The Right Mix

There’s a lot of really gifted, highly qualified people who helped write Concordia Publishing House’s book Lutheranism 101, many of whom I especially admire. Starting on page 299 there’s a list of contributors. They include deans, pastors, business managers, seminary faculty, people with bachelors and masters degrees and doctorates, commission members, DCEs, graduates of Cambridge and Stanford, district presidents, editors and authors, deaconesses, consultants, lecturers and writers, supervisors and church planters. But there’s one that really stands out, and that’s the bio of Rebekah Curtis. What could be so special amongst all the others? See for yourself:

Rebekah Curtis makes food, cleans up messes, and writes sporadically. She vaguely remembers receiving a BS in education from Concordia University Nebraska and an MA from Concordia Seminary. Rebekah reports that she and her husband have five children, all above average.

Now that’s a bio. The right mix of humor, humility, and vocation. I’ll have to remember that.


photo credit: Paul-W

What Is the Proper Role of Laymen in the Church?

Mr. Gene White, who is a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer for Confessional Lutherans for Christ's Commission, has written a paper which explores the role of laymen in the Church. This is a topic which at times generates questions, and sometimes leads to controversy between those of varying opinion. I invite you to read and consider Gene's paper, and please feel free to leave your comments. You can download the entire paper here.

A Presentation of Lay Leadership and Teaching in the History of the Early Church and the Lutheran Church to the Present Time

This effort has been prompted by questions concerning the “proper” role of the laity in church leadership, particularly in the area of teaching. I view the clergy/laity to be one of historical partnership, each having its proper and defined role based on Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. It is unfortunate that some have come up with different definitions of this relationship which either restrict the working relationship, or make the relationships almost interchangeable. Both extremes infringe on the proper exercise of vocation. Further, this paper will most likely not change anyone’s mind in this matter, but hopefully it will provide a fair and balanced approach to the surrounding issues and prevent someone from falling into one of the extremes.

The two ends of the question have been answered in practical terms by those that adhere to the “every man is a minister” theology on one end of the scale, to those who maintain that the laity cannot teach religious topics publicly, as being solely the function of an ordained and called minister. The Augsburg Confession Article XIV being the cited reference in the later instance. The other end of the question is not germane to the question, so it will not be addressed.

The early church is the obvious place to start, with the Lutheran Reformation also being a significant data point. Three questions need to be addressed, and they are all intertwined with the starting point.

1. What is the correct historic interpretation of Article XIV?
2. What laymen held leadership roles down through history from the early church through the Reformation period and up to modern times? (When dealing with historical reviews it should be noted that if the people were important and held dominate positions they may have been mentioned, otherwise, not at all.)
3. In addition to public leadership on behalf of the church, which of these individuals also publicly taught religious topics, lectured, etc.?

In starting the research on this presentation I have used the Internet, plus several references published by CPH and a few Pastor friends who have been kind enough to make contributions to this effort. Investigations, such as this one, must look at several sources to put together a mosaic of the people and events, because not all references totally agree with each other. I have used what sources are available to me, which reflect the available views, if there is a conflicting view I use the majority view. I will also deal with the first question last, as the proper context must be developed before the question is answered. In fact, context is an important point to remember because we tend to see history from our current context, not the context that was in play at the time of the events under discussion.

Another critical issue, though not really a part of the original effort, is to address the historical treatment of those non-clergy professional church workers who have been called to serve full time in the Lord’s vineyard, as distinguished from those who have not. Another way to pose that point could be, “When is a layman a professional layman (commissioned, etc.) and when is the layman an “ordinary layman?” That question will have to be answered by someone having a higher grade level than mine, as there does not seem to be consistent agreement, particularly in these times about this important question. It is a question of everybody not fitting neatly into distinct boxes and somehow I think the Lord never intended that to be so. Thus for the purposes of this presentation I will refer to three classes of people, clergy, professional church workers (technically layman), and ordinary laymen. Professional church workers consist of many job descriptions, but for our purposes in this presentation I will speak primarily of those who are professors of theology and teachers in K-12 and college positions.

The Early Church

In the early church Tertullian of Carthage (c. 160 - 225) is a good example of a teaching layman, who also wrote extensively on theological topics, and served essentially as an early theologian. It would appear from one source that laymen of such talent held the title of Master, or Master Teacher. (It is about this time when the term clergy and layman came into use.) There are some who say he was a deacon, while others say he was a teacher first and later became a deacon. Jerome says that he became a clergyman at some point, and the Encyclopedia of Early Christianity states he became a presbyter, which was an ordained position. What was the sequence of events seems to be the issue. Later in life, he was expelled from the Church for his attributed beliefs, with some sources saying it was unjustly done….a pattern that later developed into more draconian methods for dealing with those who irritated the early church.

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Remeber When... #2: Issues, Etc. Rises Again

Remember when the Issues, Etc. home page looked like this...

...instead of like this?:

Pastor Wilken in a tie, instead of a tee shirt! Ironically (or maybe not), today Issues, Etc. makes its reappearance on the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's AM radio station KFUO, less than a week from the four year anniversary of its original cancellation on March 18, 2008.  Like the mythical phoenix, Issues has once again arisen from the ashes, this time back at its original home, but without the shackles of Synodical censure or the whim of bureauocratic  expediency.

This time they're paying their own way, purchasing ten hours of live programming weekly, from  3-5 p.m. CST weekdays on KFUO 850 AM in the St. Louis area. Hopefully this will be a stepping stone to bigger things.

The Evidence and the Proof

All bundled up and ready for my run along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail in Anchorage. It’s 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside, and I'm appropriately dressed in cap, Brooks Adrenalines, tights, a long sleeved shirt, running jacket and gloves.

