Captain Thin

In the days leading up to the birth of the North American Lutheran Church, Lutheran CORE sponsored a theological conference entitled “Seeking New Directions for Lutheranism.” To that end, a number of high-profile Lutheran scholars (Robert Benne, Robert Jenson, etc.)  were on hand to present papers on a number of subjects including the authority of Scripture, the name of God, and missions.

David Neff has an excellent synopsis of the papers in an article with Christianity Today entitled “Facing Lutheranism’s Crisis of Authority”. You can also listen to the presentations in mp3 format at Lutheran CORE’s website here. The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau will shortly be publishing a book containing an extended version of each of the papers (the presentations at the theological conference were condensed versions of longer papers).

CNN has a good article on Kenda Creasy Dean’s new book Almost Christian where she argues that many religious teens are Christian in name only.  “Dean says more American teenagers are embracing what she calls “moralistic therapeutic deism.” Translation: It’s a watered-down faith that portrays God as a “divine therapist” whose chief goal is to boost people’s self-esteem.”

Once again, however, we read that the Christians doing the best job of passing on real faith are evangelicals (Lutherans are generally considered members of “mainline denominations” rather than evangelical). There’s a lot of talk out there among Lutherans about how shallow a lot of evangelical youth ministry is (see, for example, Gene Veith’s blog post “Youth group madness” from a couple of days ago). To some extent, some of that talk is justified. But when it comes down to brass tacks, evangelicals are succeeding in passing on the faith where the vast majority of Lutherans are not. They’re doing something right, and it’s clearly a something that most Lutherans just don’t seem to get.

We discussed elements of this topic on my site back in 2009 in an entry entitled “Stemming the Tide of Church Youth Dropouts”. I’m curious to hear what new ideas people have on what we Lutherans can do to more seriously engage young people in their faith. Brainstorm people.

In Canada we haven’t had much (if any) media coverage of the crisis occuring in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since its August 2009 vote to approve homosexual relationships and open the clergy to non-celibate homosexuals. But an article of mine published today on the National Post’s religion blog “Holy Post” is intended to fill that gap a bit. It’s admittedly a cursory glance at a very complex issue, but I think I do a fair job of explaining the situation. So go ahead and check out my article (which the Post named and not I) “Lutherans follow Anglicans down rocky road of dissent”. Let me know what you think if it here in the comments. For a reminder just how widespread the fallout over the 2009 vote is, visit my frequently updated (but by no means exhaustive) chronicle of congregational action in the ELCA.

Update – August 30, 2010

Another article of mine, this time a much shorter one on the birth of the North American Lutheran Church, has now been published in LCC InfoDigest (forthcoming also in The Canadian Lutheran): “New Lutheran church body established.” This one focuses a bit more on the Canadian connection.

Luther has a fascinating discussion on the priesthood of all believers, in his Right and Power of a Christian Church, where he discusses the layperson’s duty to preach (even if he has not been called to the vocation of a preacher). I think the implications for mission are obvious, but rather than saying too much about it, I’ll let Luther speak for himself. [Note: The context in which the passage arises is that of all Christians' duty to judge their pastors, and their right to call their own pastors.]

No one can deny that every Christian has God’s Word and is taught by God and annointed by him to the priesthood. Thus Christ says in John 6 [:45], “They shall all be taught by God.” And in Psalm 45 [:7], “God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.” By “fellows” are meant Christians, Christ’s brethren, consecrated to be priests with him. As Peter also says in 1 Peter 2 [:9], “You are a royal priesthood, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you into his marvelous light.”

Now, if Christians have the Word of God and are anointed by him, they are in duty bound to confess, preach, and spread this Word. It is as Paul says in II Corinthians 4 [:13], “We have the same spirit of faith, and therefore we speak.” The prophet says in Psalm 116 [:10], “I believed, therefore have I spoken,” and in Psalm 51 [:13] he says in the name of all Christians, “I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee.” These passages prove once more that a Christian not only has the right and power to teach God’s Word but is in duty bound to teach it on pain of losing his salvation and forfeiting God’s favor.

But you will say, “How is he to do this? For unless he has been called to do this he dare not preach, as you yourself have repeatedly taught!”

I reply: Here you must consider the Christian from a double point of view. On the one hand, if he is in a place where there are no Christians, he needs no other call than the fact that he is a Christian, inwardly called and anointed by God; he is bound by the duty of brotherly love to preach to the erring heathen or non-Christians and to teach them the gospel, even if no one has called him to this work. That is what St. Stephen did (Acts 6 and 7); the office of preaching was not committed to him by the apostles, yet he preached and performed great wonders among the people. Philip, Stephen’s fellow-deacon, did the same (Acts 8 [:5]) without having received the office of preaching. The same is true of Apollos (Acts 18 [:25-26]). In such circumstances the Christian looks in brotherly love on the needs of poor, perishing souls and waits for no commission or letter from pope or bishop. For necessity breaks every law and knows no law; moreover, love is bound to help where there is no one else to help.

