# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1998_S196 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 196 THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS and that Christ will not soon return to set up some earthly king- dom; and be it further Resolved. That the LCMS declares that no man knows when Jesus Christ will return to judge the world (Mark 13:32; 2 Peter 3:10; Matt. 24:27). Trinity. New Haven, MO; Washington Circuit, Missouri District 3-144 To Require LCMS Theologians to Affirm Direct Messianic Prophecy WHEREAS, Many today deny that the Bible contains direct recti- linear prophecies; and Wuereas, David writes in Ps. 16:8, 10: “I always keep the Lorb before Me. With Him at My right hand, I can’t fail. That is why My heart is glad, and My soul is delighted. Also my body rests securely because You will not leave Me in the grave or let Your loved One experience decay”: and WHEREAS, St. Peter, under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, writes that David is here not speaking about himself but only about Jesus Christ. Peter says in Acts 2:29-34: Fellow Jews. I can tell you frankly our ancestor David died and was buried and his grave is here to this day. He was a prophet and knew God had sworn to him to put one of his de- scendants on his throne. David saw what was ahead and said the promised Christ would rise again: He was not deserted when He was dead. and His body did not experience decay. God has raised this Jesus—we’re all witnesses of that. Lifted up to God’s right side and receiving from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, He has poured out what you see and hear. David didn’t 20 up to heaven, but he says."The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right till I make Your enemies Your footstool’; and WHEREAS, The Concordia Self-Study Bible (NIV) says that David in Ps. 16:8-10 contradicts Peter and says that David in Psalm 16 as in all other places is first of all speaking about him- self; and WHEREAS, LCMS President A. L. Barry in his book To the Ends of the Earth, in a section titled “Peter Proclaims Prophecy Ful- filled” (p. 105), supports what Peter says and not what the Concor- dia Self-Study Bible says; therefore be it Resolved, That the 1998 convention of the LCMS ask all LCMS theologians to agree with Peter that in Ps. 16:8-10 David is refer- ring to Jesus Christ and not to himself. Trinity. New Haven, MO; Washington Circuit, Missouri District 3-145 To Prepare Detailed Position Statement on Church-Growth Movement Wuereas. The presence of the church-growth movement in the Synod is a reality today; and WHEREAS, Fine confessional and scriptural statements on the church-growth movement have been made by Professor Marquart and others in the Synod, but the questions raised by the movement remain among us: and WHEREAS. The Synod has provided a way in which doctrinal questions can be resolved; therefore be it Resolved, That we request Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, to develop a doctrinal statement that sets forth in greater detail the correct biblical approach on the church-growth movement to become an official position of The Lutheran Church-—Missouri Synod according to all appropriate Bylaws. St. John Waterbury, CT 3-146 To Oppose Evolution and Commend Creation Research Society and Dr. Walter Lang WuHereEasS, The theory of evolution, the notion that man and the universe gradually evolved from primary substances, is taught as fact in many schools, publications, and churches; and Wuereas, The Creation Research Society, an organization of several hundred scientists with graduate degrees in various fields of science, says in its statement of belief: 1. The Bible is the written Word of God and because it is in- spired throughout, all its assertions are historically and scientifi- cally true in all the original autographs. To the student of nature this means that the account of origins in Genesis is a factual pre- sentation of simple historical truths. 2. All basic types of living things, including man, were made by direct creative acts of God during the creation week described in Genesis. Whatever biological changes have occurred since the cre- ation week have accomplished only changes within the original created kinds. 3. The great Flood described in Genesis, commonly referred to as the Noachian Flood, was a historic event worldwide in its ex- tent and effect. 4. We are an organization of Christian men of science who ac- cept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The account of the special creation of Adam and Eve as one man and woman and their subse- quent fall into sin is the basis for our belief in the necessity of a Savior for all mankind. Therefore, salvation can come and through accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior: and WHEREAS, Such members of Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod congregations as Dr. Walter Lammerts, Dr. John Klotz. Dr. Paul Zimmerman, Dr. David Kaufmann. Dr. Wilbert Rusch, Dr. John Grebe, Dr. Raymond Surburg, and others were either instru- mental in the formation of this statement of belief of the Creation Research Society or have expressed agreement with it; and WHEREAS, Almost all major Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church allow their clergymen and professors to promote evolution and none have expressed agreement with the statement of belief of the Creation Research Society; and WuereaS, Dr. Walter Lang for more than 35 years has vigor- ously promoted creation and opposed macroevolution; and Wuereas, Brian Young, an LCMS school teacher, has recently published Doubts about Creation—Not After This!, a book which defends the scriptural account of creation and answers the argu- ments of evolutionists; and WHEREAS, The Bible (Matt. 19:4; Gen. 1:24—-27; Ex. 20:11: Ps. 33:6, 9: Rom. 5:12-17; 1 Cor. 15:39) affirms the doctrine of cre- ation and the historicity of the Genesis account of creation: and WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions affirm creation and leave no room for evolution; and WHEREAS, The LCMS’s Brief Statement declares: Of Creation 5. We teach that God has created heaven and earth. and that in the manner and in the space of time recorded in the Holy Scrip- tures. especially Gen. | and 2, namely by His almighty creative word, and in six days. We reject every doctrine which denies or limits the work of creation as taught in Scripture. In our days it is denied or limited by those who assert, ostensibly in deference to science, that the world came into existence through a process of evolution; that is, that it has. in immense periods of time, devel- oped more or less out of itself. Since no man was present when it pleased God to create the world, we must look for a reliable ac- count of creation to God’s own record, found in God*s own book. the Bible. We accept God’s own record with full confidence and confess with Luther’s Catechism: “I believe that God has made me and all creatures”; therefore be it Resolved, That the 1998 convention of the LCMS commend the Creation Research Society and express agreement with its state-