This Side of the Pulpit » Entries tagged with "Lutheranism"
Augsburg Confession? No Thank You!
UPDATE: Here is the original post at Pastoral Meanderings HT: Weedon Here is a section of a post Rev. Larry Peters wrote. I encourage you to read his whole post. We are not the church that the Augsburg Confession said we were. There are multiple reasons for this — not in the least of which is nearly 500 years of history. There is also a more pointed reasons for this — look at most Lutheran denominations and you find that most do not WANT to be the same church the Augsburg Confession said we were. The drift between what we were and who we claimed to be and what we have become and who we want to be today has come slowly but surely. It is my conviction that the Lutheran struggle today is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Luther, Lutheranism, Lutherans and So On
I’ve got a lot of semi-connected thoughts about denomination (doctrinal) loyalty and commitment and can’t quite string them together yet…or not without getting a little too specific for a publicly read blog. Since this is a blog and just a step above Jack Chick tracts, I can post about not having anything to post. I guess it’s a good thing you have low standards, or you wouldn’t be reading here anyway, I suppose. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Holy Cross Day
On this day in 335 AD the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was dedicated in Jerusalem with a piece of the True Cross that St. Helena, mother of St. Constantine the Emperor had found. The site of the Church is on the grave where Jesus had reposed for the three days, since unused. The celebration in Orthodox and Catholic Churches focus on the veneration and “lifting up” of the relics themeselves, or of the cross in general. Among the Lutherans…well, I’m not really sure what it’s doing on our Liturgical Calendar. We don’t venerate relics. We do venerate the altar, at least to some degree. Or I do, at least. But not crosses. So that must leave Holy Cross Day as a celebration of the saving power of the cross. Yet we … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
What is Right in Their Own Eyes
They finally did it. It took them years of statements and votes and new statements and drafts but the ELCA finally got it passed. Here’s what the AP is reporting: The nation’s largest Lutheran denomination took openly gay clergy more fully into its fold Friday, as leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to lift a ban that prohibited sexually active gays and lesbians from serving as ministers. Under the new policy, individual ELCA congregations will be allowed to hire homosexuals in committed relationships as clergy. Until now, gays and lesbians had to remain celibate to serve as clergy. … Read entire article »
Perspicuity and Mystery
Note: Here is the post I’m still working on. And I still would like your feedback. Does it make sense? Am I creating a straw man fundamentalist/perspicacious reader? What else am I missing/getting wrong? The great mystery of the incarnation remains a mysteryt eternally. Not only is what is not yet seen of it greater than what has been revealed–for it is revealed merely to the extent that those saved by it can grasp it–but also even what is revealed still remains entirely hidden and is by no means known as it really is. St. Maximos the Confessor, First Century of Various Texts I think this quotation encapsulates the greatest difference between Catholicism–meaning both Roman and Eastern Orthodox–and Protestantism. For Protestants, especially of the fundamentalist sort, the revelation is what it is: clear, perspicuous. Jesus … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
More than a Feeling
For Lutherans, it is not a matter of something looking Catholic, smelling Catholic, or feeling too Catholic. For Lutherans, it’s a matter of what Catholics teach, not how it looks or feels. Lutherans reject some specific Catholic teachings. The rest remains. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
HowStuffWorks: Mozart Doesn’t Make You Smarter!
It gives me great relief to report that listening to Mozart does not make you smarter. The original study at the University of California-Irvine which found that 10 minutes of Mozart increased results on IQ tests was flawed. HowStuffWorks also states that the study is not reproducible. Mozart was the wrong composer to use in the experiment. It sould have been Bach.That’s why it was really flawed. All Lutherans think Bach is the best, right? Probably, but that’s not why I think Bach should have been used. Read this short piece. Or anything else written about J S Bach. Everyone says he was a profound genius. Or for that matter, go to the library, check out ten Bach CDs and listen to them for a week. After that, anytime you hear a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Personal
Do Lutherans Watch the World go ‘Round?
There’s a tendency in Lutheranism toward apathy. In emphasizing that it is the Holy Spirit who does the work of creating and sustaining faith Lutherans tend to be passive in their Christian living. “Good works are created in advance for us to do,” the Lutherans quote. The other shoe is: “I don’t have to worry about good works at all. Let God do ‘em.” … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Wish Dreams and Lutheranism: Part III
What follows are a series of posts regarding the possibilities of taking “Weedon’s Wish Dream” and making it reality. Remember (especially my members), that while I am very sympathetic to 99% of what the Wish Dream was, I’m just talkin’ right now. Regarding comments: DO feel free to make suggestions of pros and cons that I may have missed. DO NOT dismiss an option until I have outlined all of them. Remember that I am not finished yet! DO offer suggestions for a different name than “Weedon’s Wish Dream,” as what he described could well be a generic description of the ideal Evangelical Catholic/Confessional Lutheran congregation. Option #1 Stay where you are and bring the Wish Dream to your parish. This honors the divine call and prevents schism. Our theology states that God has called pastors … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Wish Dreams and Lutheranism: Part II
Since I called Pr. Weedon’s idea a “wish dream,” I thought I should provide a definition of what this is. In my first term at Concordia Seminary we were required to read Bonhoeffer’s Life Together. It’s a pretty good book, though I haven’t looked at it in 13 years (13!!). The following passage seized the imagination of my friends and I, and ever since we have identified the “what-if’s” and “if onlies” of ministry and parish life as the “wish dream.” Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
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