ROUGHLY EDITED COPY CUENet AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION DOGMATICS 2 LESSON 41 Captioning Provided By: Caption First, Inc. 10 E. 22nd Street Suite 304 Lombard, IL 60148 800-825-5234 *** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. *** >> Thank you. I have another question. Eric has referred to the fact that in his area of the country, he works amongst people who have a Catholic background or understanding of faith. In my region of the country I find myself introducing people who grew up Reformed to Lutheranism. And I've encountered an interesting question which I would like to pose to you. How does Lutheran theology differ from Reformed theology in what each says about the phrase in the Creeds which asserts that after Christ ascended into heaven, he sat down at the right hand of God? >> DR. DAVID SCAER: You don't have to live in an area of the country where Reformed churches are prominent to have this kind of a problem. Because many Reformed ideas creep into Lutheran thinking. That many of our people are much more at home with what the Reformed are doing. This may account for the great attraction that Billy Graham and other evangelists have for many of our members. And the best way to handle this particular question is what Billy Graham holds. Billy Graham has said in his preaching that when Jesus ascended, he went into the outer limits of the universe and he sat down there. And this is typically Reformed theology. And also held by John Calvin. That to sit down at the right hand of God means that Jesus went to a particular place. Well, maybe you would like to just do a word study on this. But when the Old Testament says that the right hand of the Lord does victoriously, we are the people of his posture and the sheep of his hand, that doesn't mean we're sheep. That doesn't mean we're in his hand. That doesn't mean God has a hand coming out of heaven. Now, I do know and you know, too, that in the great works of art by Michelangelo that we picture God in an anthropomorphic way. His picture of God created Adam, we have no problem with that at all. It has God stretching out a hand to Adam and Adam grasps the hand. But we know God doesn't have a hand in that particular sense. So why would we say now that he sat down on the right hand of God? And just look at the way we use language today. He's my right handed man. That in no means means that guy is going around holding your right hand. It has nothing to do with whether it comes to the right or the left. It is true, by the way, and if you're the pastor and you're arranging an important occasion, you would know that the person of prominence sits on the right hand. And when the disciples, James and John, came to Jesus asking if he could sit on the left or the right hand, they didn't mean to say that wherever Jesus would be, they would be at his right or left hand. It means the place which is closest to God. And then there's also -- when you say that the right hand of God is a place, you then get yourself involved in the world of astrophysics of which I must say I don't know all that much. And whatever is said today will probably be changed a generation or a hundred years from now. Because our idea of what the universe is completely changes from time to time. I like this explanation of Jesus sitting down at the right hand of God: It means that he enters into the sacramental life of the church. Because it is in the sacraments that the authority and saving power of God is active. Where is the strength of God? Enjoining people to Jesus in baptism. Where is the right hand of God? Forgiving people through the Holy Communion, through the body and blood of Christ. I think -- this is a question which I think when -- in your preaching on Ascension Day that you're going to have to address quite specifically. But please remember this: There is no way that you are completely going to divest your congregation of having ideas which are much closer to the Reformed. But this is no excuse for you to become depressed. Neither is it an accuse for you to superimpose your ideas in a forceful way on people but to help them to understand these two things. And let's go back to the resurrection. What does the resurrection mean? It doesn't mean that Jesus assumes a life here on earth. It means he enters into a new reality which is the life of God. *** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. ***