The power and source of doctrine is the Scriptures. History can be illuminating, and should be considered respectfully, but tradition can only show something is not completely new. God does not change, and neither does His truth. Lutherans have always used history in a supportive way, without bending God’s Word to the to the words of well-meaning sinners. Chan says in the video described below: “There were some things about communion that always bothered me when I read about it in Scripture.” He admits that his church did not have the “devotion to communion” mentioned in Acts 2:42, it was basically a “meaningless ritual” that was easily overdone.
Then Chan said this passage was unique in the New Testament and did not align with his thinking, so this warning “troubled” him: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:27). “No one warns that you could die doing this.”
We should not try to make Scripture reasonable and appealing, but let God make His own appeal in His own words. –ed.
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