Dr. Eric W. Gritsch

Andrew Christiansen 

Write 700 – 1,000 words on the topic: “As we approach the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation, imagine that you are interviewing Martin Luther.  Ask him to critique the progress of the reform movement.  In which two areas of witness would he praise his followers, and in which two areas would he believe his followers have fallen short of his expectations?” Be certain to double space your work.  Be specific, and include at least two citations from Luther’s works as well as two citations from the works of the Luther scholar, Eric W. Gritsch.  Creativity and originality are encouraged.

There are four points I’d like to make in this interview to Christ’s people in the United States that go under this title of “Lutheran”- a term I fiercely disapprove of, to make fully aware of what I have been happy to see, and what has disappointed me, regarding the types of activities and movements you as Christians have partaken in. As your good theologian Dr. Eric Gritsch: “The gospel rightly spoken, involves no ifs, ands, buts, or maybes of any sort. It does not say, ‘If you do your best to live a good life, God will fulfill that life,’ or, ‘If you fight on the right side of the great issues of your time…’ [1] But nevertheless, there have been great issues that have challenged the Church.

1.         Many of you in the United States came to an agreement-a “joint declaration”-deemed to be of great historic importance with the descendants of the stubborn people in my day that continued to follow the See of Rome and all its perversion of the Gospel. I am happy for this. For I believe God has guided the various factions, including the ones you were in dialogue with, to come to a good starting point. For this document states, “Justification is the forgiveness of sins, liberation from the dominating power of sin and death, and from the curse of the Law.” [2] This I agree with on Scriptural grounds. Indeed, I encourage further discussion on this a matter. There are many unsettled issues between us and the Papists including purgatory, the papacy, “infused grace”, and consupience. However, it is important to distinguish that there are levels of agreement. I was never an absolutist in the sense of nit-picking the minutia of wording, as I have said before in my work: “A man without learning or training, and moreover without common sense, does not know how to distinguish between words with more than one meaning.” [3] In the case of any fierce opponents of this document, I don’t believe they lacked the training or education- far from it- but I do think they forgot to practice common sense.

2.         I must say that it grieves me to no end that there is such division amongst you Christians, even among the ones that take my name! This culminated several years ago in a nauseating controversy where there was a split at Concordia St. Louis- a community that was supposed to be a center of devotion, education, and common confession! I’d like to point out that there is still the witch-hunting within the Missouri Synod, notably with the recent ousting of Christ’s servant Dr. Matthew Becker. For it was none other than Becker who pointed out in his essay Holy Scripture in the Thought of Martin Luther my understanding- and the true understanding- of Scripture, which is “that indeed there are numerous ambiguities and real difficulties in the biblical texts…the core teaching of the Bible, namely, justification by faith alone in the righteousness of Christ alone, is perfectly and self-evidently clear”, and then he adds: “So there is no question that Luther affirmed verbal inspiration of the prophetic and apostolic texts, though he refrained from trying to provide a rational explanation for this mystery.” [4] Unlike the Missouri-Synod, which has adopted Franz Pieper’s Brief Statement as their synodical position on Scripture and has since resisted any challenge to it, I never held to some belief that there weren’t any clear chronological, geological, and topographical discrepancies in the texts. Dr. Becker pointed out my own “critical spirit” and how I wrestled with apparent contradictions in the Scriptures’ texts.[5]

3.         But also, I am happy for the side opposite of the dissenters amidst the Seminex controversy for their legitimate concerns. For complete exhaustion of what is called “historical-critical” methods of biblical-study can lead to an extreme suspicion of God’s Word. I share their fear of the undermining the viability of God’s written Word! Central Truths, like the written account of our Lord’s Resurrection, to use a vital example, cannot be undermined by dismissing as only metaphorical. Occasional discrepancy does not give one license to question in any way the exegete sees fit! In a televised public affairs program around the time of Seminex, Rev. Thomas Baker, who represented the synodical position, stood grounded in the truth of Scripture by challenging those vipers that doubt the historicity of the book of Jonah.[6] For doubting its historicity, we ultimately would have to change our Christology, as he says, because Christ’s mind saw the Jonah story as fact.

4.         I also must commend what some Christian brethren did during the Holocaust; this being the group known as the “Confessing Church’s” actions during the Nazi Regime’s rise to power in Germany, as well as that of Niemoller’s Pastor’s Emergency League. For the Deutsch Christen group that supported the Nazi philosophy called for the removal of the Old Testament from the liturgy and the Bible itself, which reeks of Marcionism![7] The Pastor’s Emergency League opposed the removal of non-Aryan Pastors.[8] For those that sincerely recognize the Messiah as Jesus Christ are born in new life, regardless of Jewish descent, are born into new life. However, I have always been wary on the Jews, and you can tell this by my writing. But I would object to what recent scholars have said regarding my supposed “anti-Semitism”. Eric Gritsch notes that I justified killing Jews in my table talks.[9] Gritsch also says that I “succumbed” to the “speculations about the fate of the Jews as victims of divine wrath for their refusal to convert.”[10] However, I saw that from the context of the time. I experienced a stubbornness in the false belief system that rejected Christ-as-Messiah from many Jews that led me to believe that “conversion of the Jews will be the work of God alone operating from within”.[11]

[1] Gritsch, Eric W. and Jenson, Robert W. Lutheranism-The Theological Movement and Its Confessional Writings. Philadelphia: Fortress Press. 1976. (p. 42)

1st Place Winner:
Paul Flo