Western Theology

This article regarding the development of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland since the 1970's was published in French in Istina 2017.  The focus is especially on the relationship between state and church and ecumenical developments in the ELCF.

The focus of the ecumenical discussion of the place of deacons in the ordained ministry seems to concern how theologically and practically to embed the ministry within a sacramental communion ecclesiology in a way that reveals its significance as a sign and instrument of faith, hope, and love. How can we draw constructive and forward-looking conclusions from the vision that " diakonia " starts from the altar, and includes both liturgical and practical service in words and deeds, to function as a sign and instrument of the Kingdom? This is essentially connected with the question of how the Church can credibly follow her Lord. As an ordained ministry, the ministry of the deacon should reflect the balance of Trinitarian unity and the distinctiveness of the Trinity's persons. Moreover, the ordained ministry participates in the ministry of Christ the Deacon. How can the legacy of the Early Church and the patristic texts revitalise and concretise this vision? We begin here with Vatican II and its accompanying theological renewal, and continue with an examination of the Lima Document and the Porvoo Declaration to assess the concrete contemporary ecumenical situation.

Because the signing of the Leuenberg Agreement in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) was rejected specifically on theological grounds, it's appropriate to analyze the arguments theologically and to find out if the basic situation has, from this point of view, changed – not forgetting the practical side of the matter. 2 The main focus of this paper is on the systematic theological analysis of the decision made by the General Synod and on evaluating whether these arguments are still valid. Analysis of the church's political tendencies both now and then and of the general historical background as well as the innovating of new constructive solutions is left out. In the description of the general discussion, only the most important addresses, from the point of view of theological evaluation, are dealt with. The most important task here is to explicate the theological and ecumenical intentions lying behind the 1977 decision and to reflect on how the argumentation is congruent with the ecumenical line

The Lutheran-Roman Catholic Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), signed in 1999, remains one of the most significant ecumenical achievements. Furthermore, it paves the way towards the ecumenical celebration of 500 years of Reformation in 2017. However, the declaration awakened strong criticism, especially during the preparation and publication phase, and has to some extent continued to do so since that time. 1 Professor (em.) Eberhard Jüngel, a United Church (Reformed-Lutheran) theologian, started wide discussion among German university theologians which led to a critical statement, signed by 160 German professors. Surprisingly enough, Jüngel himself did not, in the end, sign the statement but pointed out that JDDJ gives an opportunity to move beyond doctrinal judgments to continue the work with these questions. 2 I would like to investigate Jüngel's (b. 1934) understanding of the doctrine of justification and to ask why he arrived at a critical position whereas another noteworthy German systematic theologian, internationally even more famous than Jüngel, the Lutheran Wolfhart Pannenberg (b. 1928) considered the criticism too sharp and saw in it echoes of the old controversy theology model of building Protestant identity in a negative way, through distancing itself from Rome. According to Pannenberg, the criticism did not do justice to the text of JDDJ. He asks: " How can anyone who has read the Joint Declaration make such ungrounded claims? " 3 In order to uncover the points of departure in the thought of these theologians, in addition to their confessional backgrounds, let us first analyze the arguments in their theologies of justification and compare their positions before drawing conclusions regarding the broader theological and ecumenical implications of their positions.

Baptism as the Sacrament of Unity Baptism is the foundational sacrament of unity. It is fundamental for fellowship with God and among Christians (Eph. 4:2-6). The recognition of baptism is crucial for ecclesiology and other Christian doctrines in this context. From the Lutheran perspective this is the case especially because of its soteriological significance. Faith, baptism, and baptismal education are parts of the same whole: being and living as a Christian.