Someone wrote a correction to a comment where someone used "in so far as" in relation to Luther, the Book of Concord, and the Scriptures. That is known as a quatenus subscription to the Book of Concord, according to Dogmatics 101. If you do not remember the corrective comment about this, it is because I decided to pursue the topic later. As I recall, the original comment was not meant to diminish the Confessions in any way.
The quia subscription is defined as agreeing with the Book of Concord, because (quia) it is a proper exposition of the Scriptures. Supposedly, quatenus is the moderate position on the Confessions.
I do not like the distinctions or the practice of signing a statement, as some do when joining a congregation. Like the distinctions between one subscription and another, the practice has become meaningless.
If I can play the role of James, Brother of the Lord, on this topic - a quia subscription--without standing for the Confessions--is a dead and meaningless term.
Some LCMS pastors remember the Barry years through the filter of convenient memories, but SP Barry set the stage for the Kieschnick years by doing nothing about false doctrine. Not only that, the newly installed Barry experts tolerated no criticism from conservatives while the management team courted the liberals and empowered them. Unionist Benke was absolved instead of disciplined, so the spineless administration kicked the can down the street for others to handle without administrative support.
Kieschnick has shown how to discipline. He is taking the radio show Issues, Etc to court for using a name the synod abandoned years ago. The lawsuit may be entirely without merit, but simply explaining details to a lawyer can cost thousands of dollars before the case even starts. The St. Louis seminary almost buried Christian News under a frivolous lawsuit. Someone provided insider information to Otten, ending the matter, but that person will never be ordained by Missouri. No good deed goes unpunished in the Church Triumphalistic.
Paul McCain's blog marked the death of Luther, which was yesterday, reminding me of the WELS/ELS amen chorus for Gerhardt's hymns. Would Luther, who never backed down about doctrine, recognize McCain, who has no position, as one of his own? McCain recently praised apostate Richard J. Neuhaus for helping Missouri sit down with the Antichrist and offer their spin on Lutheran doctrine. According to McCain, B-16 was impressed.
Why would the ELS and WELS glorify Gerhardt when their seminary leaders are identical in character to those who drove Gerhardt out of the pulpit for being a Lutheran? The seminary leaders value empty sentimentalism over action against false doctrine. When Valleskey said aping Fuller Seminary was "spoiling the Egyptians," an ELS pastor gave an Amen! paper at the ELS conference. The ovine--in truth, lupine--pastors were silent. Both disgusting papers were published in the officious journals of their sects. Did anyone react? Did the faculties rebel in horror? I walked up to John (Sparky) Brenner and asked him how the Mequon faculty could publish such tripe. He said, "Write a letter," and "The editor has been sick." More telling was his shock that anyone could question their seminary publication, which should be renamed The Popes Speak. So Brenner too kicked the can down the street. The problem went away, if one ignores Leonard Sweet, Brother Stetzer, and the Emergent Churches springing up as if by magic.
The quia subscription of WELS, ELS, LCMS, and the micro-minis is set aside by the unwritten rules of each sect:
- No one with an official position can ever be questioned.
- No one related to a given family is ever wrong.
- No one who rocks our little boat will be forgiven.
- No false doctrine, once published, can ever be retracted by our little sect.
So what does a quia subscription mean after a layman or pastor goes through all the unwritten rules in his mind? The Book of Concord is a rabbit's foot for the vast majority of pastors today. Very few laity know the content of this great book of Biblical exposition. Many pastors are openly scornful of the Confessions and Luther, and they do not hesitate to communicate their attitudes.
Everyone would be better off with a thorough knowledge of Luther's Large Catechism. Most of the errors promoted by the clergy today are answered by that rather small work of supreme quality. That could be why the Large Catechism is shunned - too clear about each issue. Trying the Eighth Commandment ploy would be as difficult as an armed robbery at a gun store. The Matthew 18 gambit would be laughed at as people recited what the Large Catechism says about published errors and known miscreants.
I am suggesting that actual study of the Confessions is preferred over a rabbit's foot quia subscription. When I look at how often the pastors have retreated from the field of battle, I conclude they must have misundstood the term. They must have heard "an Ikea subscription."
