Cyberbrethren: A Lutheran Blog

The Seminex Crisis in The LCMS

Thanks to "Der Bettler" blog site for this...last week, Issues, Etc. covered the struggle in the 1970's in the LCMS around biblical inerrancy. Called "The Battle for the Bible in the LCMS" (February 7, hours 2 and 3, link here), and featuring guest Dr. Paul Zimmerman, the incidents and debates were recounted in a way many people probably have never heard them spoken of before. There are those who would prefer to sweep this entire episode under the carpet, others who would persist in trying to paint this as nothing more than "politics" and continue the lies and fabrications used by the liberals at the time to assure the Missouri Synod that really nothing had changed, just some new ways of saying the same old things. I highly recommend you listen to the interview with Dr. Zimmerman.

The Apocrypha: Missing in Action

Did you know that the majority of English Bibles we have now do not contain all the books that historically all Lutheran Bibles always had? That is, did you know that Martin Luther included the Old Testament apocryphal books in every edition of his translation that he worked on, beginning with the first complete edition released in 1534? Where did they go? What happened to them? If we find them, should we put them back in the Bibles that we would use in our churches? Lots to ponder here. I welcome your [thoughtful] reflections. Here's more information and more questions.

The Apocrypha is the term used to denote the fifteen books included in the Septuagint (the first Greek translation of the Bible) and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible), which were incorporated in the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Bible editions These books are believed to have been composed from about 300 BC. to AD 70. Most were written in either Hebrew or Aramaic and contain Intertestamental historical works, additions to various canonical books, devotions, and apocalypses.