Monday, March 19, 2012

CTCR: the good and the. . . yet to be determined

A couple CTCR items. First, I think they have done a fine job of rejecting the dissent of Dr. Matthew Becker of Valparaiso University and (oddly enough) the NWD of the LCMS. For this the CTCR should be commended with our thanks. Read it here and here. One hopes that now the way is clear for the rest of the Synod's due process to proceed and remove Dr. Becker from the Synod roster. By his own admission he favors the ordination of women to the pastoral office and rejects the traditional Christian understanding of creation and death as punishment for the sin of an historical Adam and Eve. He has had every opportunity to repent. Various brothers have spoken to him face to face over the years on these topics. We have engaged him in debate on this blog and on his own. His heart is hard on these matters. He is convinced he is right as much as the Pope is convinced he is right about purgatory and prayer to the saints. Well, the Pope ain't Lutheran. . .

Second, along with every other member of the Synod, I just received a CTCR document on prayer. It looks to be a discussion of the Lutheran understanding of prayer. The receipt of the document causes me some confusion. Was this a hot topic that required a long document to be printed and mailed to thousands of addresses? What is the cost for that? What is the utility of that? Why not just post it on their website in pdf and send me an email? Perhaps these questions are answered in the document: frankly, the topic did not engage me enough to tempt me away from parish duties to read it cover to cover.

At any rate, see the poll at right.

+HRC

11 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. It's the MO Synod, man: if there's not a vote, how do you know it's legit?

      +HRC

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  2. We need another option: "I just put it on the shelf . . . and why did they send me two anyways?"

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  3. Perhaps at least recycled paper was used... have not received these out here yet, will look for them in the mail

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  4. I think an interesting question regarding the latest CTCR doc is aren't there already enough resources on prayer that we don't really need another? I would point first and foremost to the Lord's Prayer in the Small and Large Catechism and than expand out to Luther, Walther, and a variety of resources from CPH. So why do we need this new doc?

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  5. Those CTCR responses are pretty badass. I like!

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  6. Scanned it, baby spit up all over it, and tossed it. Anyway I am juggling way too many books right now.

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  7. The new document is most certainly still the afterburn of Yankee Stadium.

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  8. Ahh, nothing like the smell of Theology by Committee in the morning.

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  9. "One hopes that now the way is clear for the rest of the Synod's due process to proceed and remove Dr. Becker from the Synod roster. By his own admission he favors the ordination of women to the pastoral office and rejects the traditional Christian understanding of creation and death as punishment for the sin of an historical Adam and Eve. He has had every opportunity to repent. Various brothers have spoken to him face to face over the years on these topics. We have engaged him in debate on this blog and on his own. His heart is hard on these matters."

    Then there really is no choice but to exercise biblically loving ecclesiastical discipline on and for Dr. Matthew Becker.

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  10. Are you kidding me? We so desperately needed this! We have the Small Catechism exposition of the petitions of the Lord's prayer - and the Large Catechism's treatment of the same. But for century's we've been waiting for something 'medium' sized.

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