|
PROPOSED RESOLUTION NOT TO LET STATUS AND PRIVILEGE
OVERRIDE TRUTH IN THE CHURCH
Whereas, the Commission on Constitutional Matters (CCM)
has ruled that the "Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod do not allow
or contemplate the expulsion of a member of the Synod on the basis of an
action taken with the full knowledge and approval of the appropriate
ecclesiastical supervisor" (02-2296, Reporter, March 2003, p. 10); and
Whereas, this ruling flatly contradicts Holy Scripture,
which repeatedly warns against "respect[ing] persons in judgment"
(Deut 1:17; see also Eph. 6:9, Col. 3:25, James 2:1,9), "making the
word of God of none effect through [human] tradition" (St. Mk. 7:13),
or "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (St. Mk. 7:7),
and insists that "we must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29);
and
Whereas, the CCM ruling is incompatible with the
Lutheran Confession, which
-- teach
that "it is not lawful for a human being to repeal an obligation that
is plainly a matter of divine right" (Augsburg Confession XXVII, 24;
Kolb-Wengert, p. 85);
-- make the
"marks" of the church all-decisive, namely "the pure teaching
of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments in harmony with the
gospel of Christ"--not the whim or discretion of "supreme external
monarchy" of ecclesiastical supervisors (Apology VII/VIII, 3; p.
174-184);
-- warn
against those who "demand that their traditions be observed more
carefully than the gospel" (Apology XXVIII, 3; p. 289);
-- deny
that texts like St. Lk. 10:16 and Heb. 13:17 grant ecclesiastical
supervisors any authority beyond the Gospel itself (Apology XXVIII, 17-21,
pp. 291-292);
-- reject
as "also purely religious raving [enthusiasm]" the claims of the
chief of all ecclesiastical supervisors, "in that the pope boasts that
'all laws are in the shrine of his heart' and that what he decides and
commands in his churches is supposed to be Spirit and law—even when it is
above or contrary to the Scriptures of the spoken Word. This is all the old
devil and old snake, who also turned Adam and Eve into enthusiasts and led
them from the external Word of God to 'spirituality' and their own
presumption . . . It is the source, power, and might of all the heresies,
even that of the papacy and Mohammed" (Smalcald Articles
III/8/4,5, 9; pp.322, 323);
-- treat as
a "mark of the Antichrist" the fact that a notorious
ecclesiastical supervisor "is not willing to be judged by the church or
by anyone else and places his authority above the judgment of councils and
of the whole church. To refuse to be judged by the church or by anyone is to
make himself God." Further: [Forbidding judicial inquiry] "does
more harm than any cruel act. For when the church has been deprived of valid
judicial process, it is not possible to remove ungodly teachings and impious
forms of worship, and they destroy countless souls generation upon
generation . . . Since, however, judgments of the councils are judgments of
the church, not of the pontiffs, it is wholly appropriate that rulers
restrain the wantonness of the pontiffs and ensure that the power to examine
and to make judgments according to the Word of God is not snatched away from
the church" (Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, 40, 51, 56;
pp. 337, 339);
--
recognize no privileged "official" zone of immunity from the
normal demands of truth; quite on the contrary: "We also believe,
teach, and confess that in a time when confession is necessary, as when the
enemies of God's Word want to suppress the pure teaching of the holy gospel,
the entire community of God, indeed, every Christian, especially servants of
the Word as the leaders of the community of God, are obligated according to
God's Word to confess true teaching and everything that pertains to the
whole of religion freely and publicly. They are to do so not only with words
but also in actions and deeds" (Formula of Concord, S.D., X, 10; p.
637); and
Whereas, the CCM ruling makes a mockery of the
Synodical constitution by, in effect, amending Article VI, Condition of
Membership, as follows:
"2.
Renunciation of unionism and syncretism of every description, such as: a.
Serving congregations of mixed confession, as such, by ministers of the
Church--UNLESS AUTHORIZED BY THE APPROPRIATE ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERVISOR;
b. Taking part in the services and sacramental rites of
heterodox congregations or of congregations of mixed confession—UNLESS
AUTHORIZED BY THE APPROPRIATE ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERVISOR;
c. Participating in heterodox tract and missionary
activities-- UNLESS AUTHORIZED BY THE APPROPRIATE ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERVISOR;
etc." and
Whereas, since "Christians can be ruled by no
other means than by God's Word alone" (Luther, cited in C.F.W. Walther,
Church and Ministry, p. 316), the Missouri Synod was intended to rely on
God's Word alone, not on human authority and regulations:
Also our synodical body has the same prospects of
salutary influence if it does not attempt to operate through any other means
than through the power of the Word of God. Even then we must expect battles,
but they will not be the mean, depressing battles for obedience to human
laws, but the holy battles for God's Word, for God's honor and kingdom . . .
[Otherwise] our chief battle would soon center about the execution of
manufactured, external human ordinances and institutions and would swallow
up the true blessed battle for the real treasure of the church, for the
purity and unity of doctrine (C.F.W. Walther, First Presidential Address,
Concordia Journal, vol. 2, no. 5 [Sept. 1976] p.202);
All government of the Church which does not bind the
consciences of Christians to Christ's Word, but to the word of men, is
pseudo-government (Pieper, Dogmatics II:394);
Resolved that the LC-MS in convention assembled in 2004
rejects and overturns the CCM ruling in question, and declares it null and
void and of no further effect.
|
|