LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 196

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196

Seminary and University Education

5-22

To Direct President to Clarify Teaching of Six-Day
Creation in Synod Schools
Whereas, Unconditional subscription to the authority of the Old
and New Testaments requires that we confess and teach a 6-day creation; and
Whereas, Much of Christendom has fallen into the error of accommodating the clear teachings of Scripture with the lie of evolution; and
Whereas, The Synod owes students the best education it can
provide, including the ability to recognize and critically analyze the
faulty and non-scientific assumptions of evolutionary theory; and
Whereas, Any failure in the Synod’s schools regarding the truth
of a 6-day creation and the error of evolutionary theory will directly
impact the faith and confession of elementary and high school students in LCMS parochial schools; and
Whereas, The Synod has previously in convention stated that it
will review the teaching of creation and evolution in its colleges, universities, and seminaries; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Montana District of the LCMS in convention memorialize the 2010 Synod convention to direct the President
of the Synod to take direct and definite action to clarify what is and
what is not being taught regarding evolutionary theory as fact in the
Concordia University System during the next triennium and to report
findings to the 2013 convention; and be it further
Resolved, That the Montana District of the LCMS memorialize
the Synod make good use of ecclesiastical supervision.
Montana District
5-23

To Oppose Evolution and Commend Creation
Research Society and Creation Museum
Whereas, During 2009, the “Year of Darwin,” most major
Protestant denominations, the Roman Catholic Church, and the
Orthodox Church did not oppose the antiscriptural evolutionary theories held by Charles Darwin; and
Whereas, More than 11,000 clergymen, including over 1,400
Lutheran clergy, signed a statement supporting the views of Charles
Darwin and praising him1; and
Whereas, the 2,112-page Lutheran Study Bible, published by the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 2009, supports evolution (p. 50)2; and
Whereas, Storms over Genesis—Biblical Battleground in
America’s Wars of Religion, published by ELCA’s Fortress Press in
2007, promotes evolution and says that the term “myth” is appropriate for the Genesis account of creation;3 and
Whereas, The ELCA evolutionist who wrote Storms over Genesis
writes, “Our analysis of Genesis in this chapter would be acceptable in
the mainline Protestant denominations—Methodist, ELCA Lutheran,
Presbyterian, Episcopal, American Baptist, United Church of Christ,
and others” (pp. 21–22); and
Whereas, 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
Whereas, 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 inspired
throughout, all its assertions are historically and scientifically
true in all the original autographs. To the student of nature

this means that the account of origins in Genesis is a factual
presentation 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 creation 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
extent and effect.
4. We are an organization of Christian men of science who
accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The account of the
special creation of Adam and Eve as one man and woman and
their subsequent fall into sin is the basis for our belief in the
necessity of a Savior for all mankind. Therefore, salvation can
come only through accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior.
and
Whereas, Such members of LCMS congregations as Dr. Walter
Larmmerts, Dr. John Klotz, Dr. Paul Zimmerman, Dr. David
Kaufmann, Dr. Wilbert Rusch, Dr. John Grebe, Dr. Raymond
Surburg, and others were either instrumental in the formation of this
statement of belief of the Creation Research Society or have expressed
agreement with it; and
Whereas, In Search of the Genesis World—Debunking the
Evolution Myth, by Erich A. Von Fange and published by Concordia
Publishing House in 2006, ably defends the scriptural account of creation and opposes evolution; and
Whereas, The Creation Museum of Answers in Genesis, in
Petersburg, Kentucky, marvelously defends the scriptural account of
creation and opposes evolution as antiscriptural and unscientific; and
Whereas, The Creation Museum, which has an exhibit on Martin
Luther, defends Luther’s position on creation (as expressed in his
eight volumes on Genesis in the 55-volume American Edition of
Luther’s Works) in the library of Answers in Genesis; and
Whereas, Dr. David Menton, who was a teacher of the year at
Washington University, St. Louis, MO, and is a key speaker on the
staff of Answers in Genesis, is an orthodox Lutheran;4 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
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 creation
and the historicity of the Genesis account of creation and leaves no
room for evolution; and
Whereas, The LCMS “Brief Statement” declares:
Of Creation
We teach that God has created 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. 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, developed 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 account 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

2010 Convention Workbook

2010 Convention.indb 196

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