On the other hand, if a man is in a place where there are other Christians who have the same power and right that he has, he should not thrust himself forward but should rather let himself be sought out and called to preach and teach in the stead and by the commission of the rest. Even among other Christians a Christian has the right and obligation to get up and teach without being called by men if he should find the teacher in that place to be in error, provided that this is done in a becoming and decent manner. Such a case is plainly described by St. Paul in I Corinthians 14 [:30], where he says, “If a revelation is made to another sitting by, let the first be silent.” Notice what St. Paul does here. He commands the man who is teaching to be silent and to step aside (among Christians!) and commands the hearer to speak up, even without a call, because necessity knows no law.

…In the same passage St. Paul gives every Christian the right to teach among Christians whenever it becomes necessary: “You can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged” (I Corinthians 14 [:31]), and, “Desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues; but all things should be done decently and in order” [I Cor. 14:39-40]. Take this passage as a very sure ground which gives more than sufficient authority to the Christian community to preach, to permit men to preach, and to call preachers. Especially in case of necessity this passage itself summons each and every one without any call of men.

A powerful passage, no? It is certainly helpful in clarifying the meaning of Article 14 of the Augsburg Confession : “Our churches teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church, or administer the Sacraments, without a rightly ordered call.” There are occasionally instances when any Christian must by necessity preach.

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(The passage from The Right and Power of a Christian Church or Community to Judge All Teaching and to Call, Appoint, and Dismiss Teachers, Established and Proved from the Scriptures is selected from Steinhaeuser’s translation, as revised by Tappert in Selected Writings of Martin Luther: Volume 2. Fortress Press, 2007.)

A few days ago, First Things released an interesting article by Robert Benne entitled “Lutherans in Search of a Church.” Benne does a good job of discussing the crisis which August’s Chuch-Wide Assembly vote in the ELCA has caused the denomination. And he gives a very informative look at LCMC (Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ) and the forthcoming NALC (North American Lutheran Church).

The article has some problems – perhaps most significantly its last paragraph:

Whatever comes of these ventures remains to be seen. If the Holy Spirit blesses them they will flourish and provide new beginnings for Lutheranism in America. For many they are the last, great efforts to live out the promise of Lutheranism as a church on this continent. If they fail, the only remaining option may be a bracing swim across the Tiber.

Now, I can understand that these new denominations could well be “new beginnings for Lutheranism in America.” But to suggest that they are the only options for orthodox Lutherans and that, if they fail, the “only remaining option” for orthodox Lutherans might be that of joining the Roman Catholic Church is a little much. Surely Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, or any of the other dozens of Lutheran denominations operating in the United States would be options for Lutherans wishing to remain Lutheran? Rome is hardly the only option (or, for that matter, an option at all) for orthodox Lutherans.

Since my early school days, the majority of my Christian friends have come from anabaptist/evangelical traditions: Baptist, Mennonite, and the like. (These denominations make up the vast majority of young practising Christians in my part of Canada; apparently they’re doing something right that Lutherans and the like aren’t – namely, passing on the faith). But I digress. It’s unsurprising, therefore, that one of the most common theological topics of discussion between my friends and myself has been the question of baptism. It’s the practice most visibly different between our two traditions. After all, we baptise infants; they don’t.

That’s one of the reasons why I appreciate Chaplain Mike’s post “What I Like about Lutheran Baptism” at the Internet Monk website. Much of the audience there is from an anabaptist background, and Chaplain Mike does an admirable job explaining to them some of the reasons Lutherans believe what Lutherans do on this topic. Check it out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Chantez à Dieu, célébrez son nom! Frayez le chemin à celui qui s’avance à travers les plaines! L’Éternel est son nom: réjouissez-vous devant lui!
Psaume 68:4 (Louis Segond [68:5])

Back when Concordia Publishing House (CPH) published LSB (Lutheran Service Book) in 2006, I attended one of the launch events here in Saskatchewan. The presenters praised the benefits of the new hymnal, and admittedly there were many. They praised many of the positive attributes of the new hymnal, such as the consistent pagination (a BIG improvement), and highlighted some of the excellent new songs. But one of the things they praised irked me immensely: the inclusion of many Spanish translations of songs.

Now let me be clear. It wasn’t the fact that the songs were offered in Spanish that bothered me. In fact, I think it’s an excellent feature. What bothered me was the total lack of French translations of hymns. The hymnal was a perfect fit for Lutheran churches in the United States, where Spanish is the most common second language. But it seemed to me (and to many others with me that day) that Canadian needs had not been considered in the creation of the book. Canada is, after all, a nation with two official languages: English and French. The implication seemed to be that what was good enough for Americans should be good enough for their Canadian counterparts. Needless to say, I left the hymnal launch that day frustrated and disappointed.

Recently, however, Rev. David Somers and Rev. David Saar of Lutheran Church – Canada / Église Luthérienne du Canada in conjunction with Concordia Publishing House have come to fill the void left by LSB. But they’ve gone further than just providing a few French translations of hymns. Their great work Liturgies et cantiques luthériens has recently been published by CPH. This new hymnal is the first French Lutheran hymnal published anywhere since 1975. And it’s being joyously received all over the world.

Visit LCC InfoDigest here for a few recent videos of Lutherans in Togo putting the new hymnals to good use.

You can purchase the hymnal from CPH’s website here.