Hope for a Time Like This (Sermon)

By Matthew L. Becker “Christ Jesus was chosen before the creation of the world but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” – First Peter 1:20-21 Hope is in…
Read more

First Presidential Address (1848)

C. F. W. Walther Translated by Paul F. Koehneke Editorial Note: This translation of C. F. W. Walther’s first presidential address was published as C. F. W. Walther, “Dr. Walther’s First Presidential Address,” trans. Paul F. Koehneke, Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly, Vol. XXXIII, No. 1 (April 1960), 12-20. Reproduced by permission. In these last days of…
Read more

Theological Echoes and Tensions in Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship[1]

Matthew L. Becker  Matthew L. Becker is an associate professor of theology at Valparaiso University. In addition to teaching courses in modern systematic theology, he also offers courses on the Lutheran Confessions and the history of Protestant theology. He recently wrote an introduction to Christian theology, Fundamental Theology: A Protestant Perspective (Bloomsbury/T&T Clark, 2015), and…
Read more

A Lutheran Pope?

Editor’s Note: In his recent “missive” to the “2013 convention delegates and other friends” President Harrison indicates that he has appointed a group to develop revisions to the current LCMS procedures for addressing dissent within the church body.  Because Rev. Dr. Matthew Becker was twice found not to be guilty of advocating false doctrine when…
Read more

For the Record

Matthew Becker Back in the spring of 2011 an LCMS pastor forwarded to me an email that he had sent to his district president (English) and the President of the Synod (Pr. Matthew Harrison), but not to my district president (Northwest). In this email the pastor accused me of publicly teaching false doctrine. This individual,…
Read more

1965 Mission Affirmations

Affirmations of God’s Mission  Adopted by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (1965)  Prayer Read at the Beginning of the Report of the Floor Committee on Missions: O God the Father, who didst send Thy Son into the world to redeem the world, which Thou didst create for Thy glory; O God the Son, who hast redeemed…
Read more

A Statement (“Statement of the 44”)

In Nomine Jesu A Statement  We, the undersigned, as individuals, members of Synod, conscious of our responsibilities and duties before the Lord of the Church, herewith subscribe to the following statement: *ONE* We affirm our unswerving loyalty to the great evangelical heritage of historic Lutheranism. We believe in its message and mission for this crucial…
Read more

The Creator’s Tapestry (Review Article)

By Matthew Becker The Creator’s Tapestry: Scriptural Perspectives on Man-Woman Relationships in Marriage and the Church arrived in today’s mail. This CTCR Report, adopted in Dec 2009, attempts to fulfill the 1995 LCMS Synod Resolution 3-10 that called upon the Commission “to prepare a comprehensive study of the scriptural relationship of man and woman.” One…
Read more

Concordia: A Reader’s Edition (Review Article)

By Matthew Becker Concordia: A Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord, ed. Paul McCain et al. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005). The editors of Concordia state in an appendix that their “text for the Book of Concord is not a new translation from the original German and Latin texts” (p. 680).  Rather, Concordia…
Read more