THE SPRINGFIELDER December 1971 Volume 35, Number 3 l:1~.11 \l;U 1. SC~IVI,TZ I'I-L'\I~~cTI~~. C ct~icol-din Theological Serninary ( 1970- \ Professor ( 1965- \ , S 1j.c c clc.l>l.c~tc~ the 12 5 t21 iinni\.ersar\. of-' Concordin Theological A Sen1 in;lr) ill Sprirlgficltl. lllinois \;.e mill be rerielving much histon. IIistor!., ill OIICC SCIISC, is 311 accurate record of "what liapl~e~~c'(l." Ho\\ u\-cr, histor\ includes also the varying interpreta- tions of "\\ h;lt hnppcnccl." :is n minor contribution to the remem- 1,r;incc of \cars past. ant1 from thc vantage point of the president's office, I st~oi11cl likc to comi~~ent abo~it the reputation or image of tllt. \pri~igiicltl sc.n~in;ir\.. Thc changing image of thc instituti.on is ;, sj~i~ific;i~it t'ii~t~~' ill jts histor!.. There mnv bc :I notablc scr\*icc connc.ctc.cl to thi5 little offcring if solllc ghosts 6f thc past can propcrly t)~ Ii~itl to rest. I-hc.1-c is. ill thc' first pIncc, the image of iizferiorit), to cicaI it. T.:~~l~lic'iiiistic.aill~~, thC Springfield seminary \\.as called "the 1 cii." \\110lc snerntions of clerg!: of the synod who !f \\.crc t.eluc;~tc.d clsc\vhcrc. knmr that "practical ~neant "inferior. Stl-:~ngc.l!, thih juclgrnont clid not rcblatc to the condition of the c;impus. I:oIIic'king tales of olcl gracls about buildings with picturesclue l~~cuelon\-~i~s a5 "Cilhtlc Gardens," "the Sheep Stable" ai1d "the Kaffce- m~1c.111c" rc.\eal that tliis cnllipus \\.as not an architectual gcm. Likc the C'11iiic.s~~ terln rlucstion, the closing of Springfield was a perennial argulncnt in s\-nod. The: "inferior" imagc. of Springfield did not reflect cstim;ltci of tlw phtsical property; most people weren't sure just \\.hic11 of the man!- ~i,rin~ficlds in the L7.S.A. contair~cd "the other" scm iilnr\. rl~ iliferiorit! image resulted from an cstimatc of the required c.ul-t-icirlunl anct, b!- inference. of the stude~lt product of the seminary. Iuclgcd 11:. i~cacle~nic. stmelards which placed a high ~~remium on a knon lctly of tIlc classical languages (and a years-long struggle with 1 1 I., lltr Arznhnsis, The Ilia[!, The Od?sse!., I'lato's ljiclloylles, Dc Ciriiatis Dei) and on a mental discipline theory of Icarning, the Springfield curricuIum 1t.m inferior. The continuation of thc school inclicatcd an uneasiness about blocki;ing the road into the ministry for incn of superior piety who (primarily because of ;\gel \\.c.rc hot considered capable of the standard academic hurdles. S~~ringficld graduates bore the image throughout their lives. The stigma \\-as gCncrall\. applied gentlv and back-handed]? by the with- holding of an\ expectations' from Springfield grads. Traces of this arc cridcnt right here on campus when we bolster our own ego noting with glee the election of a Springfield graduate to a district presiclcncv. Has the inferioritv image been exorcised? Two elements have conspired to change ii. First, ideas of what constitutes a good theological education have changed. ?Tot merely practical skills, but also the development of thc i~ldivjdual ill ~llc. ]~.ts~ol-,~l 1-ol~3 Jla\.c come to the fore. Knowledge of thc Biblc nncl il~tc.t.pl-r~ti~c~ skills rc- main at thc core. Sc~crthclcss, ministr! tixlir!. is 4c.c.n li.55 by-product of thc aciidemic study of thcolog! i111tl ~llol.c. its ;I iliscil,lillc in its own right. Sccond, thc actual curriculuni ;it C;p~-iii~ficld has changed so that it is a challenge to collegc gracluatci \\ itil .I I);~i~l,cl~~'~ degree. About 90 per cent of the Springfield sti~clen ts gl-;lcl~~;~tc\ fronl college before entering the seminary. The changing ~iatul-c 01' tllco- logical education and Springfield's changing rul-rii,ulu~n ha\ c c.on- verged to eradicate justification for thc infct-iority ima$e. .