Dan Johnson Asks the Intrepids

It has now been over a month since the meeting with regarding the issues at St. Peter, Freedom raised by Rick Techlin. He brought forward charges of false doctrine. Several pastors have stood behind him (see http://www.intrepidlutherans.com/2011/02/why-i-no-longer-attend-my-wels-church.html - "All the editors at Intrepid Lutheran stand behind him one hundred percent.") Therefore, someone must to be promoting false doctrine - whether it be the accused or the accusing pastors. As these accusations were made public, there ought to be a public retraction or reprimand of one of those groups. Are we to expect any more public word on this? This issue, and now the silence following it, has deeply shook my confidence in our synod - that it is really committed to pure doctrine. When there are charges of false doctrine made by pastors about pastors publicly, there cannot be dead silence following. Intrepids -- what do you know about the status of this? Dan Johnson

May 3, 2011 6:28 AM

The Secret Revealed - Youth Do Not Want Pop's Music in Church.Grandparent Are Right.

Jimmy James has left a new comment on your post "Cacophony Defined: WELS Emergent Church. Rock N R...":

Well....gotta give 'em credit for using the right music! (Sarcasm intended....)

Seriously, I can recall a group of young people telling me a few years back; "Why do they think these contemporary services cater to us? This is the kind of music my parents listen to! Why would I go to a service with their style of music?"

You would be amazed at the number of young people who LOVE the "old fashion" hymns, liturgy and general traditional worship of yesteryear. Remember, anything that grandma and grandpa did while growing up is "cool" with the young folks! It's been that way for generations.

I like what Bill Cosby stated many years ago; "The reason why grandparents and grandchildren get along so well together is because they share a common enemy."

***

GJ - While the Syn Conference was being rocked to sleep by Fuller/Willow Creek disciples, the LCMC grew to 500 congregations and the Bishops' Synod (NALC) also sprouted up.

One bishop said to a congregation, visitors can tell when there is tension. They do not need to be told. They never come back.

The same can be said for the Wisconsin and Missouri sects, not to mention the Little Sect on the Prairie. The clergy spend so much time posturing and hating each other out of their sects that people feel the hate. The Olde Synodical Conference cannot even attract decent leakage from ELCA's come-outters (the straight kind).

The Olde Synodical Conference is not true to its own statements. People know that or sense that, in spite of 40-50 years of deceit and manipulation. The leaders are handing over their synods to the next generation, Dead On Arrival.

Cacophony Defined: WELS Emergent Church. Rock N Roll in Round Rock, Texas.

Warning - this morphs into "Crown Him with Many Crowns."

ca·coph·o·ny/kəˈkäfənē/
Noun: A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds: "a cacophony of deafening alarm bells"; "a cacophony of architectural styles", a "WELS pop music service."

I wish the videographer would have panned across the Easter crowd, ending with a graph showing how much money has been spent on this WELS mission, officially known as Christ the Rock Lutheran Church. The parish is also the Church From Scratch, if you slouch through the Church and Change website (which no longer exists--wink, wink--thanks to the brutal discipline of SP Schroeder). Hint - if you want a call or a big promotion, join Church and Change. You too can go overseas, or become an elderly campus chaplain, or spring back to life like Lazarus and write features for FICKLE magazine.

Craftiness, Guile, Deceit, and Peddling the Gospel

The previous post quotes J. P. Meyer and Lenski on using craftiness and huckstering in peddling the Gospel.

Those approaches remain the dominant themes in the Lutheran synods today. Craftiness (panourgia) is Satanic. Instead of being honest about issues, events, and doctrine, the ministers say:

I don't remember that.

Who told you?

That ca-a-a-a-n be understood correctly.

That is a gre-e-e-e-y area of Scripture.

No synod is perfect.

No translation is perfect.

The craftiest parsons end up as DPs and SPs. Voting is a political process, and people like craftiness. As a DP, Jerry Kieschnick altered the will of an elderly lady, robbing her estate. His defense in court was "I am just a poor dumb pastor." The LCMS elevated him to Synod President, in honor of his craftiness.

Gurgle pretended to be against amalgamation, until he was elected WELS SP. WELS pretended to ask everyone's opinion, then reversed the final vote. Next Gurgle, who already deceived everyone on amalgamation, told the district conventions that the plan would halt if it went overbudget. Once burned, twice shy? No, they loved it and approved what the national convention had actually voted down by a narrow margin. Craftiness works.

Soon there will be no Lutheran schools left. They are all Christian academies now. Instead of training members in the liberal arts and Lutheran doctrine, they are selling private education to the masses, so the right people can have jobs and extra money.

In doctrine, Syn Conf pastors will say the Reformation was based upon justification by faith. However, when challenged, they advocate Universalism as pure and untrammeled as Karl Barth's - everyone is absolved. Rather than welcome doctrinal clarification, they refuse to discuss the central article of the Christian faith. They also threaten and intimidate those laity who clearly profess the Book of Concord's confession of truth.

The WELS Church and Changers pretend to go out of business (a lie told by Gurgle, now by Schroeder) and carry on merrily. Their counterparts in the LCMS, Little Sect, and abhorrent CLC (sic) follow the same path. But they all openly support one another.

Meanwhile, the Book of Concord pastors and laity hide their names and communicate in secret, because of the enemies of sound doctrine will retaliate against them. One obvious example, already published, is Tim Glende's bullying of a member who brought up legitimate concerns about deceit, craftiness, and plagiarism.

The Wisconsin Sect Ignores the Good Parts of J. P. Meyer's Ministers of Christ

"The type of minister to which we referred above as using entertainment in order to lure the people is employing panourgia, and is therefore guilty of committing secret things of disgrace. The Gospel is the word of Truth. To resort to ruses in proclaiming it, even though with the best of intentions, is heaping shame on the Truth. Not only are the truth and lures incompatible in their nature, but to use lures in connection with the Gospel ministry treats the Truth, the eternal Truth of God, as though it were inefficient, not attractive enough in itself."
John P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, A Commentary on the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1963, pp. 62. 2 Corinthians 4:2.

"Because such is Paul's ministry, he cannot, on the one hand, stoop to trickery or an adulteration of the Word, to practice the hidden things of shame; nor can he, on the other hand, ever grow weary of administering so wholesome and glorious an office."
John P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, 1963, p. 65. 2 Corinthians 4:2.

"What he has to announce is not designed to lead men to a deeper understanding of nature, it is not science; nor to train them in the rules of hygiene, to produce a more healthy population; nor to teach them to procure greater wealth, or to get more satisfaction and enjoyment out of life; it is not even to elevate them to more idealistic views and to morally cleaner habits. No, he addresses himself strictly to the troubled consciences, promising them relief and peace."
John P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, 1963, p. 65. 2 Corinthians 4:2.


"The very fact that we, being such cheap and fragile implements, continue in our service unbroken is proof of the excellency of God's power, and is an incentive to renewed cheerful efforts on our part."
John P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ,, 1963, p. 72. 2 Corinthians 4:7.


