Friday, June 1, 2012

Adriane Dorr Memorialized in Stone

Adriane Dorr, the Managing Editor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s official periodical The Lutheran Witness, has previously been chosen the LCMS’ most eligible bachelorette by the Issues, Etc. team. Well, she’s now been bestowed an even more singular honor. Because of her outstanding editorialness at The Lutheran Witness, which really is a first-rate periodical, she’s been “memorialized” in stone.  It's amazing how limestone sculpting has advanced since the days of the 4th Dynasty. You can now visit the plains of Giza and see Adriane, with sphinx-like grace, casting her editorial gaze into the future pages of The Lutheran Witness for the benefit of upcoming generations of confessional Lutherans. If you’d like to offer your congratulations to Adriane, you can track her down on her Facebook page.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's with her hair?

Scott Diekmann said...

I like Adriane's hair!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh!! Enough about Adrian Dorr already!!!! What is the big deal here? You ultra-conservative cyber-guys are obsessed!

Scott Diekmann said...

Is it hair envy?

Anonymous said...

Dude, does your wife know you're cutting and pasting images of girls online? and that you have a hair fetish?

Scott Diekmann said...

Of course she does. She reads Stand Firm too. Thanks for reading, and commenting.

Anonymous said...

Thank you! Someone finally said it! I only wish I could find some honest criticism of her writings, especially the error in her chapter in the book on women pastors

Scott Diekmann said...

Specifically, what is in error in Adriane's chapter of Women Pastors?

Anonymous said...

My book is currently lent out and I do not have a written detailed analysis. I do however have a written analysis of her Issues Etc interview on the same topic as her book chapter. Before I exert any additional time and effort, please answer one question for me: intellectually, can you allow for the possibility that she might be wrong in any respect. If not, I can only echo again the above post regarding the obsession with this sinful, fallible human being

Scott Diekmann said...

Well of course she could be wrong. Any of us could be wrong. My post wasn't a blanket post endorsing any and everything she's ever said, it was a joking post, just like what I normally post on Fridays. I haven't even read what she wrote in Women Pastors?. My edition of the book (which is also on loan) is the first edition, which I don't think had Adriane's essay in it. As a general note, Adriane is a very likable person who is doing a good job. I can't speak to everything she's written. I did hear her on Issues, Etc., although that was long enough ago that I don't recall the details.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for allowing the possibility that she could be wrong. First, if you read her chapter or listen again to Issues, what I would ask is that you read/listen critically, asking pertinent questions (is Jesus mentioned? If so what is He doing? Is there scriptural basis for assertions made? How are Law and Gospel used? etc). Second, I would ask that you objectively analyze your first "anonymous" post regarding the obsession (that was not my post); is this comment out of left field? Is there any factual basis for the comment? If so, is the comment appropriate? If so, is there any danger or harm in "joking" in this manner? Third, flattering lips work ruin; you are not alone in heaping adulation on Adriance Dorr, and unfortunately from what I can tell the fact that she may be competent and a likable person makes this easy for people to do.

Scott Diekmann said...

I assume you are referring to the anonymous commenter who said “Oh my gosh!! Enough about Adrian Dorr already!!!! What is the big deal here? You ultra-conservative cyber-guys are obsessed!” That commenter didn’t say who the “other” “ultra-conservative” guys are, so I don’t really know to whom he or she refers. I haven’t seen any Adriolatry going on. The only reference that I recall is Pastor Wilken and Jeff Schwarz joking in a nice way about Adriane on Issues, Etc. So I know of no factual basis for the comment. There is always a danger that people will misinterpret what someone says, or specifically, what I post. A careful reader will consider the context, as well as what is said. I usually post something humorous on Friday, that shouldn’t be interpreted as a serious commentary on the subject. That was the case with the post about Adriane as well. If you want to draw a general serious comment from the post, it should be that The Lutheran Witness is doing a good job putting out material that can be of benefit to the average layman reader. It isn’t a theological journal. Since Adriane is the Managing Editor, she deserves some of the credit. You could say the exact same thing about Bruce Kintz and CPH. I wonder if the commenter, or you, also think I believe President Harrison has been cloned, http://stand-firm.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-does-he-do-it.html, or that Pastor Walt Snyder moonlights as Dr. Demento, http://stand-firm.blogspot.com/2008/09/look-whos-been-moonlighting.html. I do think that sometimes people read things into what someone else says because of their own stance on a particular subject. I don’t see how my post on Adriane could be construed as some kind of confessional subscription to what she does or doesn’t say. And I don’t see that the other commenter was necessarily saying anything about the theological content of what Adriane has said.
I don’t plan on buying another copy of Women Pastors? I did relisten to her interview on Issues, Etc. What she articulated seemed to me to be within the realm of what I’ve heard other Lutherans expound on the order of creation. The application of that article of faith in the two kingdoms is always one which will be debated, and rightly so. Every nuance of how that plays out in our daily lives isn’t delineated in Scripture. I’m not sure that I’d totally agree with her where she stated “This giving nature is not something that is inconsequential to Him being a male. I would contend that it actually defines Him.” That comment probably deserves a little more development before I could agree in toto. I am certain though that women should not be pastors.
So to summarize, I think you’re making a bigger deal out of the post than should be made. I don’t see that there’s a risk that my readers are going to elevate Adriane’s views above Scripture. As for anybody else out there who has said something about Adriane, their words should be evaluated individually, not lumped together into a generalized whole. I will say this in closing, the explanation to the Eighth Commandment says that we should speak well of our neighbor, and further says “we should praise our neighbor’s actions in the best possible way,” and that is the spirit in which the blog post was intended. To characterize it as “flattering lips” is a mischaracterization. I’m glad to count Adriane as one of my friends, and I don’t see any false doctrine being printed on the pages of The Lutheran Witness.

Anonymous said...

I see. So when you wonder out loud if I think that you might think Pres Harrison was cloned, that's speaking well of your neighbor, i.e. me or the other commenter?

Scott Diekmann said...

Please forgive me Anonymous. I phrased my comment poorly. What I should have said was that the three posts were all meant to be taken in the same spirit, i.e. jokingly.

Anonymous said...

I am actually a fan of barbed polemic when addressing teachings propounded publicly; as I read Luther's Large Catechism on the 8th Commandment I believe public teaching contrary to Scripture can and should be addressed publicly, harshly if necessary. This being said, I don't think I was propounding any public teaching.
Partly I want to continue to try to address the public teachings of Adriane Dorr, including her interview on Issues along with her publication in Women Pastors?, but I don't believe a “blog” format is conducive to any such discussion. So, I will sign off.

Scott Diekmann said...

As a wish Anonymous. Thanks for reading.