Hymn Video from Necessary Roughness

***

GJ - WELS members may not watch this or sing along. CLC (sic) members may, as long as they deny they were watching it. They can say, for example, "I just wanted to find out what Satan was up to."

ELS members may hum along, because their canon lawyers have determined that humming is not the same as singing.

Promoting Sanity - Another Feature of Ichabod

LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "Henry Eyster Jacobs Explains the Word of God Trump...":

These kind of posts keep me sane...

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GJ - I was thinking of several laity at once, not to mention some pastors. A scholar is not someone with a lot of degrees. The word scholar comes from the Greek term for leisure.

A true scholar uses his spare time to pursue learning. Many PhDs are not scholars. They rest on their diplomas and never do any original research. Most MDivs avoid scholarship, because learning creates turmoil and the cross. Nevertheless, some pastors are genuine scholars, and some help with this blog.

The Lutheran sects devote most of their energy to controlling people and parishes, keeping up appearances. They want their pastors and laity to be robotic cows that can be milked and finally slaughtered when convenient.

The synod suck-ups shun me, so they save me the time and energy involved in shunning them. Their behavior is udderly predictable (see above paragraph). No wonder they listen with awe and wonder to Dr. Moo excusing the NNIV porno-feminist Bible.

If a pastor or layman questions the latest idiocy of the sect (such as the NNIV), the individual is bullied and ridiculed if flattery does not work. Principled objection is countered with excommunication. In WELS, it begins with secret probation, when all comments and associations are scrutinized and recorded. Next is double secret probation, when friends stop talking or act surprised that said iconoclast is still breathing or showing up at church events. The last step is expulsion, accompanied by abuse of all family members and friends.

The Wisconsin sect and ELCA also punish congregations for opposing them in any way.

"Now he is on double secret probation."

Richard Gurgle Proves My Assertion

AC V has left a new comment on your post "Henry Eyster Jacobs Explains the Word of God Trump...":

"They teach their boys to worship Holy Mother Synod. No matter which sect they belong to, theirs is the best, the greatest, and the most perfect. The others are pitiful, even though they are remarkably similar in abusing people and teaching false doctrine."

Obtained a copy of the spring 2011 WELS Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, a publication of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Can you feel the love from reviewer Richard Gurgel of the LCMS' revision of Walther's Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible?

"...this reviewer had one concern. Especially in the front matter (biography of Walther, etc.), it is his impression that there was a strong reticence to say anything that would reflect poorly on Walther.... this reader was at times uneasy by what he felt bordered on the worship of men.... Along with the tendency to place Walther on a pedestal, at times in both front matter and elsewhere, this reviewer detected a related spirit of boasting about Lutheran orthodoxy. Those reading this book from other denominations might get the impression that the Lutheran church's nose is up in the air..."

So, this is "Holy Mother Synod worship" on both sides. On WELS' side with Gurgel's condescending comments re Walther and "Lutheran orthodoxy," and on the other side, if Gurgel's critique is correct.

Can the WLQ ever review something from the LCMS without some kind of "yeah, but" in it?

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GJ - No, they cannot avoid the "yeah, but," which they probably consider polite. The normal anecdote has all Missouri pastors as idiots. One theme is Missouri giving up their preps (just as WELS is doing now). Another theme is Missouri going easy on the Biblical languages (which WELS began with the Mary Lou College takeover of NWC).

WLQ has led WELS into the adoration of the Church Growth Movement. Wendland and Valleskey began the dishonest betrayal of Lutheran doctrine. Panning helped with his "the jury is still out" comment. That is simply too funny, given that the LCMS and WELS leadership studied together at Fuller Seminary.

Paul McCain says no one should believe Walther kidnapped children because the descendant of Bishop Stephan is a lesbian. All Cretans and synod suck-ups are liars, but orientation is not definitive proof of dishonesty. Either it happened or it did not happen.

Likewise, Stephan was known for being caught with women in the middle of the night, long before he led his pilgrims to Perry County. That could get a man shot in modern St. Louis. Back then it was especially notorious. Yet Walther swore life-long allegiance to Bishop Stephan - before being shocked to learn the man was a serial womanizer. Suddenly, Walther the disciple drove out Bishop Stephan.

Henry Eyster Jacobs Explains the Word of God Trumping a Seminary Degree

"Holy Scripture carries with it its own evidence of its divine source and authority. While the historical evidence of its claims is to be gratefully cherished, and affords the proof of highest probability, Holy Scripture speaks with absolute certainty to those to whom it portrays the deepest secrets of their hearts, and whose felt wants it completely supplies. The inner testimony of the Spirit is the strongest and most convincing of all arguments. The fact that this is always at hand and universally applicable, raises it above all arguments that depend upon the researches of the learned. Here is an argument that the humblest and most unlettered apprehend with no less force than the profoundest of scholars."
Henry Eyster Jacobs, The Elements of Religion, Decatur: Repristination Press, 1997, p. 28.

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GJ - This quotation explains why so many laity run circles around the clergy in Biblical knowledge and understanding. The clergy--especially the mediocre students--like to claim an MDiv as proof that they know more. Here Jacobs shows why the the power lies in the Word and not in the sheepskin.

An abusive priest-sect like WELS is always eager to bully the laity into submission, based on their descent from Mount Sausage Factory and their official positions in one of the fastest dying cults in the Western hemisphere. The CLC (sic) is racing it to the bottom.

I feel real sorrow for people like the attorney from St. Peter, Freedom. He knows the truth from the Word of God, but he is ordered to play by a set of rules that do not apply to the clergy, the Circuit Pastor or the Doctrinal Pussycat. The SP is working on it - give him another 30 years or so.

Here is the great shame of the Syn Conference seminaries. They teach their boys to worship Holy Mother Synod. No matter which sect they belong to, theirs is the best, the greatest, and the most perfect. The others are pitiful, even though they are remarkably similar in abusing people and teaching false doctrine.

The LCA had the same triumphalistic attitude. They took their superiority right into a black hole of rapid decline on all fronts.

When laity try to get the clergy to deal with justification by faith, they are ridiculed and intimidated. Luther explained this well - the apostles were not spared, nor was the Son of God. The cross is painful because it is the cross, not a temporary annoyance.

The cross is God's gracious plan, to purify our faith, to deepen our trust in His Word - not in human institutions. In Luther's day, the Catholic Church was the only Christian entity. The pope had spiritual and earthly power over his subjects. Clinging to the Word meant abandoning all the securities and verities of life. It is better today in many ways, but the feeling of jumping off the cliff is similar.

Those who trust in human institutions quickly adapt to the fad of the day, from Bible translations to various movements. They juggled the Word of God and impress themselves with their clever arguments, fed to them via the official synod talking points.

In contrast, those who place the Word of God above all will resist the fads and movements of the moment. They are taught by the Holy Spirit in the Word, not by wolves beating them with sheepskins.

