Introduction
In a recent YouTube discussion between Pastor Brian Wolfmüller and Dr. Greg Schulz, the two explored the legacy of Seminex and its long-term effect on the Lutheran Church. You can watch the conversation here: Wolfmüller & Schulz on Seminex and Language.
Their central claim is both simple and profound: the deepest challenge facing the Church today is not merely about particular doctrines but about language itself. When Scripture is treated as a set of flexible symbols (semiotics) rather than as the living Word of God that does what it says, the very foundation of Christian faith and life is undermined.
This article explores how semiotics functions in both progressive and conservative forms of Christianity, and contrasts both with the confessional Lutheran teaching of the Word and Sacraments as the Means of Grace.
What is Semiotics in Theology?
In philosophy, semiotics is the study of signs and symbols. In theology, a semiotic approach treats Scripture not as God’s authoritative and efficacious Word but as a symbolic resource that communities reinterpret in order to shape their own identity and experience.
In other words, the Bible becomes less about what God says and does, and more about what the text can be made to mean for us now.
Progressive Semiotics
Progressive churches often use Scripture semiotically to produce certain communal experiences.
1. Inclusivity
- Method: Reframe or dismiss texts that condemn same-sex activity, exclusive truth claims, or creation order.
- Semiotic Goal: Create a community that symbolizes radical welcome.
- Problem: Inclusivity becomes the “gospel,” overshadowing forgiveness and renewal in Christ.
2. Liberation
- Method: Read Scripture mainly as a narrative of liberation from oppression.
- Semiotic Goal: Symbolize solidarity with social justice movements.
- Problem: The biblical message of redemption from sin is replaced by activism.
3. Identity Affirmation
- Method: Use biblical language (love, justice, belonging) to affirm personal or cultural identities.
- Semiotic Goal: Create a sense of empowerment and self-acceptance.
- Problem: The authority of Scripture is reduced to how well it resonates with felt needs.
Conservative Semiotics
Conservative groups are not immune. Semiotics can just as easily show up on the right, where Scripture is used more as a badge of identity than as a means of grace.
1. Fundamentalist Separation
- Method: Treat outward practices (dress, Bible translation, strict rules) as the signs of true holiness.
- Semiotic Goal: Symbolize being “set apart” from the world.
- Problem: The external signs can overshadow Christ crucified as the source of holiness.
2. Christian Nationalism
- Method: Blend biblical themes with patriotic symbols.
- Semiotic Goal: Symbolize God’s blessing of a particular nation or political cause.
- Problem: The Bible becomes a banner for political identity rather than the instrument of salvation.
3. Purity Culture
- Method: Elevate vows, pledges, or tokens of sexual purity as central.
- Semiotic Goal: Symbolize faithfulness and moral superiority.
- Problem: The sign of purity replaces the cross as God’s answer for sinners.
4. Ultra-Confessionalism
- Method: Use confessional texts or proof texts as identity markers.
- Semiotic Goal: Symbolize being the “one true church.”
- Problem: Orthodoxy becomes a badge of pride instead of the living confession of Christ’s saving Word.
The Mirror of James
James 1:23–25 provides a biblical picture of the danger of semiotics. James compares the person who hears the Word but does not live from it to someone looking into a mirror and forgetting what he saw.
- The mirror is the Word: it reveals us truly and shows us Christ.
- Forgetting is treating the Word as optional or symbolic, rather than as the reality of God’s action.
- Remembering and doing is living from the Word as the efficacious means by which God forgives and renews us.
Semiotics makes Scripture into a shifting sign; the Word as means of grace makes Scripture into God’s living mirror that changes us.
The LCMS Confessional View: Word as Means of Grace
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod holds that the Word and Sacraments are the Means of Grace.
- God acts through means. When the Word is preached, it actually creates faith (Romans 10:17).
- The Sacraments are not empty signs. Baptism saves (1 Peter 3:21). The Lord’s Supper delivers the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28).
- The Word is efficacious. It does not return void but accomplishes God’s purpose (Isaiah 55:11).
Unlike both progressive and conservative semiotics, the Lutheran confession does not reduce the Word to a symbol of group identity. It insists that the Word itself is God’s action.
Conclusion
Whether in the progressive “semiotics of inclusivity” or the conservative “semiotics of boundary-keeping,” the danger is the same: Scripture is treated as a sign system for shaping community identity rather than as the living, efficacious Word of God.
The Lutheran answer is to remain tethered to Christ the Logos, who comes to us in the external Word and Sacraments as the means of grace. Here, God Himself acts, creating faith, forgiving sins, and sustaining His Church until the day of resurrection.
As Jesus promises: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
Watch the full conversation between Pr. Wolfmüller and Dr. Schulz here.