but Pietism is the ultimate polemic against sound doctrine.
I enjoy reading the hissy-fits aimed at me, but one thing really makes me sad. Many well-intentioned people have been trained to bristle when reading polemical works.
Another name for polemical works would be - Confessional. Yes, all the Lutheran pastors want to call themselves Confessional. They are anything but. The Book of Concord, following a long history of credal writings, is full of negative statements, explicitly condemning false doctrine. Do pastors know the Book of Concord? No, but they study the books of Fuller with glee.
Spener is the ultimate polemicist, because he taught Lutherans to oppose doctrinal debates. Granted, the death throes of Lutheran orthodoxy were noted for their opaque philosophical distinctions and their lack of Biblical exegesis, but that could have been solved without Spener's influence.
Notice the Pietistic influence today: love versus sound doctrine. Those who argue for sound doctrine are unloving and unbrotherly, just the opposite of what Luther and the Concordists taught.
Another aspect of the Pietistic influence is borrowing from other denominations, because the others are inherently superior. Spener got his cell groups from Labadie, who borrowed them from the Roman Catholics.
The rot happening in the LCMS, WELS, and the Little Sect can be traced to Pietism, which is another name for unionism and anti-Confessionalism. Where do these leaders meet and train? - Fuller, Willow Creek, Trinity in Deerfield. Their unity comes from a common loathing of sound doctrine. Even the moribund CLC (sic) has its unionistic faction, which will bite and tear at anyone in the name of love. The CLC (sic) adores Valleskey's Pietism.
One example of Pietism's assault is B. Teigen's scholarly analysis of false doctrine in the Synodical Conference. He showed correctly that the ELS, WELS, and Missouri adopted a false position on Consecration, a denial of the efficacy of the Word.
Was the ELS grateful for his work? No, Teigen rocked the boat. They treated their only scholar as if he were a bum. But they sang Amen! to Valleskey's Spoiling the Egyptians. WELS worked that issue hard, heaping contempt on Teigen and hauling out their all-purpose Pietist (Sig Becker) to cloud the issue.
Sig Becker endorsed the Pietistic Kokomo Statements, too, which were copied (three out of four) from J. P. Meyers' Ministers of Christ.
Pietism will not be defeated until it is identified and repudiated. Does anyone see that happening in WELS, the ELS, the LCMS? I do not. I see people content to have another Methodist leader like Al Barry. Remember good ol' Al? He was considered a conservative but he never stood up against the apostates, never got anyone upset. He and McCain paved the way for the Kieschnick Terror.
Here is a short history of what Pietism does. Anyone can trace this in Methodism or ELCA:
Stage One - There are all kinds of rules about what cannot be done, such as card playing, drinking, dancing, going to the theater. Deeds not creeds - remember that.
Stage Two - The rules are loosened up and the strict observers leave in a huff, the liberals happily waving goodbye.
Stage Three - Political activism and cross-denominational cooperation are called Gospel Outreach. Apostates are protected as valuable assets for the denomination.
Stage Four - The leaders are all Unitarians, gay activists, and ecumaniacs. These leaders are far more censorious than their own Pietistic founders. They savage anyone who questions their love, silence all dissent, and drive out anyone who dares question them. They make every Leftist fad an absolute requirement. The ELS, WELS, and Missouri are already participating in this stage.
