The Adult Forum continued our discussion on Lutheran identity based on Dan Erlander's book Baptized, We Live: Lutheranism As a Way of Life that we began a few weeks back.
As I thought about the discussion afterwards the impact of the session grew. Mary sparked the conversation several times with experiences she had related to subjects in the talk. Martin Luther's "Sola Scriptura" came up when talking about Lutheran identity and she asked what it meant for an ELCA church to have a sign reading "Sola Scriptura".
The meaning indeed! What does this mean? The phrase has a long history. According to Dr Hans Wiersma in Lutheran Theology: An Online Journal - Sola Scriptura (Latin for “scripture alone”) is one of several "solas" that attempt to evoke the basic principles of Lutheran theology. He claims it would be difficult to deny that Sola Scriptura is an essential component of the Lutheran DNA.
The slogan Sola Scriptura developed out of the perception that certain Christian teachings and practices—especially some teachings and practices formulated during the medieval period of Western Christianity—had little or no Biblical basis. Luther basically believed if something can’t backed up with scripture, then it probably shouldn’t be part of the Christian faith and life.
Unfortunately, it is easy to jump from this Christian theological doctrine, which holds that the Bible is the sole infallible rule of faith and practice, to believing that there is one correct way to interpret scripture. Martin Luther used these words to open man's relationship with directly to God rather than through an emissary, like the Pope or church. If there is one correct interpretation then there is an authority that must consulted or arbitrate the correct interpretation.
As a result, the church sign Sola Scriptura is different than Martin Luther in its intent. Likely this is being used as shorthand for a message similar to a bumper sticker that reads: “The Bible Says It, I Believe It, That Settles It."
However, most Lutheran theological approaches resist such simplification. For Lutheran Christians, reading the Bible does not mean setting aside critical thinking skills. Instead, the Lutheran understanding of Sola Scriptura normally includes rules for some understanding of scripture. Most of the religious mischief and harm done in the name of Holy Scripture, according to Dr. Wiersma, can be attributed to the improper discernment of law and gospel in the Bible. For many Lutherans Sola Scriptura begins a conversation rather than shutting it down.
Mary also shared with us a discussion she had in Minnesota where a pastor believed Bonhoeffer's concept of cheap and costly grace idea was a pertinent as an argument against another pastor, Nadia Bolz Weber, who proclaimed the idea of God's universal love for everyone at an assembly he attended. He felt she was promulgating the a belief that God would give man "cheap grace". In his view this was heretical because faith in Christ was essential to salvation.
To respond to this I'll quote from Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship (my bolding):
Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man’ will gladly go and self all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.
Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is therefore the living word, the Word of God, which he speaks as it pleases him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
I doubt from his writing that Bonhoeffer ever railed against the idea of God's universal love for man. He is rather concerning himself with a sort of close-minded, bookkeeping mentality that justifies itself by accepting a premise that "I don't need to worry about forgiveness and repentance since God has already justified me."
Finally in the Adult Forum Pastor Michelle told a story about a professor in a seminary class who lectured about Lutheran theology on a beautiful day when no one was paying attention to his lecture. He ended the lecture quickly and simply by saying, "This is all you need to know" and drawing a down arrow on the blackboard -
The students wondered if this was an arrow about them going to hell for their inattention. He explained the next week that it was a simple summary of his lecture. All they needed to remember is that God Always Comes Down.
Inspiring thought and, perhaps, an update could be suggested.
Diana Butler Bass writes in her latest book Grounded:
Whether conservative or liberal, most American churches teach some form of the idea that God exists in holy isolation, untouched by the messiness of creation, and that we, God’s children, are morally and spiritually filthy, bereft of all goodness, utterly unworthy to stand before the Divine Presence. In its crudest form, the role of religion (whether through revivals, priesthood, ritual, story, sacraments, personal conversion, or morality) is to act as a holy elevator between God above and those muddling around down below in the world.
I don't think that is what we are saying but there is a remoteness in the promise in that God Always Comes Down insofar as God must move to connect with us and therefore exists apart from the world. It is easy and natural for us to think this way. There is, however, another way to perceive God's presence throughout our personal lives and human history.
Start by drawing our God Always Comes Down portrayal with a horizontal timeline of our lives or human history and the arrow representing God's coming. The arrow intersects in isolated, discreet moments on the timeline - events and people like Abraham, Moses, and Jesus to name a few in history. God's presence become episodic and intermittent events. God is not always there and has a somewhat hands off relationship with the world.
Now, let's change our representation. Think of the timeline instead as a horizon line that separates the sea from the sky. What is above that line is visible to us. Now, let's change from God Always Comes Down to God As Iceberg. God As Iceberg is now partly visible above the waterline at times (Abraham, Moses Jesus are again the examples), but clearly there is more than what we visibly see. The iceberg above the surface reflects when God is revealed in our physical world. Yet another part of God is always with us, continuous and unrecognized below the surface.