Make Some Books Available at the Emmaus Syn Conference Conference

Brett Meyer will be our official delegate to the pan-Lutheran Emmaus Conference, May 5-6. The theme is "Be polite."

I can send him copies of Justification for $10. If you want extra copies to be available to those attending, send a check to:

Pastor Gregory Jackson
1 Silden Lane
Bella Vista, AR 72715.

Individual books and free downloads can be obtained from Lulu.com here. The PDF downloads are free.

Those who want 5 or more copies can get them through me at a reduced price.

I have recently been called Johnny-One-Note (by a Missouri pastor) for emphasizing justification by faith. I may have touched on some other topics in 6000 posts, but obviously one topic is grating to UOJ fans.

Likewise, one WELS pastor said the differences were minor and not worth arguing about. If that is so, then why have the UOJ Stormtroopers declared war on justification by faith for the last 80 years or so?

Inflate the Hours To Inflate the Salaries

bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "ELCA Can Learn from the LCMS System":

Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Catharines only wants 111 credit hours for an M Div, and that's 26 fewer than Ft. Wayne wants, and 28 fewer than Concordia St. Louis wants. St. Catharines is much less expensive, too:

Academics
http://www.brocku.ca/concordiaseminary/academics.php

excerpt: Program Requirements - M. Div.:
Successful completion of 111 semester hours...

How Do You Like the Doctrinal Graphics?

Rev. Sallie and Pastor Sleazy have been given a divine call to be Planned Giving Counselors.

I have fun with satirical graphics, like the one above.

My favorites are the doctrinal graphics, based on the best quotations in Megatron, my ready-to-go database.

Let me know what you think of them. I may do a few with false doctrine, too, because we remember better with the words illustrated by a picture.

My aim is not to deliver great quotations, as such, although they deserve to be memorized. More importantly, the laity and pastors need to do their own studies. Some have said they began or renewed their study of the Book of Concord because of Ichabod. I am happy if only one person thinks that way.

I will still be reporting on apostasy. The Fox Valley bunch is pretty boring - utterly predictable. The entire district is a festering pool of gangrene, as predicted by the Word of God.

The leadership in WELS, Missouri, and the Little Sect is appalling. But their salaries and perks depend on the consent of the governed. They are voted into office and paid in part with offering money. Who knows how much they get from Thrivent, Schwan, and the dead. Facts and figures are elusive.

The situation continues, not because the Doctrinal Pussycats are so bad - and they are - but because everyone makes excuses:

1. The SP does not have any power. Boo hoo.
   
2. The DP does not have any power. Boo hoo.
   
3. The CP is bossed by the DP and has no power. Boo hoo.
   
4. I am just a pastor and have no power. Boo hoo.
   
5. I am just a layman and have no power. Boo hoo.

The Word has power. The excuses above show that those who use them are not Lutherans and not faithful to the revealed, inspired, efficacious Word of God.

A Stone Thrown into a Pond

"The preaching of this message may be likened to a stone thrown into the water, producing ripples which circle outward from it, the waves rolling always on and on, one driving the other, till they come to the shore. Although the center becomes quiet, the waves do not rest, but move forward. So it is with the preaching of the Word. It was begun by the apostles, and it constantly goes forward, is pushed on farther and farther by the preachers, driven hither and thither into the world, yet always being made known to those who never heard it before, although it be arrested in the midst of its course and is condemned as heresy."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 202. Ascension Day Mark 16:14-20.

Tell It Not in Gath

WELS Fox Valley Circuit, 2017

Theodore Schmauk Is Not Quoted in ELCA - But Luther Is Not Quoted in Any Synod Today

Augustana College gave Theodore Schauk an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree for his great scholarship.

This sentence completes his brilliant statement in the graphic above.

The Purity of the Word and Its Effect

Johann Gerhard was a prolific orthodox author, letter writer, and father. He was not a Book of Concord author but worked with Martin Chemnitz as co-author of the gigantic Harmonia. I recall that he wrote around 10,000 letters, not to mention more theological works than anyone can imagine.

ELCA Can Learn from the LCMS System

bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Second ELCA Seminary To Merge, WELS and Missouri C...":

The ELCA needs to learn and implement the LCMS solution to keeping two seminaries with bloated faculties open with a minimum of M Div students. First, have alternative routes to the ministry to gain a sufficient number of paying students, and second, demand a minimum of 137 or 139 credit hours for a M.Div, and raise the tuition and fees to the same as that of prestigious schools like Yale Seminary. As it is now, PLTS only demands a paltry 90 hours, only 18 more credit hours than the 72 the accrediting agency demands for a MDiv. Also, make sure not to tell the alternative route students that they are probably doing enough coursework that they could obtain a MDiv if they had attended other seminaries:

Pacific Lutheran Theological School Handbook:
www.plts.edu/docs/student_handbook.pdf

excerpt: The MDiv degree program consists of 90 credit hours of academic courses.

***

GJ - Famed plagiarist and former Concordia St. Louis prez Johnson told me, "A Missouri degree is not worth much outside the Missouri Synod." He had a ThD from Missouri (like Scaer) and earned a PhD from St. Louis U.

Any seminary degree is almost worthless in the job market. An academic version of the MDiv (for example, at Yale) can get someone into top PhD program in various disciplines.

An MDiv from Mequon means the potential doctoral student will need to take a year of make-up classes, the way John (Sparky) Brenner did, before being allowed into a state university program.

Try not to smile when a Sausage Factory graduate brags about his superior education. No one else seems to agree.

The Word of God Is Always Effective

Second ELCA Seminary To Merge, WELS and Missouri Continue as Bedmates with ELCA

ALPB

April 22, 2011

Dear Bishops and Associates in our Supporting Synods:

I’m writing to you, our close friends and partners in the synods of regions 1 and 2, to tell you about collaborative ventures under consideration at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary.  I’d like to reassure you that there are no plans for PLTS to move. I’d also like to get ahead of the curve on rumors which are bound to be circulating and to solicit your help in giving your people good information.

At the PLTS board meeting in November 2010, we celebrated five consecutive years of solvency and the repayment of previous borrowing from the endowment. We also realized that we would be facing a deficit in the current fiscal year and would need to make staff reductions in order to balance the budget for next year.  We are in that painful process right now.   We are facing reduced income from our faithful synods and churchwide organization and downward enrollment trends in all our seminaries. We know we need a long term strategy that is going to contain costs and enable us to serve our constituencies with quality theological education that is more flexible and accessible.  We have been encouraged by an ELCA task force to explore options for collaboration with ecumenical partners and with Lutheran colleges and universities up to and including merger.  Here are two kinds of collaboration that are currently being explored.


