Friday, November 19, 2010

Some Kind Words from LPC:

Why we need Dr. Ichabod



Prior to coming to Wittenberg, I was in a Lutheran list-group some 5 years ago or so, and in that list-group there was a free exchange of ideas. Some orthodox conservative, some confused, some liberal, some having denominational identity crises etc. The free flow of interaction there impressed me. I came away concluding, hmmm, these people are not cultic, they are not a bunch of fundamentalist fruit cakes, Lutherans are honest and willing to follow where evidence leads them. I am happy to be named like them. That is what I thought about Lutherans.

The presence of Dr. Ichabod says that there are brave Lutherans out there who are willing to follow where ever the evidence (as per God's Word) leads them. Because if I look at Internet Lutherland, minus Ichabod, I will come away getting the impression that this is some exclusive club of pastors that feather their own nest, not perhaps in terms of money, but in terms of influence, i.e. a clique and thus a cult. The mark of a cult is that dissenters are eliminated, they are marked and avoided. Also, if blogdom is an indication, I will get the impression that Lutherans are mindless-herd-following people, they got no one who checks where the herd is going.

You might disagree with Dr. Ichabod, but it will do you good to read him, even if his style does not conform to yours. Onion skinned folk need to thicken a bit when they wonder off his blog, for he pulls no punches. In the end, your friend is the one who loves you in truth, rather than the one who loves your feelings. In fact, if you do not like him, the more you should read him. If you are from a different school, you should read him for proper scholarship demands that you read your critics, he could be giving you good service if by listening you adjusted what he found what is weak about you.

Let me suggest something, do not start with his posts, start with his sermons first. First you got to see the guy's pastoral nature, then you can read the posts. When you do, you will get a proper context of why his style is that way. This is the problem with people I know who criticize Dr. Ichabod to me. They read the posts but never bothered to read or listen to his Sunday videoed Divine Services.

Lastly, though the Synodical pastors do not like him, for people like me who come from outside the family, a refugee who has seen quite a bit, it is Ichabod who gives a good name to Lutheranism to me. For there are lots of Lutheran pastors out there receiving accolades, yet they do not behave like Luther, far from him, who was willing to stand alone. So I wonder why they call themselves Lutherans when they appear to be scared.

Just sayin...


1 are telling me what they think:


Stuart Wood said...
Hi LPC, Although I don't know Dr. Ichabod, I think I would probably like him and I appreciate what you are saying here. As a person who has also "come from outside the family", and as "a refugee who has also seen quite a bit", my experience with the Lutheran establishment has been very similar to your own. Overall, it has been very disappointing, almost a complete wash. I began my journey with Luther in January 1992, after having been a Reformed pastor for six years with a Masters in Bible Exposition from Talbot Theological Seminary. At the time, I had been very much struggling with the doctrine of limited atonement because many of my favorite authors and teachers held to it but I could not in all honesty see it in the Word of God. If true it also had severe implications as to my understanding of Christianity because it turned the whole matter of salvation into a dark inward-looking subjective focus on my own experience and deceptive heart, rather than the glorious truth that it all stands "extra nos". I first read Luther's Works vol. 22 on the Gospel of John 1-4. That book completely addressed my concern, especially Luther's beautiful explanation of John 1:29, "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world". I had finally found someone (who was not an Arminian and who held to predestination) who also clearly affirmed the importance of the universal atonement of Christ and its necessary implications with the one and only true objective saving Gospel. I continued to read Luther's Works until I had finally read every one of them. What a gold mine I had found in Luther. He stood head and shoulders over everyone and anyone I had ever read or heard before. He straightened me out on every doctrine, and I came to see that he represented historical orthodox Christianity in all of its truth and purity. But then came the disappointment. I could not find any Lutherans who seemed to have a true regard for Luther and, more importantly, his unwavering adherence to the Word of God. I went to the LCMS, WELS, ELS, and CLC, and was disappointed by them all (to a lesser extent the ELS and the CLC). I have tried to engage on the internet, only to be constantly rebuffed for being "over the top", so to speak. In all of my wanderings I have only found one Lutheran group that matches what I have come to know, and that is that group in Australia, the ELCR. There is much more I could write, but that is a start and I do not want to over-tax the reader. If anyone would like to know more, just post something here and I will respond, or send me an email at: rivergums@sbcglobal.net Thanks, Stuart Wood