 |
| The Fault, Dear Brutus, Is Not in ELDONUTS, But in Our Synods, That We Are Underlings. Apologies to the Earl of Oxford (aka Shakespeare) |
Brutus asked another pastor about the effect of having bishops. The response, from someone with long experience in world missions, was that bishops were the main problem in Africa.
I contend that the Biblical concept of bishops is entirely missing from today's Lutheran bodies: large, small, and microscopic. The Biblical word literally means "look over" and therefore "supervisor," a Latin form of the same concept.
What we have today is the residue from the Western Roman Empire, centered in Rome, falling apart with the empire's officials leaving their posts in a hurry. The Church officials stepped in and took over dual roles in many places, the local bishop serving as mayor. That is a simplification, of course, but the bishops took on secular power, and the Bishop of Rome asserted authority and precedence over all other bishops, as he does today.
The Pope reigned as pope-king in many eras and ordered lesser kings around. One dodged the dogma of infallibility but Pope Pius IX had it established as official dogma, adding he did not need the decree because he had already declared the Immaculate Conception of Mary - on his own.
Coming to America
The LCA and ALC adopted the title of bishop, which the Rome-leaning liberals really wanted. The synods announced that nothing would change except the title. Wrong! Soon the former local presidents took on greater dictatorial power and began modeling the Episcopal robes they adored from the C. H. Ahmy catalogand creative designers.
 |
| The ELCiC bishop is keen on asserting her power,but did not worry about the CLC/ELCA/WELS Gutsche being one of her pastors. |
 |
| One Episcopal bishop is on the far left; the drunk driving bishop/killer is in the middle, the Presiding Bishop, Katie Schori, is on the far Left - always. |
The WELS has a system most like The Episcopal Church. The WELS District President supposedly serves a church as a pastor, but he also has a full-time, paid by the synod, assistant to do his parish work.
A WELS DP poses as a pastor. but definitely is "first among equals," as the Bishop of Rome claims, able to step in and violate the divine call by firing someone he does not like, or stepping in and protecting a Church and Change pastor mired in deep yogurt. He flourishes his infallibility by issuing declarations, like Engelbrecht supporting and praising plagiarism.
The LCMS District Presidents have deluxe office buildings and big staffs. The Missouri DPs like to wear neckties to go full-Walther, but they are no different from WELS DPs. Both styles of bishop assert their authority, power, and sanctity while refusing to supervise doctrine as they should. They are more concerned with covering up crimes and promoting synod worship.
 |
| The LCMS and WELS DP have winter conferences in the sunny Carib. Who pays for those extravagances? |
Authority is not taken but given, according to one Lutheran sociologist from the 19th century. I still believe that insight is valid. We are only underlings if we act like underlings. If we let bishops bully, manipulate, and lie, then the fault is not in their titles but in ourselves.
 |
| Why did so many LCMS Ft Wayne graduates, who read Thy Strong Word in AD 2000, take 13 years to discover the Chief Article of the Christian Faith? |
 |
| Why were the ELDONUTS in bed with the UOJ Rolf Synod for a long, long time? |
 |