    * We are in conversation with two of our partner schools within the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) about coordinating our academic programs and sharing faculty.  The strongest expression of that consolidation would be for the three schools to form a single faculty with a common dean.  We would develop a common core of classes, provide denominationally specific classes, and continue to give our students access to the wide variety of classes from the 9 seminaries in the GTU.  The schools would each retain their separate identity, denominational relations, traditional constituencies and governance.  Our active partners in this discussion are Pacific School of Religion (PSR) and Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP).  Other GTU schools might join in this closer collaboration.



    * We are also in conversation with the Lutheran university in our region, California Lutheran University (CLU) about a closer relationship. One possible result of these conversations is a merger in which PLTS would become the school of theology or “divinity school” of CLU.   At this point, all of these discussions assume that PLTS would stay in its present location and retain its invaluable relationships within the GTU.  We have been following closely the movement of Lutheran Southern Theological Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina, toward a likely merger with Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina.  In this case, both schools will retain their locations.  We see possibilities here for economies of scale, delivery of educational programs on both campuses, and new joint-programs emerging out of the enriched resources of the two schools.


We are very excited about the possibilities of both these options and do not see them as mutually exclusive.  We are very grateful for the generous, creative and cooperative spirit of our partners. Nothing is decided, but we are hopeful.  At its April 28-30 meeting, the PLTS board will be discerning whether either or both of these possibilities should be taken to the next step, that is, from discovery to negotiation.  We will keep you updated from time to time along the way.  We hope to have a lot more clarity by this time next year.

We welcome your questions, suggestions, concerns, encouragement, and prayers.  We are living in very auspicious times when patterns for the life of the church and its treasured institutions will be adapting to new circumstances.  We are all learning to thrive in new ways.

Peace,

Phyllis Anderson
President

Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
2770 Marin Ave, Berkeley, CA 94708
TEL: 510-559-2710
FAX: 510-524-2408
www.plts.edu

---

Within the space of a few months, PLTS now joins Southern in looking to merge, one path to join California Lutheran University (similar to Southern joining with Lenoir-Rhyne), while the other path is much murkier. Should the choice be to merge with the Graduate Theogical Union,  PSR is the seminary which has offered "Seeing the Goddess  in Worship" and seeking the "Divine Feminine within a Lesbian Context" as summer courses.

I received this as an alum of PLTS.

And so the aftershocks of CWA 2009 [ELCA convention] continue. Of course, it is all the economy, I am sure.....

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Southern Seminary News

Seminary and Lenoir-Rhyne University Plan to Unite

March 29, 2011

COLUMBIA, SC – Planning is under way for Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) to unite with Lenoir-Rhyne University (LRU), a Lutheran liberal arts university in Hickory, N.C., according to the Rev. Dr. Marcus Miller, seminary president. Under the proposal, the seminary will become the university's school of theology. It will continue to operate in Columbia, S.C., and remain a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). 

The plan for union emerged following a study into the feasibility of partnerships between the two institutions. "This opportunity to be a part of Lenoir-Rhyne University enhances the seminary's ability to fulfill its mission to the church," said Dr. Miller.  "The seminary understands that to meet the needs of the church in today's environment we must create innovative solutions that are sustainable and effective.  The partnership will allow the seminary to develop a new and more effective administrative model, make theological education more accessible for a greater number of people, and will allow the seminary in Columbia to continue its historic tradition of preparing women and men for ministry in the church."
The boards of trustees of each institution, at their spring 2011 meetings, affirmed the intent to pursue a merger after hearing the report of the partnership feasibility study authorized in the fall of 2010.   The committee to study the feasibility of stronger partnerships consisted of senior leadership at the two institutions.

"We are fortunate that both of these institutions are excelling in their respective areas and because of this we are able to enter into this agreement," said Dr. Wayne Powell, LRU president.

"Throughout the feasibility study, conversations were rich and fruitful.  The seminary appreciates the high quality of the Lenoir-Rhyne program and the seminary welcomes the affirmation we have received from the university.  We believe this alignment will strengthen the mission of both schools," said Miller.
The trustees also approved a preliminary timeline for completion of the merger.  Beginning in the Summer of 2011, the two institutions will identify areas where they can combine operations to become more efficient and effective.  As part of this process, LRU and LTSS will initially begin to combine their administrative responsibilities and operations in enrollment management, financial aid, and advancement.  These will occur through management contracts or enhanced partnerships within the existing seminary structure.  In March of 2012, the trustees of each school will receive a final recommendation for an agreement and plan to merge LTSS into LRU as its school of theology, with the earliest possible effective date for a completed merger being in the Summer of 2012.

"There is still a lot of work to be done before this process can be finalized," said Miller. "We are diligently studying every aspect of the seminary, from budget and personnel needs, to accreditation and ecclesiastical requirements.  From what we know right now, we believe we can work through all of the details and be prepared to move forward by this time next year."
The trustees of both institutions will be briefed regularly and the applicable accrediting bodies (the Association of Theological Schools and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools), as well as the ELCA churchwide organization and Synods of Region 9 of the ELCA, will continue to be engaged and consulted [bullied into submission] throughout the process. Supporting synods of the ELCA for LTSS are the Virginia Synod, North Carolina Synod, South Carolina Synod, Southeastern Synod, Florida-Bahamas Synod, and Caribbean Synod.

Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, founded in 1830, is located in Columbia, S.C.  One of eight seminaries of the ELCA, the seminary offers graduate and post-graduate degrees to men and women from many Christian denominations and traditions.  

Established in 1891, Lenoir-Rhyne University is a private, coeducational university located in Hickory, N.C. It is affiliated with the N.C. Synod of the ELCA and is open to students from all religious backgrounds seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees.

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GJ - As I wrote before, Mary Lou College has made itself irrelevant--oh, the irony--by becoming a Willow Creek campus. Once WELS cut support for schools from 50% of the budget to 25%, tuition had to zoom upwards. State schools are cheaper and offer useful degrees.

The Wisconsin and Little Norwegian sects do not need three little colleges within a day's drive, so they will not have them in the future. One campus could easily provide everything needed.

The enormous investment in buildings at all three locations will be seen as Schwan's Folly, because the ELS will no longer exist in 20 years (their study). WELS may continue a little longer, but not much.

Thus the two sects have repeated what the Church of Rome does so well. They sold indulgences to Schwan, and those indulgence bought them buildings to glorify Marvin's name. After Vatican II, Rome was left with an enormous surplus of irrelevant, expensive buildings, which they rented out hither and yon to help pay the expenses. Willowcreek's Little College was a Roman Catholic school. Prairie was a Roman Catholic school backed by the Kennedy mob. Concordia Mequon was a Catholic school.

The Church Growth revolution in WELS/ELS has done more damage to them than Vatican II did to Romanism. Vatican II was quite conservative, but the Catholic Left used it to promote and support their agenda.

WELS-ELS-LCMS: all three are just pathetic imitators of Rome. No wonder pastors escape for the Real Thing - the Church of Rome Herself. They already worship Holy Mother Church, they only need to find the ultimate example.

