Luther's Description of Purpose-Driven Church Growth Disciples

False Teachers Use Work of Others

"Note the master hand wherewith Paul portrays the character of false teachers, showing how they betray their avarice and ambition. First, they permit true teachers to lay the foundation and perform the labor; then they come and desire to do the work over, to reap the honors and the benefits. They bring about that the name and the work of the true teachers receive no regard and credit; what they themselves have brought—that is the thing. They make the poor simple-minded people to stare open-mouthed while they win them with flowery words and seduce them with fair speeches, as mentioned in Romans 16:18. These are the idle drones that consume the honey they will not and cannot make."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VII, p. 110. Second Sunday in Lent. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9; Romans 16:18.

False Doctrine Tolerated

"And such false teachers have the good fortune that all their folly is tolerated, even though the people realize how these act the fool, and rather rudely at that. They have success with it all, and people bear with them. But no patience is to be exercised toward true teachers! Their words and their works are watched with the intent of entrapping them, as complained of in Psalm 17:9 and elsewhere. When only apparently a mote is found, it is exaggerated to a very great beam. No toleration is granted. There is only judgment, condemnation and scorn. Hence the office of preaching is a grievous one. He who has not for his sole motive the benefit of his neighbor and the glory of God cannot continue therein. The true teacher must labor, and permit others to have the honor and profit of his efforts, while he receives injury and derision for his reward."
Sermons of Martin Luther, VII, p. 110. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9. Psalm 17:9.


God Punishes Ingratitude by Allowing False Teachers

"In the second place such teachers are disposed to bring the people into downright bondage and to bind their conscience by forcing laws upon them and teaching works-righteousness. The effect is that fear impels them to do what has been pounded into them, as if they were bondslaves, while their teachers command fear and attention. But the true teachers, they who give us freedom of conscience and create us lords, we soon forget, even despise. The dominion of false teachers is willingly tolerated and patiently endured; indeed, it is given high repute. All those conditions are punishments sent by God upon them who do not receive the Gospel with love and gratitude."
Sermons of Martin Luther, VII, p. 111. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9. John 5:43.

False Teachers Flay Disciples to Bone

"In the third place, false teachers flay their disciples to the bone, and cut them out of house and home, but even this is taken and endured. Such, I opine, has been our experience under the Papacy. But true preachers are even denied their bread. Yet this all perfectly squares with justice! For, since men fail to give unto those from whom they receive the Word of God, and permit the latter to serve them at their own expense, it is but fair they should give the more unto preachers of lies, whose instruction redounds to their injury. What is withheld from Christ must be given in tenfold proportion to the devil. They who refuse to give the servant of truth a single thread, must be oppressed by liars."
Sermons of Martin Luther, VII, p. 111f. Second Sunday in Lent. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9.

Avarice in False Teachers

"Fourth, false apostles forcibly take more than is given them. They seize whatever and whenever they can, thus enhancing their insatiable avarice. This, too, is excused in them."
Sermons of Martin Luther, VII, p. 112. Second Sunday in Lent. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9.

They Lord It Over Us

"Fifth, these deceitful teachers, not satisfied with having acquired our property, must exalt themselves above us and lord it over us...We bow our knees before them, worship them and kiss their feet. And we suffer it all, yes, with fearful reverence regard it as just and right. And it is just and right, for why did we not honor the Gospel by accepting and preserving it?"
Sermons of Martin Luther, VII, p. 112. Second Sunday in Lent. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9.

We Are Dogs and Foot-Rags

"Sixth, our false apostles justly reward us by smiting us in the face. That is, they consider us inferior to dogs; they abuse us, and treat us as foot-rags."
Sermons of Martin Luther, VII, p. 112. Second Sunday in Lent. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9.

False Teachers Are Peacocks

"The peacock is an image of heretics and fanatical spirits. For on the order of the peacock they, too, show themselves and strut about in their gifts, which never are outstanding. But if they could see their feet, that is the foundation of their doctrine, they would be stricken with terror, lower their crests, and humble themselves. To be sure, they, too, suffer from jealousy, because they cannot bear honest and true teachers. They want to be the whole show and want to put up with no one next to them. And they are immeasurably envious, as peacocks are. Finally, they have a raucous and unpleasant voice, that is, their doctrine is bitter and sad for afflicted and godly minds; for it casts consciences down more than it lifts them up and strengthens them."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 642.


Doctrine, True and False

The quotation below seems to make Lutheranism a brand name, but the statement is correct if we substitute “Christian Church” for “Lutheran Church.” The purpose of the Christian Church has been and continues to be an extension of what God began in the Old Testament and manifested through Jesus, the proclamation of the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. The accumulation of treasure, the growth of pension funds, the erection of monumental buildings—all are nothing without the efficacious Word.

"The Lutheran Church is a doctrinal Church. She attaches supreme importance to pure doctrine. The preaching and teaching of God's pure Word is her central activity. Say the Confessors: 'The true adornment of the churches is godly, useful, and clear doctrine.' (Triglotta, p. 401)"
W. A. Baepler, "Doctrine, True and False," The Abiding Word, ed., Theodore Laetsch, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1946, II, p. 496.

Mass Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine

Jaroslav Pelikan recently died at the age of 82. He was a famous Lutheran scholar, a distinguished professor at Yale University. He was raised and educated in the LCMS. Late in life he joined the Eastern Orthodox Church. Joining the Church of Rome is called poping, while joining the Eastern Orthodox is called semi-poping.

Pelikan won an award for $500,000. He left it to the Russian Orthodox seminary with which he was associated at death.

Richard John Neuhaus was one of the first celebrity converts to Rome. He wrote the highly entertaining Lutheran Forum Letter, which drove the LCA, then ELCA leaders mad. Neuhaus was educated in the LCMS, the son of a conservative LCMS pastor from Ontario, Canada. I heard his father give an Easter sermon, long ago.

Robert Wilken, a well known Lutheran scholar and friend of Neuhaus, also joined the Church of Rome. Wilken was head of graduate studies in theology at Notre Dame, and is now at the University of Virginia. Wilken was also trained in the LCMS.

Leonard Klein, another editor of Lutheran Forum, presumably a friend of Neuhaus, is being trained as a Roman Catholic priest, despite being married and having served as an LCA/ELCA pastor for decades.

We knew Pelikan from Yale. His young daughter used to ask for the baby, "Wheah's Mahtin?" she would say in her New England accent. I wrote back and forth to Neuhaus when we shared a common loathing for the LCA's apostasy. We met him at the Ad Fontes conference (at or near Leonard Klein's church) in Pennsylvania. Klein and his wife were at that conference. I recall LCA President James Crumley having a very serious discussion with Neuhaus, who joined Rome soon after. Wilken taught at Notre Dame when I was there. These four are only a few of those who have left the Lutheran church to pope or semi-pope. The LCMS Ft. Wayne seminary is known for having graduates who join Eastern Orthodoxy the moment they graduate. St. Louis also produces Eastern Orthodox clergy.

Not all the Popes Trinkets, which heere are brought forth,
Can ballance the Bible for weight, and true worth:
Your Bells, Beads and Crosses, you see will not doo't
Or pull down your scale, with the divell to boot.

When Management By Objective (MBO) Fails

"Those, however, who set the time, place and measure, tempt God, and believe not that they are heard or that they have obtained what they asked; therefore, they also receive nothing."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 172. John 16:23-30.

"In like manner, St. Paul says that God's ability is thus proved, in that He does exceeding abundantly above and better than we ask or think. Ephesians 3:20. Therefore, we should know we are too finite to be able to name, picture or designate the time, place, way, measure and other circum­stances for that which we ask of God. Let us leave that entirely to Him, and immovably and steadfastly believe that He will hear us." Sermons of Martin Luther, III, p. 179f. Fifth Sunday after Easter. Ephesians 3:20.

"If the world were willing to take advice from a simple, plain man--that is, our Lord God (who, after all, has some experience too and knows how to rule)--the best advice would be that in his office and sphere of jurisdiction everybody simply direct his thoughts and plans to carrying out honestly and doing in good faith what has been commanded him and that, whatever he does, he depend not on his own plans and thoughts but commit the care to God. Such a man would certainly find out in the end who does and accomplishes more, he who trusts God or he who would bring success to his cause through his own wisdom and thoughts or his own power and strength." What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1151. Luke 5:1-11.

"For people come to the preaching of the Gospel as if they were honest pupils. But under this guise they are seeking nothing else but a full belly and their own benefit. They consider the Gospel an economic teaching, designed to teach one to eat and drink in plenty."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, I, p. 304. John 6:26-27.

