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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has done it again. In a shocking display of arrogance, a spokesperson at its 2025 Churchwide Assembly publicly condemned certain Bible passages as "harmful" and "patriarchal." In other words, the ELCA is now on record declaring that God Himself made mistakes when He inspired His Word.
This isn't a minor issue. This is the beating heart of the Christian faith. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Word of God. As Jesus Himself said in John 17:17, "Your Word is truth." Paul affirms in 2 Timothy 3:16 that "All Scripture is God-breathed." Not some of it. Not just the verses we like. All of it. And yet, the ELCA's leadership is now essentially saying, "We'll take the parts of Scripture that fit our culture's trends, but the rest? God must not have meant that."
The video from the Assembly leaves no ambiguity. Verses like Genesis 3:16 (on the curse of the Fall), Exodus 20:17 (on coveting, which includes a neighbor's wife), and 1 Corinthians 11 (on headship and sacrificial love) are cited as examples of texts that must not really reflect God's will. They're accused of being responsible for "gender-based violence" and "restricted access" to healthcare and economics. This is theological malpractice at its highest level.
Let's be clear: Genesis 3:16 is not a prescription of abuse. It is a description of the curse on humanity after the Fall. Exodus 20:17 doesn't degrade women--it elevates them, forbidding their objectification and treating them as persons whose dignity must not be violated. And 1 Corinthians 11? It doesn't reduce women to second-class citizens but gives them a sacred role within God's design, modeled after the loving relationship between Christ and His church.
This is not just about a handful of verses. It is about whether the church believes the Bible is God's Word or a flawed human document. If you can dismiss Genesis, Exodus, and Paul, then you can dismiss Jesus. That's not an exaggeration. This is where disbelief in God's Word ultimately leads: a disdain for Christ Himself.
And the ELCA's rejection of Scripture isn't theoretical--it's being preached openly from their pulpits. Progressive Lutheran "pastor" Lura Groen has said things that would have shocked the Reformers who bore the name "Lutheran" with trembling reverence for God's Word. From her own lips: "I do not like these scriptures... I can't find anything redeeming in Paul's letter." Regarding Jesus' words on discipleship, she confessed: "I hate these scriptures." She even mocked the cross itself, saying it was no different than wearing an "electric chair" or "lynching rope" around our necks.
This isn't simply clumsy preaching--it is blasphemous disdain for both Paul and Jesus. Groen went so far as to question whether Jesus really said, "Pick up your cross and follow Me" while He was alive, suggesting the words were probably added later. In other sermons, she has dismissed passages in Corinthians as unfit for the church and said she would prefer not to read or preach them at all. This is the kind of "theology" now being fed to Lutheran congregations: a cafeteria Christianity where Paul is rejected, Jesus is revised, and the Bible itself is treated as disposable.
And yet, week after week, faithful believers sitting in ELCA pews are told they can't take the Bible literally. They're told they must "reimagine" texts written in a society that "no longer exists." They're told their modern moral sense is superior to the eternal Word of God. This is nothing less than the spirit of the age replacing the Spirit of truth.
The ELCA couches its rebellion in the language of "neighbor justice" and "equity." But this is not neighbor love. This is not justice. Justice is defined by God, not by whatever secular ideology is fashionable this year. What the ELCA has done is take feminism, progressivism, and even echoes of Marxism, and baptize them with religious language while rejecting the actual Bible as God gave it.
And here is the hard truth many lukewarm churches don't want to face: you cannot preach a Christ you don't believe in from a Bible you don't accept. Once you tear out the passages you dislike, you are left not with Christianity but with a hollow moral club that wears a Christian costume. The cross becomes "an electric chair." Jesus' call to discipleship becomes "harmful." Paul becomes "irrelevant." And the gospel itself is reduced to a social-justice slogan.
This isn't just "another denomination doing its thing." This is open rebellion against the Word of God. And God will not be mocked. As Proverbs 30:5-6 warns, "Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar."
If you are a Christian frustrated with this trend, take heart: you're not crazy, and you're not alone. God's Word has always been offensive to those who want to remake Him in their own image. From Paul's day to ours, the question remains: will we submit to Scripture or demand that Scripture submit to us? The ELCA has answered that question. It has chosen the latter.
But you don't have to. The real church of Jesus Christ--across denominations--must stand unashamedly on the inspired Word of God. We don't get to pick and choose. We don't get to redact. We must proclaim, teach, and live by the truth, even when it cuts against culture. That is what it means to take up our cross. That is what it means to follow Jesus.
The time for lukewarmness is over. The time for clarity is now. If the ELCA has a problem, it's not Paul. It's not Genesis. It's not even patriarchy. It's the Bible itself--and their refusal to believe it. And that is the ultimate tragedy: when a church that once carried Luther's name now turns its back on the very Word he gave his life to defend. The sheep of Christ must beware: do not be lulled to sleep by false shepherds. Stand on the Word of God, hold fast to the truth, and refuse to compromise. For in the end, it is not culture that will judge Scripture--it is Scripture that will judge culture, and every one of us with it.
prophecynewswatch.com
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has done it again. In a shocking display of arrogance, a spokesperson at its 2025 Churchwide Assembly publicly condemned certain Bible passages as "harmful" and "patriarchal." In other words, the ELCA is now on record declaring that God Himself made mistakes when He inspired His Word.
