Closing of the Formula of Concord, Concordia Triglotta, p. 1095.
We have no intention of yielding aught of the eternal, immutable truth of God for the sake of temporal peace, tranquility, and unity (which, moreover, is not in our power to do).
Genuine Lutherans do not give up any truth of God's Word in order to achieve earthly peace, lack of conflict, and a false unity. No one has the power to do this, because all such attempts end in conflict and apostasy. God does not give any believer the authority to water down and corrupt His Word. Nor are we allowed to agree to falsehood for our own well-being.
Those who worship the synod instead of the Savior will always dither, waffle, and compromise to please the restless heretics who can never be satisfied. Ambition cloaks itself in concern for the institution, so murdering souls is considered an adiaphoron while dissent from error is reckoned the sin against the Holy Spirit.
Nor would such peace and unity, since it is devised against the truth and for its suppression, have any permanency.
What did Bohlmann gain by promoting Church Growth and then studying it? What did McCain and Barry accomplish by doing nothing about CG unionism on their doorstep? The only theologian they humiliated and toppled was Dr. Robert Preus, when McCain was only three years out of Ft. Wayne, one parish left behind in a rush to the Purple Palace.
The false peace or Sitzkrieg of Barry/McCain was broken by Kieschnick's all-out war against every hint of confessional Lutheran doctrine.
In the ELS, Orvick and Moldstad both allowed Fuller's false doctrine to grow into Emerging Church mockery, but the two presidents managed to pound B. Teigen and an entire group of ELS pastors for pressing doctrinal issues. Moldstad, like Melanchthon, has brought bitterness and division to his church in the name of peace. Flogging will continue until morale improves.
The Wisconsin Synod has begun facing the issues, so they are being discussed in the open instead of festering like neglected gangrenous wounds.
Still less are we inclined to adorn and conceal a corruption of the pure doctrine and manifest, condemned errors.
The time has come for Lutheran leaders to welcome doctrinal discussions, instead of defenestrating everyone who seems to threaten their little kingdoms. Banished forever should be phrases like this:
1. This can be understood correctly. Concealing error!
2. That is a grey area of Scripture. Blaspheming the Word of God!
3. He is not a false teacher. He is a nice guy. Irrelevant - and both parts dead wrong.
4. You are the only person worried about this. Ha!
But we entertain heartfelt pleasure and love for, and are on our part sincerely inclined and anxious to advance, that unity according to our utmost power, by which His glory remains to God uninjured, nothing of the divine truth of the Holy Gospel is surrendered, no room is given to the least error, poor sinners are brought to true, genuine repentance, raised up by faith, confirmed in new obedience, and thus justified and eternally saved alone through the sole merit of Christ.
If the WELS/ELS/LCMS members and pastors simply spend the rest of their time discussing and studying the doctrine of the Bible, they will receive great blessings from God. The history of their synods is a blip in time, and their recent history is a disgrace. More navel gazing will yield nothing.
Everything promoted and defended by Lutheran synods must be measured against the foundational doctrine of the efficacy of the Word. Other topics associated with the Word (perspicuity, authority, inerrancy) are reflections of the Holy Spirit's exclusive work through the visible and invisible Word.
We cannot read anything of value from the Pietists, Calvinists, and Enthusiasts--and I don't just mean the Mequon profs--because they have declared war against the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace. It is not that they have nothing of value to say. No, it is far worse than that. Everything they say is an attack on the Holy Spirit, even if they pretend they just swallowed Him, feathers and all.
A cursing blasphemer is better company than a smooth Calvinist, a charming CG guru, or an Angry Young Man Emerging Church guy. A cursing blasphemer has some self-knowledge. The Enthusiasts do not, and they think they are doing God and the world a favor.
The time has come to listen to Luther, not just quote him in the fashion of Three Points and a Poem. Lutherans need to immerse themselves in Luther's doctrine instead of Babtist doctrine. We only have so much time to study. Those who study Luther do not have time to study C. Peter Wagner. And those who study the Pasadena Pestilence do not read Luther at all, except to misquote him.
I look at seminary student photos, and I see in those photos the sons of pastors who muted themselves to advance their careers. Twenty years ago, they talked big in private about how bad Church Growth was, and they gave me many insights about its doctrinal errors. But they held their tongues and went with the downhill flow. Now their sons are facing the wreckage of the Boomer bailout. Dad thought this part of the Book of Concord applied to other people, people he was ashamed to be seen with - at Lutheran gatherings.
The good parts of the three synods still exist, but they will have to insist on being heard while there is still light.
