Convention Notes from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

Editor's Note: This information has been compiled from official information and reports coming out of the WELS convention. The reporter was not on site to observe the convention.

The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) held its biennial convention on the week of July 29–August 1. The convention was held at Martin Luther College, the synod's pre-seminary and teacher training college in New Ulm, Minnesota. The convention establishes programs, fiscal policies and goals, and broadly directs the synod's ministry and outreach plans.

According to pre-convention memoranda and news, this convention has several major issues before it in addition to its regular business and duties, but by far the issue that has generated the most interest and discussion is on the matter of which English Bible translation—if any—should be adopted for use by the synod particularly in its publications and educational resources.

The NIV 1984, the official Bible translation currently used in WELS publications, is being phased out and replaced with a new version, the "NIV 2011." A WELS' "Translation Evaluation Committee" (TEV) was created to research the NIV 2011. The same committee has also researched many other versions, including the English Standard Version (ESV) and the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB).

In the report it prepared for the convention, the TEV outlined two options that it sees for deciding which Bible translation to use in WELS publications going forward. Option 1: WELS adopts NIV 2011 for use in materials produced by Northwestern Publishing House. Option 2: WELS does not adopt a single Bible version for use in its publications at this time. NPH uses whichever version of these three (ESV, HCSB, NIV 2011) seems best for the passage cited and the publication in which the biblical text will appear ("eclectic approach").

The 2011 convention also resolved that, as a possible alternative, the synod should consider producing a new translation by Lutherans. A "Translation Feasibility Committee" (TFC) was created to research the legal, technical, and economic feasibility of WELS creating a confessional Lutheran translation of the Bible and/or producing a study Bible with notes to accompany the translation that WELS chooses to use in its publications.

The report that the TFC submitted for the 2013 convention concludes, "Perhaps the question should not be, 'Can we do it?' but, 'Must we do it?' If the people of our synod believe that there is no existing translation of the Bible that can serve our preaching, teaching, and publishing needs, then we'd trust that the Lord would help us find the resources and overcome the obstacles to carry out what is sure to be a very challenging project. But if an existing translation or translations can serve our needs, it would save the time and expense, not to mention the potential disruption to our ministerial education system, to use an existing translation."

A Response to "The Story"

—By Ryan Ogrodowicz

Upon receiving Zondervan’s publication The Story, its subtitle “the Bible as one continuing story of God and his people” suggested I was about to encounter another diluted translation made palatable for the masses. Instead it’s a compilation of various pericopes organized in a narrative format free from chapter-verse divisions. It literally reads like a story, providing readers with an overall feel for the contour and message of Holy Scripture. It uses one translation throughout, the NIV, and finishes with an epilogue followed by study questions relevant to the particular chapters.

Concordia Publishing House published something similar when it released its beautifully illustrated The Story Bible. With clear wording in simple yet faithful grammar, The Story Bible contains select scriptural texts in an easy-to-read format, but also achieved the rare feat of being edifying for both children and adults, a gap few books successfully bridge. The method of selecting certain texts and using a particular translation in order to better communicate a message is worthwhile and can be faithfully done. That said, we should expect our children eventually to grow into a deeper understanding of Scripture, probing its depths and learning to handle the entire Word of God. The Story contains more Scripture and study questions than the normal children’s book; so for adult neophytes and any Christian seeking to understand the outline of Scripture, a book structured like The Story has its benefits. I especially liked how some of Paul’s epistles were inserted into the Acts narrative to give the reader a sense of continuity between the mission work of Acts and the Pauline corpus.

Unfortunately the few benefits offered by The Story’s structure and form cannot compensate for other looming issues.

Setting aside the translation problems intrinsic to the NIV and the fact mature readers receive only a fraction of Scripture, the main problem with The Story is its doctrine. The Story provides its own commentary on the texts. Woven into the text are footnotes with definitions to particular biblical words and phrases that should concern any Lutheran. For example, consider the hint of modalism in The Story’s definition of the Holy Spirit, defined as the “manifestation of God . . . God is one God but acts in three ‘persons’ of God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Also, the righteous person is the one who “values God above everyone and everything. A righteous person lives a life of obedience to God” (230). The Scriptures teach a strikingly opposite doctrine: righteousness is imputed upon the unbeliever by God through the gift of faith in Jesus Christ. In contrast to Lutheran teaching, baptism is defined not as the work of God in water and his Word, but a “symbolic act demonstrating that new believers have abandoned their former ways and have embarked on new life” (322). The true colors of decision theology become fully revealed in the definition of the gospel, “the message that Jesus has come to reconcile humanity to God and that each individual can accept this underserved gift . . .” (354). Perhaps the most egregious is the definition of justification, the core article of the Christian faith, defined as “the process by which one is made acceptable in the sight of God” (409). Consider the stark contrast to the Lutheran definition: God declares the sinner to be justified for the sake of Christ, a gift apprehended by faith. These definitions are in bold on the bottom of the pages, and the reader is bound to see them.

Most of the study questions are fair, without answers, but indicative of The Story’s Baptist-mystical-works righteous doctrine. While explicitly denying the means of grace elsewhere, some passages in The Story implicitly deny them when it calls us to seek communication from God in the manner of Elijah: “God revealed himself to Elijah in a gentle whisper. What does this tell you about God’s character and methods of communication?” (479).

The Story is more than just a compilation of biblical texts organized in an easy-to-read, narrative format. It promulgates a clear doctrinal position akin to much of that pouring out of the camps of American Evangelicalism. It undermines justification and the means of grace, meaning the doctrine it puts forth is incompatible with Lutheranism. In the context of a Bible study focused on comparing and contrasting different theologies led by faithful pastor or layman, The Story would make for a good study.

As the Word of God exhibiting sound biblical doctrine it comes with no such endorsement.

The Rev. Ryan Ogrodowicz serves as pastor of Victory in Christ Lutheran Church in Newark, Texas.