The abusive Leftist sect showed its true colors yesterday. While people were hailing the re-election of their non-leader Mark Schroeder, the Biblical Porn Committee was at work.
First, let's discuss the issue by having its chief advocate, Wendland, give a solo performance on how good the NNIV is. Wendland did that in the afternoon, repeating his district convention performance.
I did not look over the agenda. Did someone get equal time to point out the glaring faults of the NNIV? I doubt it.
The whole idea of Diaprax is to allow people plenty of time to discuss what has already been decided for them. Then it becomes their decision. They join in turning against anyone who doubts the wisdom of the dramatic change.
How much friendship was offered to those who continued to plea for the KJV, when Judas Jeske led WELS to the NIV? Those KJV pastors were excommunicated, thrown out. Yet WELS bragged about using the KJV beforehand, pointing out how those nasty Commie liberals switched to modern translations.
Someone pointed out how the KJV was printed on one side of the lectionary inserts, the NIV on the other side, for a period of time. The alternative was offered, then taken away. That is a good example of hypocrisy, where the KJV is printed to lead people away from it.
The KJV is Luther's English Bible, enjoying its 400th anniversary this year, but it is really almost 500 years old. Tyndale studied under Luther and Melanchthon at Wittenberg, printed his first English Bible in Germany, and suffered a martyr's death for the Bible. WELS chooses to remain ignorant of those facts as they lust for the NNIV.
The WELS translation commissars tried this fable on their audience - The Southern Baptist convention voted against the NNIV because they wanted to sell their own Holman Christian Standard Bible.
No, the Baptists have kept the KJV alive while the Lutherans chased after Baptist mentors like Doug Moo, Ed Stetzer and C. Peter Wagner. I question whether the Holman's leaden prose will catch on anywhere. Read the 23rd Psalm in the Holman on Bible Gateway. They must have thrown darts at sheet of words to come up with such horrible phrasing.
The Baptists are rather independent, too. They are not pulled along, like sows with iron rings in their snouts. Lutherans seem to conform for a long time, but they break out on their own too. No one knows where the breaking point is.
Knocking the Baptists over money is the laugh of the week. The only argument for the NNIV is the money issue. Billionaire Murdoch will shut down the old NIV in two years, so all the WELS NIV works will have to stop too. They want an easy transition into the wretched NNIV and saving money at that. In fact, they could switch to another translation tomorrow if they wished.
Get this, innocent readers - WELS is paying to use the NIV, so WELS is part of Murdoch's cash-flow. WELS will pay for any modern translation it uses in its materials. However, since Bibles sell well and keep changing every few weeks, any change is profitable, because high sales mean every Bible sold is pure profit.
WELS scheduled one hour for the translation commissars to bat down opposition to the NNIV. The discussion lasted about two hours, revealing the transparent excuses thrown out for the NNIV being adopted.
The pathetic translation commissars referred adoringly to Douglas Moo, Wheaton College professor. His job is to promote the NNIV, so his approval is self-serving and money grubbing as well. He has long been an advocate of radical paraphrase "translations."
Those who participate in these commercial ventures get all kinds of financial rewards for them. Like Jeske, they get free trips and other benefits. They are not going to list them, but the incentives are there.
If I could get an entire denomination, even a dying one like WELS, to endorse a constant-selling book of any kind, the cash spent to land a client like that would be coffee money.
The NNIV will be a big hit in the mainlines. The WELS endorsement is more evidence that WELS has been mainline, apostate, for decades.
Look for the union label.
