What Christians are closest to the Roman Catholic Church among Lutherans?

[benjohnson]

My pastor asked me to chair the Board of Christian Education (Sunday School, VBS etc) - and my first response was “are you kidding me? I still haven’t been able to bring myself to vote in congregational meetings!”

My WELS indoctrination was thoroughly done

From what I’ve seen, the Pastor is making a wise request!

 

[annielou]

I was confirmed in a ELCA church but that was many years ago. I’d never go back due to their views on abortion, gay marriage and the like. I feel they’ve gone down the progressive road that the rest of our society has. The child produced by a rape is without fault in the incident shouldn’t have to pay for it with its life. As Mother Teresa said “It’s a child, not a choice”.

I don’t join up with the other branches of Lutheranism due to their views on women in church leadership and other matters. Any church that believes in this is wasting talent and discriminating. I was going to a rather “fundamentalist” non-denominational Christian church but quit after I found out that was a part of their policy. If those folks had a woman prophet in their midst, they would refuse to recognize her.

Martin Luther kept the form of the mass in worship. It’s too bad he kicked out the notion of saints because there were any number who gave their lives to save the faith in its early days and in later days, to keep it alive. Unless a person really goes out of their way to become more educated about this, they don’t know about it. What a shame.

 

[steido01]

I was confirmed in a ELCA church but that was many years ago. I’d never go back due to their views on abortion, gay marriage and the like. I feel they’ve gone down the progressive road that the rest of our society has. The child produced by a rape is without fault in the incident shouldn’t have to pay for it with its life. As Mother Teresa said “It’s a child, not a choice”.

I don’t join up with the other branches of Lutheranism due to their views on women in church leadership and other matters. Any church that believes in this is wasting talent and discriminating. I was going to a rather “fundamentalist” non-denominational Christian church but quit after I found out that was a part of their policy. If those folks had a woman prophet in their midst, they would refuse to recognize her.

For more than 2000 years, nearly the entire Christian Church has understood abortion, homosexual relations and female ordination to be contrary to Holy Scripture and tradition. Just curious, but why/how do you see female ordination differently from these other two issues? Aren’t all three of these rather… well, heterodox, at best? I’m just trying to understand your rationalization here - why is female ordination somehow different?

Martin Luther kept the form of the mass in worship. **It’s too bad he kicked out the notion of saints **because there were any number who gave their lives to save the faith in its early days and in later days, to keep it alive. Unless a person really goes out of their way to become more educated about this, they don’t know about it. What a shame.

It’s usually best to let a Lutheran explain what a Lutheran believes. Neither Martin Luther nor the Lutheran Confessions “kicked out the notion of the saints.” From Article XXI of Confessio Augustana:

Of the Worship of Saints [Lutherans] teach that the memory of saints may be set before us, that we may follow their faith and good works, according to our calling, as the Emperor may follow the example of David in making war to drive away the Turk from his country.

And from the Defense:

Our Confession approves honors to the saints. For here a threefold honor is to be approved. The first is thanksgiving. For we ought to give thanks to God because He has shown examples of mercy; because He has shown that He wishes to save men; because He has given teachers or other gifts to the Church. And these gifts, as they are the greatest, should be amplified, and the saints themselves should be praised, who have faithfully used these gifts, just as Christ praises faithful business-men, Matt. 25:21, 23. The second service is the strengthening of our faith; when we see the denial forgiven Peter, we also are encouraged to believe the more that grace truly superabounds over sin, Rom. 5:20. The third honor is the imitation, first, of faith, then of the other virtues, which every one should imitate according to his calling. These true honors the adversaries do not require. They dispute only concerning invocation, which, even though it would have no danger, nevertheless is not necessary.

Besides, we also grant that the angels pray for us. For there is a testimony in Zech. 1:12, where an angel prays: O Lord of hosts, how long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem? Although concerning the saints we concede that, just as, when alive, they pray for the Church universal in general, so in heaven they pray for the Church in general.