I’ll come clean. I have to admit it. I am a Lutheran.
And that, at least according to Joshua Green at The Atlantic, would seem to be pretty fringey stuff. Definitely outside the realm of respectable opinion in today’s world. (Which must be a surprise to all those Garrison Keillor fans.)
Or… maybe I’m not a Lutheran at all, really.
If you were to speak to an official of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, to one of whose congregations presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann used to belong, they’d probably tell you that my own church, a member of a conservative but pietistic fellowship, isn’t really Lutheran in the proper meaning of the term. We’re insufficiently sacramental in our focus, and so not truly Lutheran.
And you know what? I’m OK with that.
Among ourselves, we other Lutherans laugh at the Wisconsin Synod sometimes. You might call them our Hasidim. A little strict, a little stiff by our standards. They have their own ways, which sometimes can even cause offense, as when we visit their churches and are denied communion.
But at bottom we respect them. They have their principles, and they stick to them.
The “sin” of the WELS, you see, is that they take their foundational documents seriously. Dr. Martin Luther, over the course of his life, involved as he was in a bitter struggle with Rome (not a theoretical debate but a war in which blood was being shed), came to be convinced that the pope, as the chief opponent of what he saw as the true, essential gospel, had made himself the chief enemy of Christ in the world—the “anti-Christ.”
(It should be noted that the term antichrist has two meanings. In Scripture, the actual term is only used in a couple places—1 John 2:18 and 2 John verse 7—primarily to describe an attitude common in the world rather than some individual. But Luther, along with many other Bible interpreters, identified the antichrist with the prophesied “man of sin” spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2, and linked him to the “Beast” spoken of in Revelation and the perpetrator of the “abomination of desolation” in Daniel. Believing that he was living in the closing days of history, it seemed obvious to Luther that the pope must be this ultimate Nero, this supervillain in the great apocalyptic drama of the fallen world.)
And here’s the “dirty secret”—every Lutheran church body in the world has this teaching as a part of its constituting documents. Even the hyper-liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which now openly ordains practicing homosexuals and has embraced universalism (in practice if not explicitly). Even the latitudinarian state churches of Europe which maintain largely empty church buildings and serve mainly as departments of government bureaucracy. Examine their founding documents, and you will find that they affirm the Lutheran Confessions as a faithful statement of true Christian theology. And the Lutheran Confessions include (among other relevant documents) the Smalcald Articles, which say, “This teaching shows forcefully that the Pope is the very Antichrist, who has exalted himself above, and opposed himself against Christ, because he will not permit Christians to be saved without his power, which, nevertheless, is nothing, and is neither ordained nor commanded by God .”
(And don’t think you’re off the hook if your church comes out of the Calvinist tradition. This was one issue where Luther and Calvin were in perfect agreement.)
Such teachings are no real problem for liberal Lutherans, believing as they do that words only mean what you want them to. But those who, like the members of the Wisconsin Synod, take words seriously have to deal with the issue. The Wisconsin Synod, being a courageous church body, has made the choice to state this belief publicly rather than to sweep it under the rug, as the rest generally do.
Oddly—and this would probably surprise readers of The Atlantic—I’m not aware of any Catholic churches that have been bombed by WELS members, or of any murders of priests by WELS hit squads.
Do I myself believe the pope is the antichrist? Pardon me, there’s something in my throat.
Not in the Left Behind sense. But as a Lutheran I do believe that the pope was operating in the spirit of antichrist when he opposed Luther’s theological reforms. That’s not a full-bore, classic Lutheran position, but (as a WELS member would tell you), I’m a second rate Lutheran anyway.
So is all this much ado about nothing?
Not at all.
What we see in this religious attack on Michele Bachmann (it was “bigoted” when a similar attack was made on Pres. Obama’s former pastor, but of course the rules are different for liberals) is the extreme, doctrinaire intolerance of America’s intellectual class.
Michele Bachmann’s social crime was membership in a group that believes a doctrine, which believes that words have meaning and that the meanings must be affirmed and lived out.
