Brett Meyer on Buchholz Essay

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Apology, Augsburg Confesssion: Opposing Justificat...":

(W)ELS was thrust further into the false gospel of UOJ with the following
public teachings. The first three of the seven quotes below show the
contradictory heart and essence of General Justification as taught by the
WELS, ELS, LCMS, CLC, ELCA and the New Age Religion.

"God has forgiven the whole world. God has forgiven everyone his sins." This
statement is absolutely true! This is the heart of the gospel, and it must
be preached and taught as the foundation of our faith. But here's where
the caveat comes in: In Scripture, the word "forgive" is used almost
exclusively in a personal, not a universal sense. The Bible doesn't make the
statement, "God has forgiven the world."

"God has forgiven all sins, but the unbeliever rejects God's forgiveness."
Again, this statement is true-and Luther employed similar terminology to
press the point of Christ's completed work of salvation.16 But we must
also recognize that Scripture doesn't speak this way."

"God has declared the entire world righteous." This statement is true, as we
understand it to mean that God has rendered a verdict of "not-guilty" toward
the entire world. It is also true-and must be taught-that the righteousness
of Christ now stands in place of the world's sin; this is the whole point of
what Jesus did for us at Calvary. However, once again we're wresting a
term out of its usual context. In Scripture the term "righteous" usually
refers to believers. "

"God has forgiven the whole world. God has forgiven everyone his sins." This
statement is absolutely true!" Also, "God has declared the entire world
righteous." This statement is true, as we understand it to mean that God has
rendered a verdict of "not-guilty" toward the entire world."

"Faith is simply trust. Faith must have an object, something that it holds
onto. That object may or may not be real or true, but faith doesn't make it
real or true. Faith that holds onto something untrue is misplaced-no matter
how sincere it may be. Christian faith appropriates and holds onto the
reality of God's justification completed in Christ. It does not cause
justification or forgiveness to take place. It simply grasps God's
justification that is already a reality."

"Scripture teaches universal reconciliation: "God was reconciling the world
to himself in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:19). Jesus is the universal
peacemaker. His sacrifice on the cross has removed the barrier of guilt and
sin that separated humanity from God. Where the barrier of hostility has
been removed, there is peace. In Christ and through Christ the status
between God and the human race has changed from one of hostility to peace."

"Since the term objective justification is found neither in Scripture nor in
the Lutheran confessions, we can understand the term correctly as referring
to the justification of the entire world."

BM - All quotes are from (W)ELS District President, Pastor Jon Buchholz's
2005 Conference essay: http://www.wlsessays.net/node/390

To date Pastor Jon Buchholz has never retracted any of the false doctrine he
taught in the 2005 essay. It is this doctrines teachings, such as those
quoted above from DP Buchholz, which the Krohn family was recently
excommunicated from the (W)ELS for rejecting based on their faithfulness to
Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.


Brett Meyer

Luther's Large Catechism in the Book of Concord: The Holy Spirit Distributes the Treasure of the Gospel

He first leads us into His holy congregation, and places us in the bosom of the Church, whereby He preaches to us and brings us to Christ. For neither you nor I could ever know anything of Christ, or believe on Him, and obtain Him for our Lord, unless it were offered to us and granted to our hearts by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the Gospel. The work is done and accomplished; for Christ has acquired and gained the treasure for us by His suffering, death, resurrection, etc. But if the work remained concealed so that no one knew of it, then it would be in vain and lost. That this treasure, therefore, might not lie buried, but be appropriated and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go forth and be proclaimed, in which He gives the Holy Ghost to bring this treasure home and appropriate it to us. Therefore sanctifying is nothing else than bringing us to Christ to receive this good, to which we could not attain of ourselves.
Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, Article III, #37f. Concordia Triglotta, p. 689. Tappert, p. 415. Heiser, p. 194.

Apology, Augsburg Confesssion: Opposing Justification by Faith Means Abolishing the Gospel

"These things are so plain and so manifest that we wonder that the madness of the adversaries is so great as to call them into doubt. The proof is manifest that, since we are justified before God not from the Law, but from the promise, it is necessary to ascribe justification to faith. What can be opposed to this proof, unless some one wish to abolish the entire Gospel and the entire Christ? "
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, III. #177. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 205. Tappert, p. 153. Heiser, p. 60.