"Paul...is speaking about methods of preaching the Gospel. He means to say that you can introduce methods into your Gospel work which on the surface do not appear as shameful, but which in reality disgrace the Gospel. He is harking back to 2:17, where he spoke about kapeleuein, about 'selling' the Gospel. To use a coarse illustration: Some ministers in their eagerness to bring the Gospel to the people, resort to entertainment to attract the crowds, in order to get an opportunity to preach to them. If you would tell such ministers that they are ashamed of the Gospel and that by their methods they disgrace it, because they manifest a lack of trust in its efficacy, they would resent the charge. Are they not doing all in order to promote the Gospel? The disgrace their methods bring upon it does not appear on the surface; that is why Paul speaks of secret things of shame."
John P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ,1963, pp. 62f. 2 Corinthians 4:1-6; 2:17.

---

Panourgia means craftiness, as Lenski explained:

Crafty conduct is paired with “adulterating the Word of God.” These two ever go together. He who is not honest with himself will not be overhonest with the Word. The reverse is also true—and the writer may be permitted to say that he has witnessed it too often—he who is not really honest with the Word cannot be trusted very far with his conduct. Δολόω = to catch with bait, to fix up something so as to deceive and to catch somebody. It is used with regard to adulterating wine. So here: “adulterating the Word of God,” not leaving it pure lest people reject it but falsifying it to catch the crowd. Of all the dastardly deeds done in the world this is the most dastardly. None is more criminal nor more challenging to God himself. Not adulterating the Word of God had its edge against the falsifiers who had come to Corinth, who also cast aspersions upon the genuineness of Paul’s teaching.

Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Paul's First and Second Epistle to the Corinthians. Minneapolis, MN. : Augsburg Publishing House, 1963, S. 955.


KJV 2 Corinthians 4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness (panourgia), nor handling the word of God deceitfully (Δολόω); but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

KJV Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness (panourgia), whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Lenski again on craftiness:
ΙΙανουργία is the ability to do anything, and this word is used in the evil sense of stooping to use the basest means, any and all such means, to gain one’s evil ends—“craftiness.” The outstanding example is the serpent and his deception of Eve in the Garden of Eden; ἐκ in the verb intensifies: “completely deceived.” Jesus used the same example in John 8:44. It is so effective because it is the first deception that entered our world, and because its results were so terrible. All other deceptions are the repetitions of this original, most fatal one, are the outcome of this radical deception.

Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Paul's First and Second Epistle to the Corinthians. Minneapolis, MN. : Augsburg Publishing House, 1963, S. 1238.

KJV 2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty (craftiness, panourgia), so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Lenski on hucksters:

He certainly chose a telling word when he describes the many as (peddling the Word of God) καπηλεύοντες τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ. A κάπηλος is a huckster, which is suggestive in a number of directions. He peddles cheap wares, he haggles about the price, he is known to cheat because he does not expect to return, he is out for his own personal gain. The ancient hucksters, for instance, peddled wine and adulterated it so that the verb that is derived from this noun came to mean adulterating wine, food, and the like. Philosophers used it a few times in characterizing the sophists as spurious philosophers; Paul is thought to adopt this use here. “Huckstering” is too common for such a restriction; Paul is not speaking philosophically to philosophers. He is using a word which everybody understands, a homely figure.

Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Paul's First and Second Epistle to the Corinthians. Minneapolis, MN. : Augsburg Publishing House, 1963, S. 903.

KJV 2 Corinthians 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt (GJ - peddle) the Word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

Various Call Situations - From Anonymoose - Dateline, Canada, Eh?

A friend brought me a copy of the May 2011 The [ELCA] Lutheran. In it was an interesting article on "Congregation / Pastor matches: A Work in progress" (pp 20-25). The following quote is for your consideration: "Michael W. Rinehart, bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, took part in the meeting to assign this year's seminary graduates to regions (see page 25) and synods. He reported in his synod's newsletter that about 203 of the 1,200 to 1,400 vacant ELCA congregations have indicated an interest in a new graduate. About 250 people will graduate from ELCA seminaries in 2011, and 'quite a few of them have restrictions' on where they can go, Reinhart said. The conference ended up with about 209 candidate available for 203 vacancies, "about as close as I can remember it,"'he said " (p. 22).

Well, that does raise the question of the difference between 203 and 250 graduates, or 47 real people (which is 18,8% of the pool of 250 graduating seminarians).

From the article it sounds like a lot of those are disappointed. One seminarian reported that "some of her classmates have already been told they will soon receive profiles of congregations interested in calling a recent seminary graduate. ... Still she admitted that reality suggests that recent graduates may need a 'back up plan' to carry them through times when they are without a call" (p. 23).

Then there was the self-serving statement from Stanley N. Olson, president of Wartburg Theological Seminary, that the "number of retirements is expected to increase soon" (p. 23). Where have we heard that before? [GJ - Stan and I were in class at Yale.]

Of course there is the wringing of hands than new pastors "may owe tens of thousands of dollars in college and seminary loans." So the ELCA is trying to establish an endowment of $200 million to provide full tuition for everyone studying for rostered ministry in the ELCA. What planet are they living on; what are these people smoking? Also, not a word about those grads without a call.

The funniest comment was: "The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is able to place all of its seminary graduates, about 200 each year, said Glen Thomas, executive director of the LCMS Board for Pastoral Education" (p 25). Maybe the ELCA did not ask the "right" question or maybe Thomas is just lying.

Then there is the blurb on "10 Years Together" (p. 9). May 1 will have marked the 10th anniversary of full communion between the ELCA and the Episcopal Church and the ELCIC and the Anglican Church in Canada. So Hanson and the Canadian Anglican primate, Fred Hiltz will preach at Holy Trinity Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, and ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson and Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori will preach at St. Paul's Anglican in Fort Erie, Ontario. Apostates together; how nice.

Another ELCA Congregation Gone

"Not the way we do things in North Dakota, son."

Hatton church votes to leave ELCA

St. John Lutheran Church, the congregation in Hatton, N.D., where native son, pioneer aviator and famed Arctic explorer Carl Ben Eielson was baptized and buried, voted Sunday to leave the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination and join another. By: Stephen J. Lee, Grand Forks Herald

 

 

St. John Lutheran Church, the congregation in Hatton, N.D., where native son, pioneer aviator and famed Arctic explorer Carl Ben Eielson was baptized and buried, voted Sunday to leave the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination and join another.
Steve Iverson, president of the 700-member congregation, said the vote Sunday — the second of the two required to leave — was 76 for leaving, 15 for staying, an 84 percent majority.
The 91 total voters is pretty close to the weekly attendance of 98, reported in the 2009 yearbook of the ELCA.
The congregation then immediately voted 80 to 10 — one member was in the basement and missed the vote — to join Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, an organization formed a few years ago as an alternate to the ELCA.

Bethany Lutheran, a small rural congregation southeast of Hatton, which has been yoked in a parish with St. John, decided to remain in the ELCA and has linked up with two rural congregations, Little Forks, southwest of Hatton, and Goose River, west of Hatton, Iverson said.

Iverson said while the controversial vote in 2009 at the ELCA national assembly to allow gays and lesbians in lifelong, committed, monogamous relationships to serve as pastors was part of the reason for leaving.

That vote “has generated waves throughout the ELCA, but that’s not really the issue,” he said. “It’s just a symptom of what’s going on and it’s all part of what society is willing to accept versus what the Bible is willing to accept.”

