Not to speak for Per Crucem, but I agree with his original post - “I get along fine with other Lutherans who believe what Scripture teaches” (i.e. as it is rightly reflected in the Confessions).
Per Crucem belongs to another Lutheran body (the ELDoNA) than my own (LCMS), but I think both of us would recognize each other as Confessional Lutherans. It’s the whole quia vs. quatenus issue that Jon alluded to in post #648. We’re “real” Lutherans, not generic protestants using the worship/musical flavor of Lutheranism.
So, you accept the scriptures as rightly interpreted by the Confessions. And this is different from Catholics looking to the Magisterium how?
See, it occurs to me that you are relying on Scripture and Tradition (the Confessions) to guide you. So, you’re really NOT
sola scripturists, are you? :nope: You have this whole other body of teaching outside of Sacred Scripture which you rely on to help you stay true to the proper meaning of Scripture. Bingo! You’re Catholic. :yyeess:
And I mean real, honest to God, don’t-give-me-any-of-that-Evangelical-we’re-Catholic-too nonsense. I mean ROMAN CATHOLIC.
Now, if you and Per Crucem really got tangled up, you would take your disagreement to the Church just as Jesus taught, right? But which Church? ELDoNA or LCMS? That could get messy, couldn’t it? :sad_yes:
In fact, the reason you have ELDoNA, LCMS, ELCA and so forth is because (be honest) in true Protestant fashion, you haven’t been able to settle your differences amongst yourselves because you refuse to submit to any authority which differs from
YOUR OWN PERSONAL INTERPRETATION OF THE CONFESSIONS!
The Confessions did not solve the problem over the interpretation of Scripture or establish any firewall against heterodoxy; the problem has just been moved one block down the street. Now, you argue about the Confessions instead while feeling good about not arguing (heaven forbid!) over Scripture. This is just a shell game.
To prevent this problem, JESUS - not Rome - established a living Magisterium and not a dead book as the ultimate teaching authority for His Church. This is why Catholics refer to the stability of a three-legged stool: Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium.
Luther removed two of the legs - leaving Scripture alone - but then you guys figured out that it wasn’t enough and wrote the Confessions in an attempt to codify the proper interpretation of Scripture. Clearly, it hasn’t worked.