LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "Dates and Theories about UOJ. How WELS and Missour...":
I did some reading over the weekend. Believe it or not, Wikipedia is a treasure trove of religion info with much on Lutherans and their doctrines.
Here is the history lesson for the day...
Lutherans have been warring against Pietism since the days of Luther as well documented on this blog. I googled 'Confessional Lutheran' over the weekend and found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessional_Lutheran
clicking around on the hyperlinks was extremely informative...like this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Lutherans
WELS is a paradox. On the one hand it claims to be Lutheran and yet it keeps the 'Evangelical' from the old Prussian Union in its name. So the influences of old hold to this day. You wonder why we keep looking to the Reformists? It is because it sounds so familiar.
In the mid 1800's WELS was a liberal Lutheran body; full of Pietism from the old Prussian Union. I believe the doctrine of UOJ sprung from this as a combatant to decision theology (synergism). But now it has swung so far the other way that you are sounding again like the reformed Rob Bell teaching a universal reconciliation; forgiveness to all whether you believe it or not or before you were even born.
@ Pastor Lillo...For whatever reason you keep coming back here as I did. I hope some of the stuff rubs off on you like it did me. I've had some lively discussion with my brother the last few months regarding the various flavors of UOJ rampant in WELS. I understand you may be in his circuit...