“I do believe the majority of the congregation does believe that the ELCA is a very politically driving organization right now,” Iverson said.
St. John hasn’t had a permanent pastor for nearly two years and sort of delayed calling a new one, knowing it would probably vote to leave, Iverson said.

The congregation will rely on retired clergy in the area for pulpit supply while interviewing possible pastors, he said.

St. John posted a “potential” opening on a website with ties to the LCMC three weeks ago and already has received several applications, Iverson said.
Bishop Bill Rindy, head of the Eastern North Dakota Synod, attended Sunday’s meeting, about the third time he’s spoken to the congregation about its plans, Iverson said.
Fallout from the 2009 clergy decision has hurt the ELCA in the pocketbook. A church official reported in January that churchwide revenue for the past year was down $8 million, or 13 percent, from the previous 12-month period.
Many congregations have decreased or stopped giving to regional or national ELCA departments over disagreements with the gay and lesbian clergy vote, other issues, which coupled with the downturns in the economy the past three years have led to cutbacks at the national office in Chicago.

Hundreds of the 10,000 congregations in the ELCA have taken at least one vote on whether to leave the ELCA, officials have said. With about 4.4 million members, the ELCA is the nation’s largest Lutheran group and one of the largest Protestant churches in the United States.

At least three other congregations in the Eastern North Dakota Synod have completed two votes to leave, including Peace Lutheran in Devils Lake late last year, which will join the newly formed North American Lutheran Church, as will its pastor, the Rev. Rafe Allison, who left the ELCA roster.

St. John Lutheran gave about $30,000 per year to the ELCA in what are called “benevolences,” according to the ELCA yearbook.

The congregation got some national attention 81 years ago.

The funeral of Eielson, March 26, 1930, drew throngs estimated at 5,000 to 10,000 that filled the center of the city of 800, which is St. John Lutheran and its lot. Eielson was 32 when he died Nov. 29, 1929, piloting a plane in Alaska. He was buried in the St. John cemetery a half-mile north of Hatton.
Sunday’s vote is the start of a new thing for the congregation formed by Norwegian immigrants more than 120 years ago.

“The only bad part is there are 15 people who didn’t want to leave. I hope we will not lose any members. But overall, had we stayed in the ELCA, we would have lost a lot of members.”

Advantages of Sects - Satiety and Curiosity

"The sects have two great advantages among the masses. The one is curiosity, the other is satiety. These are the two great gateways through which the devil drives with a hay wagon." What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1268. 1 Corinthians 15.

Orthodox Lutherans Resist Sects

"I often say that there is no power or means to resist the sects except this one article of Christian righteousness. If we have lost it, we cannot resist any errors or sects."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1225. Galatians 2:20.

Grumpy Explains WELS Fellowship Rules.Cancel the Free Conference

grumpy has left a new comment on your post "Lutherans Free Falling:In Denial about Work with E...":

Fellowship rules in the WELS:

Section 1: for the Laity
The Laity shall only have fellowship, spiritual and otherwise, with fellow WELSians. Attendance at lectures, entertainment venues, social gatherings not approved by the WELS is strictly forbidden.

Section 2: for Called Workers
Let it all hang out, baby. It's all gooooood.

Grumps,

WELS-ELS-LCMS budget decisions, fake evangelism, fellowship with ELCA, and doctrinal deviancies are all at odds with their posture.

Lutherans Free Falling:In Denial about Work with ELCA, Salvation Army

WELS Mission Counselors' NEWSLETTER, April, 1992: authors are - James Woodworth, Disciples of Christ; "Net Results," March, 1991; Roger K. Guy, Disciples of Christ; Arnell P. C. Arn, American Baptist Church; Jane Easter Bahls, Presbyterian; C. Jeff Woods, freelance writer and minister; Lyle Schaller, United Methodist; Pastor Paul Calvin Kelm; Pastor Jim Mumm, WELS; Pastor Peter Panitzke, WELS; Pastor Randall Cutter and Mark Freier, WELS; First Congregational Church, Winchester, MA." Pastor Jim Radloff, editor, WELS Mission Counselors' NEWSLETTER, April, '92, 2929 Mayfair Road Milwaukee, WI, 53222.

"I often say that there is no power or means to resist the sects except this one article of Christian righteousness. If we have lost it, we cannot resist any errors or sects." What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1225. Galatians 2:20.


WELS SP Schroeder:

I have the privilege of being the presenter at this year's Emmaus Conference. The topic assigned to me is "Church Fellowship." This is a good opportunity to try to explain and clarify the WELS doctrine and practice of church fellowship, to remove misunderstandings and caricatures that others may have about our beliefs, and to provide a public witness to our doctrine and practice of church fellowship. The presidents of both LCMS and ELS will serve as "reactors" to the essay.

A free conference such as this should not be understood as formal "doctrinal discussions" between church bodies. It should not be seen as a step toward the re-establishment of fellowship between WELS and LCMS. Rather, it is an opportunity to us to present biblical truth and to identify areas where Lutherans agree and disagree.

***

GJ - The posturing never ends. All three sects have their leadership trained at Fuller Seminary (Willow Creek, Trinity in Deerfield, etc) and agree in their support of Church Growth, which has now degenerated into Emergent Church.

Exhibits A, B, and C are:

A - St. John, Ellisville and all the copycats. LCMS
B - St. Peter Cares in Freedom, Wisconsin and The CORE, which are one congregation. WELS.
C - Abiding Shepherd, Cottage Grove. ELS.

All three sects work with ELCA through Thrivent, but ELCA controls the agenda. Therefore, all three recognize the ordination of women, women in authority over men, abortion for any reason whatsoever, and gay ordination and marriage.

Mark Hanson will be the invisible presence at Emmaus.

"Brett, you brought how many copies of Luther versus the UOJ Pietists?"

Doctrinal Sloth in WELS

One Eponymous Archon (https://me.yahoo.com/oneeponymousarchon) has left a new comment on your post "Here Is a Good Quotation for the Intrepids To Igno...":

Dr. Jackson,

It would seem that perhaps one man's earnestness and zeal is another man's disinterest and sloth. Matter of fact, there is not nearly enough preaching against sloth - especially doctrinal sloth - in the WELS these days. Just my opinion. I'm only -

One Eponymous Archon

"I am so thankful I am in WELS, because we are never wrong about doctrine.
That gives me extra time to sleep."

Here Is a Good Quotation for the Intrepids To Ignore While Saying They Are "Confessional."Ditto, Missouri, ELS, and the Micro-Mini Sects

"On the other hand, the Enthusiasts should be rebuked with great earnestness and zeal, and should in no way be tolerated in the Church of God, who imagine [dream] that God, without any Means, without the hearing of the divine Word, and without the use of the holy Sacraments, draws men to Himself, and enlightens, justifies, and saves them."
Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article II, Free Will, 80, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 911. Tappert, p. 536. Heiser, p. 249.

