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(A student at the St. Louis Seminary sent the
following article to Reclaim
News.)
Now that the Pastoral Leadership Institute, and their
pattern of pastoral dictatorship, are "in" at Concordia
Seminary, St. Louis, it seems that Franz Pieper and his "Christian
Dogmatics," which beautifully teaches the correct, Scriptural
doctrine of Church and Ministry, are "out." The Doctor of
Ministry program at the Saint Louis Seminary now gives credit for courses
taken at Pastoral Leadership Institute. At the same time the Francis
Pieper's "Christian Dogmatics, arguably the greatest work of orthodox
Lutheran dogmatics in the English language, will no longer be used as the
basic text for introductory classes in systematic theology.
Recent dealings with Dr. Waldo Werning, himself a former seminary
professor, have revealed that many pastors in The Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod, including some district presidents and vice-presidents, are
woefully deficient in their basic knowledge of the fundamental Christian
doctrine of the Trinity.
What other Dogmatics text in English is there, besides Pieper, that will
teach our future pastors such important nuances of doctrine as the
distinction between works outside the Trinity (opera ad extra) and within
the Trinity (opera ad intra)? And what other Dogmatics text in
English is there which properly lays out the Scriptural doctrine on such
timely matters as Church and Ministry?
The bodies that preceded the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America had
many fine theologians, such as R.C.H. Lenski and J. Michael Reu. The
decline of these synods began precisely when their seminaries became too
sophisticated for their own theological heritage and stopped using the
writings of their orthodox forefathers. Is that the fate befalling
the Missouri Synod as Concordia Seminary, St. Louis relegates Franz Pieper
to the dustbin of history?
The trashing of Pieper's "Christian Dogmatics" leaves a
theological vacuum at the seminary, and PLI is stepping in to fill the
void. By its merger with PLI, the seminary effectively overrode the
decision of the Board of Higher Education not to grant PLI status as a
Registered Service Organization. This clever slight-of-hand opens
the door for the doctrine of PLI, particularly on Church and Ministry, to
hold sway at the seminary and ultimately in the LCMS.
PLI's pattern of pastoral leadership is aptly summed up by the name by
which they are jokingly known: the "Pastoral Dictatorship
Institute." It is really not a new approach at all, but the old
system of domineering clergy usurping the rightful role of the laity,
propounded in the 1800's by J. A. Grabau, Wilhelm Loehe and Martin
Stephan, but rejected on the basis of Scripture by C.F.W. Walther, Franz
Pieper and the founders of the Missouri Synod.
PLI doesn't promote Bishops, rather is promotes CEO Pastors who
"lead" the congregation like corporate presidents.
It seems that 150 years later, Pieper and Walther are out; PLI and their
fellow travelers Grabau, Loehe and Stephan are coming back in three piece
suits with brief cases.
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