Carl E. Braaten, professor emeritus of the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and co-founder of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology, offers a thoughtful critique of the proposed ELCA Sexuality Social Statement and Recommendations. Braaten’s careful observation below should be read, memorized, and applied to any social or theological statement produced by any church body. Note carefully:
What Lutherans believe, teach, and confess is not true simply because they say so. Sixty million Lutherans saying something doesn’t make it true. We must demonstrate that what we assert is true on the basis of Holy Scripture in continuity with the classical creeds and confessions which the ELCA accepts in its Constitution.
You can read Braaten’s March 3 Lutheran Forum article here.
