Public Doctrines
It is interesting to note that Luther was not the first to attack the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church. My reference books are in storage, but (if memory serves me correctly) he was about the 12th monk to make an attempt to correct the doctrinal errors in the Roman church. What I find interesting is the progression of Luther’s thought and how different the doctrines are of the Lutheran churches today (in practice at least).
Now, I am part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, but the PCA shares our view on homosexuality and ordination. Their (the PCA) stated clerk (head of the denomination) printed a response on the PCA website at: http://byfaithonline.com/page/pca-news/taylor-issues-statement-regarding-pcas-position-on-sexuality-and-ordination
Interesting read (including the attachments, of course) if you’d like to know more about why non-PCUSA Presbyterians believe this.
Continue reading about Sexuality and Ordination–Difference between PCUSA and PCA
Over the next few days I’ll have a series of posts comparing the Lutheran faith to the Reformed faith.
While there are differences of specific issues like the ordination of women, abortion, and homosexuality that are present in most mainline denominations, there are some major theological differences between Lutherans and Reformed Christians. The Reformed faith includes both the Reformed Church and the Presbyterian Church.
Before we look at the similarities and differences between the church it is important to note that the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest denominations in each respective faith background, may differ greatly from the defining beliefs of each faith background. These two denominations are considered liberal and non-confessional by their respective faith backgrounds.
Some things are good as a bible study, others are good as a burgundy book. The Lutheran Difference is much better as one book rather than 18 little bible studies. CPH has put out another excellent product, called The Lutheran Difference: An Explanation & Comparison of Christian Beliefs. It is available on their website for 29.99, but the CPH Bookstore at Concordia Chicago had it for only 23.99! So, I picked it up and am now eagerly reading the book. I did take it to church last night and – wow – everyone fell in love with the book! You may recognize some of the authors. The general editor is of course Edward A Engelbrecht, which means it’s edited well. Authors include: Armand J Boehme, William M. Cwirla, Alfonso Espinosa, Korey Mass, Thomas Manteufel, Angus Menuge, Michael Mittendorf, Steven P Mueller, Patra Pfotenhauer, Robert Rossow, Gregory Seltz, and Bret Taylor. I am looking forward to finishing this book – so far I have only read one chapter. It’s long, yeah, but so far it is quite interesting. Check it out. I’d highly recommend those in the Chicago area to stop by CPH’s bookstore at the college. They have them there and they have other great things like the new edition of Hammer of God – used – for only $5, The Lutheran Service Book at the special rate, Treasury of Daily Prayer, and Lutheranism 101. All in stock, all ready to be taken home!
I really like Father Fisk’s post on his blog…
http://allwashedup.blogspot.com/2007/01/if-you-are-orthodox-you-confess.html
Madre has on her blog that she is working with someone who is into the Local Church Movement, a.k.a. Living Stream Ministries, a.k.a. Bibles for America. This appears to be a horrible cult… (aren’t they all)
They publish a version of the Bible called “The Recovery Version”, which incidently a local LCMS church allegedly hands out (at least according to their publications) – however, when I tried to verify that I was hung up on and my emails went unanswered. I do have one of these Recovery Versions of the Bible and the heresys are lining every page as footnotes. From what I hear, though, the actual translation is ok.