"He who holds fast to the Word alone, trusts and abides in it, does not doubt that what the Word says will come to pass; he who does not dictate aim or time or means and ways, but resigns all freely to God's will and pleasure as to when, how, where, and by whom He will fulfill His Word; he, I say, has a true living faith which does not nor cannot tempt God."
Sermons of Martin Luther, I, p. 367. Epiphany, Matthew 2:1-12.

Lest the Theme of This Blog Be Lost

"Hi there, folks. I am Pastor Bob. I will be your inspirational leader today. We have an exciting 50 minutes for you again. Cousin Brunhilda will sing You Light Up My Life. I promise the back-up tapes will work better this time, Hilda. My Life Partner, Pastor Pat, will give a dialogue talk with me: Success Through Goal Setting Dreams. Pastor Pat has learned a lot through those Twelve Step Programs. Later, our Liturgical Dancers will amaze you with their movements. So put your hands together and welcome Cousin Brunhilda now."

And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel. 1 Samuel 4:21 (KJV)

"The doctrine of the means of grace is a peculiar glory of Lutheran theology. To this central teaching it owes its sanity and strong appeal, its freedom from sectarian tendencies and morbid fanaticism, its coherence and practicalness, and its adaptation to men of every race and every degree of culture. The Lutheran Confessions bring out with great clearness the thought of the Reformers upon this subject." "Grace, Means of," The Concordia Cyclopedia, L. Fuerbringer, Th. Engelder, P. E. Kretzmann, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1927, p. 299.

"Must Lutheranism be shorn of its glory to adapt it to our times or our land? No!"
Charles P. Krauth, The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology, Philadelphia: The United Lutheran Publication House, 1871, p. 208.

The Ark of the Covenant was captured in this famous passage from 1 Samuel, so the following selection of essays about Lutheran doctrine will be called Ichabod. The glory has departed from the Lutheran Church. In fact, the Lutheran Church no longer exists in America in any institutional form. The enemy has not stolen the Ark of the Covenant - the Means of Grace. Instead the apostate Lutheran leaders have thrown a tarp over their Ark in order to glory in their Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek classes, their Purpose-Driven (TM) mission visions, their contemporary Pentecostal music, their pit bands, and their self-glorifying pep talks disguised as sermons.

Kool-Aid Drinkers

After the Jonestown tragedy, which might have been avoided with some oversight from the Disciples of Christ, cult members came to be known as Kool-Aid Drinkers. They are prepared to do whatever they are told and think those empty thoughts about Holy Mother Synod. Tom Cruise is an example from Scientology, but he does not read Ichabod, as far as I know.

On reader asked, "Only two posts a day lately?" Yes, I have been working on some projects, which should allow more writing and publishing in 2008.

But another reader posts the same dysfunctional comments daily. Some would diagnose his repetitive rant as crashing from the sugar content of all that Kool-Aid. Others would just say, "GA works. Homo-erotic rituals are effective in binding cults together."

Advent 1 Sermon

First Sunday in Advent

KJV Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

KJV Matthew 21:1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

479 Zion Rise
61 Comfort comfort ye my people
364 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
54 Guide me O thou great Jehovah

Zion Rise
The Epistle for today begins with the image of dawn coming after a long night, time to wake from sleep. Paul warns and comforts his audience at the same time.
Although Romans was sent to the Christians in Rome, this letter was clearly intended as a doctrinal message for all the Christian congregations. Because of its doctrinal importance, Romans is first among the Pauline epistles in the New Testament.

Night and sleep have always been familiar symbols in various cultures. Night is associated with poor judgment, drunkenness, evil, and unawareness. Most of the violent crime stories in Phoenix start with these words, “Outside a bar in downtown Phoenix, at 2 AM…”

The famous Three Mile Island incident, when a nuclear reactor came close to a core meltdown, happened in wee hours of the morning. Looking back on that incident, researchers found that the equipment was working but the operators were semi-asleep and unable to make the right decisions at the time. They did everything wrong and brought nuclear energy development to a halt.

Night is associated with evil, so staying awake and watchful are essential. The New Testament Greek word for staying awake is also translated as watch. The root forms the name Gregory, which means watchman. So “Watch and pray” also means “Stay awake and pray.”

In Mark 13, Jesus ended His warnings about the end times with the Parable of the Watchman. Three times the verb “stay awake” is used. Yes, you count four in English, because another verb is used once for watch. Often Greek has several words for our single English word.

Then, when Jesus prayed, the same verb was applied to the disciples three times: Stay awake, watch.

Jesus introduced the Parable of the Watchman with this warning:

KJV Mark 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. (Here the verb is different, blepo, look around.)

In the parable, He used the same verb for stay awake (watch) three times.

KJV Mark 13:34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

KJV Mark 13:35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

KJV Mark 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

When Jesus was facing torture and death, the same verb is applied to the disciples three times:

KJV Mark 14:34 And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.

KJV Mark 14:34 And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.

KJV Mark 14:38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

Many people are weary of the unceasing attacks against Christianity and the most basic concepts of right and wrong. Many of us have the misfortune of remembering when the US Supreme Court protected children instead of fish, when “don we now our gay apparel” could be sung without laughing, when everyone thought Coke was a beverage instead of a drug. We have seen the Recessional Lutherans drag their church bodies into union with Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek. No WELS pastor would be caught dead taking his staff to Concordia Seminary, Ft. Wayne, but many of them pay big bucks to study at Willow Creek and Fuller Seminary.

Jesus first gave these warnings, and Paul repeated them, so we would not grow weary and drift off to sleep, dreaming that everything was fine. I remember an LCA pastor saying, “I just want to retire in peace.” However, his conscience disturbed him and he retired with a fair amount of noise about the apostasy of LCA as it was morphing into the ELCA. Such growling was so rare among the complacent clergy that the LCMS was started to find a former bishop vocal about the new trends. And yet, those were still the good old days for ELCA, back in 1987.

Individually we can do almost nothing about national trends. We can still stay awake ourselves and help a few more stay awake. One layman posts Luther quotations on his church website. Another one warned his congregation about getting into Church Growth style stewardship, and those warnings were heeded. Several layman prodded me awake about the real meaning of Universal Justification. I was like the father who helped his son with tree identification for a merit badge. The man said, “Once I knew this tree, I suddenly saw them everywhere.” Once I knew what UOJ was, the footprints were everywhere except the Bible, the Book of Concord, and Lutheran theologians.

The value of each controversy comes from waking us up to doctrinal problems and sharpening our minds about what the Bible teaches. For many people, their doctrinal discernment is on par with my tools. I seldom use tools, except to break things while trying to repair them. My tools are lost, rusting, or covered with dust. If I find a sudden need for a tool I am in a quandary. Can I find it? Can I make it work? My temptation is to say, “Bother. This can wait.” In the same way people avoid facing doctrinal problems until their discernment is replaced with apathy, their apathy supplanted by apostasy.

Although Paul deplored divisions in the Christian Church, he also wrote:

KJV 1 Corinthians 11:18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

Paul is comforting all believers in the second part of the verse. Nearer can apply in the short-run, since life runs out faster than we can imagine. And it also applies to God’s own time. Each day means we are closer to the end of all history, whenever that may be.

The multiplication of evil in this century points to the end of time and to the remarkable accuracy of Biblical warnings. All these things are clearly described in Mark 13 and the Pastoral Epistles.

KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

Whatever people complain about, Paul described through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Long before the papacy was established, Paul pointed to the Apostasy (falling away) and the Man of Sin, the Antichrist. So when someone’s conservative Lutheran pastor joins the Church of Rome or Eastern Orthodoxy, mocking justification by faith, should we be dismayed or encouraged? The roadmap is accurate, even if the timeline is purposefully vague (purpose-driven prophecy). Imagine if everyone knew the moment of the end! Chaos.

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

The skeptics enjoy pointing out their little contradictions they find in the Bible. They are like the unbelieving members of a church who constantly pick at the minister and his family because they are too cowardly or dishonest to say they reject the Word of God. Various books of the Bible have different approaches, which we can expect from the Word of God spoken through humans across the ages. The harmony and unity of the Bible should impress us more. Paul and John both use light and darkness to symbolize good and evil. As I mentioned before, Paul also uses the Gospel warnings and example of Jesus. (The Gospels were preached before they were written.)

Paul consistently warned his readers to beware of the works of darkness, which were not only the sins of the flesh, taking us away from the Word of God, but also the temptations of false doctrine, which are subtler and harder to detect.

