The story begins with Schleiermacher, the pivotal leader in modern theology. He was a doubter who went to Halle University and later taught there as well. He is a good representative of the transition from Biblical Pietism to Biblical Rationalism. He was a rationalist who used the Bible and made apostates feel good about calling themselves Christian.
Schleiermacher profoundly affected Karl Barth, even though Barth relied on his mistress to do his serious writing and research. Although this deeply offends the mediocre students of an unaccredited seminary, I have to admit taking classes with several Barth scholars. John Howard Yoder studied under Barth and Frank Fiorenza was president of the Barth Society. Yoder has passed away, and Fiorenza holds a chair in theology at Harvard University. My advisor loved Barth's theology, and Stan Hauerwas made fun of the Commie. In other words, I heard a lot from Barth in graduate school and read his works along with Calvin and Schleiermacher. Although I later thought it was a waste of time, now I draw on that knowledge to understand the mysteries of UOJ.
Schleiermacher is far more famous than Knapp for his UOJ. Both draw on Calvin's confusion about one universal act or one universal decree. As Dr. Lito Cruz has often stated, the UOJ of the Midwestern sects is drawn from Calvin's merger of atonement and justification.
Or, as Luther has written, any act of God apart from the Holy Spirit in the Word - is Enthusiasm.
Be patient. I am getting to my point. I have just saved you three years of doctoral seminars and required reading.
The Gift Is a Demand
Barth began his ethics section in his Dogmatics, II, 2 this way. "The gift is a demand."
That is my insight for the day. Let me explain. Barth's teaching is contrary to the Scriptures and Luther, because the Gospel bears the fruit of the Spirit. The gift of salvation is not a demand, but the beginning of the sanctified life, where the sinner--justified by faith--freely gives of himself in gratitude to God for the blessings of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal peace.
In Harmony with Calvin, Pietism, and Fuller
There is a WELS pastor who shuns me, even though he is known officially as a critic of Church Growth. He earned a precious DMin at Fuller Seminary, where he was supposed converted from pro-CG to anti-CG. I could say the same about Joel Gerlach, based upon Gerlach's protest to Otten. But silence is consent, and the poor quaking guy is silent.
This converted Enthusiast admitted, "Barth is indeed the official theologian of Fuller Seminary."
Additional research shows that Fuller Seminary changed from its original role when two men came back from studying under Barth and altered the mild inerrancy stance of the school. They could no longer, in good conscience, identify the Bible with the Word of God. No, it merely contained the Word of God. How convenient - for creative writing seminars.
The CORE and Other Perversions
Karl Barth was the typical Antinomian legalist. For him, no law existed. He lived with his mistress, Charlotte Kirschbaum, each summer, to work on his great theological research. Later, he moved Charlotte into his home, over the protests of his wife Nellie and the excruciating pain of his children.
Barth and Kirschbaum were dedicated Communists.
Barth was also a legalist. He told people they could not ask him a question unless they had read all of his (her) Dogmatics. He posed as a Christian theologian and fooled many conservative Protestants. As Robert Preus observed, reading Barth's introduction gives away the whole volume. The one I was quoting--II, 2--begins with a statement of Universalism in the introduction. Put the book down or kill a bug with it. Nothing else needs to be said. Thus Barth is exactly like Schleiermacher and all the UOJ clones. The "universal declaration" may be separated from Universalism by a fig-leaf, but the fig-leaf falls soon enough.
All the Shrinker congregations are extremely legalistic and Antinomian, whether they call themselves Lutheran or Evangelical Covenant or E. Free. The ministers demand membership in a cell group. The cell group controls the members. The cell group must study the bilge demanded by the minister.
Cell groups in a Lutheran congregation easily move into Pentecostalism, women usurping authority over men, women teaching men. Lutherans do not discuss the real issues with women in congregations, so they can debate voting and ordination - neither term is used by Paul, who faced the actual issues.
The Shrinkers have all kinds of demands for their poor, blind followers, but not one rule or law applies to them. They are far beyond the Ten Commandments. That is why so many Fuller disciples make a shipwreck of their faith with women - or men. One famous LMCS Shrinker was arrested in a roadside john.
When a layman told me Valleskey's chosen successor left the ministry over "depression," I asked, "What was her name?"
The layman said, "Who told you?"
Legalism and Antinomianism go well together, because both flourish in Enthusiasm.
The Olde Synodical Conference will not escape this blight, this soul-murdering cancer, until it repudiates and roots out Enthusiasm.