This attack is actually—at its heart—being directed against believing, orthodox Catholics just much as WELS Lutherans. Not to mention the Eastern Orthodox, Christian Fundamentalists, Mormons, Orthodox Jews, and Muslims.
Be warned. The gatekeepers of our culture have instructions to refuse entrance to anyone who actually believes anything other than the vaguest, most syncretistic, sentimental religion.
And that’s the true significance of the attack on Michele Bachmann.
I have been reading various articles about marriage, civil unions, sodomy, and polygamy. I just recently read one article that mixed them all together for discussion purposes. My reaction to all of this has awakened a past experiential memory back when I was at the university. During my Philosophy of Religion course, I was required to read a very short essay by Paul Tillich entitled: God Is A Symbol. It became a kind of rite of passage for me as I kept reading and rereading it trying to make sense of it. After over a dozen readings over a course of a week it finally dawned on me what Tillich was doing. He was redefining words and concepts and reconstructing a conceptual presupposition that superceded arguments and meaning. I lost my innocence by that experience and it saddened me.
After visiting various seminaries across the country, I saw the Great Theological Game being played out and what its effects where upon the people they were supposed to represent and to serve and that profoundly grieved me.
During the course of pursuing my philosophy major, I discovered that the path of least resistance was to compare and contrast argumentative positions rather than to take one position and defend it on a exam or term paper.
In church and secular politics and discourse the art of symbolic language that evades definition and is inclusive and nonbinding is the dominant force the rules the mostly confused mainstream.
I am not o.k. with that. I am an exile.
Do I myself believe the pope is the antichrist?
Is, or was? If I read in a book from 1863 that the president is evil, I would assume the author is telling us his opinion of Abraham Lincoln, rather than Barrack Obama.
I believe the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church of America have made revisions to the Westminster Confession of Faith on this. It (the American version) no longer says the Pope is THE antichrist. I’m certain though, if you asked, it is generally thought that the Pope is AN antichrist and certainly WAS AN antichrist in Luther and Calvin’s day. It’s in the same sense that the spirit of antichrist is in many mainstream churches today (PCUSA, you mentioned liberal Lutheran, ‘ahem’ pastors who teach universalism, etc.). I wouldn’t see anything wrong with WELS making revisions like this. Of course, I don’t see a problem with leaving it alone either.
I was recently at a camp founded by a Christian Association for young men. Two staffers were holding a private conversation in the library, but speaking loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. The one comment that grabbed my attention was one of them asking the other, “He said you were going to hell because you are Catholic?
The speaker was appalled that anyone would be so arrogant as to think that their denomination was right and the other’s might be wrong. I am grieved that so many are so ignorant of the true nature of faith and salvation.
The Bible says that we are saved by Grace through Faith. If that is true, then belonging or not belonging to any denomination has no determination in whether we are saved or not. However, if I am saved through faith and my denomination teaches that I am saved through works, then my association with that denomination diminishes the likelihood that I will come to a saving faith.
That is the sense in which the pope is against Christ. The official dogma of the church headed by the pope hasn’t changed since the 1500’s or the 1850’s. He is still at the head of the church that teaches that salvation is by faith plus works. As far as I know, Canons 9, 12, 14, 23, 24, nor any of the other Canons on Justification from the Council of Trent have not been rescinded. Luther observed that any teaching which denied the full sufficiency of Christ unto salvation was against Christ or anti-Christ.
Today’s world cannot accept that, not because they believe the one is right and the other wrong, but because they believe them all equally wrong and therefore all equally right.
I know I may be standing on thin ground, but it seems to me that there’s a bit of slippage between what is acceptable doctrine and what is necessary for salvation. The Catholic idea of grace and works as co-necessary for salvation may be wrong, but it still seems to require acceptance of the idea that:
1) Sinners cannot save themselves through their good works, and
2) Christ’s sacrifice is the only way to Heaven.
(Not all Catholics believe this, of course, but I think it’s safe to say that all *orthodox* Catholics do.)
Of course, if they are wrong about the additional works requirements, this is a serious, serious issue. But I still find a hard time leaping from its seriousness (distracting from the core issue and arguably poisoning the process of Christian maturity) to a blanket statement that all Catholics cannot go to Heaven.
