A lot of hot (and crazy) wind is blowing and it is coming from Philadelphia. Specifically from Lutheran Theological Seminary (ELCA) Professor Jon Pahl.
Jon seems upset. I don't blame him. He works for a denomination that has turned its back on God's word and is in danger of dying. People are leaving the ELCA in droves and Jon gets most of his paycheck from that dying denomination. So he is going on the attack. Professor Pahl begins, "All in all, the core of Lutheran CORE is rotten." He claims heresies abound in Lutheran CORE and that the organization is about "American imperial ambition." "Its mostly white, male, clergy fear the loss of privilege that heterosexual orientation and male status have so faithfully (and profitably) delivered over the decades and centuries," says the professor. Jon should really stop there because this fit he is throwing will do nothing to persuade the bible-believing ELCA members to want to stay in the ELCA. But he doesn't. "Informed largely by American civil religion, and seeking to preserve not the 'great tradition' of the church, but instead the 'traditional' values of heterosexual, white, male, privilege, it is my studied historical judgment that Lutheran CORE cannot, and will not, play a major role in the history of the church," says Professor Pahl. Our good professor then says the way Lutheran CORE defines marriage does not come from the Bible or Lutheran Confessions but it does come from the "'Defense of Marriage Acts' that have emerged in federal and state legislation as efforts to keep gays and lesbians from the civil and economic rights. . . These laws are distinctively American" (meaning "bad"), "and they are unjust because they legitimize unnecessary violence." Professor Pahl, thank you for helping to support the view that the last place anyone would want to call a pastor from nowadays, is an ELCA seminary. Article, found on the official ELCA website. (readers, thank you for sending this article to me)
3 Comments
Jon Pahl
5/10/2010 11:44:44 am
Thank you for reading at least part of my essay, but some of your facts need correcting: Roughly 4% of my salary comes from the ELCA. Despite that fact, I do love the church body, yes--and why not--it's where I hear the Word of God clearly preached in law and gospel and where I receive the body and blood of our Lord! I'm a historian, and this essay was a historical (not biblical) study, but I have studied the Scriptures and am prepared to engage them with anyone on these questions, since the overwhelming weight of the Word of God is on the side of those who seek justice for LGBT Christians, and against those who self-righteously quote Scripture and deny its Spirit, in the ways I outline (historically) in the essay. And I'm happy to say that at LTSP we have many strong candidates for pastoral ministry--some of them even gays and lesbians who will be outstanding servants of the Word! You should get to know them!
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5/11/2010 03:02:49 am
Thank you John for your comments. I am sure you honestly feel you are correct on the things you mention, I respectfully disagree with you. The Bible clearly speaks of homosexual acts as sins, and no attempt by yourself and those that agree with you will be able to manipulate the meanings of those scriptures to something other than the clear reading of them. The fact is, the Jesus never tells someone to continue in their sin. That is what the ELCA is doing. The loving thing to do is to help those in sin know God has a better way and to be there as they attempt to turn from and come out of those sins.
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Rev. Luke
8/3/2010 05:49:20 am
I wonder whether we should laugh or cry at Dr. Pahl's assertion that his "article" is historical scholarship, much less that it is scholarly at all. Clearly, Dr. Pahl is under the impression that throwing big theological terms around makes something scholarly. He's shown he can still use big words which most people don't understand (Docetism, Pelagianism) but any informed reader will know automatically that he himself really doesn't know what they mean.
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Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 Dan Skogen
Former ELCA seminary student and former ELCA member who is fed up with the ELCA's consistent mockery of God's Word. If you have been helped and blessed by Exposing the ELCA's ministry, please help us continue to proclaim the truth of God's Word to ELCA members who need to hear it.
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