Luther pointed out in his Genesis commentary that God created light before the celestial bodies. Light existed before the energy sources. That means our concept of daylight is derived from light itself. What is that pre-existing light but Christ Himself!

KJV John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Here is my free translation: In Him was eternal life, and this eternal life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, but darkness cannot extinguish it.

KJV John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Christ is not just life in the ordinary sense of the term. Most people think primarily of biological life, and there is a Greek term for that – bios. The word used in the NT is zoe, meaning eternal life, while bios is reserved for the ordinary sense of human life or experience. Eternal life is far more significant than just being alive. Every believer, even dying in bed, or quadriplegic has eternal life, because faith receives Christ and His promises to the individual.

KJV John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

The armor of light is the truth of God’s Word. That is the one certainty of our experience. The teachers of the Christian faith have not pointed to themselves or their organizations but to the Word of God. Light (God’s truth) is the perfect weapon against darkness (false doctrine) because the smallest amount of light dissipates darkness.

False doctrine and church politics belong to Satan. He wants people to vote on doctrine and to fight over church positions with $200,000 salaries. He does not want people to discuss God’s Word, to begin and end with God’s teaching. Nothing disturbs Satan more than a weak, ordinary human being armed with the truth of God’s Word. Satan will use all his weapons, especially against someone’s emotions, to undermine that faith. However, his defeat is already assured. Tethered by God’s will, Satan can only rage and grow more violent as his end approaches.

“Let us put on Christ Jesus.” This verse reminds us of wearing a robe for the sacrament of Holy Baptism. To wear Christ – that is an odd phrase but simple to understand. Christ is united with us in faith and in baptism. Christ is in us and we are in Him.

KJV John 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

For that reason, faith in Him moves us to pray, to watch and pray, for we know not the hour.

"When a theologian is asked to yield and make concessions in order that peace may at last be established in the Church, but refuses to do so even in a single point of doctrine, such an action looks to human reason like intolerable stubbornness, yea, like downright malice. That is the reason why such theologians are loved and praised by few men during their lifetime. Most men rather revile them as disturbers of the peace, yea, as destroyers of the kingdom of God. They are regarded as men worthy of contempt. But in the end it becomes manifest that this very determined, inexorable tenacity in clinging to the pure teaching of the divine Word by no means tears down the Church; on the contrary, it is just this which, in the midst of greatest dissension, builds up the Church and ultimately brings about genuine peace. Therefore, woe to the Church which has no men of this stripe, men who stand as watchmen on the walls of Zion, sound the alarm whenever a foe threatens to rush the walls, and rally to the banner of Jesus Christ for a holy war!"
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 28.

"And no doctrine is so foolish or disgraceful but that it finds hearers and disciples, as is proven by the experience of the church with so many heresies and divisions. The heathen were reasonable and highly intelligent people, yet we read of them that they worshiped not only cats and storks, but also cabbages and onions, and even a member of the human body. All this comes from the name and delusion that such things are good works and render a service to God. The preacher of such works comes with the reputation and pretence of a shepherd who desires to counsel and direct souls on the way to God."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 59. Second Sunday after Easter. John 10:11-16.

Seminex: Northwestern College and Radicalism in WELS

Richard Jungkuntz taught many future pastors of WELS at Northwestern College, Watertown, before moving to Concordia, Springfield, and finally to the ALC. Each time he was bumped up, from college instructor in Watertown, to seminary professor in Springfield, to Provost at Pacific Lutheran University, 1972. He was even acting president of PLU in 1974!

The Wisconsin sect is far more radical than most people realize. Trying to look more retro than the other synods, WELS has pursued a radical apostate streak for many decades.

Two packages brought that home to me. One was from a woman who was excommunicated for objecting to their new budgeting plan, many years ago. She thinks the plan preceded the LCA plan, which was similar in its manipulative schemes. Anyone can recognize today how abused the fudge-it figures are. One minute the sect is in receivership and needs to sell Michigan Lutheran Seminary for $1. The next day they are building a $7 million chapel at MLC (nee Dr. Martin Luther College), sending a new team of missionaries to Africa, and building a new student center in Madison, Wisconsin for $6 million or so.

The other package came from another state, another person (Grey Goose). That contained material for the congregational self-study, another man-centered Fuller-inspired stunt. The details are too tedious to list. Organizational navel-gazing is a sure sign of decline.

As I mentioned months ago, WELS was the birthplace of Seminex. My friend, a WELS pastor, tells me that Northwestern College reunions often have cars with Seminex stickers on them. When the break with Missouri came, a number of Northwestern graduates joined the Seminex faction.

Richard Jungkuntz, PhD, was teaching the historical-critical method (HCM) to the future WELS and LCMS pastors. No one knew this until the student submitted papers they wrote for Jungkuntz to another instructor, I believe at Mequon. The instructor raised holy heck and Jungkuntz was ousted. WELS pastors laugh, "They only found out by accident." That confirms the legend of WELS: sniffing out false doctrine everywhere but never seeing it under their own noses.

At some point another Watertown instructor left for supporting HCM. According to a favorite student of Jungkuntz, Richard egged on his partner in crime and left him hanging on a limb. Clever man, that Jungkuntz.

So the two apostate instructors influenced a number of classes of WELS pastors, whose bone-breaks and secret ritual humiliations united them by the time they were graduated from the Sausage Factory at Mequon. Those are the same classes in control of the Love Shack's machinery today. I can pick them out easily from my source (not a friend, but a CG fan) who got tears in his eyes over Jungkuntz being the best teacher he ever had. All I have to do is locate the Jungkuntz fan and look over the Mequon classes below him. That is where the Church Growth stars shine brightest.

Jungkuntz went on to become divisive at Concordia Seminary, Springfield, when Jack Preus was the president. According to legend, Jack supported the apostates and also the conservatives, depending on who was talking to him in his office. One famous Jack Preus quote: "Help me gut Jungkuntz." Nevertheless, Preus eventually finessed Missouri into a temporary return to basics. Preus' style was to ease people out of positions, which launched Jungkuntz into a higher orbit. It pays to apostacize, in the short run.

The introduction of the fraudulent historical-critical method of Biblical interpretation as the essential groundwork for Church Growth in WELS, Missouri, the Little Sect on the Prairie, and ELCA. HCM teaches that the Bible is just another book, to be eviscerated like Homer's Iliad, Marco Polo's Journals, and Moby Dick. The difference is that Melville argued for the Book of Jonah being accurate in Moby Dick, while the HCM professors made fun of the same book of the Bible. The difference is that Melville knew whales while the HCM gurus memorized lecture notes from skeptics. (Nonetheless, Jonah reveals God constantly at work in fulfilling His will, whale anatomy aside.)

The historical-critical method is sterile and fading away, but its damage will not pass away so quickly. The nexus with Church Growth is simple. HCM thinking was foundational for Fuller Seminary's repudiation of its former (albeit weak) inerrancy stance. Once pastors and theologians think of the Bible as another book, a pretty good book but still just a human creation, then every other error can pour in unabated.

The Jungkuntz classes from Northwestern College had no problem going to Fuller Seminary, where Church Growth started after inerrancy was repudiated. Church Growth is sociology and marketing, not neutral but anti-Christian in substance.


***

Read this from the New York Times

EDUCATION: LESSONS
Print
Single-Page

LEAD: Richard Jungkuntz flew across country this week to sit in conference with some of higher education's most powerful leaders. It is the last time this provost of a small Lutheran college will formally attend such a gathering. This spring, at the age of 70, he plans to end his 30-year career as an educator and retire to the tennis courts.

Richard Jungkuntz flew across country this week to sit in conference with some of higher education's most powerful leaders. It is the last time this provost of a small Lutheran college will formally attend such a gathering. This spring, at the age of 70, he plans to end his 30-year career as an educator and retire to the tennis courts.

Mr Jungkuntz is a self-described conservative, a minister and educator who holds, as he put it, ''old-fashioned ideas.'' In an age and at a conference where the expression of some of those ideas might be misconstrued as, say, sexist or otherwise offensive, the provost decided to ''hold my darn tongue.'' Often, hearing something that seemed nonsense to him, he would just slip out of the meeting rooms into the corridors for a smoke.

But at one point here at the 70th annual meeting of the American Council on Education, a gathering of presidents, chancellors and deans from academies across the country, Mr. Jungkuntz listened to a panel debate the difficulties of training teachers and he could no longer maintain his silence.