This isn't a minor issue. This is the beating heart of the Christian faith. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Word of God. As Jesus Himself said in John 17:17, "Your Word is truth." Paul affirms in 2 Timothy 3:16 that "All Scripture is God-breathed." Not some of it. Not just the verses we like. All of it. And yet, the ELCA's leadership is now essentially saying, "We'll take the parts of Scripture that fit our culture's trends, but the rest? God must not have meant that."
The video from the Assembly leaves no ambiguity. Verses like Genesis 3:16 (on the curse of the Fall), Exodus 20:17 (on coveting, which includes a neighbor's wife), and 1 Corinthians 11 (on headship and sacrificial love) are cited as examples of texts that must not really reflect God's will. They're accused of being responsible for "gender-based violence" and "restricted access" to healthcare and economics. This is theological malpractice at its highest level.
Let's be clear: Genesis 3:16 is not a prescription of abuse. It is a description of the curse on humanity after the Fall. Exodus 20:17 doesn't degrade women--it elevates them, forbidding their objectification and treating them as persons whose dignity must not be violated. And 1 Corinthians 11? It doesn't reduce women to second-class citizens but gives them a sacred role within God's design, modeled after the loving relationship between Christ and His church.
This is not just about a handful of verses. It is about whether the church believes the Bible is God's Word or a flawed human document. If you can dismiss Genesis, Exodus, and Paul, then you can dismiss Jesus. That's not an exaggeration. This is where disbelief in God's Word ultimately leads: a disdain for Christ Himself.
And the ELCA's rejection of Scripture isn't theoretical--it's being preached openly from their pulpits. Progressive Lutheran "pastor" Lura Groen has said things that would have shocked the Reformers who bore the name "Lutheran" with trembling reverence for God's Word. From her own lips: "I do not like these scriptures... I can't find anything redeeming in Paul's letter." Regarding Jesus' words on discipleship, she confessed: "I hate these scriptures." She even mocked the cross itself, saying it was no different than wearing an "electric chair" or "lynching rope" around our necks.
This isn't simply clumsy preaching--it is blasphemous disdain for both Paul and Jesus. Groen went so far as to question whether Jesus really said, "Pick up your cross and follow Me" while He was alive, suggesting the words were probably added later. In other sermons, she has dismissed passages in Corinthians as unfit for the church and said she would prefer not to read or preach them at all. This is the kind of "theology" now being fed to Lutheran congregations: a cafeteria Christianity where Paul is rejected, Jesus is revised, and the Bible itself is treated as disposable.
And yet, week after week, faithful believers sitting in ELCA pews are told they can't take the Bible literally. They're told they must "reimagine" texts written in a society that "no longer exists." They're told their modern moral sense is superior to the eternal Word of God. This is nothing less than the spirit of the age replacing the Spirit of truth.
The ELCA couches its rebellion in the language of "neighbor justice" and "equity." But this is not neighbor love. This is not justice. Justice is defined by God, not by whatever secular ideology is fashionable this year. What the ELCA has done is take feminism, progressivism, and even echoes of Marxism, and baptize them with religious language while rejecting the actual Bible as God gave it.
And here is the hard truth many lukewarm churches don't want to face: you cannot preach a Christ you don't believe in from a Bible you don't accept. Once you tear out the passages you dislike, you are left not with Christianity but with a hollow moral club that wears a Christian costume. The cross becomes "an electric chair." Jesus' call to discipleship becomes "harmful." Paul becomes "irrelevant." And the gospel itself is reduced to a social-justice slogan.
This isn't just "another denomination doing its thing." This is open rebellion against the Word of God. And God will not be mocked. As Proverbs 30:5-6 warns, "Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar."
If you are a Christian frustrated with this trend, take heart: you're not crazy, and you're not alone. God's Word has always been offensive to those who want to remake Him in their own image. From Paul's day to ours, the question remains: will we submit to Scripture or demand that Scripture submit to us? The ELCA has answered that question. It has chosen the latter.
But you don't have to. The real church of Jesus Christ--across denominations--must stand unashamedly on the inspired Word of God. We don't get to pick and choose. We don't get to redact. We must proclaim, teach, and live by the truth, even when it cuts against culture. That is what it means to take up our cross. That is what it means to follow Jesus.
The time for lukewarmness is over. The time for clarity is now. If the ELCA has a problem, it's not Paul. It's not Genesis. It's not even patriarchy. It's the Bible itself--and their refusal to believe it. And that is the ultimate tragedy: when a church that once carried Luther's name now turns its back on the very Word he gave his life to defend. The sheep of Christ must beware: do not be lulled to sleep by false shepherds. Stand on the Word of God, hold fast to the truth, and refuse to compromise. For in the end, it is not culture that will judge Scripture--it is Scripture that will judge culture, and every one of us with it.
Lutherans Warn Certain Parts Of The Bible Are 'Harmful'
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has done it again. In a shocking display of arrogance, a spokesperson at its 2025 Churchwide Assembly publicly condemned certain Bible passages as
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