Zorro Has Uncovered a Significant Factoid about UOJ, So Listen Up

I happened upon this reference in G.C. Knapp in working through Heick's "A History of Christian Thought." It occurs in Book Four, The Disintegration of Confessional Theology; chapter seven, German Rationalism; section head, The Theologians of Rationalism. The page reference is 128.


"Frequently all the theologians of this period have been thought of being as one stripe. This is not quite correct. Two main schools of thought can be distinguished among them: the Supernaturalists and the Rationalists proper. The former exerted a kind of restraining influence in the earlier period of the Enlightenment; they marked the transition from Orthodoxy and pietism to rationalism...Relying on Kant's axiom that pure reason cannot establish religious truth, the second group of Supernaturalists emphasized that reason cannot deny the claims of Christianity. Among the proponents of this view were F.V. Reinhard at Wittemberg and Dresden (d. 1812) and G.C. Knapp at Halle (d. 1825). They labored to prove by rational means the possibility, necessity, and reality of the content of supernatural revelation. Truth was to be proved by Scripture. The idea was that Scripture, not reason, was to decide in matter of religion; but reason establishes what the teaching of Scripture is."

The rationalizing tendency sticks close to pietistic outbreaks, most notably in the argument that we can hinder the divine operation of the Holy Spirit working through the Word by our human foibles. From there, it is a quick jump to we are responsible for relative success or failure in the empirical growth of church organizations. Very rational.

Z

Franchise Owners Are Not Really Owners, Just Working for the Franchise If They Remain Robotic

AC V has left a new comment on your post "The Priesthood of All Believers":

Thought for the day. Luther defines ordination as "calling to and entrusting with the office of the ministry" (LW 38:197). As I understand, there was a time when a pastor was ordained in a service or at the graduation service at the Seminary. He was then installed at the first parish he was called to and subsequent calls of service, whether in the parish or some other field of service of the Word in the Church. This practice, it seems to me, upholds the idea of AC XIV that insists pastors must be "rightly called" (Latin: rite vocatus). AC XIV does not refer to a call from a congregation therefore as much as it declares that pastors must be both "regularly called" by the church and "ritually called" through the rite of ordination.

The practice today in WELS is to ordain and install a pastor at his first call. At subsequent calls he is simply installed. This practice of virtually equating ordination with installation dilutes the importance of AC XIV.

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GJ - The graduates of The Sausage Factory are allowed to buy a franchise in WELS, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Family Enterprises, which also owns and manages the Little Sect.
Said graduates invest many years and many thousands in earning their license to do business in WELS.

A franchisee runs his own business but he can be kicked out at any moment.

Suggesting that the Book of Concord relates to the Wisconsin Sect's pastoral business is invidious and harmful. The Book of Concord has nothing to do with the WELS or ELS, or - they have nothing to do with it.

Faith Is That My Whole Heart Takes To Itself This Treasure

AC V has left a new comment on your post "The Gospel Teaches Justification by Faith":

concordiarocks, I think Luther sums it up well:

"It is a faithful saying that Christ has accomplished everything, has removed sin and overcome every enemy, so that through Him we are lords over all things. But the treasure lies yet in one pile; it is not yet distributed nor invested. Consequently, if we are to possess it, the Holy Spirit must come and teach our hearts to believe and say: I, too, am one of those who are to have this treasure. When we feel that God has thus helped us and given the treasure to us, everything goes well, and it cannot be otherwise than that man's heart rejoices in God and lifts itself up, saying: Dear Father, if it is Thy will to show toward me such great love and faithfulness, which I cannot fully fathom, then will I also love Thee with all my heart and be joyful, and cheerfully do what pleases Thee. Thus, the heart does not now look at God with evil eyes, does not imagine He will cast us into hell, as it did before the Holy Spirit came...."

- Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 279. Pentecost Sunday. John 14:23-31.

Faith--And Nothing Else--Justifies

Those Who Deny That Faith Justifies

The Gospel Teaches Justification by Faith

Rules Against Unionism Are Easy To Create, Even Easier To Ignore

Confessional Lutheran Theology Does Not Tolerate Weasel Words

Pastor Steve Spencer asked me to comment on his upcoming sermons, to be posted on the Intrepid blog.

Brett Meyer commented already, and I posted it. I wanted to go over the sermon, line by line, before I said anything. Since the sermon is published, I do not need to sit down with Steve, hold his hand, and tell him his sins (Matthew 18).

First of all, I am extremely disappointed that the Intrepids vowed to unite against Church and Change, but devoted most of their energies to teaching against justification by faith. Rydecki began by reversing himself, within hours. Lindee caviled and joined the retreat. Jay Webber should be renamed Blister, because he always shows up after the work is done.

Their blog has been eager to republish the non-Lutheran opinions of the UOJ circle of favored authors: Zorn, Kretzmann, etc. They carefully avoid the real issues.

Spencer's sermon reminded me of the one written by Kretzmann. The favorite slogans were muted but present. As they once said about Paul and emancipation, "UOJ trembled on their lips but was not spoken."

Here is the critical paragraph from Spencer:

Yes, according the Bible Christ had to rise again. The Victor over death could not remain a prisoner of death. Peter told the Jews, "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the FACT!" (Ac. 3:15) God did this because He was pleased with the Son's work on earth on behalf of all people. And through Jesus' resurrection God made known His divine pleasure. "Christ was raised for our justification," Paul tells us. (Ro. 4:25) We know that God has totally forgiven all our sins. Therefore, by our faith, given to us through the Means of Grace – the Gospel in Word and Sacrament – Christ's resurrection assures us that our religion, which preaches Jesus' resurrection, brings to us sinners victory over death. We do indeed have the "sure and certain" hope of everlasting life!

The partial citation of Romans 4 is dishonest, especially because the verse has been used fraudulently ever since the 1932 Brief Statement to prop up universal absolution. There is nothing wrong with the passage, so why is it truncated and used as a UOJ motto?

KJV Romans 4:22 And therefore it [faith] was imputed to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

The ending of Romans 4, an entire chapter about Abraham being justified by faith, transitions into this classic statement:

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Quoting Spencer again - "God has totally forgiven all our sins."

Our is ambiguous. All the sins of believers, or all the sins of the world? The statement is double-minded. UOJ fans will say "of the world," but the Bible teaches "of believers." One must reject UOJ to teach justification by faith; one excludes the other.

As Reu noted, using a statement two ways at once is one sign of unionism.

The treatment of the efficacy of the Word is lacking, although there is a passing mention of the Means of Grace, one which is also ambiguous, taking its clue from Jon Buchholz, who wants to eat his cake and still have it. Everyone is forgiven, according to DP Jon, so people need the Means of Grace to tell them this.

The UOJ fanatics merge and confuse atonement and justification.

