The Old ALC of 1930 was comprised of the Buffalo Synod, the Ohio Synod, and the Iowa Synod. The Old ALC merged with the Liberal Norwegians to form The ALC (TALC) in 1960.
The LCA followed in 1962, with the Muhlenberg Tradition of the ULCA uniting with the Swedish Augustana Synod, the Finish Suomi Synod, and the Happy Danes (as contrasted with the Gloomy or Pietistic Danes).
Reu was a giant among scholars. He started out more liberal. If memory serves, he was the one who worked against inerrancy when the 1930 merger took place. Lenski in Ohio was on the opposite side, so a committee was formed to keep Lenski silent.
Reu's Luther and the Scriptures is an ironic turn, since Reu means repentance in German. The liberals never forgave Reu for backsliding into orthodoxy. The book is one of the few discussed from that era, but I also liked his lectures on fellowship. I have often quoted Reu on this subject.
"Here we discover the first mark of unionism: A difference in doctrine which hitherto has been regarded as divisive, is suddenly made to lose its divisive significance." (About the Augsburg Confession, Variata, Real Presence)
M. Reu, In the Interest of Lutheran Unity, Columbus: The Lutheran Book Concern, 1940, p. 19.
"The second mark of unionism, therefore, is this: Differences in doctrine are made to lose their divisive significance with a view to uniting hitherto separate churches." (about unification of all Protestant forces) M. Reu, In the Interest of Lutheran Unity, Columbus: The Lutheran Book Concern, 1940, p. 19.
"The third mark of unionism, therefore, is this: A formula of unification is found which each of two hitherto separate churches may accept but which each of them interprets differently. An external bond is found for internally divided groups." (About Melanchthon using 1 Cor. 10:16 as the basis for uniting the Reformed and Lutherans, Luther's favorite text against the Reformed.)
M. Reu, In the Interest of Lutheran Unity, Columbus: The Lutheran Book Concern, 1940, p. 19. 1 Corinthians 10:16.
"Doctrinal indifference is at once the root of unionism and its fruit. Whoever accepts, in theory as well as in practice, the absolute authority of the Scriptures and their unambiguousness with reference to all fundamental doctrines, must be opposed to every form of unionism."
M. Reu, In the Interest of Lutheran Unity, Columbus: The Lutheran Book Concern, 1940, p. 20.
"We find this attitude of tolerance quite frequently among unionists. It is often used to assuage a troubled conscience, one's own as well as that of others; for the unionist declares that every one may continue to hold his own private convictions and merely needs to respect and tolerate those of another. This attitude is totally wrong, for it disregards two important factors: (a) in tolerating divergent doctrines one either denies the perspicuity and clarity of the Scriptures, or one grants to error the right to exist alongside of truth, or one evidences indifference over against Biblical truth by surrendering its absolute validity; and (b) in allowing two opposite views concerning one doctrine to exist side by side, one has entered upon an inclined plane which of necessity leads ever further into complete doctrinal indifference, as may plainly be seen from the most calamitous case on record, viz., the Prussian Union."
M. Reu, In the Interest of Lutheran Unity, Columbus: The Lutheran Book Concern, 1940, p. 20.
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GJ - Reu's ALC is now part of ELCA. Would he be impressed with ELCA today?
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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Luther and the Scriptures - by Michael Reu (ALC)":
It is so fitting that today's version of Pietism has doctrinal indifference as one of its trademarks. It appears to have been this way for a long time. In The Complete Timotheus Verinus, Loescher points to doctrinal indifference as one of the first traits of Pietism.
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GJ - Pietism and doctrinal indifference go together well, with a side-helping of unionism. The Pietists claim to have a heart religion, which they insist is superior to the head religion of Lutheran orthodoxy. Notice that the leading apostates of Missouri call themselves Jesus First, another hallmark of Pietism. The Church and Chicaneries talk just like Jesus First.