Luther - On the Lost Sheep

"Thus too, if our confidence is to begin, and we become strengthened and comforted, we must well learn the voice of our Shepherd, and let all other voices go, who only lead us astray, and chase and drive us hither and thither. We must hear and grasp only that article which presents Christ to us in the most friendly and comforting manner possible. So that we can say with all confidence:

My Lord Jesus Christ is truly the only Shepherd, and I, alas, the lost sheep, which has strayed into the wilderness, and I am anxious and fearful, and would gladly be good, and have a gracious God and peace of conscience, but here I am told that He is as anxious for me as I am for Him."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, IV, p. 86. Third Sunday after Trinity, Second Sermon Luke. 15:1-10.

KJV Luke 15:1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying, 4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Forgetting Luther and Christian Doctrine

A child-like faith has been replaced with a dishonest philosophy (UOJ) from another era,
one identical in content to ELCA's quasi-Universalism.


Bruce Church has left a new comment on your post "Bruce Church Answers ELCA Pastor (LCMS Backslider)...":

Just as looking further into the seminary credit hour/cost question paints a bit worse picture of the situation than one had before he started looking, so looking into UOJ has proved to be the same way, or so I told.

There was supposed to be a paper written about the history of UOJ before 1872 (in Europe) for the upcoming free conference, but two Latin translators backed out and a third one is taking his time, and the researcher has been tied up with other things, I'm told.

The big thing that's been holding it up though is that it is not a matter of tweaking or adding to the currently accepted history of Lutheranism to explain where UOJ came from, and the other doctrinal conflicts of the late 1800s. The Synodical Conference really is a wild branch that's been grafted into the Lutheran olive tree, so while we all know the history of the olive tree, it's the wild branch's history that's the mystery.

You can't go from rejecting as unconvincing the received wisdom of where UOJ came from (e.g., Preus's paper), and start from the proposition "we think it came out of pietism," and then arrive at a scholarly paper on where it truly came from overnight. That takes a lot of research that's not quite done yet, but the true origin has been pinned down, so I'm told. Can't wait to see it!

Anyway, I can't imagine all three synods will be left standing after this paper does finally comes out, and someone might as well start drafting amalgamation plans for the LCMS seminaries now--you know, just in case:

Free Conference:
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/04/make-some-books-available-at-emmaus-syn.html

***

GJ - First, I see widespread neglect of Luther and complete apathy about what he taught. This ennui is consistent with the pronounced anti-confessionalism of all denominations and even the the Church of Rome, citadel of the Antichrist.

Secondly, the Syn Conference already has a record of denying its own history. WELS featured the Gausewitz catechism for many decades, which taught justification by faith and never mentioned UOJ. They replaced Gausewitz with Kuske's blatant UOJ Enthusiasm.

CPH still sells its 1943 catechism, which has no mention of UOJ, uses the KJV, and teaches justification by faith. Nevertheless, the Missouri Synod and its brain-washed MDivs react with alarm whenever justification by faith is taught. Somehow all three fragments have refused to see Church Growth doctrine for decades, yet they catch the scent of justification by faith from five miles away and start baying like German Shepherds.

"Bad money drives out good money."

Hold Fast To God's Word

"Perhaps you look about and think: What, could so many people be wrong all at once? Beware, and do not let their number trouble you; hold fast to God's Word; He cannot deceive you, though all mankind be false, as indeed the Scriptures say, Psalm 116:11: 'All men are liars.'" Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, I, p. 416. Epiphany Matthew 2:1-12. Psalm 116:11.

Bruce Church Answers ELCA Pastor (LCMS Backslider) Bruce Foster

Bruce Church has left a new comment on your post "Bloated Hours, Bloated Costs at Lutheran Seminarie...":

May 3rd, 2011:

Rev. Bruce Foster has emailed Dr. Jackson that Bruce Church has got it wrong about the duration of the M. Div. degree at the LCMS seminaries. Foster said that ATS is quoting semester hours while LCMS seminaries run on a quarter hour system. Once one converts from metric to standard, so to speak, Rev. Foster alleges that what LCMS seminary requirements are not much more arduous than the ATS minimum requirement for an accredited M Div degree.

First, I should say that even if all that were true, and none of it is, why prescind the data about the overall M Div degree cost? That would not be affected by any credit hour conversion error. An M Div at the LCMS seminaries is the 9th and 11th most pricey M Div in all of N America, and far more pricey than other Lutheran seminaries.

Second, the LCMS M Div program is a marathon four-year program, yet enough students find it so strenuous that they go five years, or take courses during two or three summers. One can Google and see that most M Div programs are designed as two- or three-year programs, and the person gets a certification (e.g., CPE). If a program takes four or five years, the person graduates with two degrees, aka joint-, dual-, or double-degrees, and a certification.

The truth is that the ATS minimum requirement for a M Div is two years of academic work totaling 48 semester hours, which converts to 72 quarter hours (links below), since one semester hour equals about 1.5 quarter hours. A credit is synonymous with hour, BTW.

Ft. Wayne's requirement of 137 quarter hours equal 91.33 semester hours, and St. Louis' required 139 quarter hours equal 92.67 semester hours. So no matter how it is sliced and diced, LCMS seminaries require nearly twice what the ATS requires for an accredited M Div degree.

Cont'd...
Rev. Foster also upheld the worth of a LCMS M Div against Dr. Jackson's estimation of it. Dr. Jackson is comparing the degree based on several standards, among them: academic value in the divinity world, value among Lutherans generally, and value in the business world. Since 95% of Lutherans are non-Waltherian, any Waltherian degree would be suspect to most Lutheran church bodies. I suspect a M Div isn't even worth one year in business school.

The academic value of the LCMS M Div is not that much greater than a degree from many seminaries that cost a third less, or require a year less study, and perhaps a shorter internship if that's required at all.

Most seminaries require far fewer credit hours, and are much less expensive. One outlier is Concordia Seminary in St. Catharines which is the least expensive accredited Lutheran seminary but requires more quarter hours than the rest: 111 semester hours (166.5 quarter hours). However, it must not be much harder than the LCMS seminaries since it has the same four-year program with the third year being vicarage.

ATS: Addressing issues of degree duration
http://www.ats.edu/accrediting/usefulinfo/pages/suggestionsforwritersofreports.aspx
excerpt: Thus, a two-year master’s program would consist of at least 48 semester hours.

Semester Hours Vs. Quarter Hours
http://www.ehow.com/about_5372585_semester-hours-vs-quarter-hours.html

Semester Hour to Quarter Hour Conversion Tables:
http://www.auburn.edu/semesters/conversion.html

Program Requirements - M. Div.
Successful completion of 111 semester hours
http://www.brocku.ca/concordiaseminary/academics.php

***

GJ - ELCA Pastor Bruce Foster wrote this:

Dear Dr. Jackson

I have never read Atlas Shrugged although I have read enough about the book in other contexts that I could probably write a pretty good book report on it (I have read Ayn Rand's philosophical works... no thank you. Her atheism is the least of her problems). I certainly know all the slogans from the book including the dramatic question, "Who is John Gault?" (sic - Galt)

I mention all this simply as an introduction to my question  "Who is Bruce Church?"  You label him "The Rev. Bruce Church" but I have not been able to find him under WELS or LCMS lists of pastors. I assume he is not an ELCA pastor. There is a Bruce Church listed as a pastor in North Carolina but his church is a "Community Church,"  the kind that you regularly condemn so I assume that's not him.

