Church gave us the Bible

trophy33 said:

I am not sure how it is related to historical facts.

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I just want to make sure you are aware of it: Statement of Purpose - Traditional Theology Statement of Purpose

Traditional Theology is a forum for members of the traditional churches such as Lutherans, Anglicans, Orthodox, Catholics, etc. If that’s you, tres bien. But since I haven’t seen you before and your post took a contrarian approach without being rooted, like that of my friend JM, in a long-standing difference of opinion between traditional churches, I wanted to make sure you were aware of it, because I greatly appreciate your work debunking the Flat Earthers elsewhere, and it would be nice if you were to join us, but this forum does have an SOP intended to make it a safe space for traditional Christians.

The Liturgist said:

I just want to make sure you are aware of it: Statement of Purpose - Traditional Theology Statement of Purpose

Traditional Theology is a forum for members of the traditional churches such as Lutherans, Anglicans, Orthodox, Catholics, etc. If that’s you, tres bien. But since I haven’t seen you before and your post took a contrarian approach without being rooted, like that of my friend JM, in a long-standing difference of opinion between traditional churches, I wanted to make sure you were aware of it, because I greatly appreciate your work debunking the Flat Earthers elsewhere, and it would be nice if you were to join us, but this forum does have an SOP intended to make it a safe space for traditional Christians.

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Ah, OK, I did not know that participants must be the members of those churches. I was attending The Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession for a while, but I am not an official member of it.

JM said:

I understand our disagreements.

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I was initially confused by this post, but on reflection, I think I understand what you are talking about, particularly in the context of what I have seen of members of another traditional church that has historically excommunicated both the Orthodox and the Lutherans, who have a tendency to use in arguments against Lutherans and other Protestant churches “we produced the Bible and therefore your denomination should follow our authority,” which is not what I meant. I also understand that there is a dualism in the use of the word Logos and furthermore within Lutheranism there is some realm for disagreement on the NT canon insofar as Martin Luther had concerns about some of the books in the Canon of St. Athanasius, although certainly he agreed with St. Athanasius on the issues in De Incarnatione and one thing I love about Martin Luther and Lutheranism more generally is its focus on a theology which is Incarnational and Christological in an actively Trinitarian manner, and the use by Lutherans of the Christological technique of communicatio idiomatum.

My own ecclesiology is very close to that expressed by Martin Luther, because I regard the Oriental Orthodox, controversially, as being fully Orthodox, and I have some concerns about the Eastern Orthodox ecclesiological model breaking down in the case where schisms have occurred which have then been resolved, for example, ROCOR was out of communion with all other canonical jurisdictions for a long period, yet no one would dispute its canonicity or legitimacy, and it later re-entered into communion, and likewise the Orthodox Church in America also expereinced a period of canonical isolation, in both cases caused by the disruption of the Russian Orthodox Church by the rise of the Soviet Union. And it seems to me that Luther’s ecclesiology explains how two churches not in communion could be concurrently valid.

trophy33 said:

Ah, OK, I did not know that participants must be the members of those churches. I was attending The Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession for a while, but I am not an official member of it.

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You don’t have to be a member of one of those specific churches, if you read the SOP, its more about accepting the role of tradition. The Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession is definitely the kind of church this forum was made of.

By the way Silesia is an interesting area. Polish Silesia went through a bit of a rough patch 25 years ago due to the decline in heavy industry, but I have always loved Silesia and the people of that region. There are Orthodox and Lutheran churches there as well as Catholic churches, making it one of the more interesting places of intersection in Europe. Also Byzantine Rite Catholics of the Carpatho-Rusyn or Ruthenian ethnic groups, such as the Lemkos. I greatly love the Rusyns and Lemkos and their beautiful congregational singing (Prostopinije, which you may be familiar with).

So you are quite welcome in this forum, the main thing to be aware of is that we don’t attack the traditional beliefs of each other’s churches. We have had members in here who are Methodist, Congregationalist and Presbyterian, and Old Catholics, and we have probably had some Moravians (Unitas Fratrum) in addition to the Orthodox, Catholics, Lutherans and Anglicans. As well as people interested in these churches.

Also this forum is the place to go for discussions of liturgy and liturgical worship, since the use of liturgical worship is the common thread that links all the churches in Traditional Theology together. And it also happens to be my main area of expertise.

We do occasionally have someone come in here and attack all the traditional churches over a belief most of them share, but you didn’t do that, although I was afraid you had done that, but at any rate I hope you do participate, with an understanding as to what this forum is. Basically, its like General Theology, albeit with an SOP that precludes criticizing churches for adhering to traditions or worshipping in a traditional liturgical manner, and the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession is definitely a traditional liturgical church as far as its worship is concerned.

The Liturgist said:

By the way Silesia is an interesting area. Polish Silesia went through a bit of a rough patch 25 years ago due to the decline in heavy industry, but I have always loved Silesia and the people of that region.

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I am from the Czech part of Silesia, even though I live in Moravia now.