Chemnitz Taught Justification by Faith - Not Universal Objective Justification

"Therefore God, 'who is rich in mercy' [Ephesians 2:4], has had mercy upon us and has set forth a propitiation through faith in the blood of Christ, and those who flee as suppliants to this throne of grace He absolves from the comprehensive sentence of condemnation, and by the imputation of the righteousness of His Son, which they grasp in faith, He pronounces them righteous, receives them into grace, and adjudges them to be heirs of eternal life. This is certainly the judicial meaning of the word 'justification,' in almost the same way that a guilty man who has been sentenced before the bar of justice is acquitted."
Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, 2 vols., trans. J. A. O. Preus, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989, II, p. 482. Ephesians 2:4.

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GJ - I bought this book, still a typescript, through Jay Webber and Paul McCain. They were convinced it would never be published. Since both MDivs from Ft. Wayne are ardent UOJ advocates, I wonder, "Did they ever read this work? If they did, do they have any reading comprehension skills? Any doctrinal discernment?"

Two Views - Money versus the Word of God:One Opposes the Other

One reader wrote that he liked the post about modern philosophy, which is the dividing line in theology. Judging Luther's doctrine from the rationalistic position of modern philosophy is like viewing coal as an ornament. Yes, it once was used that way in England, because it is an easily carved mineral.

Anyone who follows the history of philosophy would find Halle University's approach to modern philosophers enlightening.

But I digress. The other dividing line is money versus the Word of God. Most congregations and pastors, and all synods make money Number One. Talking to a Doctrinal Pussycat about the Word of God is bound to irritate him as he envisions the money flying away from his consecrated and consecrating hands.

In Canada it was common for wealthy Lutherans to move to the Presbyterian church across the street, because that was where the moneyed people went to church. "It's not personal. It's business. I always liked you, kid."

The Daddy Warbucks are used to making money talk. (It does, but it's always saying "Goodbye" to me.) The wealthy make it clear that all issues will be settled in their favor, and they are pragmatists. The parish as a business is bewitching to their ears, especially when the pastor speaks the same business and new age lingo as the secular leaders do in their huddles.

In contrast, the Word of God seems weak but is all-powerful. Those who use the Word to judge everything are working in harmony with the Scriptures and the Book of Concord. But they are a minority voice and probably have always been, except for brief moments in church history.

God raised up genius leaders during the Reformation and soon after, to establish the Gospel once again, both in its positive sense and also in the rejection of false doctrine. Calvinism and rationalism entered the Lutheran Church; pragmatists compromised for the sake of outward peace and unity.

People are inclined to ask, "Why is Kelm protected and Witte promoted when they have such clear records of promoting false doctrine?"

The answer lies in God's Word and Luther's writings. God is punishing WELS for abandoning sound doctrine and advocating false doctrine.

To rub salt in the well-deserved wounds, the disciples of Satan demand and get ten times as much money as faithful pastors did before them. And they get it. People would not give a dollar to Christ, so now they have to give ten dollars to Satan.

Enjoy My Stained Glass Collection:Doctrinal Graphics To Share With Everyone

I have two folders for doctrinal graphics. I started the first to create my version of stained glass windows, art with a message. The second folder developed because false doctrine needed the same treatment. I can find my favorite good and bad quotations from the art associations.

I post the positive messages on Facebook in two places, on my profile and page and on the one for Martin Chemnitz Press. You may find it convenient to go through my MCP wall photos to find a graphic you want to copy and send to someone else. You do not need to be a FB friend to see the MCP material.

I also have both sets of graphics in menus on the left.

According to Jack Cascione, who featured this quotation and the Robert Preus essay supporting it, we were all justified before we were born. The Ed Preuss book elaborates by saying the Hindus and all other pagans in the world are also justified, declared forgiven. The UOJ Stormtroopers dance around this fact, even though this book is often cited as a great classic in Lutheran justification. Yes, it is a classic pratfall, an elegantly expressed load of baloney. The Ed Preuss fans never mention that he left the Missouri Synod seminary faculty to promote Roman Catholic dogma.

As a Lutheran, he argued against the Immaculate Conception of Mary (that Mary never sinned in her entire life). As a Roman Catholic, he anonymously published another view. That is their UOJ hero, their authority on justification, who died in the Church of Rome.

There is plenty of money to be made in WELS through promoting Fuller Seminary's dogma: Church Growth principles. The Kelm-Mueller-Valleskey crowd rubbed this in the face of WELS and everyone took it. Now they complain!

But when SPindoktor Mark Schroeder tells a whopper on the front page of Christian News, they are once again silent. My last words will be, "I told you!"