Psychometrics, budget shortfalls, poverty and social structure aside, the failure of American education, the argument goes, begins with the hand that puts the lesson on the blackboard. Thus, in a room full of college administrators, many from schools with teacher education programs, the subject was bound to raise professional passions.

Robert Corrigan, Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Boston, said, ''We still see teachers as if they were members of a blue-collar profession. They have no control of the classroom, the curriculum or their working conditions. They are treated like people in a factory milieu.''

A dean from San Antonio complained that his State Legislature changed teacher certification requirements so often, that professors of pedagogy could not figure out where they were ''supposed to go or how to get there.''

Another insisted that the problem was ''content versus process.'' That is, too much emphasis on the methods of teaching and not enough on what teachers were supposed to be learning.

A third voice suggested that bad teachers, in all likelihood, were once bad students, so the solution was to attract bright people to the profession. To lure such candidates, Joan Straumanis, dean of the faculty at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., had in mind ''a huge Federal loan program'' in which the brightest students in the country would be guaranteed low-cost loans if they they became teachers.

There also was talk of ''turfism,'' institutional ''musical chairs,'' ''flawed paradigms'' and, in the words of one administrator, ''that wonderful piece of heresy that there is indeed a relationship between the way students learn and the way faculty teach.''

It was about this time that Mr. Jungkuntz, from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., raised his hand, cleared his throat and asked for the floor.

''We haven't taken a historical look at the problem,'' he began. ''Let me put it this way: What would you say was the quality of elementary and secondary schooling in the first quarter of our century and before that? I think it was an age in which the quality was superior. What were the incentives to going into teaching in those days? Lousy. Salaries were worse than the worst salaries are now. But what was the communities' preception of the teaching profession? Relatively high.

''My father in 1921 was addressed as professor by people. He was a grade-school teacher and a good one and he was regarded highly, at the same level as the clergy in town and perhaps somewhat higher than the mayor.''

The place was Jefferson, Wis., and the classroom was in a three-room Lutheran school, where teachers went heavy on the basics, the classics and homework. The provost knew that for a fact. He, after all, had been one of his father's students.

***
Books by Jungkuntz:

The gospel of baptism by Richard Jungkuntz (Unknown Binding - 1986)
12 Used & new from $9.85
Other Editions: Unknown Binding

2.
El Evangelio del Bautismo / The Gospel of Baptism by Richard Jungkuntz (Paperback - Sep 2001)
2 Used & new from $4.88

3.
A project in Biblical hermeneutics by Richard Jungkuntz (Unknown Binding - 1969)
5 Used & new from $7.00

4.
Christian approval of Epicureanism by Richard Jungkuntz (Unknown Binding - 1962)

Currently unavailable

5.
The analogy of faith: A historical study by Richard Jungkuntz (Unknown Binding - 1963)

Is There No Help For a Widow's Son?

The Masonic Distress Signal, Illustrated

Some comments about WELS and the Mormons prompted me to find the Masonic distress signal, which the Mormons supposedly use. The hands are held up, like the authentic Masonic illustration above, and the victim says, "Is there no help for a widow's son?" That is said four times, facing the four cardinal points of the compass. There are many surviving Masons, so the signal must work, as it did once when a lodge brother was captured by pirates. (Some think the Knights Templar, known for their ships, became pirates when the evil King of France captured Demolay and liquidated the KTs. That would explain why the pirates set him free and gave his dog a biscuit. But then, the story is from Masons, whose stories are as credible as Jack Casione's.)

Is there any help for Confessional Lutherans? The extremes of Recessional Lutheranism may bring about its own demise. The crypto-Baptist-Pentecostals will eventually declare themselves, as a number of WELS Church Growth pastors have already done. They were lionized by the Love Shack at 2929 N. Mayfair Road, before they bolted for greener pastures and louder beehives. I can name many of them. They went from WELS bulletin insert to Pentecostal storefront church in short order.

The Eastern Orthodox Recessional Lutherans will probably do the same. A number of LCMS pastors have already joined the Church of Rome, moving from Universal Objective Justification to Universal Purgatorial Atonement. Who is sponsoring these defections? Could someone get seminarians to defect to the Concordia Triglotta?

The question is whether there will be a number of younger men who know the Scriptures, Luther, and the Book of Concord sufficiently well to re-establish the Lutheran Church on American soil. The Missouri Synod had some strong theological leaders at one time, but they have died. Apostates know that they only need to control a few key offices to run the seminaries and boards their way.

The conservatives never fought hard enough to keep this from happening. No, I do not mean fighting with elections. A doctrinal battle has to be fought with the Word and the Confessions, not with compromising candidates, deals, bylaws, and even more synod worship.

Find one example of synod worship or organizational concern in the entire Book of Concord.

Members and pastors can insist on liturgical services, Lutheran hymns, creeds, and sermons. The Episcopalians have shown that a whole region can vote to leave Holy Mother Church.

Ichabod Predicts
Here is my 21st Century prediction for WELS: both prep schools will close in time, due to high costs and diversion of funds to pet projects (like the new mission to Africa). When that happens, the college will close and the seminary will be threatened. As District Pope John Seifert said to his pastors, "We hope we can keep the seminary."

In the next 15 years, Andrew will carry away the bulk of the WELS members who now attend and give. WELS will merge with Missouri, perhaps as a non-geographical synod, to save face.

Many congregations are now merging. Schools are closing, too.

The Wisconsin sect tried to seize the future (and youth!) by abandoning its past principles. Instead, it institutionalized the dumbest and most anti-Christian ideas they could find. Apostasy is officially supported and promoted on the WELS.net site.

One prominent pastor said about the new but aging feminist hymnal, "We decided to alienate the older members to attract the younger ones." Brilliant strategy. How is it working?

Back to the Prairie Days
In times past, just as now, people did not have many orthodox pastors. There were many shams and frauds, and they didn't even have Fuller Seminary in the 19th century. Some people sat at home and read from sermon books. Luther was popular then. Others had churches but no pastor, so they had laymen read the liturgy and read from a trusted sermon book. Some pastors rode circuits and served many congregations.

Abundance came to American Lutherans and gratitude to God for His Word faded. More than one conservative Lutheran has asked me to approve adultery with the proper justification. Ministers have cared more about approval from man and their own personal security than about being faithful to the Scriptures and the Confessions. Instead of teaching, they are being taught, by the doctrinally indifferent.

Why the Passionate Promotion of Infant Communion?

Greek Orthodox Icon Wall

Click here for an interesting article about the non-antiquity of Infant Communion.

We have never had such widespread ignorance of Lutheran doctrine among the clergy and the laity. Perhaps the Medieval Church was worse, but that was the object of Luther's ire after the Saxon Visitation, when he found out how pathetic the clergy were.

How can Lutheran clergy become so involved in a new doctrine (for them) when they barely grasp the essentials of the Book of Concord? Could they reflect the basic content of Chemnitz' Enchiridion? I doubt it. Jacobs' Summary of the Christian Faith? That would be a rare find in a pastor's library, even more so if he knew who Henry E. Jacobs was.

Schmid was a typical book in the ALC clergy libraries. I used to see them in seminary book sales in Columbus. Schmid has quotations from the orthodox theologians who followed Luther. He published the forerunner of the Megatron "ready-to-go database" (Larry Olson).

Having the books is not enough. People need doctrinal conflict to study the essential books of Lutheran doctrine.

When Is Medicine Appealing?
Most antibiotics are distasteful. They have an awful odor that communicates its dreafulness with the person who takes them. They upset the stomach. So when we see an antibiotic on the shelf, we have no desire for it. When we get a raging infection, the antibiotic is the most precious thing we can have. We will send a spouse through a raging storm to get more.

Lutheran Orthodoxy As Medicine
An orthodox Lutheran book may be difficult to read and enjoy at first. Reading develops a capacity, but where is the motivation? The print is small. No one brings up Lutheran theologians anymore. But when there is doctrinal conflict, the orthodox Lutheran books are medicine against error. They also have a miraculous harmony. Luther, Melanchthon, Chemnitz, Gerhard, Schmid, and Jacobs say the same things (in different words) about the efficacy of God's Word.

From that one central doctrine, the effectiveness and power of the Word alone, we can trace all the components of the Lutheran Confessions.

Lord Jesus Christ, With Us Abide

Oh, keep us in Thy Word, we pray;
The guile and rage of Satan stay!
Oh, may Thy mercy never cease!
Give concord, patience, courage, peace.