Of course, a perfectly good response to my question would be, "Why do you care?" That answer is this. The Rev. Church has posted a number of times condemnations of LCMS for their bloated requirements for an MDiv. He compares the 72 hours required by the ATS and the 137 hours of St. Louis and Fort Wayne. He goes on to impute all kinds of evil motives to this bloating. What confuses me, however, is this. ATS is quoting semester hours. St. Louis is on a quarter system. 72 semester hours converts into 108 quarter hours. Furthermore St Louis gives 18 hours credit for vicarage. The net difference then between ATS minimum requirement and St Louis is 11 quarter hours over three years or one course extra a year. And please note that ATS numbers and St. Louis numbers without that extra course work out to be 12 credit hours a term/semester, hardly a big stretch. 

These requirements at St. Louis have been in effect for at least 41 years since they were the requirements when I was there. As a matter of fact back then the problem was that students were taking too many credits and finishing early. I found many interesting courses and always took 15 credits per term. 

If you would be so kind as to give me Bruce Church's email address I would be happy to explore this issue with him directly. As it stands now, however, he is well hidden on the internet and I have not been able to find him. 

Bruce Foster

PS - As for your comments about how useless an MDiv from St. Louis is, please contact James Voelz or Andrew Bartelt , two friends of mine who are senior members of the faculty. Somehow they got each a Ph.D. from Cambridge University (Voelz, advisor, GWH Lampe editor of the Patristic Greek Lexicon) and the University of Michigan( Bartelt, advisor David Noel Freedman editor Anchor Bible Series) with nothing more than a St. Louis MDiv before. 

Foster likes to see his own words in print, at least in a place where more than his family members and creditors read them.

He has offered two examples of men who were employable once they got real degrees - Voelz and Bartelt. In the academic world and professional world, an MDiv is worthless. So is a DMin, which can also be bought from the two LCMS seminaries.

A top divinity school (independent of denominational politics) can give an MDiv with credibility simply because the school's mission is not to generate the adoration of Holy Mother Synod. At independent schools the student can voice their own opinions without worrying about being ash-canned for one wrong comment, stuck with a pile of debt and no job prospects from it.

One year, when plagiarist John Johnson was president of Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Louis, two students had some contact with Pastor Herman Otten. Both of them were pushed out of the call process, with no appeal or make-up allowed. The men were not hair-on-fire radicals, just people who wanted to see both sides of an issue.

Bruce Church has made a good case for calling the LCMS system fraudulent and deceptive, a debt bubble ready to pop.

In St. Louis, how do you get rid of a recent Concordia graduate on your doorstep? Answer - give him a tip and take the pizza.

Many Lutheran schools will close or merge (a nice way to close) in the next few years.

Ba-zing.

A Reader Asked about Trinity Seminary (ELCA) and I Ran Into This Old Story

Linked at Virtue Online, Episcopalian

LUTHERANS: A Texas catastrophe coming

by Russell E. Saltzman - Lutheran Forum Letter

This is very serious, very messy and potentially very, very costly to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). We are speaking of the lawsuit against Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, OH and the ELCA. We have mentioned it before (FL:33:1).

The suit was instigated by the families of the teenage boys who fell victim to sexual molestation by Gerald Patrick Thomas. Thomas is the 1997 Trinity graduate who, at the time of his arrest, was serving an ELCA congregation in Marshall, TX. His 2002 conviction on multiple counts of sexual abuse resulted in a prison sentence of 397 years, reputed to be the most severe penalty ever meted out in such a case by any criminal court. The only comparable sentence we have heard about is 270 years given to a Catholic priest. The lawsuit is seeking more than $300 million from the ELCA and will be heard before Judge Bonnie Leggat in her Harrison County, TX district courtroom - the same judge, incidentally, who presided over Thomas' criminal trial.

Were you to visit <http://www.co.harrison.tx.us/> and click under the district court's jury docket schedule, you will find John Alfred Doe, et al vs. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, et al scheduled for April 5, provided no settlement is reached in the meanwhile. We know that negotiations were held early February. We know, too, that the plaintiffs are confident, very confident, of going to trial.

Given the materials related to the case that we have in hand, we can understand why.

Depositions and memos

Forum Letter is in possession of the deposition of James M. Childs, one of the defendants named in the suit. At the time Thomas was a seminarian, Childs was Trinity's academic dean and is now director of the ELCA's sexuality task force. We also have several other depositions given by ELCA officials during discovery, including that of ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, made in Chicago at the Lutheran Center last September 22. Additionally, we have co pies of numerous internal seminary memos related to Thomas' internship and behavior while a student at the seminary, and we have memos from Bp. Kevin Kanouse, bishop of the ELCA Northern Texas/Northern Louisiana Synod related to the arrest of Gerald Thomas. Bp. Kanouse within days of Thomas' arrest specifically alerted a seminary official to a possible lawsuit.

From these items we now know that at least some Trinity officials were well aware of Thomas' problematic behavior with adolescent boys, and they were aware of it prior to his certification for call. They knew that while on his internship Thomas provided alcohol to adolescent boys in his apartment and al lowed them to watch a same-sex male pornographic video. There was police involvement at the time, but no charges were filed.

Question in dispute

This incident did not end his internship, which concluded in the normal fashion. He returned to Trinity Seminary for his final year. The incident did merit an "incident report" by his internship supervisor, Pr. Melvin Swoyer, which is also in our possession. Seminary officials never shared the report with Thomas' synodical candidacy committee, though at least one memo speculates about the impact such a report might have upon a candidacy committee.

Further, seminary officials knew that a pastor in charge of an after-school youth program in Columbus, OH, where Thomas worked during his senior year, h ad also raised concerns about Thomas over the manner of his involvement with
male youth in the program.

To be clear, the seminary faculty did not specifically vote to approve Thomas' candidacy. Instead, of three recommendations available to the seminary - approve, deny, postpone - the faculty took no action. None of the appropriate blanks were checked. In effect, the faculty rendered a "no comment" on the fitness of his candidacy for certification. We do not know what questions, if any, the candidacy committee may have raised given Trinity's lack of recommendation.

The issues around Thomas' behavior on internship and with the after-school program were addressed with Thomas.

How thoroughly and how seriously the seminary addressed those questions is the subject in litigation.

He was urged to seek therapy because of his unstable "boundaries" with teenage male youth. He never did, nor did anyone at the seminary insist. Moreover, they claim they could not. In the depositions we have seen, all plead a lack of authority to compel or require any student to seek therapy. That is probably so, absent a threat of dismissal. But there was not, in the seminary' s opinion, reason to make therapy an absolute requirement before certification. Thomas' inaction in seeking therapy did raise concern with at least one seminary official, but by that time Thomas was certified with a call in hand to Marshall, TX.

Casting a wide net

Among those named as ELCA defendants from Trinity Seminary are: Brad Binau ( who conducted several sessions with Thomas post-internship), Allan Sager (internship director), Dennis A. Anderson (seminary president at the time), Leland Elhard (then on faculty, now retired), Don Luck (faculty), Mark Ramseth (current president). Defendants from the Northern Texas/Northern Louisiana E LCA Synod include: Mark Herbener (synod bishop when Thomas was called to Mar shall, TX), Kevin Kanouse (Herbener's successor and bishop at the time of Thomas' arrest), Earl Eliason (an assistant to Herbener, of whom more in a moment). Named as ELCA defendants are: H. George Anderson (presiding bishop during that period) and Mark S. Hanson (the present presiding bishop).

