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....

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