Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1954, Page 32

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ESOT ea BAEC a ON RIM AEE ag OE AN ART BEES A SEE LE SEDER GSES SESSION SSE

82 Proceedings of the Forty-Third Convention,

writers infallible recorders of the hitherto unknown will of God
towards men, in no way inspired them to be teachers of astronomy,
or geology, or physics. These spheres do not belong to revelation.”
(The Authority of Scripture, 1945.) On the basis of such statements
we ask, What really constitutes the term “Holy Scriptures”? All
the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testaments, in all their
parts and in every single word, or merely those parts wherein we
feel that God revealed His infallible will to man? We become even
more concerned about this question when we find that only last
year a writer in an official magazine of the American Lutheran
Church declared that the prayers of David in Psalms 59, 69, and
109 were “out of line with the spirit of Christ.” (Lutheran Stand-
ard, February 21, 1953, p. 15). Does that mean that these Psalms
were not inspired?

The Brief Statement clearly rejects such distinctions when it
declares: “We teach (also) that the verbal inspiration of the
Scriptures is not a so-called ‘theological deduction,’ but that it is
taught by direct statements of the Scriptures, 2 Tim. 3:16; John
10:35; Rom. 3:2; 1 Cor. 2:13. Since the Holy Scriptures are the
Word of God, it goes without saying that they contain 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, geo-
graphical, and other secular matters, John 10:35.” And again: “We
reject the doctrine which under the name of science has gained
wide popularity in the church of our day, that the Holy Scripture
is not in all its parts the Word of God, but in part the word of
man and hence does, or at least might, contain error. We reject
this erroneous doctrine as horrible and blasphemous, since it flatly
contradicts Christ and His holy Apostles, sets up men as judges
over the Word of God, and thus overthrows the foundation of the
Christian church and its faith.”

Does the Common Confession provide similar safeguards? We
quote its entire statement on the doctrine of Inspiration: “Through
the Holy Scriptures, which God caused to be written by men
chosen and inspired by Him, God instructs and assures us regard-
ing His will for us. The Holy Scriptures constitute His Word to
men, centering in the revelation of Himself in the person and work
of Jesus Christ for our salvation. Through the Holy Scriptures God
continues to speak to men in all ages until the end of time. He
speaks as the infallible and unchanging God, whose message to
mankind never changes. Since the Holy Spirit by divine inspiration
supplied to the holy writers content and fitting word, therefore we
acknowledge the Holy Scriptures in their entirety as the inspired
Word of God. His Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that His Word
is true, that He will keep all His promises to us, and that our faith
in Him is not in vain.... We therefore recognize the Holy Scrip-
tures as God’s inerrant Word, and this Word of God alone shall
establish articles of faith (cf. Smalcald Articles, Part II, Art. II).
We pledge ourselves to teach all things taught in the Holy Scrip-
tures, and nothing but that which is taught us by God in the Holy
Scriptures.”

The crux of the above presentation lies in the sentence: “Since
the Holy Spirit by divine inspiration supplied to the holy writers
content and fitting word, therefore we acknowledge the Holy
Scriptures in their entirety as the inspired Word of God.”