Prof. Joel Biermann and the Bible: “biblianity”? (Part 1)

      What is actually taught in the seminaries of the LC–MS today? I came across a discussion of this point regarding a certain professor at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Prof. Joel Biermann (see here). There are videos of at least some of his classroom lectures on Concordia's own website, and some of those have been uploaded to YouTube, making it easier to navigate and access the actual words that he spoke. One particular lecture was called out for its provocative content, his "Systematics III 05" class lecture published in 2016. The video may be viewed from Concordia's website, but the better way to view it is from its upload to YouTube, until it is taken down by the uploader Pablo Velázquez or YouTube. (It appears at this time that this lecture has been viewed more than all other uploads of Velázquez.) So our initial question can at least be partially answered by viewing this 1 hour 20 minute video. 

      The provocative nature of the lecture can perhaps best be characterized by a statement made at the 7:07 mark:

“It’s not bibliantity, it’s Christianity.”

Our professor was addressing the question of how one begins to discuss the Christian faith with one outside the faith.  But it is the way that he phrased his statement that makes it a false dichotomy, "a premise that erroneously limits what options are available" so that "it asserts that one among a number of alternatives must be true." (Wikipedia) It appears to place Christianity in opposition to believing the Bible. Biermann confirms his low view of the Bible when he says of his own preaching, at the 33:23 mark:

"But I quote a Bible verse maybe once in 10 sermons."

Why quote the Bible even that one time?…isn't that one time a case of "biblianity"? Could it be that Biermann considers himself as the source of Christian truth, instead of the Bible? — This is what is actually taught in the classrooms of today's LC–MS, these are the actual words of a prominent teacher of their seminarians. This teaching is what will be the teaching of their future pastors. This likely is the current teaching of the majority of today's LC–MS pastors. It must be this way since this lecture has been publicly available for 8 years and there has been no public outcry against it in the LC–MS.

      But the Bible does not speak like Prof. Biermann, it does not make use of false dichotomies:

John 1:1 – “…and the Word (i.e. 'biblianity') was God,”, 

or Greek: “and God was the Word.”

Neither do the Lutheran Confessions:

"…the Word of God alone should be and remain the only standard and rule of doctrine, … to which everything should be subjected." Formula of Concord (SD Rule & Norm, 9; Triglotta p. 855):

And what about 2 Timothy 4:2:  “Preach the word”.

      In 9 out of 10 sermons, Prof. Biermann chooses not to "be subjected" to the Word. O, but he says that he preaches "Christ!" — That the Missouri Synod in Walther's day did not teach like Biermann has been documented many times on this blog, so I will not quote Walther against him. But I would quote a opponent of Walther, from the old Iowa Synod, who surprisingly strikes at the heart of Biermann's teaching on Holy Scripture… in the next Part 2.

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Part 1: Prof. Joel Biermann and the Bible: “biblianity”?

Part 2: Fritschel on LC–MS's Biermann: is he a Christian?

Part 3: Biermann, Piepkorn and… Jehovah's Witnesses?