Since I've been here

[Chemnitz]

I have been very pleased to find such a wide variety of thoughtful, well-informed Lutherans.

Other, specifically Lutheran message boards I've seen have been very different...far more uniform, far less congenial.

My hats off to you all and thanks.

[Melethiel]

Stick around Chemnitz.

I think you do a great job in GT. :wave:

[Edial]

I have been very pleased to find such a wide variety of thoughtful, well-informed Lutherans.

Other, specifically Lutheran message boards I've seen have been very different...far more uniform, far less congenial.

My hats off to you all and thanks.
I am here also a relatively short time... and I agree with you.

You had an interesting post concerning the continuity of the work of Holy Spirit from the infallibility of the Apostles' teachings to today's work in the leadership of the Church.

This thought was also something that I would like to discuss.

I started writing a response then my connection terminated and I lost it.

After that I got involved in other threads and lost that thread.

Would you link that?

Thanks, :)
Ed

[Chemnitz]

I am here also a relatively short time... and I agree with you.

You had an interesting post concerning the continuity of the work of Holy Spirit from the infallibility of the Apostles' teachings to today's work in the leadership of the Church.

This thought was also something that I would like to discuss.

I started writing a response then my connection terminated and I lost it.

After that I got involved in other threads and lost that thread.

Would you link that?

Thanks, :)
Ed

I did?

[Chemnitz]

What did I say?

[Chemnitz]

Did you mean this? (http://www.christianforums.com/showpost.php?p=25049558&postcount=1)

[Edial]

Yes, that one. :)

Last night I was reading a bit in J N D Kelly's book on early Christian doctrine and it occurred to me that between the apostolic age and the subapostolic age there was a pretty smooth transition.

Nowadays, thanks to Protestant repristinating movements we have a tendency to think that there was a huge paradigmatic jump between the time of the last Apostle and the assumption of leadership in the church by their successors.

It's almost as though there was a time when the shekinah rested in the form of apostolic inerrancy and infallibility and then there was a time when it didn't and we were left to muddle through fallibly led by men who may or may not have even known what they were talking about.

Kelly doesn't paint that picture though. What he portrays is more the idea of a living church expressing itself according to historical and cultural context and which while fully recognizing that the Apostles had a special authority in the church, had in some way an authority to explicate revelation if not infallibly then at least with full confidence and the expectation that their conclusions would be accepted as orthodox.

Of course this idea was to develope into "succession" as the episcopally governed churches tend to see it.

I guess what I am thinking through is the idea that there may be a middle way between the hard disconnect view of many Evangelicals on the one hand and the view of many hierarchicals that their leadership has somehow had handed onto them a specific charism beyond Word and Sacrament which inheres in their office.

Any comments are welcome.

I do think that there is a "middle way" between the Apostolic infallibility and today's church decisions.

The Church plainly proved that she is fallible by telling Galileo to recant.

Yet the Church is indeed led by Holy Spirit.

However, today's leaders of Traditional churches do not appear to realize that Holy Spirit's guidance is also reflective in His discipline.:)

Reformation is a definite sign of that.

Yet where is the work of Spirit in Traditional churches is often a mystery not only to the Evangelicals, but also to the Traditionalists, since they flatly state that they are correct in all of their dogmas.

Yet Holy Spirit led the Church from the Apostles and continues leading her today.

I think this is a good discussion among the Evangelicals, since the Traditionalists would just say that they are correct in all their dogmas. :)

Thanks,
Ed

[Protoevangel]

I have been very pleased to find such a wide variety of thoughtful, well-informed Lutherans.

Other, specifically Lutheran message boards I've seen have been very different...far more uniform, far less congenial.

My hats off to you all and thanks.
Your input has been quite welcome. I have enjoyed your presence, even our little bit of light sparring. I hope you stick around.

[C.F.W. Walther]

I don't participate in any other boards except this one and I lurk sometimes at LQ but it's allways good to see new people come here to participate in discussions.

It's a learning experience for all of us ----- please keep comming back and welcome again.