LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Sheet 72

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74 ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE LCA

Dr. Robert Marshall, President of the LCA

wanted the church to attack the use of American power
overseas, but others wanted the church to denounce
overseas Marxist governments for the misuse of power.
Now, in the seventies, the concern for the interpretation
of Scripture threatens to be divisive. We know now that
social concerns are not the only source of controversy.
When we focus on treasures which belong uniquely to
the church, we can also provoke debate and disturbance.
So it was for the Galatians.

St. Paul warned the Galatians against letting another
gospel take the place of the true Gospel. In the Lutheran
Church in America we have known such a danger from
letting the scientific learning about Scripture oversha-
dow the proclamation of God’s saving grace in Jesus
Christ. We have not always made clear in practice where
we have stood in faith. We have needed correction at
times, and fellow Lutherans have been a help. On the
other hand, I must be honest enough to admit that many
in the LCA believe the Missouri Synod is in an equal
danger on the other side. This explains some of the
statements from people in the LCA, statements that
perturb some of you. To them there seems to be an
emphasis on the words of Scripture that detracts from
the living Word of God.

There are two kinds of human logic at work. One
develops when people feel the necessity to give naturalis-
tic explanations for miracle stories in order to make the
Scriptures plausible. The other system leads to consider-
ing the miracles necessary to prove Christ is divine. Both
are wrong. The former forgets that Christ is experienced
in faith so unique that we can never understand or
explain all the wonder of life in Him. The latter ignores
that all religions have miracle stories and that only by
faith, which is the gift of God, are we able to confess
Christ’s inscrutable power and glory in the revelation
events. One system of logic moves toward absolutizing
the scientific systems of our time. Science should not
become an absolute. Its systems are helpful exactly be-
cause they are always changing under the impact of new

data. They are relative to the current state of learning.
The other system of logic attempts to escape human
relativism by pushing science as far away from the life
of faith as possible. It ends up treating words as though
they were as precious or more precious than human lives
and as absolute as God Himself. The resulting conviction
can interfere with pastoral counseling of those with
venturesome questions, limit interchurch relations, and
leave little freedom for the Spirit of God.

Neither of these systems of logic is right for us as
Lutherans. Instead Lutherans have traditionally said
that the Lutheran Confessions are true witnesses to the
Scripture. Out of the mass of material in Scripture, the
Confessions succinctly present the essentials for the
dogma of the church. Some parts of Scripture have a
pertinence at one time that they do not possess at an-
other time, as St. Paul illustrated in his Letter to the
Galatians when he referred to some Old Testament laws.
The Confessions have grasped and set forth the essen-
tials, especially in the Small Catechism and the Augs-
burg Confession, but also in the other documents of the
Book of Concord. The Confessions have a history and use
words too, but words in the service of a living confession.
The revelation of God in Christ has a central significance
not shared by other peripheral matters. Around the
central dogmas there can be much theological explora-
tion, much questing and questioning. There is room to
study the historical setting of Scripture and the Confes-
sions. There is reason to take seriously the words. But
our imperfect human perception of the history or the
words should not be absolutized. If we will allow the
Gospel proclamation its proper distinctive status and
recognize all else is subordinate, there can be Lutheran
unity.

There may be differences between the LCMS and the
LCA on these matters. There are, indeed, differences
within each of our church bodies. Yet all of us accept the
canonical Scriptures as the only norm for the faith and
life of the church. And all of us approach that norm as
Lutherans by declaring the Lutheran Confessions are
true witnesses to the Gospel. I hope these basic state-
ments of faith will hold firm, uneroded by the attacks of
our time. I hope the true Gospel will move us to confess
our Lord Jesus Christ together. I hope the true confes-
sion can be the basis of building together so the world
may see our unity in Christ.

We in the LCA are grateful for the unity there is
among Lutherans in this troubled world. Personal asso-
ciations have continued to grow as cooperation has devel-
oped in local programs, in regional planning, and in
national meetings. I treasure the friendship with Presi-
dent Preus and other leaders of the Missouri Synod. To
exchange experiences and viewpoints, to join in promot-
ing Christian service, to pray together--these are pre-
cious expressions of Christian fellowship, even though
most of you cannot in good conscience join us in that
greatest experience of fellowship at the altar.

Without cooperation in various agencies we Luther-
ans would have been less effective than we are in meet-
ing the needs of dislocated and starving people. Fortu-
nately we have been quite unified in offering bread to