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LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "Confessional Lutheran Theology Does Not Tolerate W...":

Much worse they teach a Gospel separating the Spirit from the Word and the Means of Grace. I know this as I was told that my sins were forgiven before I was born. I ask you then...for what good was my baptism?

Intrepids Attack Justification-by-Faith Rather Than Church and Change.They Fight Without Courage and Run Without Shame

The Intrepids are preaching the false gospel of UOJ again. This time Pastor Spencer is teaching, in complete harmony with the false teaching of UOJ, that Christ did not die for the sin of unbelief. He teaches that no one in the whole world will ever go to Hell because of their sin. They only go to Hell if they die guilty of the unforgivable sin of unbelief.

Intrepid Pastor Steven Spencer:
Christ's resurrection assures us of the truth of our religion in His victory over death, and it also assures us of the victory of our religion over this evil world. Christ is the savior of the world, that is, He has covered the sins of all people of all time, yes, even those who reject Him. No one goes to hell because of their sins. Those that go to hell do so because of their unbelief. This is why He commanded that His Gospel be preached to everyone everywhere until the end of time. There is no reason for anyone to be damned. All sins have been paid for. All can be saved. But the true and beautiful Gospel of Jesus Christ must touch them so that the Holy Spirit can do His work and turn their hearts to faith and salvation.
http://www.intrepidlutherans.com/2011/04/festival-of-christs-resurrection-sermon.html

There are clear and Scripturally faithful responses to the public false teaching of Pastor Spencer.

First, Pastor Spencer declares, "No one goes to hell because of their sins." In Scripture Christ rejects this teaching when He declares in John 8:24, "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." Romans 14:23, "And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." And, here in Mark 4:12, "That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them." Contrary to the false gospel of UOJ those who do not have faith in Christ are not forgiven of their sin and dying in this condition they stand judged by God for their sins and are condemned to Hell.

Second, Pastor Spencer declares, "Those that go to hell do so because of their unbelief." So Intrepid UOJ Pastor Spencer teaches that Christ didn't pay for the sin of unbelief. He teaches that all other sins Christ died, paid for and forgave but not the sin of unbelief. Yet, the whole world, Pastor Spencer included, was born in unbelief! Outside of the Means of Grace working contrition and faith all men are guilty of the sin of unbelief. So is unbelief the unforgivable sin as UOJ teaches? No. Christ declares in Romans 11:23, "And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again." UOJ perverts the Scriptures and Christ's atonement, God's righteousness, man's sin and teaches another gospel.

In contrast to the false teaching of UOJ, Christ died and paid for the sins of the whole world, yet, He is only our propitiation through faith in His blood worked graciously by the Holy Ghost through the Means of Grace in Word and Sacrament. Through faith in Christ an individual instantaneously dies to sin, is raised as Christ was to live under God's grace, has Christ's righteousness and the forgiveness of all sins, including the sin of unbelief, is declared justified and has salvation that comes from the forgiveness of sins. All this He bestows to those He has called through righteousness of faith.

Yet, UOJ and it's advocates continue to teach that the whole world was justified, forgiven of all sins, before and without faith in Christ worked by the Means of Grace.
BOC: 6] Let any one of the adversaries come forth and tell us when remission of sins takes place. O good God, what darkness there is! They doubt whether it is in attrition or in contrition that remission of sins occurs. And if it occurs on account of contrition, what need is there of absolution, what does the power of the keys effect, if sins have been already remitted?…" http://www.bookofconcord.org/defense_10_repentance.php

ELCA Pastor Appointed at Valpo To Work with LCMS Pastor

Planet of the Apes, Episode IX, The Nightmare Continues

ELCA NEWS SERVICE
April 21, 2011
Valparaiso University Appoints ELCA Pastors to Campus Ministry Roles
11-059-JB
     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Valparaiso (Ind.) University has appointed the Rev. Charlene R. Cox as university pastor.
     Cox, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was appointed this week and will join the staff of the Chapel of the Resurrection in mid-July, according to the university.
     Last month, the university appointed the Rev. Brian T. Johnson, also an ELCA pastor, to the new position of executive director of campus ministries. Johnson will join the Valparaiso University staff June 6.
     Both Cox and Johnson have extensive experience in campus ministry.
     Cox will succeed the Rev. Darlene E. Grega, who pioneered the role of ELCA ministry leadership at the university. Grega died in April 2010. The Rev. Phyllis N. Kersten, Forest Park, Ill., has served as interim pastor during the 2010-2011 academic year.
     "Part of what drew me to Valpo (Valparaiso University) is that Valpo is trying to model how to do something different," Cox said. "After hearing President Mark Heckler's concept that we must move beyond hospitality and embrace a table large and wide and fully include all voices in faith and the search for truth, I'm very excited to be a part of an institution and academic community with such a central focus."
     Cox will work collaboratively in chapel ministry alongside the Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod university pastor, the Rev. James Wetzstein, and the chapel staff.
     For the past two years, Cox has served as campus pastor at Grand View University, Des Moines, Iowa, one of 26 ELCA colleges and universities. From 2004 to 2009, Cox was campus pastor at Waldorf College, Forest City, Iowa, formerly of the ELCA. She was campus pastor for University Lutheran Ministry at Illinois State University, Normal, from 1997 to 2000. She also served ELCA congregations in Bellevue, Wash.; Richland, Wash.; and Brooten, Minn.
     Johnson has served 15 years as campus chaplain and as artistic director of "Christmas in Christ Chapel" at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn. He is widely recognized for his work in enhancing worship, music and the arts.
     Previously, he was chaplain at the Lutheran/Episcopal campus ministry at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, pastor of St. James Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, and chaplain at United Hospital, St. Paul, Minn.

Enthusiasm versusThe Means of Grace

Adam and Eve Were the First Enthusiasts

Ethusiasm, The Old Dragon

Easter Sunday, 2011

Easter Sunday: 

The Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord, 2011

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Church, 7 AM Central Time


The Hymn # 191 Christ the Lord 2:97
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #188 Hallelujah 2:20

Resurrection: Destruction of Satan’s Power

The Communion Hymn #206 Jesus Christ, My Sure Defense 2:81
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #212 A Hymn of Glory 2:93

KJV 1 Corinthians 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

KJV Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

Easter
Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst deliver Thy Son for our offenses, and didst raise Him again for our justification: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that He may rule and govern us according to Thy will; graciously keep us in the true faith; defend us from all sins, and after this life raise us unto eternal life, through the same, Thy beloved Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Resurrection: Destruction of Satan’s Power

Lenski:
Why did they go so early when they had the entire day before them? For the best of reasons even also as all the evangelists record this point. Jesus had been dead since Friday. In that climate dead bodies start to decompose very quickly, wherefore also the dead are buried the same day that they die, or, if it is too late on that day, then on the next. All haste was necessary in the minds of these women, every hour counted if they wanted to find Jesus’ body in a condition still to be handled. That even under these conditions they were determined to anoint it with costly essence speaks volumes for their love and devotion just as does their going alone without a single disciple, without even John. Mark omits the account of the earthquake and of the fact that the stone was rolled away from the door of the tomb. In this section (v. 1–8) as well as in what follows he is exceedingly brief.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Mark's Gospel. Minneapolis, MN : Augsburg Publishing House, 1961, S. 738

In my hometown, Moline, we always had Easter sunrise services, which came from the Swedish tradition. Easter will always be associated with early morning because the women who first walked to the tomb went out quickly, before sunrise, and reached the tomb as the sun began to appear.

