Publication Date
11-15-2018
Description
When I was a seminarian back in 1980 we were less than six years distant from the synodical upheavals that came to a head in 1974. One of the documents that every seminarian was required to read in those days was the 1970 report of the LCMS Commission of Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) entitled, Gospel & Scripture. Prof. Harry Huth of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, who served as the primary drafter for the report, penned what is arguably one of the most important reports ever put out by the CTCR. Or at the very least, it was a very formative for an entire generation of seminarians like myself.
That report formed in us a distinctively Lutheran way of approaching the relationships between the Gospel and the Scriptures by identifying two boundaries to avoid within our culture. On the one hand, it distinguished Gospel centrality from Gospel reductionism (Gospel as norm in Scripture versus norm of Scripture) as had all too often happened in more liberal theologies on the left as a way to dismiss difficult passages of Scripture. On the other hand, it distinguished a Lutheran approach to the Bible from fundamentalist approaches on the right that was often modernist and rationalistic. That is to say, “Our view of the Bible is a result of our faith in the Gospel; our faith in the Gospel is not a result of our view of the Bible” (Gospel & Scripture, 15).
The issues it dealt with nearly fifty years ago remain in various forms today. And so here Dr. Timothy Saleska picks up the theses and central points made in Gospel & Scripture and applies them to our context today to keep us from veering into the ditch on either side of the road.
Submission Type
Bible Study; Lecture; Sermon Prep
Submission Topics
Biblical Theology; Church History; Community; Conflict; Cultural Engagement; Ecclesiology (The Church); Exegetical Theology; Practical Theology; Preaching and Teaching; Predestination and Election; Salvation; Scripture Interpretation
Scripture References in this Resource (separated by semi-colons)
Romans 1:16-17; John 5:39; John 20:31; John 1:1-14; Hebrews 1:1; John 1:18; Philippians 2:5; Romans 11:33-35; John 16:12-15; Luke 24:45-47; Galatians 5:22-23; Colossians 3:12-15;
Submission Audience
Laity; Ministers; Scholars
Submission Cost
Free
Recommended Citation
Saleska, Timothy, "The Gospel-Centered Christian" (2018). Concordia Pages. 3.
https://scholar.csl.edu/concordiapages/3
