Strangers to Sisters - Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Library: Essays

that poor, unscriptural hermeneutics that misused reason and tradition were the culprits
behind the selling of the Madison Settlement. Secondly, during a time when there was no
seminary, college, or synodical machinery of which to speak, the convention essays were
the chief means of uniting the pastors and parishioners of the newly re-organized Synod
together in a common confession based solely upon God’s Word. They are solid evidence
of the conscious desire among the ELS pastors, teachers and parishioners to properly
expound and apply the Holy Scriptures. The following list of conference essays shows
just how much proper Scriptural hermeneutics were upon the minds of the ELS pastors,
teachers and laymen during their first decades of existence:
1919 – The Scriptural Principle – M.K. Bleken
1922 – The Bible and Evolution – J.E. Thoen
1924 – The Power of the Word of God – Christian Andersen
1933 - The Literal and Figurative Language in Scripture – E. Ylvisaker
1936 – Our Heritage and Our Responsibility – J.A. Moldstad
1938 – The Clearness of Scripture – S.C. Ylvisaker
1940 – The Question of Non-fundamentals in the Light of Scripture – S.C. Ylvisaker
1942 – The Scripture Cannot Be Broken – Torald Teigen; The Importance of the
Doctrine of Verbal Inspiration of the Bible- C.M Gullerud
1943- Sola Scriptura- J.A. Petersen
1952 – Ask for the Old Paths – Christian Anderson.
The first principle of biblical interpretation, that the Word of God alone is the sole
source and norm of theology, and because of that it is also the only sure and perfect rule
for faith and life, is clearly elucidated. Torald Teigen makes this point abundantly clear in
his 1942 conference essay The Scripture Cannot Be Broken,
The inspiration of Scripture is what makes the Scriptures
the Word of God. And since Scripture is God’s Word from
beginning to end, it is of the highest authority to which we
can appeal. Because it is in every word the Word of God, it
is a Word that cannot make a mistake …to concede that it
is not the inspired Word of God in every word is to make
the concession that it might contain error. To make such a
41