The reason for this rush was two-fold. The complete burial preparations had not been made, so they wanted to be finished. Secondly, they wanted to avoid the desert heat and its effects. In Phoenix we had workmen ask if they could please start early, especially if they had to be in the attic. That was also why I got used to early morning walks, around 5 AM, because the 110 degree days were still pleasant at that hour.

The women were purpose-driven, but they had the wrong purpose in mind. They were weak and sorrowing, not knowing they would reach an empty tomb. This is the effect of sin and death, to make us weak and always grieving. Sin and death make us concentrate on the wrong things and miss what God has accomplished.

The women faithfully went out to honor the corpse of Jesus. They went out to labor on His behalf, loaded with the spices they were using. They wondered how they would get into the tomb, because it was sealed with a door that was more like a stone lid, which rolled in a groove. Religious art often shows a large boulder, impossible to move unless a group of men worked very hard at shoving it aside. The last time I moved a boulder, four men helped with a truck. It did not roll and was not large enough to cover the opening of a tomb.

The women did not even think of the problem until they were close to the tomb. The stone lid was too much for them to roll aside in its groove. They wondered who would do this service for them.

Lenski has this detailed information:
Matthew tells us that an angel rolled the stone away and sat on it. It was not rolled aside in its groove in the regular way so as to be rolled back again to shut the entrance. No, it was hurled out of its groove by some tremendous power, thrown flat upon the ground in front of the tomb, thus making a seat for the angel who waited until the women drew near and then went inside the tomb. This stone was not again to be rolled in front of the entrance. It had been laid flat so that the tomb should stand wide open for all men to see that it was emptied of the body of Jesus, the bodiless wrappings lying undisturbed and flat just as they had been wrapped, mute but mighty evidence of the resurrection, John 20:5–10.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Mark's Gospel. Minneapolis, MN : Augsburg Publishing House, 1961, S. 740

The faithful should remember always that the angel did not release Jesus from the tomb, as if stone could enclose Him. The tomb was opened up to show everyone that Jesus was already risen from the dead.

The human nature of Christ did not hamper His divine nature in any fashion. During His public ministry He was surrounded by angry crowds twice, yet passed through them – not a feat anyone else could do. He also entered the locked room after the resurrection. Those three instances are significant because of Calvin’s confusion about the Two Natures of Christ.

How can Christ be present in both Natures in the consecrated elements of Holy Communion? That is answered by these examples. He is not confined by His human nature, as we are confined by ours. We cannot be two places at once, so some people confuse our limitations with God’s ability. The two have no parallels. “My ways are not your ways.” Isaiah 55

They entered the tomb and found an angel rather than the body of Jesus, which frightened them. When we dream and suddenly wake up, reality is startling. I used to dream that I never graduated from school. I would be having discussions with faculty about it when I woke up. Then I went over the facts as I was walking. I remember graduation. I do have a diploma. No one has disputed it…

The women would not have been startled by death. They expected that. They were shocked by the empty tomb and the angel, and that frightened them.

The angel spoke to them, and we can see the poetry in his address:

Mark 16.6
And he saith unto them,
Be not affrighted:
Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth,
which was crucified:
he is risen; he is not here:
behold the place where they laid him.

I can imagine people memorizing that as an early catechism of the resurrection. I was writing back and forth with a pastor about Hoenecke, who used similar short phrases in his writings. They are easy to memorize. In fact, it is difficult not to memorize simple, short phrases.

“Do not be afraid,” also means “Have faith in what God has done.” We fear the unknown, which is out of our control. But we trust in God’s revelation.

The great fear that burdens mankind is death. Man fears the unknown and is afraid of passing into nothingness, or eternal torment, or eternal meaninglessness.

The resurrection of Christ reveals that we do know what happens in this life and the next. Any other concept, such as reincarnation, is a dream or a nightmare.

Our lives have meaning, which pass from this short time on earth to eternal life with Christ.

Jesus established His humanity by dying (since there were heretics who denied His human nature) and His divinity by rising from the dead. One speaker in chapel said, “Jesus was the only person to rise from the dead.” We know that was an error, since the young girl, the widow’s son, and Lazarus all rose from death. But no one claimed that these three persons remained alive forever.

The resurrection of Christ is so fixed in human history that any effort to deny it is an obvious rejection of the Christian faith. False teachers prefer to stay hidden and not reveal their antagonism toward the Word of God. They will even say, “That is not an important doctrine,” as one future Disciple of Christ minister claimed. My response was, “What will you say at funerals?” That silenced her.

Mark 16:7 But go your way,
tell his disciples and Peter
that he goeth before you into Galilee:
there shall ye see him,
as he said unto you.

This second statement has the same poetic structure as the first one. Jesus appeared before His disciples, to show them the reality of His resurrection, to teach them, and to build up their faith.

Lenski observed these important details:
It is asked why the Eleven were informed in this way, through the women; why angels did not appear to them, or perhaps Jesus himself. Gerhard has enumerated five reasons: God chooses the weak; overwhelmed most by their sorrow, they are to be first in joy; the presence of the women at the tomb silences the Jewish falsehood that the disciples stole the body; as death came by woman, so salvation and life are to be announced by her; God wanted to reward woman’s active love. But why wander so far afield? The women alone went to the tomb on Sunday morning, the women, none of the men, not even John. Thus they were honored by being made the messengers to the men. If the Eleven had also gone out, the story would have been different. The love of these women receives its fitting reward.
“And to Peter,” which is preserved by Mark alone and is taken from Peter’s own lips by him, deserves special attention. Few attentive readers of what has preceded in this Gospel concerning Peter will agree that Peter is here singled out because he is the first and foremost of the Eleven. If that were the intention of Mark’s record and of the angel’s words, the order should be reversed: “say to Peter and to the disciples.” Peter is mentioned last as though his being a disciple is not definite.
Some have thought that he is mentioned because the Lord intended to appear to him especially (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5); but it is hard to see that the message given to Peter differed in any way from that delivered to the other disciples, and the angel himself states that message. No; Peter is singled out because he denied his Lord on the night of the betrayal. “And Peter” wants him to know that he is still included in the circle of the disciples by Jesus. The word includes absolution for Peter. This has been denied because the absolution is only implied; but the Scriptures are full of such blessed implications.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Mark's Gospel. Minneapolis, MN : Augsburg Publishing House, 1961, S. 746

The women were honored for being there at the tomb, before any of the men. Luther observed that women are more easily moved to sorrow and joy than men. They sorrowed even more than the disciples. They were there at the cross. Their grief moved them to honor Jesus’ body in death, and God turned that pain into joy.

