Read the ELCA Articles that Caused a Huge Uproar

Bible-believing Lutherans were upset a few years ago when they learned of numerous heretical and unorthodox articles from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. They were posted on the ELCA's official website under a section meant to explain the ELCA's beliefs and teachings, called “Dig Deeper.”  The ELCA leadership took a great deal of well deserved heat for what the articles said and even though they never repudiated the articles or the teaching, with no apology, they removed them from elca.org.

Now with the help of a website which archives old web pages you can view the articles as they looked in 2009.

• Propagating the idea of Universalism (that all people go to heaven) is the ELCA article titled “Salvation” - See here.
  

• The ELCA questions the “Virgin Birth” in this informational page – See here.

• The ELCA's “The Bible” page (see here) has a section in which they say “Because Biblical writers, editors and compilers were limited by their times and world views, even as we are, the Bible contains material wedded to those times and places. It also means that writers sometimes provide differing and even contradictory views of God’s word, ways and will.”
  
  The page also tells a few of the forms of study (biblical criticism) which the ELCA uses when studying Scripture.  The article describes Redaction Criticism in this way, “understanding how writers creatively shaped material they inherit and how, perhaps, they brought nuances from their own context and culture.” 
  
  Here is a better description from a Christian apologetics website -
  
  “Redaction Criticism of the Bible is the theory that different copyists and commentators of the early biblical writings embellished and altered the biblical texts throughout early Jewish and Christian history to make them appear more miraculous, inspirational, and legitimate.  An example of redaction theory would be the claim that Old Testament prophecies were modified by redactors after the fact to make them appear as miraculous prophecies.  Redaction criticism reduces the quality of the biblical record, casts strong doubt on its inspiration, and implies that the Bible is not trustworthy as a historical document." (read here)
  

• The ELCA's “The Resurrection” page promotes universalism and doubt about Christ's physical resurrection. See here.
  
  Gnesio, an online magazine of Lutheran theology, addresses the ELCA's “The Resurrection” page saying:
  
  “The resurrection for the ELCA does not necessarily have to be a historic event, but something of faith. From their website: 'All of this has led some scholars to write that the risen Jesus (and apparitions of the risen Jesus) is a supernatural reality which does not belong to this world and cannot be the object of historic investigation. Rather, Jesus’ resurrection is an object of faith.
  
  Accordingly, ELCA members believe that what history does is to demonstrate the disciples’ faith in the resurrection. Their witness and testimony to Jesus’ post-death appearances make it abundantly clear that the resurrection was a primary object of the apostolic proclamation from Christianity’s very beginning.'
  
  This view then means that it is not important whether Jesus is still dead in a tomb or not, just that you believe that He rose." (see here)
  

• The ELCA's page on “Satan” tells us that believing or not believing in Satan is a-okay. See here.

The ELCA took down these teaching webpages, but Exposing the ELCA has extensive evidence which shows that the ELCA leadership continues to believe, teach and allow these same heretical beliefs.