God is with us whether we know it or not.
As I thought about the discussion afterwards the impact of the session grew. Mary sparked the conversation several times with experiences she had related to subjects in the talk. Martin Luther's "Sola Scriptura" came up when talking about Lutheran identity and she asked what it meant for an ELCA church to have a sign reading "Sola Scriptura".
The meaning indeed! What does this mean? The phrase has a long history. According to Dr Hans Wiersma in Lutheran Theology: An Online Journal - Sola Scriptura (Latin for “scripture alone”) is one of several "solas" that attempt to evoke the basic principles of Lutheran theology. He claims it would be difficult to deny that Sola Scriptura is an essential component of the Lutheran DNA.
The slogan Sola Scriptura developed out of the perception that certain Christian teachings and practices—especially some teachings and practices formulated during the medieval period of Western Christianity—had little or no Biblical basis. Luther basically believed if something can’t backed up with scripture, then it probably shouldn’t be part of the Christian faith and life.
Unfortunately, it is easy to jump from this Christian theological doctrine, which holds that the Bible is the sole infallible rule of faith and practice, to believing that there is one correct way to interpret scripture. Martin Luther used these words to open man's relationship with directly to God rather than through an emissary, like the Pope or church. If there is one correct interpretation then there is an authority that must consulted or arbitrate the correct interpretation.
As a result, the church sign Sola Scriptura is different than Martin Luther in its intent. Likely this is being used as shorthand for a message similar to a bumper sticker that reads: “The Bible Says It, I Believe It, That Settles It."
However, most Lutheran theological approaches resist such simplification. For Lutheran Christians, reading the Bible does not mean setting aside critical thinking skills. Instead, the Lutheran understanding of Sola Scriptura normally includes rules for some understanding of scripture. Most of the religious mischief and harm done in the name of Holy Scripture, according to Dr. Wiersma, can be attributed to the improper discernment of law and gospel in the Bible. For many Lutherans Sola Scriptura begins a conversation rather than shutting it down.
Mary also shared with us a discussion she had in Minnesota where a pastor believed Bonhoeffer's concept of cheap and costly grace idea was a pertinent as an argument against another pastor, Nadia Bolz Weber, who proclaimed the idea of God's universal love for everyone at an assembly he attended. He felt she was promulgating the a belief that God would give man "cheap grace". In his view this was heretical because faith in Christ was essential to salvation.
To respond to this I'll quote from Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship (my bolding):
Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man’ will gladly go and self all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.
Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is therefore the living word, the Word of God, which he speaks as it pleases him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
I doubt from his writing that Bonhoeffer ever railed against the idea of God's universal love for man. He is rather concerning himself with a sort of close-minded, bookkeeping mentality that justifies itself by accepting a premise that "I don't need to worry about forgiveness and repentance since God has already justified me."
Finally in the Adult Forum Pastor Michelle told a story about a professor in a seminary class who lectured about Lutheran theology on a beautiful day when no one was paying attention to his lecture. He ended the lecture quickly and simply by saying, "This is all you need to know" and drawing a down arrow on the blackboard -
Inspiring thought and, perhaps, an update could be suggested.
Diana Butler Bass writes in her latest book Grounded:
Whether conservative or liberal, most American churches teach some form of the idea that God exists in holy isolation, untouched by the messiness of creation, and that we, God’s children, are morally and spiritually filthy, bereft of all goodness, utterly unworthy to stand before the Divine Presence. In its crudest form, the role of religion (whether through revivals, priesthood, ritual, story, sacraments, personal conversion, or morality) is to act as a holy elevator between God above and those muddling around down below in the world.
I don't think that is what we are saying but there is a remoteness in the promise in that God Always Comes Down insofar as God must move to connect with us and therefore exists apart from the world. It is easy and natural for us to think this way. There is, however, another way to perceive God's presence throughout our personal lives and human history.
Start by drawing our God Always Comes Down portrayal with a horizontal timeline of our lives or human history and the arrow representing God's coming. The arrow intersects in isolated, discreet moments on the timeline - events and people like Abraham, Moses, and Jesus to name a few in history. God's presence become episodic and intermittent events. God is not always there and has a somewhat hands off relationship with the world.
Now, let's change our representation. Think of the timeline instead as a horizon line that separates the sea from the sky. What is above that line is visible to us. Now, let's change from God Always Comes Down to God As Iceberg. God As Iceberg is now partly visible above the waterline at times (Abraham, Moses Jesus are again the examples), but clearly there is more than what we visibly see. The iceberg above the surface reflects when God is revealed in our physical world. Yet another part of God is always with us, continuous and unrecognized below the surface.
God is with us whether we know it or not.
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