tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501850621793894577.post4119931426696316642..comments2023-08-25T06:49:32.974-07:00Comments on Pillar and Ground of the Truth: A little exercise for young theologians (apologies to Helmut Thielicke)Fr. Gregory Hogghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829108455227450650noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501850621793894577.post-39822217833664976852009-03-10T23:17:00.000-07:002009-03-10T23:17:00.000-07:00Yes, especially as a seminarian, otherwise you wil...Yes, especially as a seminarian, otherwise you will be tossed out by the Office of Pastoral Suitablity (now under the PC name of the Office of Personal Growth).Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16727725145946634024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501850621793894577.post-31241100106394547382008-04-16T06:12:00.000-07:002008-04-16T06:12:00.000-07:00...we also recommend that those members of this Sy...<I>...we also recommend that those members of this Synod that cannot embrace the convention mandated mission of our church should feel free to leave this fellowship with truth-filled integrity...</I><BR/><BR/>Am I reading this correctly? To me, it says, "Take your truth and integrity elsewhere; what we want is your agreement."<BR/><BR/>???Anastasia Theodoridishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16092531121989260111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501850621793894577.post-72126191308024683802008-04-16T04:52:00.000-07:002008-04-16T04:52:00.000-07:00It seems like the hands are Esau's, but the voice ...It seems like the hands are Esau's, but the voice is Jacob's. The subject of the discussion is "Synod."<BR/><BR/>On the one hand, it can be referred to with ecclesial terms like "church." Its leaders are "church leaders." It has churchly features like laity, communion etc.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, it considers itself an "association" which people can leave with "truth-filled integrity" to find another "association." <BR/><BR/>But the Church is not an association of like-minded people. The Church is the body of Christ, and has one mind--the mind of Christ. One cannot leave the Church with "truth-filled integrity." See how St. John speaks of those who leave the Church, in 1 John 2. <BR/><BR/>And such is not the unity of the blessed Trinity, in connection with which Christ prayed "let them be one, Father, as we are one."<BR/><BR/><I>"Let us love one another, that with one mind we may confess Father Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity one in essence and undivided."</I>Fr. Gregory Hogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01829108455227450650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501850621793894577.post-9329339495427885502008-04-15T23:36:00.000-07:002008-04-15T23:36:00.000-07:00Being both young and a theologian of sorts, I must...Being both young and a theologian of sorts, I must chime in my opinion. The "church body" that this comes from I must assume is the LCMS. This just goes to show that the LCMS is concerned with the "church" but not the Church. Not with the deposit and guarding of Truth, but with churning out "harmony" (something best left to Barbershop singers) and "unity" and "convention mandated mission(s)". <BR/><BR/>I feel bad that such a place exists, but for the time being I must struggle with these things.Roskohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02372643892803754301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501850621793894577.post-22283710586923882392008-04-15T14:58:00.000-07:002008-04-15T14:58:00.000-07:00Beats me.But then, I don't qualify for the exercis...Beats me.<BR/><BR/>But then, I don't qualify for the exercise, being neither a theologian nor young.Anastasia Theodoridishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16092531121989260111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7501850621793894577.post-91091698570361544082008-04-15T13:30:00.000-07:002008-04-15T13:30:00.000-07:00I wonder, Fr. Gregory, if there are but few in the...I wonder, Fr. Gregory, if there are but few in the LCMS who are concerned with the Church. One fellow I converse with regularly has the parochial attitude: I am called to my congregation, which is Church (he seems to believe). It is a dominant strain in Lutheran theology to use the story of the 7000 unknown prophets in Israel (I Kings 19) with this "secret" church that God protects, hidden, throughout history. Thoughts on this?<BR/><BR/>For the record, I believe such an understanding is parochial (in both senses), unhistorical, unsacramental, unscriptural, naive and all kinds of other bad adjectives.Christopher D. Hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03906949438584923588noreply@blogger.com