The plaintiffs, of course, cast as wide a net as possible hoping to haul in a big catch. Our opinion, the only names of merit in the lawsuit are the synodical and seminary officials.

Disingenuous discipline

Nonetheless, the deposition of Bp. Hanson reveals the plaintiff's interest, keen interest, in ascertaining just exactly how rigorously ELCA disciplinary policies on sexual misconduct are actually enforced. Any pattern of non-enforcement common throughout the ELCA arguably strengthens the plaintiff's case for negligence regarding Thomas.

In this respect, Hanson is asked about his period of service as a synod bishop. He is questioned, "When you were synod bishop, did you have a lesbian minister in your synod?" Hanson: "I literally would have to take time to think through who was in the synod." Next, "Did you have a lesbian minister in the synod while you were bishop that was engaged in a committed sexual relationship with another lesbian and would not take a vow of celibacy?" Hanson: "I was never given allegations of that kind of behavior about one of the rostered persons in my synod by anyone."

This may seem more than a little disingenuous. It is not, as some might suspect, a reference to the illicitly ordained Anita Hill who was never on the synod roster. Instead it refers to another pastor presently on the clergy roster of the St. Paul MN Area Synod.

Zipper troubles

What is evident is that some synod bishops construe an absence of formal allegations - never mind how well-known the problem may be - to mean it does no t exist and therefore does not merit intervention by a church authority. The crisis of the Roman Catholic scandal, we point out, isn't just that some pastors acted badly, but that so many bishops failed in their responsibilities to enforce policies in existence.

The similar factor here - which admittedly is an oversimplification - is the "old church" culture that would not directly confront rumored heterosexual misconduct, in the hope it could be dealt with "pastorally" among "old boys" in a "friendly" and "paternal" way. That often amounted to nothing more than allowing the pastor to receive another call. The egregious problem of past ors with multiple incidents of "zipper trouble" is one the ELCA has been forced to face. Meanwhile, though, since the ELCA does not know what to teach a bout homosexuality, the "paternal," "pastoral" approach, disgraced as a way of dealing with heterosexual predator offenses, seems to be alive and well w hen the context is homosexuality. In short, the once "tolerated" list of "acceptable" kinds of sexual misconduct has been replaced by another one.

Little distinction

Questions surrounding disciplinary enforcement grew much sharper as the plaintiff's attorney raised in one deposition the instance of former Bp. Mark Herbener's assistant, Earl Eliason. Eliason installed Thomas at Marshall, TX in June 1997. Just four months earlier, Eliason had pled guilty to misdemeanor charges of lewd behavior with several men in a public restroom. No public action was taken by the synod bishop; what private action may have been take n is unknown. Eliason remained on Herbener's staff until Herbener's term expired. He took retirement shortly afterward and then resigned from the ELCA clergy roster in early June 02, four months after the Marshall, TX lawsuit was filed.

It must be said the plaintiff's attorney makes little distinction between gay men attracted to teenage boys and gay men content with more age-appropriate partners. Yet the suggestion here is that in cases involving homosexual me n and women, ELCA discipline amounts to a wink and a nod whatever risks exist, even when the risk is posed to adolescents and children.

When standards for pastors - said to be devised in part to limit potential liability arising from misconduct - are not enforced, a liability insurer conceivably is let off the hook. The insurance against liability is good only s o long as the disciplinary policy, upon which the guarantee is based, is in fact put into effect.

This is what Trinity Seminary officials are accused of doing - winking, nodding, going along, failing to enforce church policy.

Is that what happened?

As we said earlier, and we wish to stress it again, the issues around Thomas ' behavior as an intern and as a student were addressed. At litigation is, w ere they adequately addressed? Testimony from the seminary officials involve d asserts that the answer is clearly yes. As best they could view things at the time, there was not enough evidence to warrant Thomas' dismissal.

But this isn't to say a Texas civil court jury will not view matters differently.

Russell E. Saltzman is the editor, Forum Letter

+++

Restoring credibility to the task force

Forum Letter April 2004

by American Lutheran Publicity Bureau

A victims' rights group has made hay off the Trinity Lutheran Seminary lawsuit. Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has busily laid out a wide swath of blame leveled at Trinity and the ELCA. Last November SNAP l aid a good deal of it at the doorstep of Dr. James M. Childs, the ELCA director of the sexuality study, who was Trinity's academic dean when Gerald Thom as was a student. The sexuality task force had just completed a study unit o n the subject of preventing child and adolescent molestation. SNAP went ballistic. To have Childs in charge of a sexuality task force studying child molestation, so they suggested none too gently, was putting an enabler in charge of prevention.

SNAP called for Childs to resign as director of the sexuality study, claiming he participated in a cover-up, or at the very least knew about Thomas and did nothing. While the former is in our estimation clearly false, certainly the latter is true. Dr. Childs did know of the situation. In fairness to him , however, it is also our impression that, as academic dean, he claims he would have had no direct responsibility in dismissing or retaining Thomas as a student.

A small portion of his deposition was released to the Associated Press by SN AP. Childs admits receiving memos raising questions about Thomas when he was
at the seminary, but that there was not enough information to justify alerting an ordination candidacy committee.

When this became public, Childs not unreasonably asserted that six pages lifted from a 200-plus-page deposition failed to give an adequate picture of his testimony. We agree.

We also agreed at the time with the ELCA spokesman, that SNAP did not accurately portray the facts (FL:33:1). That remains our assessment.

SNAP's description of Childs' involvement is lurid and without nuance. Naturally, it is in their interest to present it that way, but it is not a full picture. SNAP also gives every impression of being in a relationship with several law firms in the business of litigating suits of this sort.

All that said, nonetheless we believe that Dr. Childs should resign as director of the ELCA sexuality task force. We believe he should do so immediately , simply to preserve whatever creditability the task force may have throughout the ELCA.

Granted, we are not among those who hold the task force in very high regard. We have been a steady critic of it and its work. Still, we have also said it is our belief that Dr. Childs - whatever his personal feelings on the acceptance of gay ordination - was determined to produce a fair study.

We believe, however, the lawsuit in Texas calls all that into question, merely by inference.

We would not regard his resignation as in any way an admission of responsibility in the Thomas case. To the contrary, we would regard it as a forthright effort on his part to restore to the task force's leadership, and to the EL CA, some of the credibility that has been considerably damaged by the Marshall, TX lawsuit, whatever its final outcome.

And if he will not resign for the good of the task force, then, perhaps, the task force should resign for the good of the ELCA. -- by the editor

+++

More from Texas

Forum Letter April 2004

Back to Texas, again. The following are snippets of comment, just our impressions based on materials we have in hand related to the case:

Based on much of what we have, the ELCA has not been well served by its general counsel, Phil Harris. It is of course handy to have an attack dog attorney around when things like this arise, but maybe the leash should have bee n shorter. There is early correspondence from Harris on the case suggesting the victims of Gerald Thomas were merely violating the commandment against bearing false witness. In failed negotiations in early February this year, the plaintiffs sought, among other things, an apology from Harris for his remark as part of an acceptable settlement.

