More Mush from the WELS SP - First Draft:A Moderate Man of Various Opinions. Mormon Approach to the Bible OKed by Schroeder. Each Text Has 100 Different Meanings

No version of the KJV is on the list,
but the New NIV is still alive, thanks to the spineless apostates
who call themselves District President.

BIBLE TRANSLATION: CONTROVERSY OR HEALTHY DEBATE?

Anyone who leaks this draft to Ichabod will soon covet a call to Calumet, Michigan.

There is room for some disagreement—not on whether God's Word can be tampered with, but on how that Word can best be faithfully read and proclaimed. Only we leaders can tamper with God's Word and get away with it.

Nobody likes controversy, especially in the COP church.

Of course, it's no secret that the history of God's visible church on earth is filled with all kinds of controversies, disputes, and disagreements. The first Christian church in Jerusalem wrestled with how Christian freedom should be exercised in the church. In the centuries that followed, creeds were written in the middle of fierce debates over the divinity of Christ and the doctrine of the Trinity. The Lutheran church itself was born in controversy as Luther and the reformers stood their ground against the established church and proclaimed the threefold principle of "by grace alone, by faith alone, and by Scripture alone." In the 1800s the Lutheran church in the United States was deeply divided over the dogma doctrine of guilt-free saints in Hell election and in the next century over issues such as the inerrancy of Scripture and the nature of fellowship.

Nobody likes controversies in the church, because they are usually spawned by challenges to biblical doctrine and result from clear departures from God's truth. They are another reminder that the church on earth is the church militant—always struggling, always striving for Thrivent grants and Marvin's money, always under attack by Satan and his agents.

So how are we to view the current discussions in our own synod regarding the matter of Bible translations? Different views have been expressed; differing opinions have been offered; different conclusions are being drawn. Some have expressed concerns that these discussions—perhaps even debates at times—are a signal of trouble. But is this a controversy, or is it a healthy discussion? How much money will we make from this decision?

I would like to offer another perspective. In many ways, the discussions going on in our synod about Bible translations are not in themselves damaging and destructive. On the contrary, in many ways they are actually good and healthy. In these discussions, there is no one who is challenging or questioning whether the Bible is in fact the inerrant and inspired Word of God, except the NNIV. There is not a single pastor in our synod whose commitment to these truths is anything less than full and complete they cherish their training at Fuller and Willow Creek. The topic of Bible translations has drawn the intense interest of called workers and lay members alike—another healthy and good sin> sign demonstrating how much we value the Scriptures as the revelation and proclamation of God's truth. We are not divided over matters that God has clearly decided in his Word because so much is a grey area of Scripture. We are not discussing whether the Bible is the Word of God. That is a given. What we are discussing is how the truth that God spoke through the inspired writers can be most clearly and faithfully conveyed to us in the language that we speak and understand and how to promote Church Growth and UOJ with it.

This is a discussion that does leave some room for differing opinions and viewpoints. One type of translation may be seen by some to convey God's truth more adequately than another. The Calvinists among us love the ESV. The Babtists...now I'm spelling it wrong. The Baptists love the Holman. The apostates love the NNIV. There is room for some disagreement—not on whether God's Word can be tampered with, but on how that Word can best be faithfully read and proclaimed among us.

As we wrestle with manipulating a decision over Bible translation, let's do so with a prayer of thanks that God has enabled our synod to duck from stand on its commitment to the Bible as God's Word as long as we make it effective. Let's thank him that we are a synod that considers something like Bible translation to be truly important and profitable. Let's pray that he will lead us to a decision that will strengthen our budget faith through the continued proclamation of our his truth and that he will solidify our pretended unity as a synod that stands squarely on the Catholic principle of selling indulgences to wealthy adulerers Reformation principle of "by Scripture alone."

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LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "More Mush from the WELS SP - First Draft:A Moderat...":

Jeske promotes decision theology at approx. 2:08...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X0rRlC4tQbE