Wenthe Defends Scaer: Our Rebuttal
By Rev. Jack Cascione

 

Comment: More than a week ago Reclaim News issued a release titled "Marquart Defends Scaer: Our Rebuttal." A copy of Christian News had been faxed to Reclaim News with the information from Fort Wayne. It appeared that the information was written by Dr. Kurt Marquart but was unsigned in CN. We were informed by CN that the information was actually from President Wenthe's office.
I hope that Dr. Marquart will accept this apology for this error.

 

Doctor Wenthe wrote a noble defense for Dr. Scaer in response to the article titled "Battle For LCMS Church Property Intensifies."

In Defense of Scaer Wenthe Writes:

"Dr. Scaer's essay was meant to provoke discussion, and will no doubt do so. Healthy debate is a good thing. Unfortunately Pr. Cascione's attach is based more on assumption than on fact. For instance "[Scaer] calls 7-17a [re. Walther's 'Church and Ministry'] personally disastrous for pastors and worse, it denies Christ's establishment of the ministry.' Firstly, as even Cascione's excerpted paragraphs prove, Scaer was not talking about Resolution 7-17a at all in the above statement. Secondly Scaer actually says the opposite; "Christ's establishment of the ministry . . . is at the heart of the Walther resolution (7-17a)."

The esteemed Seminary President's defense of Dr. Scaer's 2002 Symposium essay, "Missouri's Identity Crisis: Rootless in America" is appreciated.

Let's assume that Wenthe is correct and that the following sentence by Dr. Scaer is a defense of 7-17a, a resolution reaffirming Walther's "Church and Ministry" as the official position of the LCMS.

Scaer writes: "This is personally disastrous for pastors and worse, it denies Christ's establishment of the ministry, which is at the heart of the Walther resolution (7-17a)."

Assuming Wenthe is correct, first, Christ's establishment of the ministry is not the heart of Walther's "Church and Ministry." If that were the case it would reverse the title. Rather, the heart of Walther's "Church and Ministry" is doctrinal proof for congregational autonomy and self-governance, including the right to issue a divine call. God makes a man a minister through the congregation. However, who would be surprised that Scaer, if he is indeed speaking favorably about 7-17a, would consider the ministry the "heart" of Walther's book instead of the congregation?

Second, Scaer also had pejorative comments about 7-17a in other parts of his paper as follows:

"The group gathering around 'A Brief Statement' sees the church in nineteenth century terms and is often called the bronze agers. . . " (page 3)

"Its [the group gathered around 'A Brief Statement'] influence was evident in a resolution . . . establishing C. F. W. Walther's understanding of the church as "norma normans et normata." (see footnote 4 on 7-17a)

"It should be noted that the Walther resolution came out of the Committee on Structure, Planning and Administration and not from the one on Theology and Church Relations, . . ."

"Regretfully it [7-17a] could be used to encourage anti-clericalism and does not resolve the confusion swirling around 'minister' and 'ministry,' words which are incapable of redemptive definition in the present milieu. Resurrecting antiquity, even in well-intentioned resolutions, is like pretending we have not aged."

"In this case, [7-17a] we may have hindered resolving an issue which divided confessional minded Lutherans from the mid-nineteenth century, as Sasse noted already in 1961." (see footnote 14 [Loehe verse Walther] on 7-17a.)

"A theology [spoken in the context of 7-17a] that lives within the past is reluctant to examine itself, because it assumes that in any controversy it was and therefore is right. Historicism replaces theology." Page 4

Scaer speaks favorably of a Brookfield, Illinois Pastor, Rev. Walther Otten, who is petitioning the CTCR to learn if the LCMS believes that ordination is a sacrament, the very thing that Walther denounces in 7-17a.

Even if we agree with Wenthe's defense of Scaer how does he explain all of Scaer's other attacks on 7-17a above?

There is no question that Scaer objects to 7-11, which prevents the Synod from owning its congregations. This resolution simply reaffirms the practice of congregational autonomy in 7-17a. Therefore, coincidently, Scaer also attacks resolution 7-11 as follows:

"Resolution 7-ll, 'To Move Property Ownership Bylaw to Constitution,' reaffirms that the Synod is more a corporation than a church by asserting that it has no equity in a congregation's property." Page 5

"It [7-11] allows for a bizarre congregationalism in which any number of people can constitute a legal meeting and can deprive others not in attendance of church property." Page 5

"Sadly the downside is that Synod loses its churchly character and we see ourselves as members of a mere confederation at best and a free association at worst." Page 6

As Doctor Wenthe knows very well, the LCMS is not a church and has never been a church. The Handbook of the LCMS describes the LCMS in the very first line to be "a Synodical Union."

Resolution 7-17a teaches that the congregations are churches because they administer the Word and Sacraments. The Synod is not church because it doesn't baptize, confirm, or commune anyone. Accordingly, the LCMS President doesn't have the authority to consecrate the elements at the Synodical Convention.

The "bizarre congregationalism" which Scaer describes is the very heart of congregational self-government promoted by C. F. W. Walther.

I am all in favor of "provoking discussion" and "healthy debate." But these things don't happen at Fort Wayne. It is all one sided.

The Chairman of the Board of Regents of Fort Wayne notified me in writing in the Spring of 2000 that the faculty officially voted not to give an opinion on following statement;

"'Finally the congregation is represented as the SUPREME TRIBUNAL, Matt.18: 15-18. . .' Note 7 on p 29 refers to this using the term 'highest jurisdiction' and referring in turn to the 'Power and Primacy Of the Pope,' 'highest and final jurisdiction to the church..'" (Form of the Christian Congregation, C.F.W Walther, CPH, St. Louis, 1989, p.24)

When will there be a paper given at the Symposium denouncing ordination is a sacrament, Episcopal hierarchy, and defending resolution 7-17a, congregations owning their own deeds, and voter supremacy in the LCMS?

The hyper-euro-Lutherans at Fort Wayne will never permit this. This is where all of the pleas for healthy debate come to an end.

One would think that a 73% approval of 7-17a would have had some impact on Wenthe and Scaer.

The Seminary's priorities are in question. The faculty boldly and rightfully speaks out about Benke's participation in the 'prayer service' at Yankee Stadium, but what about defending the official polity of the entire Synod? On this issue they remain silent on 7-17a and even use their forums to attack it.


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 18, 2002