What we said about SNAP earlier, the impression we have that it has a relationship of sorts with some law firms specializing in victims' lawsuits? Well, the settlement the attorneys for the plaintiffs wanted included a demand that the ELCA donate of $100,000 to SNAP.

There is a gag order in place. The order was imposed upon the principals in the case April 4, 2002 following some local media accounts in, among other places, the Marshall, TX News-Messenger. The order was sought by the ELCA. The plaintiffs represent this as a hypocritical suppression of information, given the ELCA's public support of full disclosure in these matters.

The gag order has made it very difficult to piece this story together. No one directly associated with the case is able to speak on or off the record.None of our calls to the plaintiffs' attorneys were returned, nor was our inquiry to SNAP ever returned.

Flashback to The Lutheran's June 02 issue. An article by Laurel Johnson outlines the Marshall, TX case. "[Northern Texas/Northern Louisiana ELCA Synod Bp. Kevin] Kanouse and Jennifer Parker Ainsworth of Tyler, Texas, the ELC A's [local] legal counsel in the case, said neither Kanouse nor the ELCA knew of Thomas' alleged criminal activities until his arrest." If this is what Bp. Kanouse in fact said to The Lutheran, it is technically true, but he misses the point. One memo from Bp. Kanouse in our possession clearly notes the incident from Thomas' internship involving alcohol and a same-sex pornographic video. Kanouse is of the opinion, however, the information should have remained with the seminary. Kanouse learned of the internship affair as Thomas was seeking call in the NT/NL synod. Giving alcohol to minors in Texas is a misdemeanor offence, but perhaps the bishop didn't know that.

Continuing with the story, in fact, the next sentence from the June 2002 Lutheran: "Kanouse said the synod has a zero-tolerance policy for any form of sexual misconduct on the part of its clergy." Which explains why his predecessor, Mark Herbener, retained an assistant to the bishop on his staff convicted of a sexually-related misdemeanor?

By The Lutheran's account in the June 2002 issue, the plaintiffs in the case simply went to court instead of first approaching the ELCA. Material we have directly contradicts The Lutheran. As part of an early settlement attempt, the plaintiffs demanded a retraction.

A final note. I have never covered anything in Forum Letter that has created such personal distress. I personally know most of the principal defendant s in the lawsuit; know, like and respect them. For that reason I have taken extra care in presenting the facts as I know them, and I have deliberately a voided mention of things that I count as mere rumor. This account is as accurate as I can possibly make it. Any omissions of fact or failures in this are of course entirely my responsibility. -- by the editor

***

GJ - When I served in Columbus I often visited Trinity Seminary for inexpensive books. I saw that the homosexual candidates were being coached on how to avoid The Question when interviewed for ordination. That was in the early 1990s.

Martin Luther:Evil Life versus Evil Doctrine

"Evil life does no great harm except to itself. But evil teaching is the most pernicious thing on earth, for it leads hosts of souls to hell. Whether you are good or bad does not concern me. But I will attack your poisonous and lying teaching, which contradicts God's Word; and with God's help I will oppose it vigorously." What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I, p. 415.

Luther on Unbelief

"Lo, how the dragon's-tail of the devil and all hell must follow unbelief! The reason is, that he who does not believe in Christ, has already turned away from God and quite separated himself from Him."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 142. Fourth Sunday after Easter, Third Sermon John 16:5-15.

Three Synod Presidents Will Attend Book Debut, Luther versus the UOJ Pietists: Justification by Faith. Brett Meyer Will Also Have JPT Copies

	May 5-6, 2011 Lecturer: The Reverend President Mark G. Schroeder, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. President Mark Schroeder graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1981. He served in the parish as the Pastor of Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He then served as president both of Northwestern Preparatory School in Watertown, Wisconsin and of the newly formed Luther Preparatory School on the Watertown campus and guided the amalgamation of two synodical preparatory schools into the new Luther Preparatory School. In July, 2007, he was elected president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. President Schroeder married his high school sweetheart Andrea (Kuester) in 1977 and they have been blessed with four children. _______________________________ Reactors: The Reverend President Matthew C. Harrison President, The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, St. Louis, MissouriAssistant Pastor, Village Lutheran Church, Ladue, Missouri The Reverend President John A. Moldstad Jr. President, Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Mankato, Minnesota Thursday, May 5, 2011 3:00 p.m. ...................Registration 3:30-5:00 p.m.....................Lecture 5:00 p.m. ...............................TBA 7:00 p.m. .................... Social Hour                             @ Hotel Murano 8:00 p.m. ..........................Banquet                             @ Hotel Murano Friday, May 6, 2011 9:30 a.m..........................................Lecture 11:00 a.m. ........................................Break 11:15 a.m...............................First Reactor 11:35 a.m...........................Second Reactor 11:55 a.m..................................Discussion 1:00 p.m............................No Host Lunch 2:30-4:00 p.m. ....Round Table Discussion

***

GJ - Brett Meyer is bringing copies of Luther versus the UOJ Pietists: Justification by Faith, plus copies of Jesus Priceless Treasure, which is a basic introduction to the Christian Faith.

We are glad that three synod presidents will be present.

Luther - Management By Objective

"In like manner, St. Paul says that God's ability is thus proved, in that He does exceeding abundantly above and better than we ask or think. Ephesians 3:20. Therefore, we should know we are too finite to be able to name, picture or designate the time, place, way, measure and other circum­stances for that which we ask of God. Let us leave that entirely to Him, and immovably and steadfastly believe that He will hear us."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 179f. Fifth Sunday after Easter. Ephesians 3:20.

"Those, however, who set the time, place and measure, tempt God, and believe not that they are heard or that they have obtained what they asked; therefore, they also receive nothing."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 172. John 16:23-30.


"If the world were willing to take advice from a simple, plain man--that is, our Lord God (who, after all, has some experience too and knows how to rule)--the best advice would be that in his office and sphere of jurisdiction everybody simply direct his thoughts and plans to carrying out honestly and doing in good faith what has been commanded him and that, whatever he does, he depend not on his own plans and thoughts but commit the care to God. Such a man would certainly find out in the end who does and accomplishes more, he who trusts God or he who would bring success to his cause through his own wisdom and thoughts or his own power and strength."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols.,ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1151. Luke 5:1-11.

Defending Constantine and Christendom

My sister-in-law babysat Hauerwas' boy, which led to my discussing grad study at Notre Dame with him.
I took his ethics seminar and he served on my dissertation committee.

Defending Constantine and Christendom

By Mark Tooley on 5.2.11 @ 6:06AM

  Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom.
By Peter J. Leithart

(IVP Academic, 373 pages, $27)
The destruction of Osama bin Laden underlines how many U.S. church voices, even since 9/11, have adamently insisted that Christianity demands pacifism.

