Annual Symposium focuses on Biblical Hermeneutics
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,” Paul says in 2 Timothy, “a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” The practice of hermeneutics, or biblical interpretation, has always been a vital skill for Christian pastors. How much more so in our 21st century world where words and their meanings are constantly being bent, ignored or challenged? Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary’s 2016 Symposium on Hermeneutics focused on this vital issue in the work of a pastor.
The Value of Hermeneutics
Pastor Steven Lange (WLS 1997)
Hope Lutheran Church
Louisville, Kentucky
Prof. Kenneth Cherney, reactor
The Value of Hermeneutics Steven Lange
Reaction to The Value of Hermeneutics by Prof. Cherney
The first essay focused on hermeneutics in its more theoretical aspects. While many modern and postmodern interpreters approach the text of Scripture with a “hermeneutic of suspicion,” the essay focused on how the believing interpreter sees himself as a servant of the text, wishing above all to understand it in its plain sense, not to “overstand” it. The believing interpreter reads the text with the presupposition of faith, recognizing what the Scriptures say about themselves—that they are the divinely inspired Word of God at whose center is Christ and justification by grace alone through faith. The essay points out the strength of our Wauwatosa heritage, which puts a premium on the historical and literary context of the Scriptures.
Hermeneutics and the Confessions
Pastor Benjamin Tomczak (WLS 2006)
Bethel Lutheran Church
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Prof. John Brenner, reactor
Hermeneutics and the Confessions Tomczak
Reaction to Hermeneutics and the Confessions by Prof. Brenner
The second essay focuses on the relationship of the confessions to the Holy Scriptures. The essayist explores such questions as: Are we, as Lutherans committed to a quia subscription to the 16th century confessions, to view the confessions as a hermeneutical lens through which to interpret the Scriptures? We honor the Reformation’s principle of sola Scriptura; but are we also obliged to adhere to the Reformers exegetical moves in all of the passages that they cite in the confessions? The upcoming 500th anniversary of the Reformation provides a good opportunity to reexamine the hermeneutical approach used by the Reformers in the confessions.
The Hermeneutics of the New Perspective on Paul
Pastor Daniel Waldschmidt (WLS 2012)
St. John Lutheran Church
Burlington, Wisconsin
Prof. Paul Wendland, reactor
New Perspective Symposium Paper Waldschmidt
Reaction to New Perspective on Paul by Prof. Wendland
For the past three decades, New Testament scholars from virtually every denomination (both conservative and liberal) have championed or been influenced by the so-called New Perspective on Paul. This movement has brought a new interpretation to several key elements of Paul’s theology. Pastor Daniel Waldschmidt of Burlington, Wisconsin, speaks in the third essay on what is meant by the New Perspective. He points out why it is not the result of proper biblical interpretation and will show how it undermines Scripture’s chief teaching of justification by faith alone. As WELS pastors minister in an American theological context that continues to wander farther from justification by faith alone, it is important for our pastors to be aware of what a gem we still possess in this teaching so that we may highlight it in all its pristine beauty to a world that is increasingly unfamiliar with it.