Please watch out for these Roman Catholic doctrines in your favorite Lutheran sect. These novel ideas are not Biblical.
- Holy Mother Church is indefectible. That means the visible church cannot make a mistake. The same advocates will say the Word is unclear, ineffective, incomplete, and in need of clarification by Holy Mother Church.
- Papal infallibility. The genius of this doctrine is its application to all clergy in agreement with the pope. They derive their infallibility only through their agreement with him, but this is generally abstracted to "The Church" or "Synod." Doctrinal flat-liners will ask, "What does Synod say?"
- Gray areas of Scripture. That is best expressed by stretching out gray as "g---r---a---y." Wince a little for effect, as if deep in thought. Rome switched to this as soon as they got clobbered in Biblical debates during the Reformation. Lutheran papalists seized on this as a great tactic, so they established their Boards of Doctrine, staffed with useful idiots. Each board is a bunch of bananas - green, yellow, and just plain rotten.
- Enthusiasm - the Holy Spirit is at work everywhere except in the Word, where God is never at work. The higher the position, the more Spirit-soaked the individual is, the less likely anyone will challenge him...or her. Every entity within the organization is also anointed and incapable of error (#1). If there are any questions, see #2, because of #3.
- Canon law. Nothing has been more effective for Rome than canon law, so Lutherans have their own. Anything can be done or undone through canon law. The worst false doctrine or the most egregious crimes can be ignored and forgotten if someone did not follow canon law in dealing with the situation. If they happen to do everything right, they are identified and excommunicated for questioning #1- #4.
- Indulgences, Purgatory, faith plus works. No one is ever forgiven - not completely. However, the richer someone is, the more likely he is to buy absolution with monetary gifts. For millions, all is forgiven.
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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Roman Catholic Doctrines Embraced by Lutherans":
3. Laity will continue to be directed to the clergy and Synod for the 'correct' interpretation of Scripture. This has been happening for a long time with the (W)ELS teaching there are principles taught in Scripture and there are application's of principles. Only the clergy can determine when an application is Scriptural or not. The (W)ELS NNIV Hoodwink is a great example of this. The defensive statement, "Do you know Greek?" is another.
A more specific example is the following quote from District President Buchholz:
"Second, to the specific issue of women in the church, remember that there are principles and there are applications of principles. The principles are always inviolate. Some applications of principles are always inviolate. Other applications of principles may vary depending upon a whole passel of factors, including but not limited to: strength or weakness of faith; cultural sensitivities; customs of the people, and church etc. (An example might be the way Luther dealt with the radicals at Wittenberg who wanted to take the Reformation too quickly. He backed off and moved slowly, allowing the word to do its work in people’s hearts before he instituted things like Communion in both kinds—certainly a biblical practice.)
In asserting that Pastor Schewe was wrong to allow women to read sections of Scripture antiphonally, you want to be careful that you don’t turn the application of a principle into the principle itself. The principle that women are not to teach or have authority over a man is inviolate. Some applications of that principle, e.g., women pastors, women teaching men in Bible study, etc., are inviolate. However there is quite a stretch between women teaching (i.e., expounding, explaining, clarifying and elucidating Scripture) and reading Scripture antiphonally and collectively without giving instruction. (This doesn’t mean that Scripture itself is not instructive; that power to instruct inheres in the word. And, as you well know, the power and efficacy of the word to instruct is not made more or less effective whether it’s read by a woman or a man.)
Another question that may well be raised is whether a practice is wrong (i.e. inherently sinful) or merely ill-advised under the circumstances. Since in this case in point you’re dealing with an application—not the principle itself—there are a number of criteria that are to be evaluated to ascertain the benefit or detriment of an application. Does it pander to or foster a particular false belief? Is it an accommodation to worldly practice and mindset? Is it edifying? And so forth . ."
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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Roman Catholic Doctrines Embraced by Lutherans":
Norcal763, maybe these quotes from DP Buchholz will help clarify his confession.
"God has forgiven the whole world. God has forgiven everyone his sins." This statement is absolutely true! This is the heart of the gospel, and it must be preached and taught as the foundation of our faith. But here’s where the caveat comes in: In Scripture, the word "forgive" is used almost exclusively in a personal, not a universal sense. The Bible doesn’t make the statement, "God has forgiven the world."
"God has forgiven all sins, but the unbeliever rejects God’s forgiveness." Again, this statement is true—and Luther employed similar terminology to press the point of Christ’s completed work of salvation.16 But we must also recognize that Scripture doesn’t speak this way."
"God has declared the entire world righteous." This statement is true, as we understand it to mean that God has rendered a verdict of "not-guilty" toward the entire world. It is also true—and must be taught—that the righteousness of Christ now stands in place of the world’s sin; this is the whole point of what Jesus did for us at Calvary. However, once again we’re wresting a term out of its usual context. In Scripture the term "righteous" usually refers to believers. "
