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Does the following sound consistant with what you said? During the service, the minister led the congregation to recite a forgiveness confession that was displayed on the over-head.
After this the minister said something to the effect of: "Based on your confession and on the authority as a minister of the Gospel, I proclaim that your sins are forgiven." To me this sounds like easy believism. 1. It is not all that uncommon even in Reformed circles by some (many?) elders to view/presume the entire membership of the congregation as true members of Christ, contra to how the Puritans viewed their membership as a 'mixed group' of true and false believers. 2. However, without a qualified statement by the elder, e.g., 'To all those who are truly united to Christ by a living faith, your sins are forgiven on the basis of the merits of Christ's atoning sacrifice.', to state that based upon a group recitation of a printed confession by every attendee, every individual who was present and read that statement has been pardoned of their sins is presumptuous to say the least. 3. Re: 'easy believism'... I really can't see a direct connection between what you saw/heard and easy believism, although perhaps there is some similarity one could make if one stretched things a bit. 
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Joined: Apr 2001
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Needs to get a Life
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OP
Needs to get a Life
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 4,893 Likes: 49 |
Peter
Yes I read the links you provided, but I don't quite see any obvious links to what I experienced in that particular Lutheran Church.
I want to say that I don’t have any problem with the confession the congregation read. What I had a problem with is the minister absolving the sins of all the congregation (I didn’t hear any qualification) based on their reading of the confession.
One of the things that a minister should be aware of is that many people only attend Church Christmas and Easter.
Just so you are aware; that particular Church is a Canadian affiliate of the Missouri Synod.
Tom
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Joined: Apr 2001
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Needs to get a Life
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OP
Needs to get a Life
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 4,893 Likes: 49 |
Does the following sound consistant with what you said? During the service, the minister led the congregation to recite a forgiveness confession that was displayed on the over-head.
After this the minister said something to the effect of: "Based on your confession and on the authority as a minister of the Gospel, I proclaim that your sins are forgiven." To me this sounds like easy believism. 1. It is not all that uncommon even in Reformed circles by some (many?) elders to view/presume the entire membership of the congregation as true members of Christ, contra to how the Puritans viewed their membership as a 'mixed group' of true and false believers. 2. However, without a qualified statement by the elder, e.g., 'To all those who are truly united to Christ by a living faith, your sins are forgiven on the basis of the merits of Christ's atoning sacrifice.', to state that based upon a group recitation of a printed confession by every attendee, every individual who was present and read that statement has been pardoned of their sins is presumptuous to say the least. 3. Re: 'easy believism'... I really can't see a direct connection between what you saw/heard and easy believism, although perhaps there is some similarity one could make if one stretched things a bit. What you said in #1 makes sense and could explain this. Perhaps it was a little bit of a stretch to call this "easy believism". I would call it very presumptuous, for both the minister to absolve the sin of people he didn't know and for the people who may believe that because the minister said their sins are absolved. Especially when many of them only attend Church Christmas and Easter. Tom
Last edited by Tom; Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:27 PM.
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