The Friday, February 8, 2002 issue of the New York Times published a story
titled, "Seeing Heresy in a Service for Sept. 11" by Daniel J.
Wakin.
Wakin has done his homework and puts out a balanced and accurate account of
the heresy trials going on in the LCMS over President Kieschnick's support for
Dr. David Benke's participation in a joint prayer service at Yankee Stadium.
For the full text see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/08/nyregion/08LUTH.html
Wakin writes: "In the eyes of his critics, the Rev. David Benke
worshiped publicly in the company of unbelievers. For that, they say, he
stands guilty of heresy and idolatry."
Seventeen LCMS pastors have accused Atlantic District President Benke of
syncretism, joining in the services of non-Christians and erring Christians
with whom the LCMS is not in fellowship.
Benke led one of many prayers along with non-Christians but didn't tell
them that the only Savior was Jesus. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Imams,
Priests, Rabbis, Buddhists, and Sikhs and prayed, ". . . the power of
love you have received is from God, for God is love. . . . join me in prayer
on this field of dreams turned into God's house of prayer."
As protests arose in the Synod, LCMS President Kieschnick wrote that he
supports Benke's action.
On December 9, 2001 the LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters ruled
that all protests about President Kieschnick participating in an ELCA church
service had to be delayed until the 2004 LCMS Convention. In other words, no
charges can be brought against an LCMS President during his term of office.
On February 1, 2002 the LCMS Board of Directors issued a statement saying
the LCMS "Reporter" and all LCMS media could no longer talk about
the charges being filed against Benke.
The New York Times article quoted Pastor Bohler, one of those filing
charges against Benke as follows: "When we're dealing with those who are
not Christians - Hindus and Muslims - in those cases, St. Paul talks about not
being yoked with unbelievers."
Bohler said, "It gives the appearance that their God and our God are
the same, and they are not; or there are valid other religions, and there are
none." "Christianity is very exclusive in that Jesus Christ is the
savior." "The danger there is people see the differences as
unimportant." "You can't chop up the Christian faith into little
departments, and say, 'We believe in 9 of 10.' If you introduce error in one
place, it's going to show up throughout." "The Gospel is imperiled
by any of these errors." "That's something that's required of a
Christian, to not just say we agree, but to say we disagree."
The Times wrote about another LCMS pastor filing charges against Benke,
Pastor David Oberdieck, who said that Benke took part in idolatry, or the
worship of a God not conceived as the God of the Trinity - the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.
Reverend Herman Otten, publisher of Christian News, was also quoted by the
New York Times as saying, "We don't hate the Muslims, the Jews, the
Sikhs. We love them, therefore we want to let them know they are lost, they
are eternally lost, unless they believe in Jesus."
Now that the LCMS has issued a public gag order on the Benke case, anyone
who wants to hear, "the rest of the story" will only have one source
as usual, "Christian News." You can order your weekly subscription
at cnmail@fignet.com or call
573-237-3110.
President Benke claims that the vast majority of the LCMS support him and
President Kieschnick. Wakin writes: "Pastor Benke said he had no
intention of backing down. 'It's my home. It's the mission and vocation I
have.'"
From the viewpoint of Reclaim News, there are other issues of greater
importance facing the LCMS than Benke's participation in the "9-11 Prayer
Service" at Yankee Stadium, but as they say, "the story has
legs." It is virtually sprinting.
The American public is fascinated with groups of people who do or won't do
something for religious reasons.
For more than a generation, the LCMS has refused to resolve its internal
divisions over open communion, the correct teaching on the Trinity, true
versus false worship, the authority of the congregation, charismatics,
authority of the Bible etc. Now the world has set its own agenda for us.
We may not like what they choose to address, that is, those things that
they think are so odd about us. But then, we had no intension of resolving our
own issues until the world reacted to the way we play out our hypocrisy in
public.
Even though we have pretended there was unity, our divisions are now the
stuff that sells newspapers. "Look at those LCMS Lutherans, they don't
agree with each other or what they are doing!"
We may be witnessing the dismantling of our church body, with its many
fissures just beneath the surface, waiting for the "big one."
However, just a little external pressure may be all that is need to topple the
entire structure.
We pray that the Twin Towers are not prophetic of our future. Christ says,
Mark 3:25 "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot
stand." The LCMS wants to believe it is the exception to Christ's
prophecy.
As I write these words, I'm also making preparation to meet with Dr. Waldo
Werning and his witnesses, brother LCMS pastors, over Werning's new definition
of the Trinity.
Werning is charging me with slander because I wrote that the god he
recommended to the 2001 LCMS Convention in his book (on page 33 and 34) is a
blasphemous idol and not the God of the Athanasian Creed. As in the Benke
case, the second Table of the Law is now more important than the First Table
of the Law in the LCMS.
The right to speak freely about God has become more important than what God
says.