\lorro\.cr, the Lord of the Church has granted cffccti1.c ant\ po\\ ~~rf ul 111 inistries to many Springfield graduates. Sot the Icast of [he fitctors \\hich have contributed to our abilitv to scrvc \\.ith disliilction is a t'ncult\. of dedicated and highly trained tcachcrs. The other facet of Springfield's image is moi.c diflic.ult to clclinc. The term most frequently used is "conscrs-nti\.c." l'coj>lc 1ia1.c referred to "Springfield mcntnlity" and "Springfield tflcolo~y." Somc call us conservative and add a pra!.er that wc \\.ill rc111:lin thilt 11-nv. Others who use the term are at least s~~spicious thnl \\c arc sol~ic.ho\\- blocking the progress of thc church by conscr\-atism. The\ 1>ri1\ that we will loosen up a bit. In clealiiig n.ith this part of our image we are thrown into a scniantic maelstrom. \\'h:tt is Iilcnnt bs "con- senative"? If ronservati\.e meals reaction;ir!?, ;~nli-int~lI~ct~id. l~~illi~ti~, fundamentalistic, Biblicistic or any otIler of many l~ossiblc adjcctivcs tvhich all basically means "bad," wc reject tlic image. If othckrs jmposc it-for whatever reason-n-c arc not able to protcct our institution against the image. If iildiz.idzlals connectccl \\.it11 0111- institution deserve the approbrium of these terms, we u~~douhtccllv must share the blaiile to some cxtent. A school does riot bear total kc.slmnsihilit!- for its products, but it lilust be significantly responsihlc.. If, on the other hand, "conservati\~c" nlcans a firni acc,cj,t:incc of the canonictil Scriptures as the inspircd and inerrant \\'orel of God and the Lutheran Confessions as n correct and binding cxj,osi- tion of the faith of the Scriptures, wc acccpt thc imagc. It is con- servative to believe in and l~roclairn what Gocl teaches as truth in the Scriptures. Our faculty and graduates ~nntst 111ect tlic test of' co~i- fessing that salvation has been provided alone through tIic shed blood of God's Son, the llliracles arc metaphysical rralitics. that Jesus is both true God and true man, that His bod!. and bloocl arc really present in the sacrament, that baptism has sa\,ing power, that creation was a deliberate act of an omnipotent God-and the whole range of Scriptural doctrine. There is not space in this article to review our total doctrinal stance. But it is conscrvativc. Doctrine is precious to us. So, likewise, is evangelical practice. \Ye arc cull- cerned to retain God's revealed truths in their purity and to reject denials of revealed truth. We are equally concerned to sharc God's saving truth with all men by the most effecti\.c mralls nt our dis- l~~;ll. .J.'IIC ~;~(:it .~>tutu scl~olurship and the ~~lost jnvr~~ti\~e techniques of co~nl~i~ll~ic;ltio~l iirc' IICICOII~C on this calnpus. 'l17e reject a literal- istic nplx-c-)nc.ll to Scripture c1.~11 as \~c confess that wc are boulld fore\-cr I,\- t l~c tioct~incs of Script~~rc. Il'c covet the image of a supcrios cCi i~lstituti~~~ill i~lstitution \r-hich is unflinchingly co~~scrv;iti\.c j:~ til~ 1)ust traditions of e\.angclical 1-uthcranism. IInI-illg \tl-ugglcd to clefir~c thc conscr\.ativc nature of our seminar!-, I xnsc thilt nlv ctefinition is not \-cry 21elpful. It will be ~'decotlclcd" in different n6.s by \.arious readers. Somc \\.ill read it as 3 tiresomc 1-ccital of thc obvious. Some will see in it sonie sort of sulltlc evasion. Otllcrs may scnse it as a self-righteous judp~ent of others. To all \\.holn we invite to cclcbrate God's abundant blessings with 11s 11-c inust finally say, "Comc to ki1o.r.r. and understand our totnl ministr\- nncl for111 n inaturc image of Sl>ringfield."