Saturday, May 21, 2005

Getting started - what about receptionism and AC X?

I am going to jump into a theological topic because I am interested in other's opinions on this. My question has to do with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) holding a open question position on the issue of when the real presence in the Lord's Supper is effected. Is it when the elements are consecrated (consecrationist) or when they are received (receptionist)? In practice, it seems most WELS pastors and laity practice receptionism, but the official position of the Synod is that it is an open question. When I read the Augsburg Confession, article X, I see a strong position taken that the consecrationalist position is consistent with the Lutheran Confessions.

I sent my question into the WELS Q & A (quite a resource) and I encourage you to read it for yourself.

http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=&cuItem_itemID=8848

I am left feeling like the reply was not very solid. I understand that we cannot extrapolate from what is written in the Confessions and that there is not a lot written in this article X, however, what I see there does answer the question.

What do you think?