pastors and parishes in various jurisdictions and ultimately see jurisdictions organized around actual theology and practice rather than dusty and contradictory "official positions" of top-heavy bureaucracies. Reformation Today espouses a quia subscription to the Lutheran Confessions and sees our confessional heritage and liturgical heritage as fully evangelical and catholic and therefore a tremendous asset to not only the Lutheran Church but the church at large
as well.
We do not believe the Book of Concord merely represents "what we as Lutherans believe" nor what Lutherans at one time believed. We believe them to be a faithful
articulation and confession of belief and practice which is both entirely evangelical and catholic in the best and original
senses of both terms. Regardless of how well or poorly modern day Lutherans cling to and practice the Lutheran Confessions,
we assert their full catholicity and orthodoxy and therefore commend them to the church as the goal of true ecumenical agreement,
concord, and faithfulness among all sincere Christians.
Reformation Today desires to address the troubles
that afflect the synods of the former Synodical Conference (Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Synod, and Evangelical Lutheran Synod)
and other issues beyond that heritage in Lutheranism at large. We welcome discussions on what afflicts the
LCMS, WELS, and ELS from the perspective of the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions as well as the better periods in Lutheran
church history. We desire to see an uncompromised, and unabashed confessional Lutheran Church remain in North
America and throughout the world, either with or without the jurisdictions of the former Synodical Conference. We would rather those synods return to the truth and sound practice
based on sound doctrine. But with the eschatological perspective that we have been living in the end
times since our Lord's death and resurrection (Hebrews 1), we seek to uphold the marks of the Church among faithful Lutheran
congregations with their pastors, and to foster unity on the basis of that confession which is evangelical and catholic, knowing
that humanly organized jurisdictions to organize the church wax and wane.
But the church is not primarily found in "trans-parochial
organizations" but in the purely preached gospel and in the rightly administered sacraments. For there the Holy
Spirit, calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps her with Jesus Christ in the
one true faith. As we said above, preaching, catechesis, an exercise of the office of the keys, maintaining fellowship based
upon fidelity to the truth of God, intercessory prayer, and supporting faithful Lutherans in word and deed, wherever
they are, are reliable avenues for reform, even as we, following the example of Luther in his letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, urge faithful confessors to put their time, talents and treasures in those activities and places where their confession
is most clearly evident and uncompromised and where practice evidently flows from what is believed, taught, and confessed.
Guest contributions to Reformation Today are very
welcome and will receive due consideration by our editorial board.
Jude 3 - "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning
our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once
for all delivered to the saints."
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ARTICLES ON REFORMATION TODAY:
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