NEWS RELEASE
Date: 12 June 2010
CCM Verax International Communiqué
A Pre-LWF Assembly Message from CCM Verax
Dear Lutheran World Federation Leader,
Re: Why the Continuing ELCA-LWF "Ecumenical Pelagianism"?
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) claims to have made "historic" ecumenical progress in recent years. Unfortunately, that "progress" has come at the expense of the gospel and of basic honesty which most people expect of their children. Due to this situation, the credibility of world Lutheranism has been damaged. The following summary statements and attached published research convincingly demonstrate this. Please take the time to read and study both.
Contrary to continuing reports from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and from the LWF central office in Geneva:
- The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) was NOT signed in Augsburg, Germany on 31 October 1999. Instead, the Official Common Statement (OCS) was signed. Unfortunately, the OCS was not approved or adopted by any LWF member church. So, why do the ELCA, LWF central office, and others say that JDDJ was signed?
- The 260 German professors of theology who objected to JDDJ and to OCS have been proved right. JDDJ-OCS represents a Roman Catholic understanding of the doctrine of justification. Why have the ELCA, LWF central office, and others agreed to that?
- Since 31 October 1999, the Vatican has issued nine (9) indulgences. Neither the ELCA nor the LWF office in Geneva has objected. Why do the ELCA, LWF central office, and others continue to claim that they have agreement with the Vatican on the doctrine of justification?
- In 1999, throug h"grand deception," the ELCA adopted Called to Common Mission (CCM), an ecumenical accord with the Episcopal Church, USA. CCM requires the ELCA to adopt the so-called "historic episcopate" as a condition for "full communion." Why tell lies to gain a practice clearly rejected by the Lutheran Reformers?
- The Anglican "historic episcopate" is rooted in 16th and 17th century, English Parliamentary laws of religious intolerance which caused much injustice, death, and even war. Such "historic episcopacy" is contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, "historic episcopacy" cannot be a "band of love" or a "sign of unity." Why should a sign of religious intolerance and superstition be allowed to masquerade as unity of faith in Christ alone?
- Despite previous false claims, today neither the ELCA nor the LWF central office now claim that
Article 14 of the Apology to the Augsburg Confession support the introduction of "historic episcopacy" into Lutheran churches. What has led them to change their rhetoric so radically?
- The ELCA and the LWF central office have abandoned the ecumenical principle in Article 7 of the Augsburg Confession and traded it for Anglican principles of uniformity found in Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry (BEM), the so-called Lima Document. Why is the gospel no longer sufficient (satis est) for true unity in Christ's church?
- In 2007, the LWF council adopted the Lund Statement, with a view to adulterate the entire LWF with "historic episcopacy." Thereby, the Lund Statement seeks to make the LWF more "acceptable" to both Anglican churches and to the Vatican. How can adopting structures of religious intolerance, destruction, division, and death benefit the moral or ethical credibility of the Lutheran World Federation?
- Theologically, however, trying to make one's church "acceptable" to others is not progress but "ecumenical works righteousness," thus wholly contrary to the doctrine of justification by faith alone. How can such "ecumenical Pelagianism" benefit either the pure proclamation of the gospel or the Lutheran Reformation or the church's true unity?
- The Lutheran Reformers sought to follow Jesus Christ as "the way and the truth and the life." The truth will, indeed, make us free (eleutheros - Lutheran). Lutherans are committed to the truth of the gospel and to gospel-congruent truths. Those not telling the truth would seem to be serving some other lord and master, would they not?
I ask you to read the attached essay in PDF whose detailed research supports the above statements:
"Ten Years after JDDJ the Ecumenical Pelagianism Continues," LOGIA: A Journal of Lutheran Theology 18 (Holy Trinity 2009), 27-45.
Additional research and essays are also published on the CCM Verax website at:
http://www.ccmverax.org/Resources.htm
The truth of the gospel should be the cause rather than the casualty of ecumenism. Please help protect the pure proclamation of the gospel as Martin Luther and as all Lutherans are called to do?
Yours faithfully,
Mark Menacher, PhD
Pastor and CCM Verax Administrator
13823 Olive Grove Place
Poway, CA 92064
USA
www.ccmverax.org
Editor:
Pastor
Mark D. Menacher, PhD, CCM Verax, PO Box 26 , Au Gres, MI 48703-0026 (USA)
+1-619-463-6633 (church)
e-mail: mdmenacher@ccmverax.org
website: http://www.ccmverax.org
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