03 May 2007

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Fourth, the Church's testimony outside of Scripture is neither purely nor in some way divine but is purely human. It is finally divine when it declares what is in harmony with Scripture. It is, therefore, impossible for us to know whether and when the testimony of the church is divine except from Scripture itself. The ultimate resolution of our faith, therefore, ought to be made in Scripture, not in the authority of the Church. We believe those things God speaks to us through the Church because of the authority of God himself, who is speaking, but not because of the authority of the Church through which He speaks. -- Johann Gerhard, *On the Nature of Theology and Scripture* p. 77

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let's take this little piece apart and examine it. Where to begin...

1. Note the terms of the discussion:
a. "the Church," "the authority of the Church," "the testimony of the Church"
b. "Scripture"
c. "us," "our faith"
d. "God"
(Note also what term is *not* in play: "teacher(s) of the Church," or even "the magesterium of the Church")

2. Now the relations of those terms:
a. The Church may have testimony outside of Scripture or in harmony with Scripture.
i) when the Church's testimony is outside Scripture it is "purely human." In such cases the Church has no authority.
ii) when the Church's testimony is in harmony with Scripture it is "divine." In such cases we can speak of "God speaking to us through the Church."
iii) We can only know the difference between i) and ii) above by means of the Scripture. There is no other way.

3. The theme, or topic, of this gobbit is epistemology. How do I know when the testimony of the Church is divine, and therefore to be believed?

I do not believe that I am misstating Gerhard here. Is my summary so far, accurate?

William Weedon said...

Dear Robb,

We've had the conversation before, my friend. We don't need to go through it again. We're operating with different understandings of Church. That is already established.

Pax!

Rev. Dr. Benjamin T. G. Mayes said...

And I'd also note that Gerhard is speaking of the authority of the church with regard to the teaching of articles of faith. I don't think that he would deny that the church has authority in other areas.

Anonymous said...

Dear Rev. Weedon,

Sorry. I thought you were interested in dialogue. I saw this citation as, perhaps, a basis of fruitful discussion. My bad.

Dear Rev. Mayes,

I should have made myself clearer. When the Church's testimony is outside Scripture it has no divine authority--in other words, I take it, this gobbit is assuming the de iure humano/de iure divino distinction. But in any case, it's a moot point. I will respect Rev. Weedon's wishes.

Fr. Gregory Hogg