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What is your opinion of the publication "Christian News" ? Please also comment on the bible version "An American Translation" that is heavily promoted in "Christian News".
Christian News supplies articles from the religious world that are of interest. Unfortunately, Christian News also prints articles written by people who misrepresent others and at times also tell lies about them. The New Testament of "An American Translation" was the work of one man, Dr. Beck. He was a conservative Lutheran and his translation for the most part is quite good. It never caught on widely in Lutheran circles because it was not a translation that lent itself well to public reading. The OT was not finished by Dr. Beck and is of a more uneven quality.
Would the Church of the Lutheran Confession be considered a sister Lutheran denomination? And do we have communion and pulpit fellowship with them as well?
The Church of the Lutheran Confession is a Lutheran synod founded in 1960 by pastors, professors, teachers and congregations who had left the ELS and WELS during the Intersynodical Controversy with the Missouri Synod. They left the ELS and WELS because they believed that these synods were becoming involved in unionism by continuing in fellowship with Missouri. Discussions with the CLC shortly after our synod's break with the Missouri Synod and again in the late 1980s and early 1990s failed to reestablish fraternal relations.
I have just learned of the "LCMC" Synod (Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ). Can you please advise what this group is, and what its doctrinal relationships and/or fellowship with WELS might be.
Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ characterizes itself as a "post-denominational fellowship," but in its doctrinal statement it speaks like a group of Lutherans.
Many or most of its members (congregations and/or individuals) were once or are still members of the ELCA. They are protesting against a number of teachings and practices of the ELCA, but are not about to affiliate with the WELS or the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.I am taking a college course on United States Religion and would like to know what different Lutheran denominations might have been available in Wisconsin in 1880.
To the best of my knowledge the following German Lutheran synods had congregations in Wisconsin in 1880: Wisconsin Synod, Missouri Synod, Buffalo Synod, and Iowa Synod. By the early 1880s the Ohio Synod also had some congregations.To the best of my knowledge the following Scandinavian synods were represented although in some cases it is a bit difficult to determine: the Norwegian Synod, Augustana Synod, Eielsen Synod, Hauge Synod, Norwegian Danish Augustana Synod, and the Conference for the Norwegian Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
There may also have been a few others of which I am not aware.
In a recent Q&A concerning the writings of Hermann Sasse, it was stated:
"The Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, the theological journal produced by our Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, printed some of his articles a half century ago. However, in time, it became apparent that Sasse differed with our synod on the inspiration of Scripture and church fellowship. Sasse rejected the absolute inerrancy of Scripture. His doctrine of inspiration allowed for factual errors in the Bible in things that do not pertain to faith. His doctrine left room for human weaknesses and errors on the part of the biblical writers. He believed that differing doctrines of inspiration and inerrancy were not be divisive of fellowship."Do you have specific references to the Sasse's writings that reject the absolute inerrancy of Scripture, allow for factual errors on the Bible, and permit fellowship with those holding differing doctrines of inspiration and inerrancy? Or, if such writings of Sasse were addressed in the Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly article, do you have the volume, date, and page number of the article?The Winter 1997 issue of the Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly contains a News and Comments article by Prof. Wilbert Gawrisch entitled, " Herman Sasse Anniversary". Gawrisch cites Sasse's book, Sacra Scriptura (p 293-297), in which Sasse reacts negatively to an article by Prof. John Meyer which contended for absolute inerrancy.Gawrisch also notes, "Beginning in 1948, Sasse sent out a series of letters addressed to Lutheran pastors through the world. In these, he urged them to be faithful to the Lutheran Confessions. Between 1949 and 1952 eleven of these letters were published in translation in this Quarterly. The undersigned (Gawrisch) was the translator of Letter VI. Letters XIV and XVI dealing with the inspiration of the Scriptures and Letter XX on the Confession and Theology of the Missouri Synod were not published, however. In the January 1953 issue the Quarterly explained that Sasse's concept of inspiration left room for factual errors in the Bible in things which do not pertain to faith. He considered the doctrine of absolute inerrancy to be an example of Reformed fundamentalism. This he considered the great danger in that church" (Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, Winter 1997, p. 53).
How long had Adam & Eve been on this Earth when they sinned?
The Bible does not tell us how long Adam and Eve were in a state of perfection before they fell into sin. It does not appear to me from a reading of Genesis 2-3 that a long period of time intervened between their creation and their fall into sin. However, any answer to your question would be pure speculation.