O God, how sin's dread works abound!
Throughout the earth no rest is found,
And falsehood's spirit wide has spread,
And error boldly rears its head.

The haughty spirits, Lord, restrain
Who over Thy Church with might would reign
And always set forth something new,
Devised to change Thy doctrine true.

A trusty weapon is Thy Word,
Thy Church's buckler, shield, and sword.
Oh, let us in its power confide
That we may seek no other guide!

The Lutheran Hymnal, #292
Selnecker participated in creating the Book of Concord, 1580.

***

I often feel like the elderly Slovak Lutheran woman who lived in Cleveland with her children. She said, "Ich bin ein Fremd in ein fremder Land." (I am a stranger in a strange land.) Or perhaps like one of the last humans left in Night of the Living Dead. Every time I try to warn someone, he turns out to be a pod-person, a zombie who looks like the former friend but appears all hollowed out, without a soul.

I know from the emails, letters, and phone calls that there are many more like me.

WELS and Mormonism

It's a numbers game with Mormon missionaries, too.

I was doing research on secret Mormon rituals when I was struck by the number of parallels with the Wisconsin Synod. I have known and worked with Mormons and taught Mormons in world religion classes. All three Ichabods enjoy a lasting friendship long ago with our Mormon next-door neighbors. We specifically stopped to look them up in Sturgis. Mormons are often very nice people. So are WELS members.

I suggest Googling "secret Mormon rituals" to learn more about the Latter Day Saints, especially since Mitt Romney is running for the GOP nomination for president.

Not much will show up about secret WELS rituals. Here are some interesting parallels between Mormon and WELS attitudes:

1. Holy Mother Church is perfect, so no criticism is allowed.
2. Just as there are TBMs (True Believing Mormons), so there are TBWs (True Blue WELS) members. One signed herself WELS_Of_Pure_Doctrine on a blog! I can imagine her singing a church solo with a Sarah Brightman hyper-emotional grin.
3. The obvious gap between perfection and reality leads to a lot of posturing, denial, deceit, and emotional turmoil.
4. In either group, finding out the truth is emotionally devastating to the true believers. Ex-members take years to recover.
5. Both groups have secret, sexually provocative rituals. Initiates are not told the truth beforehand. Mormons had "naked touching" (banned in 2005). WELS had GA, where the entire first-year seminary class stripped naked outside after the dip the sewage pond. The pond is gone and GA is now underground. But no, it is really closed down, a TBW says. I am almost persuaded.
6. Both groups take pride in their peculiar doctrines and traditions. WELS clergy are always saying, "In our circles, this means..." That really means, "We are only ones promoting this weird idea." One was having vicars consecrate Holy Communion. Another was ordaining male teachers (for tax reasons and because they wanted it).
7. TBWs may not have special underwear, but they are acutely conscious of the need to conform, just like Mormons.
8. Both groups change doctrine whenever it suits them, because both want desperately to be mainstream.
9. Power play manipulation is the norm in both groups, not the exception.
10. No one has ever been murdered by Mormon leaders or by WELS church workers. No one has ever been sexually abused by the clergy of either group. Just ask. They will deny it.

Recessional Lutherans

Recessional Lutherans, like Father Neuhaus,
lead them out, reverently.

I remember when Rev. Richard J. Neuhaus used to call himself and his friends Confessional Lutherans. Clearly he was preparing for some years to become a Roman Catholic priest. His friend Robert Wilken (head of graduate studies, theology, when I was at Notre Dame) also joined the Church of Rome.

Now we have those Synodical Conference leaders who want to moonwalk toward Pasadena or Constantinople, while posturing about their Confessional Lutheran standards. They are like the choir and pastor leaving the church first, during the recessional. They cannot be Confessional Lutherans, so they must be Recessional Lutherans.

I began writing against the Church Growth Movement about 20 years ago. My first little article stirred up more letters than I ever received on a single topic. Many laity were suspicious of Church Growth. They were glad I identified some of the obnoxious odors coming from Satan's Lair, aka Fuller Theological Seminary.

Recently someone I know quite well told me about WELS Campus Ministry in Madison, Wisconsin. The pastor took his staff down to Willow Creek for training. Now they are spending millions on the building, starting cell groups, and bragging about their results. Willow Creek recently confessed that all their methods were wrong. I was not alone in suspecting that WC wanted to open up a new round of training for all the clergy they mistrained before. This time around they will apologize abjectly while fleecing the wolves again, many of them using denominational funds, or Trivent dividends.

Going Under
The tabloids use a term: going under. It means that circulation will increase if they go under the standards of the other papers. More salacious gossip. More skin showing. Congregations do the same thing. The whole WC/CGM approach is to go under the standards of all other denominations. Make the music slicker. Turn the Sunday worship service into a recruiting seminar. Spike the sermon and make it a pep talk.

ALC and LCA congregations used to go under the standards of LCMS and WELS by setting up shop nearby. They would promote open communion and lax standards all around. Who can complain about that? Sometimes a Missouri congregation strict on the lodge would find itself emptied by a new ALC congregation apparently conservative on every issue except that one.

The Recessional Lutherans are going under the standards of the Book of Concord with both gambits, whether they are slouching toward Pasadena or Constantinople. Fuller is low-church whoopie Enthusiasm; Eastern Orthodoxy is very high church, smells and bells Enthusiasm. The Book of Concord defines Enthusiasm as separating the work of the Holy Spirit from the Word.

***

Comments posted earlier:


Wreck said...
As a confessional Lutheran, I am disturbed at the trends of ELS and WELS.

I'm LCMS, but very confessional. I've been giving moving over to the WELS quite a bit of thought lately. It has to be better than the LCMS. OUr own congregation has embraced PLI, CGM, worship folder, etc. I cannot remember the last time my congregation used hymnals

I'm tired of the fighting. Some say it's a losing battle. Someone HAS to stay confessional. They have to.

I fear female ordination and female elders are not far away in the LCMS. ELCA is gone. They are Lutheran in name only. They might as well be United Church of Christ or Episcopalian.

November 30, 2007 1:42 PM
Anonymous said...
"As I suspected, Lutherans do not become Eastern Orthodoxy without some prompting. Some of the prompting comes from the outside or from the inner turmoil a Lutheran feels in a non-Lutheran Lutheran synod. Professors are encouraging the move to Eastern Orthodoxy as well."

Bingo.

When I visited a relatives WELS church with the whole Seeker Senseless model, I told him that if it were between that kind of worship and going to a Catholic church, I would pick the Catholic church. He rebuked me saying something like "I would definitely tell you that you would be making a big mistake knowing what the Catholic church teaches."

He was right to rebuke me, but such desperate times call for desperate cries. (and conversations) Why would I, a Cofessional Lutheran, want to do something so senseless? Keep pushing us and you'll push us all right out the door!

I wonder if the WC folks teach the buisness principal of "LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY."
It may be working.

Rarrr.

November 30, 2007 3:02 PM

West versus East

Interior of Hagia Sophia, Holy Wisdom,
Mother Church of Eastern Orthodoxy,
Built by Justinian around 500 AD and still standing.

I am reading the Norwich three-volume history of the Byzantine Empire for the third time. I found the condensed version first and enjoyed that edition. The complete version is around 1600 pages of soap opera, tragedy, triumph, defeats, and finally ruin.

Byzantium was a village located in a perfect spot for defense and trade when Constantine the Great fought to unite the Roman Empire under his rule. He chose Byzantium as the New Rome, which became known as Constantinople, Istanbul, Turkey today. Constantine established a Christian empire which lasted 1100 years.

The Christian Church began in the East and flourished there before moving toward the West. The long history of Muslim conquest of those Christian lands has made us forget where the faith was once so strong: Northern Africa, Jerusalem, Antioch, Edessa.

Some of the major controversies in Eastern Orthodoxy involved its relationship with the papacy, the Two Natures of Christ, and icons. The factions in the Two Natures included Monophysites (Christ having one divine nature), Monothelites (one will, never a major fad), and the Orthodox (Two Natures in One Person). Muslim and Jewish influence probably encouraged the icon clashes. Also the Monophysites did not want to see the divine nature of Christ portrayed as an image, especially a statue. There were two extremes in the icon battle. The iconodules worshiped the icons and even made them godparents at baptisms. The iconoclasts wanted all images destroyed - and many priceless works of art were.

The early Councils were held in the East because the Christian Church was Eastern. Look at the names and you will find theer locations near Constantinople: Nicea (325 and 382), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451).

