# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S65 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) THEOLOGICAL MATTERS 65 of the CTCR, to engage needed assistance to carry out its work. 5. The BVC shall submit its budget to the CTCR through the Executive Secretary of the CTCR. 6. The BVC shall report to the Synod through the CTCR. II. Purpose The purpose of the BVC shall be to help the church deal responsibly regarding the nature and use of English Bible versions. IIL. Functions 1. The BVC shall deal with those assignments referred to it by the CTCR. 2. The BVC shall engage in the study and evaluation of English Bible versions to the extent necessary for the welfare of the Synod and other churches. 3. The BVC shall engage in the broader task of formu- lating statements regarding the purpose and use of En- glish Bible versions with special emphasis on theological concerns and criteria. Such statements are particularly needed in our time because new and multipurpose ver- sions are continually appearing. 4. The BVC shall prepare guidelines to assist members of the church and departments of the Synod to evaluate individual Bible versions. 5, The BVC shall conduct its work, so far as possible, in relationship with other Christian groups engaged in similar work since Bible translating has now entered an ecumenical phase. The committee had referred to it by Dr. Harms a letter from the pastor and the congregation (St. Peter) at Swanville, Minn., on the subject of “Congregational Responsibility in the Use of the New Catechism and Modern Translations.” After careful study of this docu- ment, the committee resolved that no committee action was needed at this time, since its opinion on the RSV is clearly set forth in Reports and Memorials of the Cleveland convention, p. 204. Martin H. SCHARLEMANN, Chairman APPENDIX C Report of Hermeneutics Study Committee Acting favorably on a recommendation of the Com- mission on Theology and Church Relations (1965 Worksook, pp. 35—36). the Detroit convention of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod instructed the commission to “conduct a comprehensive study of Bib- lical hermeneutics” and for this purpose authorized the commission “to engage sufficient full-time personnel” and “to make provision for leaves of absence for men appointed to participate in the study. in order to expe- dite the study.” (1965 Proceedings, Res. 2-07, p. 95) The process of selecting eight men to serve as a core group for carrying out the Synod’s assignment took 6 months. The following men were finally appointed to this group and accepted their appointments: Walter Bartling, Robert Bertram, Martin Franzmann, Heino Kadai, H. Armin Moellering, Robert Preus, Walter Roehrs, and Raymond Surburg. The executive secretary of the CTCR was added ex officio. In January 1966 the committee held its first meeting. Including that first meeting there have been 12 meetings through April 1969. As a starting point for its work the committee ac- cepted the plan which the CTCR had adopted (May 1965) outlining the study as recommended to the Synod. While further specification has been found desirable at some points, this original plan of the CTCR still pro- vides the basic framework and direction for the com- mittee’s work. It is entitled “A Prospectus for the Proposed Comprehensive Study on Scripture and Her- meneutics” (cf. WorKBooK Appendix). As a “primary and basic part of the whole inquiry” the “Prospectus” called for a study of the hermeneutics of the Lutheran Confessions, particularly at the hand of Article IV of the Apology of the Augsburg Confes- sion. The committee was in full agreement with this directive and for the reason stated in the “Prospectus”: “Tf our confessions are in fact what we believe and de- clare them to be —a true and correct exposition of the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures — then the hermeneu- tical principles according to which these Confessions expound that doctrine deserve our most careful analysis and demonstration.” Dr. Robert Bertram accepted the assignment to undertake this foundational portion of the work. From his study so far the committee has had the benefit of reading and discussing three detailed chapters of what will finally be a six-chapter work, The need for an inductive approach to certain as- pects of the hermeneutical question had already been cited by the CTCR in its very first report, “A Study Document on Revelation, Inspiration, Inerrancy” (p. 15), issued in 1964. This need was reiterated by the ‘“Pro- spectus” at several points. As one of its first tasks, therefore, the core group undertook the joint study of a selected pericope, Matt. 21:33-46, with individual members investigating particular aspects of the pas- sage. As a consequence of this group study and the dis- cussion that it prompted. one of the committee members was able to draft a statement formulating some of the specific hermeneutical questions and concerns that had emerged. With these questions and concerns in mind the committee again addressed itself to Scriptural data, this time to a pair of pericopes, one from the Old Testa- ment (Gen. 28:10-22) and one from the New Testament (Matt. 4:1-11 and parallels). In the meantime other lines of approach to the task were also pursued. In order to prevent any needless misunderstanding from arising in the discussion of moot points and so as to establish a secure and common base from which our joint work could move forward, a brief summary of axiomatic presuppositions (Vorversténdnis) for the study of Biblical hermeneutics was drafted and unanimously accepted (cf. WorKBook Appendix). A re- view of the original “Prospectus” in the light of the work done thus far led to a more detailed and concrete programing of the project for individual members, Ac~ cordingly 8 weeks of the summer of 1967 were spent in working on specific assignments as follows: Bartling, “Hermeneutics and Pauline Parenesis” Bertram, “The Hermeneutical Significance of Apology Iv” Franzmann, “The Hermeneutics of Fulfillment: Isaiah 7:14 and Matt. 1:23”