anyone who opposed his beloved Church Growth Movement was a "legalist."
His journal article, he told Guy Purdue,
was aimed at "that legalist in Ohio, Greg Jackson."
I find the products of Church and Change congregations (beehives) appallingly ingnorant. They are not only ignorant of the Confessions but also of the Scriptures. They like to say, "Lord, Lord," but never imagine they are simply fulfilling the warning of Matthew 7:21 -
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
They like to attack the Book of Concord and brush it aside, or say, with great smugness, "We worship Jesus, not Luther." But their glib assertions, which I have heard from many a Babtist and many more ELCA Lutherans, are really a rejection of the Word of God.
There is a simple test for every doctrinal assertion. If it can be proved from Scripture alone, it is valid. If it rests on the authority of a human author alone, it is unScriptural and most likely anti-Scriptural.
Church of Rome
I will start with the obvious, since some readers have already watched the fall of the cheap statue of Mary, carried about as an idol. The extra-Biblical claims about the Virgin Mary are false doctrine because the Word of God says nothing and implies nothing about the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Assumption of Mary, and Mary as Queen of Purgatory. Those claims are supported by post-Biblical authors and much later worship traditions, which grew until they became a cult of Mary displacing the grace and mercy of her Son.
Likewise, Purgatory is derived from Greek and Latin authors, not from the Word of God. There is no passage in the Bible, not even in the Apocrypha, which commends prayers, sacrifices, and masses for the dead.
Lutheran Issues
The Enthusiasts always want to eject the liturgy from their beehives with some kind of false justification. I tried their excuses out on a Jewish Lutheran who knew Jewish worship as much as he knew Lutheran worship. I asked, "Do you agree that the liturgy is a Medieval invention, not from Biblical Old Testament worship?" He laughed and said the claim was ridiculous. Jewish worship today is still built around appointed lessons, hymns, chants, and seasons. Pentecost is still celebrated by Jews, although with a different emphasis. Modern Pentecostals never observe the Day of Pentecost, as one Baptist professor of worship noted, with some wit, with only two in the audience wildly applauding his speech.*
Church and Changers are ashamed of the Sacraments. They would like to hide them so no one is offended. Willow Creek hides their Lord's Supper too. How Biblical is it to claim the Scriptures and hide what the Word of God offers for our spiritual benefit? The Sacraments are easily provens from dozens if not hundreds of passages. Those who doubt infant baptism, baptismal regeneration, and the Real Presence of Christ in Holy Communion also reject the efficacy of the Word. Therefore it is no shock that those who water down, explain away, and adulterate the efficacy of the Word also join their Enthusiasts officially after years of serving as the Amen! chorus.
The Church Shrinkers want to import everything from the Enthusiasts so they can enjoy the luxurious lifestyles of televangelists. But the Shrinkers only want to do this with Other People's Money: government tax revenue, the synodical offerings, Thrivent, Schwan, and the foundations. They talk missions while soaking up as much loot as they can. Look at Kudu Don Patterson. He and his buddies have enough money to hunt in Africa on a regular basis, but he goes to the synod to pay for his vicars.
Sacrifice a little, VP Patterson. Pay your own vicars and hunt at the nearest petting zoo. Shoot those animals with a Canon.
Universal Objective Justification
Readers will note that all the literature supporting UOJ is built around a few recent sources. One is E. Preuss, who became a Roman Catholic after he saw a brilliant sunset. Nevertheless, his idiotic comments are often cited as proof of UOJ.
My favorite is "Hottentots are justified." Without faith or the Word, of course.
The other sources claimed are Walther, Pieper, and their disciples. No Biblical passage says that "God justified the entire world when Jesus rose from the dead," but they cite many passages without explanation. They have to skip the Book of Concord and Luther. Recently, Otten supported UOJ by citing the Brief Statement of the LCMS. His closest ally in Missouri, Robert Preus, rejected UOJ in his last book. The UOJ Stormtroopers ignore that simple fact.
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*The place was Wheaton College. The only two who appreciated the lecture were the author and Mrs. Ichabod.
