Dr. Jacob A. O. Preus, president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, delivered a strongly worded, comprehensive, candid report to the delegates of the forty-ninth biennial convention of that denomination (see page 16), which is divided over doctrinal as well as ecclesiastical matters. We are publishing part of Preus’s address in this issue and urge every subscriber to read it carefully.
While Preus’s remarks are directed primarily to his own church, the doctrinal controversies he considers are similar to those that plague every large denomination today. Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists—all have engaged in some form of doctrinal struggle. The question of the authority, inspiration, and interpretation of Scripture is the core of the controversy; this question ultimately determines one’s whole theology. In recent years strongly evangelical groups have surfaced in leading, theologically liberal denominations. At the same time some traditionally evangelical denominations are reversing their strong stand of orthodoxy. All of this suggests that many stormy days lie ahead.