We are looking for a church to join and have looked at several different denominations. So far, I like what I've read on your web site and from what I heard from a local WELS pastor. It is really confusing that there isn't just one religion that people agree on.
Did Jesus intend for there to be so many religions? Are religions just a man-made invention?
We have attended Catholic, Methodist, Christian Alliance, Evangelical Free, Covenant and several different Lutheran type churches. We have narrowed it down to Lutheran churches. I haven't seen you compare WELS to Lutheran Brethren church, can you compare them please? Also, have you compared WELS to Missouri Synod?
The differences in religions are the result of sin in the world. We all too easily turn from God's Word to our own ideas. Jesus wants unity, but not unity at any cost. He wants agreement on the doctrine from God's Word to establish religious unity among people. When people or groups of people depart from the teachings of God's Word, they break the unity. God's Word establishes true religion.We have a book, WELS and Other Lutherans, which compares WELS with other Lutheran groups.
The Church of the Lutheran Brethren has a very simple, non-liturgical form of worship and to some degree de-emphasize the role of the clergy. This is a relatively small church. In its emphasis on a conversion experience and church discipline, it has affinities with the movement known as Pietism.
The Missouri Synod and Wisconsin Synod at one time worked together in the Synodical Conference, but the WELS ended these ties because of differences with the LCMS concerning fellowship with more liberal churches and a seeming lack of discipline against liberal doctrine in the LCMS. There are now also differences in respect to the roles of men and women in the church and the doctrine of church and ministry.
Is there only one Lutheran denomination, regardless of all the Synods? Or, all the synods different denominations?
The word "denomination" could refer to either Lutheranism as a whole or to the individual synods. For instance, "denomination" can be a name for a class or a group. In that sense, "Lutheran" would be the general denomination for all who claim that name. "Denomination" can also mean a large group of religious congregations united by a common faith under a single administration. In that sense of the word, each Lutheran synod would be its own denomination.
I am currently working on a geographical paper on the distribution of lutherans, can you help me find some information on that topic?
Such information can be found in the book Churches and Church Membership in the United States. These statistics are gathered and published every ten years by:Glenmary Research Center
750 Piedmont Avenue NE
Atlanta GA 30308
What are the beliefs of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church? Are they conservative or liberal?
Are you referring to the church in Latvia led by Archbishop Vanags? If so, I would say, "In the middle." We have not had direct contacts with this church. They seem to be looking for a middle position. They have working relationships with both the Missouri Synod and certain Lutheran World Federation churches. They have spoken against some of the more liberal tendencies of the LWF, but they themselves have compromising practices in the area of church fellowship. Though they might be considered conservative from the LWF viewpoint, they would not be considered so from our viewpoint. Its website at www.lutheran.lv/ is in Latvian only.
WELS is entering fellowship with a different church in Latvia, the Confessional Lutheran Church, whose members were expelled from the LELC because of their desire to practice the biblical principles of church fellowship.
"Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church" is also used as part of the name of a Latvian church in exile that was formed while Latvia was under Soviet rule. This church is usually called Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia Abroad. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation.
I have some questions, which you will see is from the viewpoint of deciding among LCMS, WELS, and the CLC.
Short answers on the Internet are not an adequate resource for addressing your questions aimed at deciding among church bodies. These questions need more detailed study within the context of the whole biblical doctrines on these topics. In a class on church fellowship, one should spend several sessions discussing the biblical foundation before even beginning to discuss contemporary applications. Two books that will help you do this are Church Fellowship: Working Together for the Truth and WELS and Other Lutherans, both available from Northwestern Publishing House. Essays on contemporary discussion of the ministry are available from the library of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary or online at the seminary's library web-site under the category publications.
Your questions are addressed briefly below, but you should follow this up with more in depth study.
How many members are in the following synods, churches IN USA : ELCA, LCMS, CLC, ELS, WELS, CATHOLIC CHURCH?
These church bodies report their membership statistics in different ways. All of these figures, though gathered from reliable sources, should be considered approximate.ELCA - 5.14 million
LCMS - 2.6 million
CLC - 8,631 members
ELS - 16,734 communicant members, 22,003 baptized members
WELS - 315,355 communicant members, 411,295 baptized members
Roman Catholic Church - 62 million
Does WELS have relations with Independent Lutheran Brance Churches? I have never heard of this. Is Brance a misprint? A search of brance turns up a lot of foreign language stuff.
We have fellowship with various congregations that are not members of our synod, but I am not familiar with what congregations you are referring to here.
How do I know my question hasn't already been answered?
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Bravo! Bravo!