Much of the Evangelical Left, so influential on Christian college campuses and increasingly prominent in Washington, D.C., relies on neo-Anabaptist beliefs. Sojourners activist Jim Wallis, who last week launched a crusade against "cuts" in the 2012 federal budget, adheres partly to this tradition. These neo-Anabaptists demand total pacifism and reject the military. Unlike traditional Anabaptists, they are not separatists, and many exuberantly advocate Big Government control over medical care, food, energy, and virtually all of life. The godfather of sorts for these disjointed neo-Anabaptists was the late Mennonite theologian and Notre Dame professor John Howard Yoder. He joined most Anabaptists in assuming that Christianity was massively corrupted by 4th century Roman Emperor Constantine's embrace of Christianity. The resulting Christendom created over 1,600 years of wars and oppression ostensibly in the name of Christ.

Constantine famously professed Christianity after winning a military battle before which a cross had appeared to him in the sky. His conversion largely ended Rome's persecution of Christians and facilitated Christianity's eventually becoming the majority faith for the West. Constantine is often derided as a brute who usurped the church to enhance his own rule over the empire. His critics note that that he governed and waged war bloodily like all such emperors, and that he purportedly executed his wife and son. The more extreme conspiracists, echoing the Da Vinci Code's fiction, accuse Constantine of imposing theological orthodoxy, even Christ's divinity, upon an obedient Council of Nicaea. Anabaptists typically fault him for turning previously pacifist Christians into willing soldiers for Rome and all subsequent empires. The neo-Anabaptists are most distressed by Christians who support today's American "empire."

In response, Presbyterian theologian Peter Leithart has penned a very important book,   Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom. He not only competently restores Constantine's reputation but also thoughtfully and polemically rebuts the Anabaptists, specifically including John Howard Yoder. A senior fellow at new Saint Andrew College in wonderfully named Moscow, Idaho, Leithart argues that Constantine's conversion was sincere, that his legalization of Christianity was a tremendous relief to the persecuted church, that his Christian inspired legal reforms ameliorated some of Rome's pagan savagery, that he respected the church's autonomy, and that he desacralized the empire and began the end of all civic pagan burnt offerings once so universal. Leithart also persuasively disputes that the early church was decisively pacifist. Despite Anabaptist claims, especially by Yoder, there simply is not sufficient evidence to show the early church had ratified a teaching on military force. Leithart points to the usual New Testament examples of Jesus and His apostles not objecting to force by civil authorities. He also describes the pagan sacrifices once required within the Roman military, probably enhanced in reaction to Christianity's growth, and which prohibited service by Christians who otherwise did not object to legitimate force. Constantine's abolition of state-imposed pagan sacrifices removed this barrier for Christian military service.

Leithart's book is not an unqualified ode to Constantine. He admits that much of Roman law remained brutal, and Constantine was sincere in faith though still inexact in theology and often savagely politically ambitious, like any successful emperor. Constantine was hardly the "thirteenth apostle," as some eastern Christians later portrayed him in their icons. And his main contemporary biographer and apologist, Eusebius, was not flawless, though neither was he merely a propagandist. Leithart thinks Christians of the time were understandably grateful and fulsome in praise for their patron and emperor, who delivered them from centuries of routine persecution and martyrdoms. Leithart also suggests that the ostensible execution of Constantine's wife and son, reputedly in punishment for a tryst between the son and his step-mother, may in fact have been self-induced. The son supposedly died by poisoning, while the wife ostensibly was boiled to death in her bath, possibly, Leithart proposes, while trying to induce an abortion. Even if they were executed, incestuous and treasonous adultery would have demanded the penalty by standards of that day.

Constantine created a new system of sort of religious liberty, in which pagans continued to worship their deities, but without state patronage. The emperor often cited God vaguely enough to incorporate Christians and pagans, creating a new form of civil religion, even while he himself lavished personal patronage on the church and granted bishops some juridical authority. This new civil arrangement, Leithart argues, created a relatively coherent form of mostly harmonious civil arrangement corrupted by later emperors who more assertively suppressed paganism. Still, he credits Constantine for ending nearly once and for all the system of ritual sacrifices so central to virtually every society. The suppression of sacrifices has thankfully persisted to this day, Leithart notes. But he qualifies his thanks by noting that the modern era's nihilism, embodied in genocidal totalitarianism, arguably opened a new form of terrible state-imposed sacrifice.

Leithart is respectful of Yoder while amply illustrating that much of Yoder's version of history was superficial when not completely false. Even Yoder's main disciple, Stanley Hauerwas of Duke University, favorably reviewed Defending Constantine for Christian Century. "Leithart's fundamental criticism of Yoder is that he betrayed his own best insights when he denied the possibility that by God's grace emperors (or whoever is the functional equivalent, such as "the people") might receive a vision sufficient to make them Christian," Hauerwas wrote. "That is a point that I think Yoder would find worth considering."

That God can use armed rulers to achieve His purposes is hardly a profound discovery about omnipotent Divine Providence. But it's still an assertion that befuddles many of Yoder's followers. Oddly, many neo-Anabaptists of today's Evangelical Left, Jim Wallis above all, vigorously assert that the coercive, modern welfare and regulatory state are God's chief instruments for His justice. Leithart does not directly address their claims, and somebody else will have to write that book. But Defending Constantine more than adequately explains that a Roman Emperor's conversion, even amid the squalor and brutality that characterized that age and every age, did overall bolster the church and humanity with it.

Yoder supervised my PhD dissertation.

***

GJ - Few people realize that the Christian Byzantine Empire lasted 1100 years, that its power kept the Muslim Ottoman Empire from invading Europe. After Constantinople fell to the Muslims in 1453, the Ottoman Empire moved into Europe and threatened Vienna several times. In fact, the Muslim threat kept the Roman Catholic Emperor from exterminating the Lutheran Reformation. That gave the Lutherans just enough time to get established.

Luther on Sects

"But now these sects are our whetstones and polishers; they whet and grind our faith and doctrine so that, smooth and clean, they sparkle as a mirror. Moreover we also learn to know the devil and his thoughts and become prepared to fight against him."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1269.

Luther - On Afflictions

"He allows the affliction to remain and to oppress; yet He employs different tactics to bestow peace; He changes the heart, removing it from the affliction, not the affliction from the heart. This is the way it is done: When you are sunk in affliction He so turns your mind from it and gives you such consolation that you imagine you are dwelling in a garden of roses."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 285. Pentecost Sunday, John 14:23-31.

A Study of the Lutheran Denominations

Delicious!


An ALC congregation produced this study in light of leaving the ELCA.

Analysis of Lutheran Church Bodies in the United States: Information to Support an Affiliation Recommendation

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GJ - Seeing what ELCA was going to be, I left the LCA before the merger and published my research in Christian News. That was in 1987. The people who supported the merger and promoted it became the detractors and critics after the ELCA Church Wide Assembly 2009 vote, a bit tardy.

My first bishop, Ken Sauer, became one of the founders of the NALC, for the very reasons I left the LCA.

I know about half of the people who signed this 2009 letter of protest, although they had nothing to say except "Halleluia!" in 1987. One of the signers was LI's godmother. She earned a PhD at Yale and helps with the Lutheran Forum.

Quasi-Unitarian Carl Braaten joined the 2009 protest, although he laid the foundation for everything in his academic career. Compared to a hair-on-fire radical, an ordinary apostate like Braaten is a confessional Lutheran. But only in comparison!