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38 LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW XV had become a central article of faith. Preus recapitulates the teaching of the earlier dogmaticians in saying that God’s foreknowledge is connected to divine providence, and sets limits on evil and controls all things to God’s glory, but is not the cause of evil. Predestination “effects, foreordains, and causes everything that pertains to the salvation of individual sinners”, but it must be seen only in the light of the Gospel and the Means of Grace. 76 Therefore, “since election is part of the Gospel, there is no predestination to damnation.” 77 This of course excludes all works righteousness. It also excludes election intuitu fidei “in view of faith”, foreseen by God in eternity, an idea first introduced by Aegidius Hunnius (1550-1603). 78 CONCLUSION As we have seen, it was this notion of intuitu fidei that F. A. Schmidt accepted and on account of which he opposed Walther and the Synodical Conference—a false teaching that Busch tried to minimize in his 1982 article on the Predestinarian Controversy, attempting to reduce a substantial doctrinal controversy to a personality clash between Walther and Schmidt, with the clear implication that the Seminex controversy was likewise a personality clash between J. A. O. Preus and John Tietjen. The Predestinarian Controversy thus becomes a paradigm for modern theological conflicts—doctrine doesn’t matter all that much; controversy stems from ivory tower theologians who squabble and argue and talk past each other. In this view, all denominations teach pretty much the same thing—something about Jesus—so we can minimize doctrinal differences for the sake of external unity in the church. As a result, liberal church bodies like the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A and the Episcopal Church U.S.A. have entered into altar and pulpit fellowship with one another. Conservative church bodies take doctrine more seriously. They recognize that external unity can only be achieved by internal unity—that is, full agreement on all points of Christian doctrine. Of course one point of doctrine over which there is serious disagreement is Predestination. Arminians and Calvinists and Lutherans have markedly different interpretations, with each group insisting that it is interpreting the Bible correctly. I hope that the Lutheran contribution to this topic might be helpful in helping to resolve this controversy and furthering Christian understanding and unity. 76 Preus, 273. 77 Preus, 274. 78 Preus, 275.
BAUE: THE CURRENT DEBATE ON PREDESTINATION 39 Rev. Frederic (Fritz) Baue, Ph.D., pastor, author, and musician, is currently serving Bethany Lutheran Church, Fairview Heights, Illinois, U.S.A. (LCMS).
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