By Dr. Matthew Becker Next summer will mark the fortieth anniversary of the adoption of a controversial and divisive document at the 1973 Convention of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). “A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles” appeared in 1972 and was adopted by a slim majority of LCMS convention delegates a year later. When…
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By Matthew Becker[1] One of the more controversial matters among some Christians today is the relation of Christian faith in the triune God to scientific knowledge of the natural world. Disagreements about this relationship have led to conflicts within many church bodies, including the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). While educated Christians cannot avoid the knowledge that arises from…
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By Matthew Becker The most controversial issues in the last half millennium of Christian theology surround the Christian Bible. Of course the major division that began in western Christendom in the 16th Century was largely the result of disagreements over scriptural authority and interpretation vis-à-vis church doctrine and practice; yet even among the church bodies that adhere…
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By Matthew Becker Prefatory comment: In my introductory course on Christian theology, students engage Christian understandings of God, creation, anthropology, evil, sin, and so on. During class discussions participants analyze such issues as God’s relation to creation, the relation of ancient religions to each other, the nature of human beings, the problems of evil and…
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By Matthew Becker *The following essay is based partly on the introduction to my book, The Self-Giving God and Salvation History: The Trinitarian Theology of Johannes von Hofmann (New York: T&T Clark, 2004). Johannes Christian Konrad von Hofmann (1810-1877) has been properly identified as “the greatest conservative theologian” of the nineteenth century and one…
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