Eastern Orthodoxy, nevertheless, is much more a mystical tradition than a confessional one. Emperors in Constantinople richly endowed monasteries. Some retired from office to serve as monks. The mystical tradition is experiential rather than doctrinal. I remember asking an Eastern Orthodox priest about Purgatory and the Assumption of Mary. He seemed quite willing to waffle about both until I pinned him down. (Yes to both.)

In contrast, the West has clearly defined doctrines. Lutherans are the most blessed because their divisions after the death of Luther caused them to develop the Book of Concord and the Formula of Concord under the leadership of Martin Chemnitz. No other denomination has such a unified and Biblical set of confessions. The confessions in the Reformed tradition contradict each other. The Church of Rome claims papal infallibility in doctrine but has anathemetized one or more of its own infallible popes.

The Appeal of Eastern Orthodoxy
Why does Eastern Orthodoxy appeal to so many people that ELCA, LCMS, and ELDONA ministers are guided by Constantinople rather than Wittenberg?

The mystical tradition is far more flexible than a confessional one in establishing outward unity. The current focal point for exiting Lutherans is infant communion, following the Greek Orthodoxy. Notice that infant communion is not a doctrine but a practice. The crypto-EO ministers definitely use doctrinal arguments to advance their cause, but the main one is rationalistic. As an ELCA worship leader said at Notre Dame in the late 1970's: "We give babies Holy Baptism. Why withhold the other sacrament?"

One person commented on ELDONA and infant communion said, "I think they are opposed to it." But the farm team for ELDONA, the soi-disant Augustana Ministerium, featured the biggest advocate of infant communion (Gary Gehlbach) as a speaker. He has a mega-site devoted to his favorite topic. Draw your own conclusions.

Eastern Orthodoxy has the added advantage of being exotic, elaborate in ritual, and new to most Lutherans. I used to attend Greek Orthodox services in Moline with the future Mrs. Ichabod. We enjoyed seeing the services, especially since we had Greek friends at Augustana College, but no one asked us to join. Nor would that thought have entered our minds. I never imagined that Lutherans would cross over, join the Eastern Orthodox clergy, and recruit more Lutherans to join.

EO Is UnFuller and UnWillow Creek
ELCA, Missouri, WELS, and the ELS have defined themselves through the gurus they admire at Fuller Seminary, Saddleback, and Willow Creek. The ELS has dabbled too, and even invited CG Doofus Robert Hartman to wash their brains with CG theories.

Fuller and WC promote rationalism, not worship. The Sneaker Services are designed not be be worship but entertainment. WC had no cross outside or inside when I visited with Mrs. Ichabod and Ichabod Jr. I doubt whether their anti-worship, anti-liturgy, anti-creed formula has changed. Since the Lutherans--especially the conservative synods--have run from their own heritage, it is only natural for ritual-starved clergy and laity to head toward Eastern Orthodoxy.

EO Encouraged at Ft. Wayne and St. Louis
As I suspected, Lutherans do not become Eastern Orthodoxy without some prompting. Some of the prompting comes from the outside or from the inner turmoil a Lutheran feels in a non-Lutheran Lutheran synod. Professors are encouraging the move to Eastern Orthodoxy as well.

Eastern Orthodoxy is closely allied with the Church of Rome. I enjoyed how Pope John Paul II called Eastern Orthodoxy a "defective church." The new pope has repeated the charge. In spite of their differences, they share one another's doctrinal errors. Therefore, joining Eastern Orthodoxy may not be the same as poping, but it is at least the equivalent of semi-poping.

Episcopal Church Property Disputes

Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church,
Katherine Jefferts Schori

Posted by David Virtue on 2007/11/26 16:00:00 (1314 reads)

Canon Bishop Says National Church Has No Legal Claim To Church Properties

An exclusive interview with the Rt. Rev. William Wantland, the retired Bishop of Eau Claire. Bishop Wantland was bishop of the diocese from 1980 - 1999. He is a canon lawyer and lives with his wife in Oklahoma. He agreed to be interviewed by VirtueOnline about church property lawsuits, a number of which are making their way through various courts in the United States.

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
11/26/2007

VOL: Bishop Wantland, because of the Dennis Canon there is the overwhelming belief, substantiated in a number of state courts, that all parish properties are held in trust for the local diocese. Is that true in all cases? If not why not?

WANTLAND: Generally speaking, there is a trust interest running from the parish to the diocese. In 1570, the British Parliament passed legislation restricting the disposal of parish property. This was carried over to New York law, where an early statute provided that the Bishop and Standing Committee would have a say in the disposition of parish property, but so would the New York Legislature. This (without reference to State bodies) was added to Title II (now Canon II. 6) shortly after the Civil War. In the 20th century, a similar Canon was enacted in Title I, adding all parish property to that requirement, not just church or chapel buildings. Most States in the U.S. follow Implied Trust principles of law, so in those States, the diocese would prevail. Several States follow Neutral Principles of Law, and in those States, the local parish might, under certain circumstances, prevail.

VOL: Recently in the State of California, the Court of Appeal reversed a lower court ruling placing three parishes at risk of losing their parishes. They reversed an Orange County Superior Court's prior ruling that three former Episcopal churches, which disaffiliated from the national denomination in 2004, did not forfeit their property. This division of the appellate court broke with nearly thirty years of California church property law, and instead ruled that hierarchical church denominations can take over local church property. Where is this going?

WANTLAND: It is going to the California Supreme Court, which has already agreed to hear the matter.

VOL: Attorney Eric C. Sohlgren said the decision puts one division of the appellate court in direct conflict with other California court of appeal decisions that for almost thirty years have rejected the idea that a court must automatically defer to a church denomination in church property disputes. He said that idea offends basic principles of fairness and property ownership. Do you agree?

WANTLAND: The latest Appellate Court decision certainly offends the previously settled law in California. However, nothing would prevent the California Supreme Court from rejecting the Neutral Principles idea, and moving to Implied Trust.

VOL: It is also alleged that all properties are also held in trust for the National Church. Is that automatically true if the diocese can also lay claim?

WANTLAND: What is the National Church? We commonly use that title, but the so-called National Church has no current machinery for holding title to property outside of New York. While the Canons in both Title I and II recognize an interest in parish property for the diocese, this only re-states law that has been a part of our Church for over 400 years. Further, a careful reading of the Dennis Canon does not grant any real interest in diocesan property to 815 2nd Avenue.

VOL: What exactly is the National Church? Is it an ecclesiastical body or strictly an administrative body?

WANTLAND: The so-called National Church is an administrative body with very limited authority. It has defined itself in a number of documents over the years as a confederation of dioceses. Neither General Convention nor Executive Council has any jurisdiction over dioceses granted in either the Church Constitution or Canons.

VOL: In the 'which came first, the chicken or the egg', is the national church a product of General Convention, or are the dioceses the product of the national church and General Convention?

WANTLAND: The Episcopal Church came into being in 1789. Dioceses preceded the existence of TEC by a number of years. For example, the Diocese of Connecticut not only existed for years before 1789, but elected a bishop and had him consecrated in Scotland in 1784. New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia also elected bishops and had them consecrated in England in 1787. Clearly, the dioceses came together to create the Episcopal Church by adopting a Constitution and Canons and a Book of Common Prayer. The dioceses created the Episcopal Church, and not the other way round.

VOL: If the national church or general convention is the product of dioceses and not the other way round, then what legal claim can the national church make in court for parish properties?

WANTLAND: The only way TEC could even claim a trust interest in parish property is to rely on the imprecise language of the so-called Dennis Canon. However, prior to 1979, the so-called National Church never claimed any trust interest in parish or diocesan property. A basic principle of trust law is that two people can agree to create a trust interest in property which one of the parties owns. However, a third party cannot then claim a trust interest in that property without the consent of the original parties. While it might be possible, I am not personally aware of any diocese which has recognized the interest of 815 2nd Avenue in any property. To the contrary, a number of dioceses have specifically rejected any claim of the so-called National Church to property within those dioceses. With the possible exception of the Diocese of California, I am not aware of any parishes voluntarily granting an interest in their property to 815. In the absence of such a granting of trust interest, I doubt any court would uphold it.

VOL: Does the Presiding Bishop have any canonical authority in a diocese, any diocese, either liberal or conservative?

WANTLAND: The authority and duties of the Presiding Bishop are set forth in Canon I. 2. 4. In regard to dioceses, the PB shall consult with the Ecclesiastical Authority of the diocese if there be a vacancy in the office of bishop, but the PB has no authority to act, only to consult. Further, the PB is to visit every diocese, and takes order for the consecration of bishops within a diocese. No other duties in regard to dioceses are delineated. All other duties apply to the administrative structure of the Episcopal Church.

