New York Times Publishes Story on Benke, Kieschnick, and Otten
By Rev. Jack Cascione

 

The Friday, February 8, 2002 issue of the New York Times published a story titled, "Seeing Heresy in a Service for Sept. 11" by Daniel J. Wakin.

Wakin has done his homework and puts out a balanced and accurate account of the heresy trials going on in the LCMS over President Kieschnick's support for Dr. David Benke's participation in a joint prayer service at Yankee Stadium.

For the full text see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/08/nyregion/08LUTH.html

Wakin writes: "In the eyes of his critics, the Rev. David Benke worshiped publicly in the company of unbelievers. For that, they say, he stands guilty of heresy and idolatry."

Seventeen LCMS pastors have accused Atlantic District President Benke of syncretism, joining in the services of non-Christians and erring Christians with whom the LCMS is not in fellowship.

Benke led one of many prayers along with non-Christians but didn't tell them that the only Savior was Jesus. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Imams, Priests, Rabbis, Buddhists, and Sikhs and prayed, ". . . the power of love you have received is from God, for God is love. . . . join me in prayer on this field of dreams turned into God's house of prayer."

As protests arose in the Synod, LCMS President Kieschnick wrote that he supports Benke's action.

On December 9, 2001 the LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters ruled that all protests about President Kieschnick participating in an ELCA church service had to be delayed until the 2004 LCMS Convention. In other words, no charges can be brought against an LCMS President during his term of office.

On February 1, 2002 the LCMS Board of Directors issued a statement saying the LCMS "Reporter" and all LCMS media could no longer talk about the charges being filed against Benke.

The New York Times article quoted Pastor Bohler, one of those filing charges against Benke as follows: "When we're dealing with those who are not Christians - Hindus and Muslims - in those cases, St. Paul talks about not being yoked with unbelievers."

Bohler said, "It gives the appearance that their God and our God are the same, and they are not; or there are valid other religions, and there are none." "Christianity is very exclusive in that Jesus Christ is the savior." "The danger there is people see the differences as unimportant." "You can't chop up the Christian faith into little departments, and say, 'We believe in 9 of 10.' If you introduce error in one place, it's going to show up throughout." "The Gospel is imperiled by any of these errors." "That's something that's required of a Christian, to not just say we agree, but to say we disagree."

The Times wrote about another LCMS pastor filing charges against Benke, Pastor David Oberdieck, who said that Benke took part in idolatry, or the worship of a God not conceived as the God of the Trinity - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Reverend Herman Otten, publisher of Christian News, was also quoted by the New York Times as saying, "We don't hate the Muslims, the Jews, the Sikhs. We love them, therefore we want to let them know they are lost, they are eternally lost, unless they believe in Jesus."

Now that the LCMS has issued a public gag order on the Benke case, anyone who wants to hear, "the rest of the story" will only have one source as usual, "Christian News." You can order your weekly subscription at cnmail@fignet.com or call 573-237-3110.

President Benke claims that the vast majority of the LCMS support him and President Kieschnick. Wakin writes: "Pastor Benke said he had no intention of backing down. 'It's my home. It's the mission and vocation I have.'"

From the viewpoint of Reclaim News, there are other issues of greater importance facing the LCMS than Benke's participation in the "9-11 Prayer Service" at Yankee Stadium, but as they say, "the story has legs." It is virtually sprinting.

The American public is fascinated with groups of people who do or won't do something for religious reasons.

For more than a generation, the LCMS has refused to resolve its internal divisions over open communion, the correct teaching on the Trinity, true versus false worship, the authority of the congregation, charismatics, authority of the Bible etc. Now the world has set its own agenda for us.

We may not like what they choose to address, that is, those things that they think are so odd about us. But then, we had no intension of resolving our own issues until the world reacted to the way we play out our hypocrisy in public.

Even though we have pretended there was unity, our divisions are now the stuff that sells newspapers. "Look at those LCMS Lutherans, they don't agree with each other or what they are doing!"

We may be witnessing the dismantling of our church body, with its many fissures just beneath the surface, waiting for the "big one." However, just a little external pressure may be all that is need to topple the entire structure.

We pray that the Twin Towers are not prophetic of our future. Christ says, Mark 3:25 "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." The LCMS wants to believe it is the exception to Christ's prophecy.

As I write these words, I'm also making preparation to meet with Dr. Waldo Werning and his witnesses, brother LCMS pastors, over Werning's new definition of the Trinity.

Werning is charging me with slander because I wrote that the god he recommended to the 2001 LCMS Convention in his book (on page 33 and 34) is a blasphemous idol and not the God of the Athanasian Creed. As in the Benke case, the second Table of the Law is now more important than the First Table of the Law in the LCMS.

The right to speak freely about God has become more important than what God says.


Rev. Jack Cascione is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church (LCMS - MI) in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. He has written numerous articles for Christian News and is the author of Reclaiming the Gospel in the LCMS: How to Keep Your Congregation Lutheran. He has also written a study on the Book of Revelation called In Search of the Biblical Order.
He can be reached by email at pastorcascione@juno.com.

February 9, 2002