In the recent godly outrage over the Harrison Catechism, much has been dealt with in such a way that a detailed refutation of the essays would be superfluous. However, this impious, self-serving statement has not (I believe) been adequately dealt with:
As Ryan Turnipseed has rightly pointed out, this statement was included here to condemn all refutations of der Harrison-Teufelskatechismus. For, you see, according to the LC—MS, most laymen and pastors are unqualified to judge doctrine, and must respect “the collective will of the Synod.” And if a pastor were to publicly teach against Harrison’s New Catechism, his membership in the heterodox LC—MS would be jeopardized. Thus the wickedness of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (est. 1939) is beginning to reveal itself to all.
In earlier times, the Brief Statement was thought to accurately present the doctrinal position of the LC—MS, or at least the “conservatives.” However, with his unqualified endorsement of this abomination, the president of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has shown his body that it is perfectly acceptable to reject the Brief Statement in whole or in part (as in fact his Synod has always rejected it). As proof of this, a quotation from the Brief Statement will suffice:
30. The Original and True Possessors of All Christian Rights and Privileges — Since the Christians are the Church, it is self-evident that they alone originally possess the spiritual gifts and rights which Christ has gained for, and given to, His Church. Thus St. Paul reminds all believers: “All things are yours,” 1 Cor. 3:21, 22, and Christ Himself commits to all believers the keys of the kingdom of heaven, Matt. 16:13-19, 18:17-20; John 20:22, 23, and commissions all believers to preach the Gospel and to administer the Sacraments, Matt. 28:19, 20; 1 Cor. 11:23-25. Accordingly, we reject all doctrines by which this spiritual power or any part thereof is adjudged as originally vested in certain individuals or bodies, such as the pope, or the bishops, or the order of the ministry, or the secular lords, or councils, or synods, etc. The officers of the Church publicly administer their offices only by virtue of delegated powers, conferred on them by the original possessors of such powers, and such administration remains under the supervision of the latter, Col. 4:17. Naturally all Christians have also the right and the duty to judge and decide matters of doctrine, not according to their own notions, of course, but according to the Word of God, 1 John 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:11.
Here Pieper summarizes the argument of Walther’s The Sheep Judge Their Shepherds, a sermon which no LCMS pastor may give the substance of, for he would then contradict the Harrison Catechism and directly oppose the ungodly dispute resolution process of the LCMS.
Given Harrison’s comparison of this Teufelskatechismus with The Lutheran Study Bible, it would be wise to avoid the glosses of the LCMS, sticking with the bare words of Scripture, as the saints of God have done in all ages.
Altlutheraner 