# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1973_S134 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) TSS: ONNCXCWMW 134 SEMINARY ISSUES of the Scriptures.” Cf, also Seminary News Letter, Summer 1970: “It is nct Lutheran to require uniformity in exegetical conelu- an TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH Scarsdale, N. Y. Merlin C. Meyer, Pastor Alfred Barsuhn, President Identical: 3-61B Christ Lutheran Church, Mason City, Il, E. L, Schnelle, Pastor; Henry Wendt, Chairman. 3-624 To Enforce Teaching Inerrancy of Scripture WHEREAS, Holy Scripture characterizes itself as true and inerrant in such Passages as John 10:35: 17:17; Rom. 3:2-4: 1 Cor. 2:7-16; 1 Tim. 2:7; as the inspired revelation (2 Tim, 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21) of the Spirit of truth (John 15: 26: 16:13); and WHEREAS, Jesus Christ, His apostles, and other New Testa- ent writers speak of Adam, Noah, David, Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Daniel as actual individuals who lived on this earth as factual occurrences (ef. Matt. 12:3: 24:37 f.; Mark 13:14; Luke 1:73: 3: 23-38: 4:27: 11:30 ff.; Acts 2:29 ff; Rom. 11:2 ff; 1 Cor. 15:45; Gal. 4:22; Heb. 11; James 5:17; 1 Peter 3:20: 2 Pe- ter 2:5); and _ WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions bear unmistakable witness to the complete truth and inerrancy of Holy Scrip- ture, as evidenced by the following statements: _, God's name is hallowed when the Word of God jis taught in its truth and purity ... but he that teaches and lives otherwise profanes the name of God among us. From this preserve us heavenly Father. (S.C. III, 5] God's Word cannot err. [L. C. IV, 57] At least believe the Scriptures; they will not lie to you. [L. C. V, 76] We offer the confession of our preachers and ourselves show- ing what manner of doctrine from the Holy Scriptures and the pure Word of God has been taught in our churches. [F. C. ref. 8} doctrines and teachers alike must be appraised and judged, as it is written Ps. 119:105; Gal. 1:8. Other writings, however, of ancient or modern teachers, whatever name they bear, must not be regarded as €qual to the Holy Scriptures, but all of them together be subjected to them. [F. C, Epit. Rule and Norm 1,7) The only judge, rule, and norm according to which, as the only touchstone, all doctrines should and must be understood and judged as 800d or evil, as right or wrong [is Scripture]. But the other symbols and writings cited are not judges, as are Holy Scriptures, but only a testimony and declaration of the faith, as to how at any time the Holy Scriptures have been understood and explained by those then living. (F.C. Epit. Rule and Norm 7, 8] We receive with our whole heart the Prophetic and Apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, as the pure and clear fountain of Israel, which is the only true Standard by which all teachers and doctrines are to be judged. [F. C. Sol. Dee. Comp. Sum. Introd, 3} The adversaries have condemned several articles contrary to the manifest Scriptures of the Holy Ghost. | Apo}. Introd. 9] Since all Scripture given by inspiration of God is to serve not for security and impenitence but for reproof... (quoting 2 Tim. 3, 16] [F.C. S. D. XI, 12) The Holy Ghost employs the Law so as to teach the regen- erate from it and to point out and show them in the Ten Com - mandments what is the acceptable will of God (Rom, 12:2), in what “good works God hath before ordained that they should walk" (Eph. 2:10) [F. C. S, D. VI, 12); and logical seminaries limit, question, or make light of the iner- rancy and historicity of Holy Scripture (cf. pp. 42—44): and WHEREAS, The majority of the faculty of Concordia Semi- nary, St. Louis, Mo., in their Response of the Faculty of Con- cordia Seminary, St. Louis. dated April 14, 1972, character- izes “inerrancy, historicity” of Scripture as “human criteria . which the Holy Scriptures do not claim for themselves” and consider the words of A Statement of Seriptural and Confessional Principles: “Since the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God, they contain no error or contradictions but are in all their parts and words infallible truth” (V, F.), as “inadequate theologically” (Section 4, Par. 5); and finally WHEREAS, Casting doubt on the veracity of Scripture in some of its parts reflects unfavorably upon all Scripture in all its statements and teachings and may throw a shadow of doubt on the very Gospel of Jesus Christ and His salva- tion (cf. Matt. 7:15-20- Deut. 13:1-5; 1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 4:9-10: 1 Cor. 1:17; Phil. 3: 15-18; 1 Tim. 6:1-6); therefore be it Resolved, That The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod in convention assembled reaffirm its faith in the inerrancy of all Scripture and the historicity of all narrative portions of Scripture purporting to relate actual occurrences; and be it further Resolved. That all faculty members in synodically sup- ported and maintained schools of higher education be re- quired to profess and teach in accordance with the above resolution; and be it further Word and the Lutheran Confessions, upon the establishment of the fact of this refusal, by the Board of Control of the institution in which they have been serving the church: and be it further Resolved, That the Board for Higher Education of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod shall see that the above procedures are faithfully adhered to and speedily carried out; and be it finally Resolved, That the Bylaws of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod be adjusted to comply with the procedure outlined above. St. MATTHEW LuTHERAN CHURCH Pittsburgh, Pa. Walter H. Koenig, Pastor Dorothy M. Pfeiffer, Secretary Similar: 3-62B St. John’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Waterbury, Conn., Rob- ert A. Beer, President; Charles L. Emerick, Secretary. 3-634 To Affirm Historicity of Biblical Accounts WHEREAS, The faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo., has issued a statement entitled Faithful To Our Calling, Faithful To Our Lord; and WuHereas, The seminary faculty in this document indi- cates that it is immaterial whether the text of Gen, 2—3 is is not considered to be a historical account (pp. 16 f.); and WHEREAS, This view calls into question the factuality and historicity of the Biblical account; and WHEREAS, Our Synod has declared “The Scriptures teach and the Lutheran Confessions affirm that Adam and Eve were real, historical human beings... .” And “The Scrip- tures teach and our Lutheran Confessions affirm that the fall of our first parents is a historical fact... .” and the Synod resolved “That the Synod reaffirm its faith in the united testimony of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions on the aforementioned teachings” and further resolved “That the Synod reject and condemn all those world views, philosophical theories, exegetical interpretations, and other hypotheses which pervert these Biblical teachings and thus obscure the Gospel” (Above quotations from Convention Proceedings, New York, 1967, p. 95); and WHEREAS, The document Faithful To Our Calling, ete., states that Christians are misled when they demand absolute historicity of every detail of the life of Jesus as recorded by the evangelists as if it were a test of our faith (p. 25); and Wuereas, The power of the Gospel and the infallibility of