The Sacraments and the Word are in perfect harmony with the death and resurrection of Christ.

We are baptized because we will die. We are mortal because we are sinners, but we live in Christ because of His death and resurrection. When babies are baptized, they are justified by faith. The Word spoken, the Gospel promises, fill their hearts with faith, and this faith receives the Promises of God. The Holy Spirit makes His dwelling in them, and responds to God’s Word from that time on.

Holy Communion is also a sacrament of death and resurrection. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper before His death, because of His upcoming crucifixion. He commanded that we receive this blessing of the visible Word to take away our sins, nurture our faith in Him, and prepare us for eternal life.

When we are older, we are always in mourning. We have lost parents and children, friends, and co-workers. Our good friend from Cleveland said, “I cannot believe that it is 24 years since I lost my husband.” He was a healthy construction worker and suddenly came down with cancer. On a whim we visited him one weekend, without notice, driving almost a day to see him in the hospital. He ordered us not to see him a second time before we left the next day, so we did. I will never forget the look on his face. He beamed. He looked perfectly healthy, ready to jump out of the hospital bed. But he died soon after. I told his widow, “I would not have traded that day for tickets to the Superbowl.” It is one of our best memories. In this way, God unites the Gospel with grief, so the grief is transformed into joy, as it was on Easter morning.

As Paul says, “Purge out the old leaven,” referring to the Jewish practice of eliminating all leaven from the home before Passover. Leaven always grows. One form is false teacher, so the question later is not so much about its abundance, but “Where did all this come from?” It only takes a little leaven (yeast) to leaven an entire denomination, an entire denomination.

Purging the old leaven means to live the Easter reality and see our lives as a brief pause before eternity. God does not tell us that these problems are illusions or something to be conquered with will and determination. Instead, He teaches us to trust in Him and His compassion. He will provide an answer so quickly, so far beyond our control, that the old reality will become a dream that fades at dawn.

Quotations about the Appearance in the Locked Room
"Thus we have two parts, preaching and believing. His coming to us is preaching; His standing in our hearts is faith. For it is not sufficient that He stand before our eyes and ears; He must stand in the midst of us in our hearts, and offer and impart to us peace."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 355.

"This is going through closed doors, when He comes into the heart through the Word, not breaking nor displacing anything. For when the Word of God comes, it neither injures the conscience, nor deranges the understanding of the heart and the external senses; as the false teachers do who break all the doors and windows, breaking through like thieves, leaving nothing whole and undamaged, and perverting, falsifying and injuring all life, conscience, reason, and the senses. Christ does not do thus."
Sermons of Martin Luther, II, p. 355.

"Hence I send you into the world as my Father hath sent me; namely, that every Christian should instruct and teach his neighbor, that he may also come to Christ. By this, no power is delegated exclusively to popes and bishops, but all Christians are commanded to profess their faith publicly and also to lead others to believe."
Sermons of Martin Luther, II, p. 359.

"The first and highest work of love a Christian ought to do when he has become a believer, is to bring others also to believe in the way he himself came to believe. And here you notice Christ begins and institutes the office of the ministry of the external Word in every Christian; for He Himself came with this office and the external Word."
Sermons of Martin Luther, II, p. 359.

"Now God drives us to this by holding the law before us, in order that through the law we may come to a knowledge of ourselves. For where there is not this knowledge, one can never be saved. He that is well needs no physician; but if a man is sick and desires to become well, he must know that he is weak and sick, otherwise he cannot be helped."
Sermons of Martin Luther, II, p. 370.

"For the devil will not allow a Christian to have peace; therefore Christ must bestow it in a manner different from that in which the world has and gives, in that he quiets the heart and removes from within fear and terror, although without there remain contention and misfortune."
Sermons of Martin Luther, II, p. 380.

"Reformed theologians, in order to support their denial of the illocalis modus subsistendi of Christ's human nature, have sought, in their exposition of John 20, an opening in the closed doors, or a window, or an aperture in the roof or in the walls, in order to explain the possibility of Christ's appearance in the room where the disciples were assembled."
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950, II, p. 127.

Elton John Will Sing "Candle in the Wind" Right after the WELS Benediction

AC V has left a new comment on your post "Crumbled have spires in every land! Here stands th...":

True story re WELS wedding service: WELS pastor says, "It's OK for the Catholic friend to sing her solo RIGHT AFTER the benediction." I guess at that point the Unit Concept gets unplugged.

Memoirs of an Apostate, Who Lived To See the Bitter Fruits of His Labor.Syn Conference Apostates, Take Note

Carl Braaten enjoyed a charmed life in ELCA academics.
Then they threw him under the bus.

Carl E. Braaten, Because of Christ, Memoirs of a Lutheran Theologian, Eerdmans, 2010, 210 pages paperback.

When Mrs. Ichabod and I were in college at Augustana, Braaten was the boy wonder at the newly merged Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. LSTC included Augustana Seminary, the ULCA Maywood Seminary, a Nebraska seminary, and some easily forgotten promises to the Finns.

The seminary merger was one reason why I never considered going to LSTC.

Braaten was the son of Norwegian Lutheran missionaries to Madagascar, growing up on that gigantic island. He came back to the States in 1946 to attend St. Olaf College (ALC) and Luther Seminary. In between he got a Fullbright Scholarship to study philosophy in Paris.

Braaten graduated from Luther Seminary in 1955 and entered the doctoral program at Harvard University. "Paul Tillich meant a lot to me," he wrote on page 32. Nothing is said about the appalling infidelities of Tillich, whether marital or doctrinal. Tillich's wife published a book about her wandering husband, who liked photos of women crucified, slept with the wives of his students, and behaved like a jerk. For example, he sold the same theology title to two publishers at once. The Fortress Press biography of Tillich, written by one of his academic friends, noted Tillich's bizarre inclusion of pagan myth in his Systematics. Tillich also bragged up his own importance in various ways. He wanted a job in Hitler's Germany because he was instrumental in promoting the cause of national socialism. His biographer said that Tillich did little beyond talking in coffee shops! Similarly, Tillich acted as though Columbia University's philosophers had great respect for him when he taught at Union Seminary (The Devil's Playground) in NYC. In fact, they did not.

But one does not make a dent in academic theology while pointing out these verities, even in class. I dared to mention some details in the Frank Fiorenza class at Notre Dame. Fiorenza (Roman Catholic) and Tjaard Hommes (liberal Dutch) were furious that I dared to say such things, even though I left out the whips, affairs, and girls-on-crosses. Frank said, "Lutherans do not understand Tillich." I responded with, "Lutherans do not understand a Lutheran?"

