The Burr in the Burgh

Comment on ELCA’s Action by Dr. Dean O. Wenthe, President
Concordia Theological Seminary

Sacred Scripture is the living voice of Jesus. Here the Risen and Ascended Lord speaks to us through His prophets and apostles. His voice is pure, holy, and healing. He names those evils that consume human lives. He offers Himself as the atoning sacrifice that brings forgiveness and new life.

It is, therefore, simply tragic that the majority at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Saturday, August 11, 2007, has refused to discipline those willfully engaged in that which Sacred Scripture identifies as “intrinsically sinful”, namely, homosexual behavior. Such a step is a radical departure from two thousand years of Christian teaching across churches and denominations. A physician can only assist a patient by naming the disease. By denying its existence the physician harms the patient.

Concordia Theological Seminary prepares pastors faithful to Jesus’ living voice in Sacred Scriptures. Pastors who will name the evils and sins that destroy human beings and then present the healing, forgiving, life-giving words of the great, good physician Jesus.

We are grateful for the clear witness of President Gerald B. Kieschnick and the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in support of Sacred Scripture. It is a privilege to prepare pastors for such a church even as we pray that all may return to, and hear, the pure voice of Jesus and be healed by His presence.