Version History
Current published version
Today's Business, Issue 3. p. 342. Revised published proposal.
Official Resolution Source Text
Resolution: 8-05
Canonical number: 8-05
Committee: Finance
Source: Today's Business, Issue 1
Printed pages: p. 137
PDF pages: 137
Version: original, superseded
Source reference: Issue 1, p. 137
Line numbers follow Today's Business, Issue 1, with numbering reset on each printed page, so delegates can compare this page with the official PDF.
Page 137
- To Give Thanks for Concordia Publishing House’s Use of Bible Translations
- RESOLUTION 8-05
- Overtures 8-07–08 (CW, 440–41)
- WHEREAS, We accept without reservation that the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament are “the written Word
- of God and the only rule and norm of faith and of practice” (Const. Art. II); and
- WHEREAS, Passages of Holy Scripture are used throughout the hymnals, catechisms, and other printed resources of
- the Synod: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training
- in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16); inasmuch as is feasible and prudent, we should endeavor to have translations that are
- consistent and faithful; and
- WHEREAS, Throughout our history going back even to Luther, Bible translations have never been fully stable; even
- Luther revised his German Bible multiple times, and English translations in Synod hymnals have shifted from the King
- James Version to the New International Version to the English Standard Version (ESV); and
- WHEREAS, In 2003, the Commission on Theology and Church Relations cautiously noted the challenges presented by
- different English Bible translations, declined to adjudicate among them, and left the Commission on Worship to choose
- which translation to use for the Lutheran Service Book (LSB); and
- WHEREAS, 2004 Resolution 2-03A, “To Accept Lutheran Service Book and Agenda as an Official Service Book and
- Hymnal of Synod” (Proceedings, 124) approved the LSB with the ESV translation and rejected an amendment to allow
- voting on the translation used; and
- WHEREAS, Concordia Publishing House (CPH) gives preference to the ESV in its resources, as it aligns with the LSB,
- which was approved by Synod and adopted by over 90 percent of our congregations (Matthew Harrison, “Singing the
- Gospel,” The Lutheran Witness, Oct. 2019); therefore be it
- Resolved, That we give thanks to CPH for its continued efforts of identifying and utilizing translations available that
- best serve the mission of the Church, and further support its faithful stewardship and partnership with Synod.