Tillich wrote from a philosopher's point of view, which must have harmonized well with Braaten's interests. Modern philosophy displaces theology, using the categories while expelling the content. Almost all of modern theology is written that way, providing a nifty income for closet atheists who moan about teaching nine hours a week - if that.

Tillich won many awards, which allowed him to study in Europe. He also heard Karl Barth lecture in Basel. He was thrilled to hear Barth, but Tillich was clearly his favorite. Tillich and Braaten worked closely together, so Braaten was happy to see Tillich emerge as a famous theologian in Germany and in America. Tillich was on the cover of Time magazine at one point. Few theologians can equal that.

Tillich and Barth are in the same boat as intellectual frauds. Neither one was remotely Christian in thought. Both of them borrowed heavily from the labor of others. Barth let his mistress, Charlotte Kirschbaum, do most of the work in the Dogmatics. Tillich let his grad students did an inordinate amount of his work. Graduate students were not going to kick about doing Tillich's work for him, since he had the power to make careers, as he did for Braaten.

Critical thinking is not an attribute of modern theology. To address the theologians' lack of faith in the Word of God is academic suicide. Apostates are quick to put everyone through a quick colloquy. They do not allow believers into their club.

Braaten has nothing but scorn for "Fundamentalists," which is his word for those who still believe in the authority and inerrancy of the Scriptures. Braaten goes back and forth. He condemns his church opponents for not being confessional, but no one opposed Christian theology more boldly than Braaten in his glory years.

He brags about his Braaten/Jenson Dogmatics, which attacks every article of faith in the Apostles Creed. The crucifixion of Christ is compared to a man hit by a truck, an accident meaning nothing. The gigantic two-volume set is a travesty in writing. To borrow from Luther, it is not even a pile of manure served on a silver platter. The serving dish is a garbage can lid, the inept style of closet atheists trying to act important. They wrote about basic Christian doctrine - Luther believed it, we do not.

And they were trying to rescue ELCA from the radicals. Read the paragraph above again, slowly. Add that the Trinity, in that book, is nothing more than "God, the man Jesus, and the divine spirit of the community." (I paraphrased that statement from memory.)

Braaten also helmed a journal called dialog, the lower case title serving as a reminder of how trendy they were - at the time. He enjoyed being a subversive until his troops over-ran his own position, took away his leadership, and kicked him to the curb.

Braaten's Bitter Fruits
Merger was the first game that burned Braaten. The radicals thrown out of their leadership in the LCMS--led by WELS' own Jungkuntz, a UOJ fanatic--were known collectively as the Seminex bunch. They were blooded veterans of many battles, from a synod where vicious in-fighting, kidnapping, and cover stories began with C. F. W. Walther.

The tiny, fading AELC (Seminexers) were allowed to dominate the ELCA merger talks. They created the gay-feminist quota system that would remove every single person like Braaten from any influence. The radicals opposed the traditional Name of God, but Braaten's book did the same. The memoir sounds like "No fair when you play our game of subversion. We had a blast doing it, but you are going too far." I see a parallel with the current leadership of Missouri, WELS, and the micro-mini sects. What they conceived and carried to term is an ugly little bastard child, who keeps growing and biting his parents.

I went to LSTC for research and also to visit the president of the seminary, Bill Lesher, in discussions about publishing the book. He kept confusing the words "biography" with "bibliography," which made the church history professor roll his eyeballs. Lesher pointed out that they could not keep several Midwestern seminaries going at once. Seminex merged into LSTC and Wartburg has been insolvent, but LSTC (Bergendoff's dream school) is still in deep trouble financially. Nota bene, defenders of WELS schools, this seminary meltdown was discussed 29 years ago. Ba-zing.

Seminex Drives Braaten Out
The Seminex faculty came to LSTC as a team, and they quickly took over. The chapel services conducted worship by avoiding male names or pronouns for the Trinity. Braaten was offended and quit coming to chapel. Boo-hoo Braaten. Did he oppose it at the service? No. Did he organize the other students who opposed this? No. He wrote a letter and quit coming. Does that sound familiar, WELSians? He wrote a letter.

The homosexual issue quickly took over, too. Deppe, as a Seminex professor, was arrested for soliciting a male policeman at a public park in St. Louis. Nevertheless, he still came over with the Seminex faculty. The rogue AELC seminary was also the official seminary of the homosexual Metropolitan Community Church, training and certifying their pastors, male and female, homosexual and lesbian. Did that give LSTC pause? Apparently not.

But Braaten complained about the Lavender Mafia's work at the seminary and in ELCA. Braaten stayed in ELCA but left LSTC.

Here are some quotations and insights, from his book, which perfectly parallel the sects considered more conservative than ELCA. The methods are exactly the same.

Page 121
"The theology that backed up the 'paradigm shift' at LSTC was either antinomian or a close relative." (Everyone is already forgiven - UOJ and Seminex's Gospel Reductionism, led by WELS' own Jungkuntz.)

Page 126
Quotas for Blacks did not increase Black membership in ELCA. (Nevertheless, WELS embarked on multi-culturalism with ELCA and Missouri.)

Page 132:
"Nobody who bucks the system gets elected to any office in the ELCA. This is why only retired bishops dare to speak out against the ordination of gay clergy in partnered relationships and the blessing of same-gender unions in the church. Even theological professors have become muted for fear of appearing out of sync with the rising trends in church and society. So much for the 'here I stand' courage of the founding father of the Lutheran movement. not even faint echoes of that are to be heard in the church establishment and its publications, for example, the Lutheran Magazine, Lutheran Partners, as well as books published by Augsburg Fortress Publishing House. Censorship is massive, complete, and effective, however it works."

Page 140
"From where I was sitting, the handwriting on the wall was so clear, I felt a person had to be blind not to see it."

Braaten also wrote about professors telling him they were too terrified to do or say anything about ELCA's deviancy.

Braaten enjoyed the comforts and prestige of an academic life, the security of tenure, high pay, numerous grants for study tours. He created the foundation for everything that turned the ELCA into a nightmare for anyone with a shred of faith. The extreme radicalism finally stirred up Braaten's memories of Biblical memorization, catechetical instruction, the good old days.

That is how the Word blinds people. The more time and energy they devote to attacking the Scriptures and mocking the Reformation, the blinder they become. One cannot juggle the Word, which always has the divine power of God, and come away unscathed.

The faculties of WELS, Missouri, and the Little Sect think they can ignore their own apostasy while saying "Naughty naughty" to ELCA. All Thrivent has to do is toss some money in the air, rent some rooms at the Notell Conference Center, and the Four-letter Synods are there, tongues hanging out.

The Goodsoilers, part of the Lavender Mafia in ELCA...and beyond.

I would have flown to Chicago just to see this chapel service.
The co-founder of Earth Day murdered and composted his girlfriend.