# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2007_S148 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 148 THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS when the doctrine or practice that they contain is being challenged based on Scripture; and WHEREAS, These were the methods used against Luther as he challenged the Roman Catholic Church and are used today when anyone is told not to preach or teach about an issue from Scripture because it is against our current practice and would be divisive. They are used today when those who seek to take stands based on Scripture are silenced as being divisive. The divisiveness is not in the teaching from Scripture, but in the teaching or action that is contrary to Scripture (Rom. 16:17); and WueErEAS, The conflict that goes on within our Synod has its roots in the problems listed previously on all sides of various is- sues; therefore be it Resolved, That the Scriptures always be made an integral part of, and the primary source in, any discussion of proposals for and challenges to our doctrine and practice; and be it further Resolved, That we are constantly on guard against the human weakness of rationalizing to make words, including the Word of God, or actions fit our own ideas; and be it finally Resolved, That we do not shut down any discussion based on Scripture, but guide each other into the truth that God’s Word alone gives, no matter where God’s Word takes us. It is only in this way that conflict can be resolved and we truly can be a Sola Scriptura church reaching out to a lost world Sola Scriptura. Immanuel Seward, NE 3-03 To Reaffirm Scriptural Position of 1973 Res. 3-09 and Statement Wuereas, The Dec. 2, 2001 Omaha World Herald reported: . “When two hijacked airplanes reduced New York’s World Trade Center to rubble September 11, they also rekindled 25-year-old em- bers of conflict in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod”; and WHEREAS, The 1973 LCMS convention adopted “A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles,” which said that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven and that those who die without faith in Christ are damned; and WHEREAS, There is movement within the LCMS to return to the 1965 Mission Affirmations of the LCMS before they were cor- rected and improved by the CTCR (e.g., the DayStar Mission Con- ference held January 11-13, 2004, at Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Chesterfield, Missouri, which had a conference theme of “Renewing the Mission of the LCMS—Back to the Future Envi- sioned in the Mission Affirmation of 1965”; and Wuereas, The 1965 Mission Affirmations were to a large ex- tent written and supported by those who supported the theological position of Seminex; therefore be it Resolved, That the 2007 LCMS convention declare that all those on the clergy roster of the LCMS must accept and teach: 1. The doctrine of the inerrancy of the Bible in all matters as con- fessed in the LCMS’s Brief Statement: “Since the Holy Scrip- tures are the Word of God, it goes without saying that they con- tain no errors or contradictions, but that they are in all their parts and words the infallible truth, also in those parts which treat of historical, geographical and other secular matters, John 10:35.” 2. The Mosaic authorship of the first five books of the Bible. These books did not come from sources designated as J-E-D- and P centuries after Moses died. 3. The entire book of Isaiah was written by the eighth century BC Isaiah. Sections of it were not written by some Deutero or Trito Isaiah who lived after some of the events predicted in Isaiah took place. 4. Evolution is contrary to the Bible. “We believe that God has cre- ated heaven and earth, and that in the manner and in the space of time recorded in the Holy Scriptures, especially Gen. 1 and 2, namely by His almighty creative word, and in six days” (The Brief Statement of the LCMS). 5. The actual body, the flesh, of Jesus Christ rose from the grave. 6. Man has an immortal soul that goes to heaven at death and re- unites with the body on Judgment Day. 7. Jesus Christ on Calvary paid the ransom price to God the Father for the sins of all people. 8. Ordination is not a sacrament like Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. “33. Regarding ordination we teach that it is not a di- vine but a commendable ecclesiastical ordinance” (Smalcald Ar- ticles, Triglot, p. 525, 70; M., p. 342). 9. Whatever the New Testament says about some Old Testament messianic passages is the absolute truth: a. When David wrote in Psalm 16, “My body will rest securely because You will not leave Me in the grave nor let Your Holy One experience day,” he was not first of all speaking about himself. The words of Peter in Acts 2 must be accepted as dogmatic truth. Peter under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit said: “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 descendants on his throne. David saw what was ahead and said the 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” (AAT). b. When the eighth century BC prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 7:14: “Look the virgin will conceive and have a Son, and His name will be Immanuel (God-Is-With-Us)!” (AAT) he was referring not first of all to some woman living at this time but only to the Virgin Mary and the birth of Jesus Christ. Matthew 1:23 settles the matter. The Hebrew word almah used by Isaiah for virgin in Isaiah 7:14 can only be translated “virgin” (“What does Almah Mean?” by William Beck); and be it further Resolved, That the 2007 LCMS convention reaffirm Res. 3-09 of the 1973 LCMS convention, which said that the theology of those who formed Seminex was contrary to the Bible and not to be tolerated in the LCMS; and be it finally Resolved, That the 2007 LCMS convention reaffirm “A State- ment of Scriptural and Confessional Principles” adopted in 1973. Trinity New Haven, MO 3-04 To Reaffirm Proper Teaching of God’s Word and Administration of the Sacraments WHEREAS, The basic mission of the Christian Church is to preach and teach the Gospel. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16); and WHEREAS, Scripture tells us in 2 Tim. 4:3-4, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths”; and WHEREAS, One of the basic pillars of the LCMS in carrying out the basic mission is to teach God’s Word in its truth and purity and to administer the Sacraments as Jesus would have them adminis- tered; and WHEREAS, We in the LCMS acknowledge and recognize God’s Word to be inerrant. “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21); and Wuereas, The pastors in the LCMS fulfill the teaching of God’s Word in its truth and purity by preaching and teaching and properly dividing Law and Gospel; and WHEREAS, The administration of the Sacraments includes infant baptism as well as closed communion, both done out of love for our fellow man. Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.