Just minutes before I was on the phone with our daughter, telling her I was headed for a run along the Coastal Trail. As I hung up I jokingly commented that I hoped I wouldn’t fall into the water or get attacked by a moose. Paige sounded a bit alarmed. Well, you can’t really fall into the water on this trail, especially since it’s all frozen along the shore at this time of year, although a moose encounter is a definite possibility. Here’s the photographic report of my beautiful snowy run from Elderberry Park to Earthquake Park and back.

The evidence

The proof

Looking across the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet to Mt. Susitna

Downtown Anchorage

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Sold Out - for Now: Wooden Churches – Travelling in the Russian North

Last September I blogged about a soon to be released book titled Wooden Churches – Travelling in the Russian North by Richard Davies and Matilda Moreton. Mr. Davies emailed me at the end of January letting me know that the book had been released. I guess nobody will accuse me of being a "quick draw" - yep, it's been released, and now it's sold out. Apparently it's a very popular book. I suspect they'll print more (White Sea Publishing, London). Here's a couple more photos of the book. For information on where you might still be able to procure one, you can visit Mr. Davies website here.

Can Grape Juice Be Substituted for Wine in The Lord's Supper?

Quoting from the article "Opinion of the Department of Systematic Theology: The Fruit of the Vine in the Sacrament of the Altar" (Concordia Theological Quarterly, January - April 1981), in which they leave no doubt that there can be no substitute for wine in the Sacrament of the Altar.

The Scriptural texts leave no doubt that Christ was celebrating the Passover meal with His disciples. Among the foodstuffs on the table would have been unleavened bread and wine. As regards the latter, it was without question the fermented product of the grape vine, in view of the fact that this was the spring of the year, probably April. Moreover, wine was the customary drink of the Jews at solemn festival meals, the peri haggephen (liturgical Hebrew for "fruit of the vine"). There can be no doubt then, as Lenski points out, that this fruit of the vine" - with emphasis on the this - which the Passover cup contained "shuts out any and all other products of the vine save actual wine and thwarts all modern efforts that speak of unfermented grape juice, raisin tea, or diluted grape syrup" (Commentary on Matthew, p. 1028). The point is that "fruit of the vine" is a technical term which in the stated contexts can have no other meaning than wine. The church has never, from that day forward, felt at liberty to alter the solemn testament given by Christ in  conjuction with the bread and the wine of the Sacrament (cf. Matt. 28:20; Gal. 3: 15). Whenever such altering or substitution was introduced, it was promptly repudiated, lest any doubt be cast upon the validity of the sacrament as Christ instituted it.

photo credit: Vainsang

Warm Up!

Getting a little tired of winter? Since I was taking a blogging break last summer, I didn't get a chance to post any VBS photos - so warm up with a few of these:

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Beware the Tract!

At the end of an arid run in Las Vegas, I stopped at the McDonald's a block down from the hotel to grab something to drink. I figured they wouldn’t appreciate sweat rolling off my face as I stood in line, so I went into the rest room to rinse off a little. It was there that I spotted a couple of “tracts” obviously left in a strategic spot by some enterprising evangelist. One of my odd little quirks is collecting tracts. There’s a folder in our aging file cabinet with tracts from all over the place. You never know where you’ll spot one, and it’s always an adventure trying to predict from the cover what the inside will reveal.

One of the two tracts was titled “The Last Days” – I’ll leave that one to your imagination. The other was titled “ANGEL OF LIGHT,” and it was decidedly un-angelic and unenlightening. These particular black and white beauties were obviously made on somebody’s copy machine, each held together by a single staple. While the author did reference multiple Bible verses, he or she lacked a proper understanding of the distinction between Law and Gospel, and lacked an understanding of simul justus et peccator, that we’re simultaneously saint and sinner.

Our tract starts out with the protagonist, James, being convicted of his sins by a pastor’s sermon, followed by his repentance. We then see this scene:

James replies: “But Johnny, the Bible says we can’t serve two masters! maybe you aren’t a Christian.” Says Johnny, “Loosen up! you’ll figure it out, don’t worry so much, God understands.” And James replies “Sorry I can’t go. I’m going to study the Bible.” Two pages later we again find James listening to a sermon:

Page 7 continues:

Then on page 8: “I don’t wilfully do wrong. –Wilfully- what does the Bible say about wilful? Aw, Hebrews 10:26 for if we sin wilfully after that we have recieved the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins! Once I recognize a thought, an attitude, a false statement, or anything else is wrong, what I do with it determines whether it is sin. I have the will to choose! There is no sin I must do! They are not sin until I realize the wrong, and continue in it!”

The rest of the tract piles the Law so high that it’s difficult to find any Gospel, quoting 1 Peter 2:21-22 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. The author fails to understand that we are simultaneously sinner and saint. Christians are called to avoid sin, yet we still sin. And if you did manage to go without sinning, you’re still a sinner, because original sin corrupts your nature. St. Paul answers James’ rhetorical question of page 6,

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Meeting Felt Needs

What Do the Words of Institution Hold?

From Luther’s tract That These Words of Christ “This Is My Body” Still Firmly Stand Against the Schwaermer, written in 1527:

Thus the words (of institution) hold first the bread and cup for the sacrament, the bread and the cup hold the body and blood of Christ, the body and blood hold the New Testament, the New Testament holds forgiveness of sins, and forgiveness of sins holds life eternal and salvation.

E. G. Schwiebert, Luther and His Times: The Reformation from a New Perspective, (St. Louis: CPH, 1950) 703.