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The American Interim: Magdeburg Applied to Today

These Lutherans – they make one’s heart beat high! This is a worthy read The American Interim by Karl R. Hess. We pray you take the time to read it all. May Christ be praised!

From the article:

But Magdeburg’s teaching regarding the purpose of government is probably the biggest affront to the American Interim, and the most significant example of the way the Lutheran Church has edited or forgotten the teaching of its fathers in order to escape the wrath of the American regime.  Just as Melanchthon sought peace with the emperor by developing a compromise Interim, so the Lutheran Church in America, wittingly or not, has tried to preserve what it considered the most important articles of Christian doctrine by forgetting, remaining silent about, or rejecting those teachings of the Lutheran Church of the past that would infuriate American sensibilities.

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According to Magdeburg, the government is responsible before God to uphold His Law.  It is not free to promote homosexual marriage, transgenderism, abortion, or demand that the United States be just as open to Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Norse paganism, or Satanism as it is to Christianity.  It is not that, as a matter of prudence, a government in a religiously diverse nation may not deal more leniently with worshippers of false gods than one in which Christianity is the religion of the state.  But it is also not the case that a ruler can have a clean conscience before God if he makes no effort to uphold God’s Law according to both tables, and say, “Although I am a Christian and think homosexual marriage is forbidden by God, nevertheless as a servant of the United States government I am required to let each man do what is right in his own eyes.” [click here to read the whole article]

Article posted with permission from Matt Trewhella

Matthew Trewhella

Matthew Trewhella is the pastor of Mercy Seat Christian Church (MercySeat.net). He and his wife, Clara, have eleven children and reside in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. You can obtain his book The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates: A Proper Response to Tyranny and A Repudiation of Unlimited Obedience to Civil Government at Amazon.com or by going to the websites www.DefyTyrants.com or www.LesserMagistrate.com.

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