Liberals, conservatives, & Lutheran-Catholic dialogue

[CopyBoy]

Mathew (one “t”) Block, the communications manager for the Lutheran Church Canada (with which the LCMS is in fellowship) has an interesting post at First Things on the 50 years of Lutheran-Catholic dialogue. He does so from the perspective of the International Lutheran Council (ILC), the organization of conservative Lutherans, which has started a dialogue with Rome of its own, clarifying how the liberal Lutheran World Federation is not fully representing the Lutheran tradition in its own talks, and how ILC churches agree with Rome (and not the LWF) in not ordaining women and rejecting same-sex marriage.

Beyond the Lutheran/Catholic issues, the post sheds light on world Lutheranism in the relationship between the ILC and the LWF. For example, I learned that not only Ethiopia’s 7.2 million member Mekane Yesus (“place of Jesus”) is pulling away from the LWF and is trying to get its theological act together with the help of the ILC, so is Tanzania’s 6.5 million member Lutheran Church.

patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2016/01/liberals-conservatives-lutheran-catholic-dialogue/

 

[JonNC]

patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2016/01/liberals-conservatives-lutheran-catholic-dialogue/

Great article. It lays out the counter-intuitive fact that confessional Lutheranism is far better positioned to dialogue with the Vatican than our liberal siblings, in large part because they have drifted so far from orthodox belief.
OTOH, LCMS Lutherans need to be very careful not to follow them down that road. Hopefully this summer, we can return from the heterodox cliff of laity acting as pastors.

Jon

 

[steido01]

Great article. It lays out the counter-intuitive fact that confessional Lutheranism is far better positioned to dialogue with the Vatican than our liberal siblings, in large part because they have drifted so far from orthodox belief.
OTOH, LCMS Lutherans need to be very careful not to follow them down that road. Hopefully this summer, we can return from the heterodox cliff of laity acting as pastors.

Jon

:sad_yes:

 

[benjohnson]

Good news!

 

[LordHaveMercy]

Interesting. Two communities of baptized men have a disagreement, and so each party has taken the matter to the Bishop of Rome. I wonder if there is any ancient precedent for doing that…

 

[JonNC]

Interesting. Two communities of baptized men have a disagreement, and so each party has taken the matter to the Bishop of Rome. I wonder if there is any ancient precedent for doing that…

Of course there is. That is what the nature of his primacy oh honor meant. Not universal jurisdiction, but a leadership of servant hood to the whole of Christ’s Church, whether they are in full communion with the pope or not.

Jon