Let me tell you why I think our lead article in this issue, the one by E. F. Klug, is signally important for every reader. A titanic theological struggle is going on today in several denominations, but the real issues of this struggle are seldom known and understood by the clergy, let alone the people in the pews. We think our readers want to know what underlies this controversy, the outcome of which will affect the Church for a long time.
Dr. Klug writes from a Lutheran perspective, and the Missouri Synod theological battle has been the most publicized, thanks primarily to the forthright stand of the Synod president (see also the editorial on page 26). Similar problems, however, face the larger Southern Baptist Convention as well as the Roman Catholic Church. In both, the “official” theological image is one thing while what is generally being taught to prospective ministers is quite another. Influential church leaders either are unable to cope with the rising tide of liberal thought or refuse to do so, in the name of “peace and harmony.”
We publish Dr. Klug’s essay with the hope that it will promote discussion, bring an end to name-calling and motive-attribution, and generate a trend toward genuine theological integrity, without which no Christian denomination can long survive as such.
