The Election Controversy Among Lutherans in the Twentieth Century: An Examination of the Underlying Problems
The Election Controversy among Lutherans in the Twentieth Century: An Exa mination of the Underlying Problems. Author: John M. Brenner The Election Controversy of the nineteenth century re-shaped the face of confessional Lutheranism in America. The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America, the leading voice of confessional Lutheranism in America, bore the brunt of the dispute and ultimately dissolved. This dissertation examines the Election Controv ersy with special attention to the twentieth century attempts to resolve it in order to discover the underlying problems that have prevented the opposing sides from reaching a resolution. The disserta tion is written from the viewpoint of the Wisconsin Synod, one of the synods involved in the controversy but often ignored in the discussion of it. The study is needed because contemporary observ ers do not have a good understanding of confessional Lutheranism and Lutheranism’s historic e mphasis on doctrinal purity. The dissertation demonstrates that the underlying caus es of the controversy and the failures to resolve it were departures from Luther’s approach t theology and from the historic Lutheran stress on doctrine and doctrinal agreement for the expression of churc h fellowship. CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter One: The Lutheran Doctrine of Election in the Reformation & Age of Orthodoxy 7 Lutheran Doctrine in the Age of the Reformation 8 Melanchthon’s Theology 24 Formula of Concord (1577) 30 Lutheran Doctrine in the Age of Orthodoxy 35 Summary 43 Chapter Two: The Election Controversy among Lutherans in America in the Nineteenth Century, 1879-1900 45 Confessional Revival in Europe 46 Confessional Lutheranism in America 49 The Election Controversy 65 Reactions outside the Synodical Conference 105 Summary and conclusion 107 Chapter Three: The Free Conferences of the First Decade of the Twentieth Century 109 Relations between Ohio and Iowa 110 The Midwestern Free Conferences 114 Conclusion 134 Chapter Four: The Madison Settlement ( Opgjør) and the Drive to Norwegian Lutheran Union 136 The Lutheran Church in Norway 137 Norwegian Lutheranism in America 141 The Nineteenth Century Break in the Norwegian Synod over Election 144 The Union Movement after 1900 156 The Madison Settlement ( Opgjør) 163 Conclusion 184 Chapter Five: The Intersynodical Movement & the Chicago (Intersynodical) Theses 186 Reformation Anniversaries, Lutheran Mergers, and Movements 187 The Intersynodical Movement 191 The Chicago (Intersynodical) Theses 198 Ohio, Iowa, and Buffalo Fellowship and Merger 217 Conclusion 230 Chapter Six: The Controversy between the Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod 231 Background 232 Winds of Change 239 Missouri – Wisconsin Controversies 244 Conclusion 270 Conclusion 272 Appendix A – Lutheran Federations 277 Appendix B – Synodical Conference Membership 280 Appendix C – Scandinavian Lutheran Synods 281 Appendix D – Main Participants in the Election Controversy 283 Appendix E – Lutheran Mergers 285 Appendix F – Theses 287 Bibliography 310