Rev. Matthew Harrison, president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, posted a passage from the Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod (1932) regarding “Open Questions.” It makes the wise point that Scripture does not clearly answer all theological questions, and so the Church may not offer definitive answers to them. See the passage after the jump.
First, can anyone explain the confessional status of the Brief Statement? Is acceptance of this document obligatory for Missouri Synod Lutherans? Just pastors? Laymen? (The only requirements for formal subscription I’ve come across are to the Scriptures and to the confessions in the Book of Concord.) This statement affirms things like the inerrancy of Scripture and the Six Days of Creation, but it leaves out important Lutheran doctrines such as the Theology of the Cross and Vocation.
Second, what ARE some of these open questions? I suspect there are different positions on whether the Scriptures are clear or not on some issues.
from A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod (1932):
Those questions in the domain of Christian doctrine may be termed open questions which Scripture answers either not at all or not clearly. Since neither an individual nor the Church as a whole is permitted to develop or augment the Christian doctrine, but are rather ordered and commanded by God to continue in the doctrine of the apostles, 2 Thess. 2:15; Acts 2:42, open questions must remain open questions. — Not to be included in the number of open questions are the following: the doctrine of the Church and the Ministry, of Sunday, of Chiliasm, and of Antichrist, these doctrines being clearly defined in Scripture.
via Are there questions which Scripture doesn’t answer clearly, or not at all? LCMS Brief Statement 1932 | Mercy Journeys with Pastor Harrison.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In