As a Lutheran, though probably not a very good one in some people’s eyes, I believe that since Lutheran is not a Bible word, that being overly scrupulous about who is or isn’t truly Lutheran is a useless wrangling about words.
Martin Luther never liked the word ‘lutheran’ either.
There is an old thinking being bantered about some Baptist churches…. Faith, as mentioned, is the only way to eternal Heaven. The Gospel contains the 5 beliefs of faith that get you there.
1.There is ONE God and one God only. He is in three;Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. Jesus is God in the flesh; He gave up his Godliness to come to earth to be with us and know us and give us salvation, if we wish to accept it.
3. Jesus was crucified on a cross, in our place.
4. Jesus went to Hell for us, took our sins there and left them there.
5. Jesus returned from the dead, from hell and returned to Heaven.
At least that’s pretty close to my church’s understanding.
Now the old part, (From Charles Spurgeon..[not sure of that spelling…]), that is “coming out” with some believers; There is a Rapture, (even if the English word is not in the Bible…It is there in Hebrew or Greek…take my pastor’s word for it.),there is a period of tribulation,( 7 years), and there is a 1000 year reign when Jesus has temporarily tied up Satan, establishes His kingdom on our earth, judges us, and prepares us for eternal Heaven. (This 1000 years is called the millennium.)
We are to spend our on-earth-life-times preparing to live not only in the eternal Heaven but also for rewards/responsibilities during the millennium. (This is the works part.)
(NO…I’m NOT saying works gets you to Heaven!
I am saying Spurgeon said works gives you better access to Jesus during the millennium and provides you with better skills in dealing with your “job/s” during that time.)
This was never mentioned in ANY Lutheran church I’ve attended…no matter the synod. I was raised as an American Lutheran or a Lutheran of America. I’ve attended both Wisc. and Missouri Synods for years… no mention of the above…..
I was raised to believe Catholics went to Hell…well for that matter ANY other denomination went to Hell unless they converted to Lutheranism. My Norwegian Lutheran pastor preached this monthly! AND he was a full-blooded Norwegian too! Accent and all…Bjorford or Bjorjin or something Hanson… We all feared him to pieces…a real fire and brimstone preacher!
Whether this is good or bad… I don’t know….
I do believe my salvation is through faith.
It’s good if I work at being closer to the character of Christ here on earth…. it pays off for everyone…millennium or not.
What I’ve written above is another denomination’s little secret….
One of my sons married a Catholic girl and converted to her faith. They say to us they don’t believe the Pope is perfect or infallible.
They tell me that Mary was just a nice woman who happened to be picked by God to be Jesus’ mom. This doesn’t make her better than any other woman.
Yet, they pray to Mary and various saints and their statues… assuming they will hear them. Jesus is just too important and busy to hear our prayers… his mom and his friendly saints pick it up for Him. The pope does the earthly work for Jesus now-days. Priests can forgive sins for everyone in his church at one time…without knowing what those sins are… We don’t need to talk to Jesus for forgiveness or confession.
The priests say congregates don’t know how to pray or how to read the Bible. (Two ex-Catholics in my men’s Bible study, from two different churches say the same things.)
Missouri Synod pastors have told me the same things.
So,which part of my son’s beliefs are the real ones? Are he and his wife sham-Catholics? Are they hiding their real beliefs from me?
Are Wisconsin Lutheran pastors wrong when they’ve told me I don’t know how to pray or I can’t read the Bible because the pastor is the only one who knows what the Bible really means… I’d never understand it….?
Which denomination’s little secrets are for real, or will keep me out of eternal Heaven or… let me in?
Lars, from what I’ve seen you write and heard what you have to say first hand….I’d say that you are a pretty darn good Lutheran…and for sure a deep Christian….! I don’t think we share ALL the same “little secrets”….
But, if we know what we believe is from the Bible, God’s inspired word… I’d believe we are on the right track.
Very succinct and to the point. This is a GREAT article, and speaks very much to the issues of genuine tolerance and religious freedom.