VOL: Mrs. Jefferts Schori, while holding the title of Presiding Bishop, is in reality the bishop of nothing. She has no diocese, unlike the Archbishop of Canterbury who is both the titular head of the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury. In that case, does she have any legitimate (legal or ecclesiastical) authority over the leadership of a Diocese?

WANTLAND: The Presiding Bishop has no authority over the leadership of a diocese, except if charges are brought against a bishop. The PB does have certain responsibilities in regard to the charges, as set forth in Title IV of the Canons. However, there is absolutely NO authority in any instance over Standing Committees, Diocesan Councils, or other diocesan leadership.

VOL: Ft. Worth Bishop Jack Iker said to his diocese recently that "there is no such thing as "the national Church." We are a confederation of Dioceses, related to each other by our participation in General Convention. He went on to say that from the earliest days of the beginnings of the Episcopal Church in this country, including the formation of dioceses and eventually the creation of the General Convention itself, there has been a strong mistrust of centralized authority that is deeply rooted in our history as Episcopalians. We do not have an Archbishop in this Church, who has authority over other Bishops and their Dioceses. Instead, we have a Presiding Bishop, with very limited canonical responsibilities, mainly administrative in nature." Do you agree with him?

WANTLAND: Bishop Iker has stated precisely what I feel the situation to be.

VOL: Mrs. Schori has said she will allow the sale of properties back to the parishes, even to other religious groups, but not to another Anglican jurisdiction. In your mind is that legal? Can she in fact do that? Is she breaking some federal statute by saying that a property sale can be restricted because she says so?

WANTLAND: Federal law does not apply here. The law of the State rules. I would simply observe that the previous Presiding Bishop declared in Louisiana that the so-called National Church had no interest in property disputes between a parish and the diocese, and would not intervene unless asked to do so by the diocese. Therefore, if a diocese is negotiating with a parish to avoid a costly lawsuit, what right does a Presiding Bishop have to dictate terms? None whatsoever.

VOL: Recently the Diocese of Western Michigan sold their cathedral to an independent evangelical mega church without apparently a whimper from the national church or David Booth Beers, Mrs. Schori's attorney. But when the pro-cathedral in El Paso, Texas, under the ecclesiastical authority of then Bishop Jeffrey Steenson in the Diocese of the Rio Grande, wanted to leave the diocese and TEC, I was told by Steenson that Beers raised all hell. Steenson told me that he did not want to litigate and furthermore the parish gave the diocese $2 million as part of the deal! Why do you think Beers ignored one situation and yet weighed in on another?

WANTLAND: Because of prejudice against so-called conservatives.

VOL: David Booth Beers bills out his time at $600.00 an hour less 15% discount for TEC at a cool $510.00 an hour, so I have been told. Presumably he has a team working with him. He seems to be everywhere, - Virginia and Philadelphia (recently). I can't imagine that at the end of the day millions of dollars in legal fees are being given to him by the national church. Where, in your opinion, is the money coming from?

WANTLAND: The money, in all probability, is coming from the endowment funds of TEC, which funds are more than $200,000,000.00.

VOL: A number of bishops, including yourself, have asked Mrs. Jefferts Schori where the money is coming from for the present litigation, but she has not replied. Why is that?

WANTLAND: I was one of the bishops to raise this question. To date we have received no answer. My guess is that TEC doesn't want to start the precedent of providing full and complete information about anything. The name of the game is "spin".

VOL: Is it possible that litigation costs could, in the end, bankrupt the Episcopal Church?

WANTLAND: I doubt it. While the cost of litigation is ridiculous, I don't think it will deplete the endowment funds.

VOL: Can the Trust Funds be raided without accountability and financial responsibility to pay legal costs?

WANTLAND: Some of the trust funds are unrestricted, and can be used however 815 2nd Avenue sees fit. Others are restricted, and cannot be legally used for purposes other than stated in the establishment of those funds. In any instance, the matter of our Treasurer (Ellen Cooke) who went to jail for misuse of trust funds proves that there must be accountability.

VOL: In the end, if the National Church takes possession of dioceses that will be 90 per cent empty, is the victory anything more than pyrrhic?

WANTLAND: In the highly unlikely event this were to occur, it is not really a victory of anything. What do you do with property you can't use? History has shown that it gets sold at a great loss.

VOL: With empty or near empty churches which will have to be sold in the open market, what is the ultimate victory for the National Church?

WANTLAND: The only victory is for the forces of Satan and secular humanism.

VOL: Thank you Bishop Wantland.

***

GJ - This story reminds me of the legal situation in the LCMS. Missouri congregations have the greatest level of property rights and independence. LCMS presidents since Jack Preus have tried to make Missouri more papal. Spineless congregations and pastors will have it no other way.

ELCA has assumed property rights, but former ALC congregations have left with their property. The Little Sect on the Prairie (ELS) has given pastors the Left Foot of Fellowship, but they took their congregational property with them (sometimes). The dirty tricks by Pope John the Malefactor were aimed at retaining the property of the congregation. "It's not personal, kid, I always liked you."

Not Every Pope Is Male: Some Are Fully Human

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori tries to work the handicap access panel.
"Let me in! Do you know who I am?"

MRS. JEFFERTS SCHORI AND THE FUTURE OF AN ILLUSION

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
11/25/2007

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church is learning the lesson that what goes around comes around.

Mrs. Jefferts Schori is learning she cannot escape the consequences of her actions or words over the way in which she is running the Episcopal Church.

She is doing major league harm to the institution. She thinks she is getting away with it, but ultimately she will pay the price for her bad behavior. Her iron fist in the velvet glove approach is not working. In fact, it is back-firing.

Mrs. Jefferts Schori has threatened three orthodox bishops demonstrating that behind the façade of sweet-talking "reconciling" language there lurks a fist of conformity, veneered over with a facile spirituality. She is fast becoming the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland."

The most recent target of her wrath - the Rt. Rev Jack Iker - received a not so veiled threat that if he tried to pull his diocese out of the Episcopal Church, all legal and ecclesiastical hell would rein down on him. It was the same threat she aimed at Pittsburgh Bishop Bob Duncan - it is starting to look like a form letter that only requires someone to change the addressee and hit the "send" button to every recalcitrant bishop who dares to raise his head over the Episcopal Church ramparts and declare their independence.

Undeterred, the conservative bishop of Ft. Worth accused the presiding bishop of misusing her office and engaging in "aggressive, dictatorial posturing," forgetting all the nice words about reconciliation, dialogue and mediation she utters so frequently. Frank Griswold, her predecessor had us all going to a "deeper place", but no one knew where the hell it was, or to Sufi Rumi on a plain beyond good and evil, but no one could find that either. (Charles Bennison is still looking for it, but it might be too late for him.) Schori warned Iker in a letter that he could face church discipline if he continued to back proposals that lead his diocese away from the national church.

If Schori thought she could personally bully this Anglo-Catholic bishop, she clearly badly misjudged the bishop. He wasn't playing nice either. He roared right back saying, "[your letter] appears designed to intimidate our delegates and me. It grieves me that as the Presiding Bishop you would misuse your office in an attempt to intimidate and manipulate this diocese."

Iker turned the screws a little tighter accusing Schori of "intimidation" and making attempts to deter the diocese from taking any action in opposition to the direction she is leading the Church. "It is highly inappropriate for you to attempt to interfere in the internal life of this diocese," he blasted back at her.

Them's fightin' words.

He closed with these words, "While your threats deeply sadden us, they do not frighten us. We will continue to stand firm for the unchanging truth of the Holy Scriptures and the redeeming Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whatever the costs."

Late last year, Schori attempted to intimidate another bishop, John-David Schofield of San Joaquin by accusing him of "spiritual violence" due to an attempt by him to disassociate his diocese from The Episcopal Church. This brought a riposte from one priest saying that such an accusation, delivered from the public face of the Episcopal Church, is not only "reckless but also offensive, especially to those of us resident in the Diocese of San Joaquin. Is this the 'shalom' that you so fervently preached about at the National Cathedral earlier this month?" Indeed not.

This also begs the question "Just who is doing the spiritual violence?" For orthodox Episcopalians and orthodox Anglicans watching from the sidelines it is Jefferts Schori, not Duncan, Iker or Schofield who are doing "spiritual violence" to the Episcopal Church. She has replaced the faith of the church with Millennium Development Goals. The Great Commission has become the Great Omission.

