Magnus Sørensen - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Magnus Sørensen

Why write a paper on theological education for a small church-fellowship with five pastors and co... more Why write a paper on theological education for a small church-fellowship with five pastors and congregations that cannot even give their pastors a proper salary? Even though we are small, we need pastors. As the gospel is spread through the preaching and teaching of the word, we need laborers working in the field with the administration of the means of grace. Some years ago, I read Rev. Martin Diers paper on Parachurch organizations that he delivered to the OLCC Convocation. In it he wrote: There is not a single thing that church bodies or organizations do that a congregation cannot do. They may only be able to do it on a smaller scale, but with the help of the brethren, they can do much more, and do it more effectively than any synodical bureaucracy. 1 My goal with this paper is to take a look at how we as a small church-fellowship can work together to prepare men for the holy ministry both in our existing congregations and in other places, in order to start new congregations gathered around the means of grace administered by qualified pastors.

The question about how to interpret messianic prophecies had been a hot topic in the LCMS, especi... more The question about how to interpret messianic prophecies had been a hot topic in the LCMS, especially at the Fort Wayne Seminary. In the course of its history, the LCMS has changed its position from an exclusive rectilinear in opposition to the typological interpretation of the WELS to a new hermeneutic in which most prophecies are seen as typological. This is seen in The Lutheran Study Bible (TLSB), which I will use as an example of this radical change. TLSB was prepared with the help of specially appointed doctrinal review team appointed by the LCMS president and has a wide range of editors, consultants and writers of study notes. While not a scholarly commentary, it might be the best public testimony of the hermeneutics and exegesis of the LCMS. In order to evaluate the approach of TLSB, I have chosen to focus on four passages. Before we go into those four passages, let us have a look at the hermeneutic question. 1. The new and the old hermeneutics 1.1. Sensus literalis unus est The issue is how we should understand and apply the Lutheran principle, that every word of Scripture has one intended sense (sensus literalis). This sense might not accord with the sense of the letters (sensus literae), if Scripture uses figurative speech. This does not change the fact that the intended sense is one. When applied to prophecy, this principle has traditionally been understood as meaning that every prophecy of Scripture can have only one fulfillment. In the Fort Wayne Seminary, when I studied there, there were still professors denying double fulfillment. Professor Judisch made his students learn the Requisite Principles of Biblical Interpretation in Logical Order, formulated by an earlier faculty. These principles confessed the Sensus literalis unus est, which was applied to prophecy in principle 19: Likewise, no prophecy may be interpreted in any way that would see both a direct and indirect reference (e.g. a reference to both a supposed type and its supposed antitype) in the same word. We should not that the issue is not whether there are types, but whether prophecies may refer to both a type and an antitype in the same word. This position has been known as the typological interpretation of messianic prophecies.

We practice closed communion in the OLCC as we have inherited the practice from the tradition of ... more We practice closed communion in the OLCC as we have inherited the practice from the tradition of the old Synodical Conference. This practice has two sides: one related to the doctrine of church fellowship and one related to individual cure of souls and pastoral responsibility.

This will not be a logical presentation of the doctrine of church fellowship proceeding from the ... more This will not be a logical presentation of the doctrine of church fellowship proceeding from the doctrines of the invisible church, the visible church and the command to leave false teachers. I presuppose some knowledge of the doctrine of church fellowship as it is confessed by most churches who think themselves confessional Lutherans. What I am trying in this paper is taking up some of the problems with the doctrine of church fellowship among Lutherans who claim to be confessional today.

Why write a paper on theological education for a small church-fellowship with five pastors and co... more Why write a paper on theological education for a small church-fellowship with five pastors and congregations that cannot even give their pastors a proper salary? Even though we are small, we need pastors. As the gospel is spread through the preaching and teaching of the word, we need laborers working in the field with the administration of the means of grace. Some years ago, I read Rev. Martin Diers paper on Parachurch organizations that he delivered to the OLCC Convocation. In it he wrote: There is not a single thing that church bodies or organizations do that a congregation cannot do. They may only be able to do it on a smaller scale, but with the help of the brethren, they can do much more, and do it more effectively than any synodical bureaucracy. 1 My goal with this paper is to take a look at how we as a small church-fellowship can work together to prepare men for the holy ministry both in our existing congregations and in other places, in order to start new congregations gathered around the means of grace administered by qualified pastors.

The question about how to interpret messianic prophecies had been a hot topic in the LCMS, especi... more The question about how to interpret messianic prophecies had been a hot topic in the LCMS, especially at the Fort Wayne Seminary. In the course of its history, the LCMS has changed its position from an exclusive rectilinear in opposition to the typological interpretation of the WELS to a new hermeneutic in which most prophecies are seen as typological. This is seen in The Lutheran Study Bible (TLSB), which I will use as an example of this radical change. TLSB was prepared with the help of specially appointed doctrinal review team appointed by the LCMS president and has a wide range of editors, consultants and writers of study notes. While not a scholarly commentary, it might be the best public testimony of the hermeneutics and exegesis of the LCMS. In order to evaluate the approach of TLSB, I have chosen to focus on four passages. Before we go into those four passages, let us have a look at the hermeneutic question. 1. The new and the old hermeneutics 1.1. Sensus literalis unus est The issue is how we should understand and apply the Lutheran principle, that every word of Scripture has one intended sense (sensus literalis). This sense might not accord with the sense of the letters (sensus literae), if Scripture uses figurative speech. This does not change the fact that the intended sense is one. When applied to prophecy, this principle has traditionally been understood as meaning that every prophecy of Scripture can have only one fulfillment. In the Fort Wayne Seminary, when I studied there, there were still professors denying double fulfillment. Professor Judisch made his students learn the Requisite Principles of Biblical Interpretation in Logical Order, formulated by an earlier faculty. These principles confessed the Sensus literalis unus est, which was applied to prophecy in principle 19: Likewise, no prophecy may be interpreted in any way that would see both a direct and indirect reference (e.g. a reference to both a supposed type and its supposed antitype) in the same word. We should not that the issue is not whether there are types, but whether prophecies may refer to both a type and an antitype in the same word. This position has been known as the typological interpretation of messianic prophecies.

We practice closed communion in the OLCC as we have inherited the practice from the tradition of ... more We practice closed communion in the OLCC as we have inherited the practice from the tradition of the old Synodical Conference. This practice has two sides: one related to the doctrine of church fellowship and one related to individual cure of souls and pastoral responsibility.

This will not be a logical presentation of the doctrine of church fellowship proceeding from the ... more This will not be a logical presentation of the doctrine of church fellowship proceeding from the doctrines of the invisible church, the visible church and the command to leave false teachers. I presuppose some knowledge of the doctrine of church fellowship as it is confessed by most churches who think themselves confessional Lutherans. What I am trying in this paper is taking up some of the problems with the doctrine of church fellowship among Lutherans who claim to be confessional today.