The Twelfth summary point of my longer explanation of the PMW says:
When the statement includes the titles "professor of theology" and
"synod president" in a list of those which fall into the pastoral
office, it assumes that such vocations are defined in accordance with
AC articles V, XIV, and XXVIII, and the Treatise on the Power and
Primacy of the Pope. That is, the duties of these vocations are
primarily the administration of the external means of grace, and any
distinction between them and other titles for the pastoral office is
purely by human arrangement, not from God's Word. If such a title is
found to be defined in conflict with these principles, then the
doctrinal statement's categorization does not apply: it is not part
of the pastoral office.
The assumption I point out here is rather important. Take the office of
President, for example. Someone may say that the office of synod
president must fall into the pastoral office, because the synod is a
churchly organization. OK, let's see where that takes us. We are
familiar with other presidents, aren't we? Yes, in fact every
congregation has a president, usually elected in much the same way as
the synod president, only by a smaller body. And isn't a Christian
congregation a churchly organization, at least as much as the synod? Of
course it is. So if that's the reason the office of synod president
must be an instance of the pastoral office, then those who preside in
our congregations should also be considered pastors.
The example above is only meant to show how carefully we need to
consider exactly what we mean by "professor of theology" or "synod
president." What are the criteria? According to our Confessions, the
pastoral office is characterized by its primary duties, which are the
administration of the external means of grace.
Professors of theology may sometimes be considered to be pastors with
specialized calls to teach God's Word on Christ's behalf, for benefit of
the whole Church. That's how Martin Luther understood his doctorate and
professorship. On the other hand, we may also have people who teach
theology on a different basis.
Our Confessions are especially helpful in defining what the office of
synod president should entail. They state that any distinction between
those who hold the pastoral office is to be considered a merely human
arrangement. So if the synod president is also called primarily to
administer the external means of grace, then great care must be taken
not to grant him special authority over other pastors on account of his
office. (We know such an arrangement well by this time, in Rome.)
Beside that, I'm not sure that the synod understands the pastoral nature
of its president's duties as well as it should. More study is needed in
this area, especially in light of the relatively recent shift to a
full-time presidency.
Recent Comments