This past week saw yet another side to the Iron Lady of Episcopalianism. It appears that Mrs Jefferts Schori likes to manipulate even her band of not so merry liberal bishops, who apparently live in mortal fear of her tongue and her legal Rottweiler, David Booth Beers who practically lives at her elbow for $510.00 an hour.

It was revealed in testimony before a Virginia court, where some 11 parishes want to leave the Episcopal Church, that she ordered Virginia Bishop Peter Lee to break a verbal agreement, which would have allowed the parishes to withdraw from the Episcopal Church, and directed the Diocese of Virginia to sue the clergy and lay leaders of the 11 congregations.

The Dominatrix of 815 has wielded her whip against one of her own kind, reducing the theologically soft-headed bishop, Peter James Lee, to a quivering mass of compliance. Earlier he was ready to cut a deal with the departing parishes which was almost on the table, according to testimony from the Rev. John Yates, but then it all fell apart.

No one knew at the time what caused him to change his mind, but at the Fairfax County Circuit Court it all came out in the open when Jefferts Schori admitted that she did it to prevent "incursions by foreign bishops."

She revealed, that shortly after her installation as Presiding Bishop in November, Schori met with Bishop Lee, telling him she "could not support negotiations for sale if the congregations intended to set up as other parts of the Anglican Communion."

Is there a law in American statutes that says to whom you can and cannot sell property? Does Schori have the right to tell a parish priest or bishop to whom he may sell a building?

Jefferts Schori tried very carefully to parse her words, but that didn't fly with the court. She was directed by the court to answer the question more explicitly.

The moral of this story is that she can say whatever she wants in pulpits to gullible Episcopalians, but the courts brook no such prevarication and pluriform talk. You either say what you mean, and mean what you say, or be directed by the courts to be more explicit.

Jefferts Schori has demonstrated that she can play hardball, and that is going down like a lead balloon. One wonders if she successfully intimidated Dr. Rowan Williams in New Orleans when the House of Bishops met. On the surface, all appeared sweetness and light between the two, but there were indications at a press conference that she was in charge and she would not tolerate any opposition or interference in the affairs of the Episcopal Church, even by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

She made it clear in New Orleans that there would be no reversal of the church's forward movement on pansexual behavior and that "consultation" means never having to say you're sorry or change your mind about the direction of The Episcopal Church. Schori made it clear that the Episcopal Church's Constitution and Canons are sacrosanct, and that TEC will never abide by, accept or sanction a universal set of canons that the whole communion would write and live by because TEC could be disciplined by such a body. It would also set a legal precedent over property disputes in the TEC.

If Williams didn't get the message, he would have to be the dumbest archbishop to sit in Lambeth Palace. He can mull over The Episcopal Church's "baptismal covenant" till the Second Coming, but the political situation will demand more immediate attention.

Clearly Schori's ecclesiastical and legal strategy of iron-fisted conformity is not going down well. In fact it is not going over at all. She is more than a disappointment. She is a disaster.

As Charles Bennison, the inhibited Bishop of Pennsylvania learned the hard way recently, when you betray your own liberal constituency, you can find the tables turned against you. If Mrs. Jefferts Schori pushes too hard against her own kind, the same thing could happen to her.

In the world of ecclesiastical politics as in the world of Machiavellian realpolitik, the long knives of revenge are never far from the convention floor. Just ask Bishop Bennison.

The Book of Concord

Martin Chemnitz,
Principal Editor of the Book of Concord, 1580

Martin Chemnitz had the distinct advantage of learning under Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. Lutherans usually overlook Melanchthon, who trained so many future pastors in his long career. Some say Melanchthon was more influential than Luther, when measured by numbers of students.

Melanchthon was such a theological giant that he would have been known as the chief Reformer of any country in Europe except Germany. Many countries courted him. Melanchthon would have added intellectual luster to his royal sponsors.

Chemnitz was not just another disciple of Luther and Melanchthon. He added substantially to our treasury of great Lutheran books, although his work on the Book of Concord alone would be enough. Chemnitz' important strengths were:
1. His knowledge and use of the Patristic Fathers.
2. His polemics against the Calvinists.

Lutherans are generally weak on the Patristic Fathers. Like their Baptist brothers, they think church history skips from the Apostolic Age to the Reformation, with nothing but darkness between. Chemnitz edited the Book of Concord to show that the Lutheran Confessions were in harmony with the historic Christian faith. Lutheran is not a brand name, a sectarian sideshow, but the best expression of genuine Christian teaching.

Chemnitz' The Two Natures of Christ is educational and devotional at the same time. Doctrinal books, like church history, can turn people into atheists or pan-religionists. Norwich's brilliant history of the Byzantine Empire cannot questions anyone getting upset about the Two Natures of Christ. Chemnitz' great book traces the issues, quotes the Patristic Fathers, and reveals a love for the Word of God and faithful confessions of that truth. Chemnitz alone could match Luther in writing a book that could be called a collection of sermons, Scriptural exposition, or a doctrinal textbook.

The quotations below are a sample, starting with Luther, then Melanchton's work, finally Chemnitz' work in The Two Natures of Christ and the Formula of Concord. The Two Natures was published just before the Book of Concord and its Formula, so we can see how the earlier efforts of the Second Martin contributed to these unifying Confessions.

Luther
"The Holy Scripture is God's Word, written and, so to speak, lettered and put into the form of letters, just as Christ, the eternal Word of God, is clothed in humanity. And men regard and treat the written Word of God in this world just as they do Christ. It is a worm and no book compared with other books; for the honor people accord other writings of men by studying, reading, pondering, keeping, and using them they do not accord Scripture. If it is treated well, it lies there in neglect. Others tear it to pieces, scourge and crucify it, and subject it to all manner of torture until they stretch it sufficiently to apply to their heresy, meaning, and whim...It is a good sign, therefore, if a man has the precious gift of loving and liking Scripture, of gladly reading it, of highly esteeming and treasuring it. Such a man God, in turn, will surely honor...."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed. Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I, p. p. 71f. 1541 Psalm 22:6

Melanchthon
"Also they teach that the Word, that is, the Son of God, did assume the human nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, so that there are two natures, the divine and the human, inseparably conjoined in one Person, one Christ, true God and true man, who was born of the Virgin Mary, truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, that He might reconcile the Father unto us, and be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men."
Augsburg Confession, III. The Son of God. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 45. Tappert, p. 29f. Heiser, p. 12.

"The Third Article the adversaries approve, in which we confess that there are in Christ two natures, namely, a human nature, assumed by the Word into the unity of His person; and that the same Christ suffered and died to reconcile the Father to us; and that He was raised again to reign, and to justify and sanctify believers, etc., according to the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, III. #52. Of Christ, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 119. Tappert, p. 107. Heiser, p. 32. Romans 4:25; 2 Corinthians 5:19ff.

Chemnitz
"These arguments of the Monothelites can be found in the proceedings of the Sixth General Council and in the writings of Damascenus. The Church was severely shaken by this controversy, for on the one hand, the Nestorians, under the pretext of the two wills and activities in Christ, tore the person of the one Christ in two, and on the other hand the Eutychians, stressing the one activity, took away the difference of the natures and the essential attributes of Christ."
Martin Chemnitz, The Two Natures of Christ, 1578, trans. J. A. O. Preus, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971. p. 234.

"This dispute concerning the two wills and the two natural operations in Christ is no idle thing, for in addition to the points which we have mentioned, it also has this use that the Son of God assumed our nature in such a way that first in and through Himself He restored our nature to its pristine beauty which had been despoiled and corrupted in Adam, as Cyril says, In Johannem, Book 11, chapter 25...He restored even the powers which our nature had lost because of sin, and in Himself He first repaired and renewed the powers which had been currpted through sin."
Martin Chemnitz, The Two Natures of Christ, 1578, trans. J. A. O. Preus, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971. p. 239.

"...it has been unanimously taught by the other teachers of the Augsburg Confession that Christ is our righteousness not according to His divine nature alone, nor according to His human nature alone, but according to both natures; for He has redeemed, justified, and saved us from our sins as God and man, through His complete obedience; that therefore the righteousness of faith is the forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, and our adoption as God's children only on account of the obedience of Christ, which through faith alone, out of pure grace, is imputed for righteousness to all true believers, and on account of it they are absolved from all their unrighteousness."
Formula of Concord, SD, III. #4. Righteousness of Faith. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 917. Tappert, p. 539f. Heiser, p. 250.