Crossings Reviews the Day Star Reader


A while back I reviewed the Day Star Reader, which is largely a compilation of past articles from their old site. The Crossings web site, hosted by ex-LCMS scholar Ed Schroeder, has now offered a review of their own. Written from the perspective of one sensitive to Day Star's agenda, it offers a helpful glimpse into their true theological views, not what might be 'spun' for the sake of political acceptance to Missouri's greater audience.

Note for example their open admittance of Day Star's depreciation of the absolute verbal inspiration of Holy Scripture:

Though ostensibly on opposite sides of the fence on many LCMS issues, both of these two groups, I thought, were still tied to each other with their primal commitment to verbal inspiration of the Bible as the cornerstone for Christian theology.

Au contraire the Daystar crowd--and other still small voices within Missouri--whose theology begins with the Gospel's authority and grounds the Bible's authority there on what the Bible itself calls the "chief cornerstone."

Gospel Reductionism still lives within Missouri. It did walk out of the Synod in the 70's. (Note the link here is to a larger article on the relationship of Gospel and Scripture.)

Although only offering a brief oversight of the book's contents, Editor Schroeder summarizes well the key subject areas and their role within the ongoing LCMS debate:

Editor Becker groups the essays under 6 headings:
  • For the Sake of the Gospel
  • Preaching the Gospel
  • Church and Ministry
  • Church Fellowship
  • The Ordination of Women
  • Science and Theology

Folks in the know will recognize the "hot potato" aspect within the LCMS of the last three of these captions. Missouri's tradition has been "no" to all three even when nuanced in temperate language. The Daystar folks say "yes" and in this reader give their reasons for saying so.

Again, I appreciate Schroeder's clear admittance to their views which many of us have noticed coincide more with the ELCA than with their parent denomination. Interestingly enough, these "hot potato" issues do not seem to get much attention in the convention workbook this time around. One wonders if the Day Star crowd is now largely just a marginalized group representing an ever shrinking constituency.

Which may be a question Schroeder himself is anticipating in his remarks that follow, as he notices the same trend this writer did a little while back with regard to the aging of the Left:

But, but . . . . But will it never end in Missouri? Not just the Bible vs. Gospel cornerstone debate, but the voice for the Gospel itself that these essays demonstrate? Is that in danger of coming to an end? Is the Platzregen moving on? I checked the brief biog of each of the 22 writers. Thirteen are retired and two are already R.I.P. Seven are still in the sprinkling business. But most of them aren't youngsters anymore either.

Perhaps like the Renewal in Missouri group along with the Voices/Vision people (two sites that have since disappeared from the public cyberspace), these movements have crested and are slowly fading away. We can only watch and see....

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Historical Roots of the Warham Guild Hood

Image
In doing just a little checking on the internet, it's interesting to see how the Warham Guild hood, which I have as part of my STM degree attire, is actually a throwback to the Medieval hood. One article notes "the work of the Warham Guild in its imaginative renderings of medieval hoods" (reference is from here ). Again, here is my hood: The Medieval hood, which was originally a very practical outer garment to cover a person's head and shoulders, protecting both from the elements, bears striking resemblance to this revived form: This hood was also a part of the garb of monks in that era. The Medieval hood, in some cases, also had what is known as a "liripipe," a long tail hanging from the back of a hood. You can see the modern stylized version of this on my own hood. From an article on "Academic hood development" we read that "By 1463 the favourite dress of doctors was the hood with round bell-shaped cape, and the lir
Read more

The Firefighter's Cross

Image
[Note: A similar article to this will be shared with my department at their next meeting. During this Lenten season when we are meditating on the significance and meaning of the Passion of our Lord and the Cross at Golgotha, it seemed like one way to offer a witness to the department that captured their interest and yet was not too heavy.] [Editorial Note: In response to a recent comment on this article I have made some changes to the original version of this article especially in regard to references to the so-called St. Florian's Cross. For any confusion the previous unreferenced information may have caused I apologize. I hope that the changes are satisfactory.] THE STORY OF THE MALTESE CROSS In many ways the familiar symbol to the right requires no explanation. It is the universal insignia of firefighting nationwide. Yet the precise origins of this symbol are less clear. The most popular explanation proposes its beginning in the far distant past of medieval Crusaders fi
Read more

KFUO-FM Sale: Editorial from Board of Directors

October 9, 2009 Letters to the Editor St. Louis Post-Dispatch 900 N. Tucker Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63101 RE: “Missouri Synod agrees to sell KFUO” - Oct. 7, 2009 Dear Editor, The ongoing news coverage of the sale of KFUO-FM has been disappointing in its lack of completeness. There is significantly more to the story than has been reported. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s (LCMS) Board of Directors is elected by convention delegates and is responsible—on behalf of the 2.4 million members of the church—for conscientiously evaluating the assets of the church to determine how best to use those assets to further the proclamation, mission, and ministry associated with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Synod’s board has been open about its intentions regarding the disposition of its FM station. Since as early as February 2008, this item has been on the board meeting agenda. Board minutes are made public by posting on the LCMS Web site and summaries are reported in the board’s insert “Board
Read more