From one extreme to another . .

I blogged in August of 2024 how the Lutheran World Federation was making a gesture to the Orthodox by coming out (yes, pun intended), for the elimination the filioque from the Nicene Creed.  As many already know by this point, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America actually did just that by act of their Church Wide Assembly just weeks ago.  

Just in case you are scratching your head, this addition to the creed nearly 700 years after it was adopted became a major reason for the breach between the East and the West -- although it was never the only cause.  By the time Benedict VIII had added “and the Son” to the third article of the Nicene Creed and changed (some say clarified) the procession of the Holy Spirit, there were a host of issues leading to a division.  Of course, the Nicene Creed was ratified by one ecumenical council in 325 and changed slightly but adopted by another ecumenical council in 381.  That did not stop then Pope Benedict VIII from making a change in the wording of the creed nor did he ever consult with the East in making the change.  It could be said that this was less a theological act of clarification than it was a bald and bold assertion of his alleged universal jurisdiction in the whole Church -- something that the East had refused to acknowledge before and still do.  So it was that the “Great Schism” of 1054 occurred some five centuries before the Reformation and then dwarfing the Reformation in terms of the sheer numbers of people involved.

Okay, back to my point.  The chin scratching thing in this is the presumption of the LWF or the ELCA that this represents a significant change and perhaps the removal of a major impediment in their relations with the Orthodox.  That is simply laughable.  There is a greater chance that Rome will recognize the legitimacy of the Missouri Synod's confession, ministry, and sacraments than the East would do the same for the ELCA.  I could say the same about Missouri and the East cuddling up long before the ELCA got in the same county with the Orthodox.  Even though both of those are a stretch, it does point out the problem here.  You cannot be concerned with something like the procession of the Holy Spirit either from the Father or the Father and the Son and then get on the train to Hootersville by ignoring everything else and ordaining women, abandoning the male/female shape of marriage by God's design, embrace the fluidity of genders, proclaim a gospel of climate change and social justice, and such.  These will kill any hopes of an accommodation between the ELCA and the East long before you even get to the Creed.

And then there is the other problem.  Do you think that you can remove these three words from the memory of those who regularly still confess the Nicene Creed in the congregations of the ELCA?  Will there be creed police or a goon squad to hush the lips of those who dare to speak from memory what they have confessed over the years?  What about the books in the pews?  Will pages be ripped out or little stickers send out to blank out the words from the pages or bottles of White Out distributed from the national office in Chicago?  Who is going to explain this to the folks in the pews (especially since they did such a good job giving a reasoned explanation for the ordination of women or the sex change of the 2009 CWA?  Who is going to review all the publications which had been sent out and correct their mistake in the Creed or point to the change so that folks get it?

It is a cheap and easy gesture.  It looks good for the imagery of it all but it makes so little difference and it shows something terribly sad.  The ELCA has no "sacred cows" when it comes to the major doctrines of the Creed and owes no allegiance to the West there but has revealed that opening all roles to women, embracing all definitions of marriage, and welcoming every gender anyone can feel are so very much more important than a serious discussion of the Trinity.  It is as curious as liberals who cozy up to the Muslims who violate every tenet of their progressive worldview only to yell at conservative Christians for being misogynist or homophobic or pillagers of the earth.  Oh, yeah, that makes real sense.  Let me just say that this is a reminder that we need an honest realignment of Christianity with those who hold to the orthodox and catholic faith and sacramental life together and those who play with religion as if it were a tool of cultural change in another.  But we all know that will not happen anytime sooner than the Orthodox getting into bed with a willing ELCA.