Look at those Church Growth Eyes! Hunter published this photo of himself, so I used it as is, no embellishments. Charis or another one of those overlapping groups invited Hunter and Waldo Werning to teach WELS.

The Wisconsin Sect had no problem with Methodist New Ager Leonard Sweet or ELCA theologian Martin Marty, but they had a big enough hissy over Missouri guys to get the Hunter-Werning confab nixed.

Members and pastors keep taking it and paying for it, in every way possible.

At the WELS convention, the leaders will make the NNIV seem like the best thing since Tiger Meat and the only possible translation to use. And it will be voted in.

The Yale-Priced Missouri Synod MDiv

bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Artful Dodger Suggests SMP Plus a Real Academic De...":

The Artful Dodger asks what Dr. Jackson recommends about SMP vs. M Div. I can't speak for Dr. Jackson, but I can guess what he'd conclude. I'd guess he'd say that for the outrageous price and other reasons, no one should seek a M Div from either Concordia St. Louis or Ft. Wayne unless he is independently wealthy. Only SMP students should go to those two places (assuming they are reasonably priced for SMPs), and only if they are in a situation that truly calls for an SMP, and they don't want a M Div. Otherwise, one ought to attend St. Catharines for quality education at a decent price (as this post suggests), especially if they can receive a M Div at St. Catharines for about the same price as a SMP at a LCMS seminary:

Modest Proposal:
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/02/modest-proposal.html

Lutheran Seminary Fraud, May 16, 2011
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/05/lutheran-seminary-fraud-students-are.html

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GJ - I hasten to add that training in Enthusiasm is too high a price to pay, even if school is free.

Jay Webber, Pope Paul the Unlearned, Rolf Preus, Jack Casione, and many others prove that the Concordia system turns them into anti-Lutherans. Moreover, they consider their precious MDiv degrees such a perfect education that they no longer need to study the Word of God or the Confessions. They only need to repeat their talking points from seminary.

Missouri and WELS would have to admit they have vast doctrinal problems at the heart of their synodical education machines. Otten's Christian News has been handy in creating a smokescreen about those awful Seminex supporters still in the LCMS. The problems began with the Great Usurper, CFW Walther, and his chosen disciple F. Pieper.

According to the Bronze Age Missourians, their synod needs to return to kidnapping children (Walther), covering up their leader's promiscuity (Walther), and plagiarizing false doctrine from Halle University (Walther).

Bishop Stephan graduated from Halle University, which may explain the dominance of Knapp in Walther's dogma.

The kidnapping story is told in Philip G. Stephan's book, p. 131, available in part on Google.

Zion on the Mississippi describes Stephan's many evening walks with various women, a matter of grave concern for the police before the group set sail for America. When I first read Zion, I wondered more about Walther's studied blindness than Stephan's overt immorality.

Somehow Walther became the the mythical founder of the Missouri Synod, even though Loehe began the effort and invited the Perry County bunch to join. Now Loehe is bad (Christian News) and Walther's critics, when telling the truth, are evil.

The LCMS airbrushes their leaders' biographies. No blemishes are left. No mention is made of Al Barry's many synodical transfers. No one counts or mentions Jack Preus' multiple affiliations. And everyone is left thinking that Their Hero, CFW Walther, rescued Lutheran doctrine by suddenly discovering the adultery of Stephan and forcing him out. Walther, whose Pietism is forgotten, allegedly beat back the savage forces of false doctrine, and anointed Pieper as his successor. Walther's doctrine reflected his times, but his character was more of a cult follower who longed to become a cult leader. And he did achieve that goal.

Missouri already has a passel of stories, red herrings, to keep people from realizing that their Perry County #2 leader had serious flaws.

Dr. Lito Cruz - LutherQueasy's Ocean of Fallacies

LPC has left a new comment on your post "Has the Lutheran Church Fallen So Low That Pastors...":

Pr. Greg,

Just recently, I went to LutherQueasy and I read for some hours the content and nature of conversation there. I found so many faulty argumentation that I could not even find a place to start as there were zillions of them.

For example, if a man does not have an argument, the low down approach is to divert the discussion on some personal issue.

Another example is just what you placed here in this post. They do special pleading. They want people to not listen to you because you were in several synods, yet they want people to listen to them, though they themselves hopped from one synod to the next.A corollary fallacy to this is red herring. So can you see why I never bothered engaging with those people? The fallacy simply multiplies.

LPC

According to Scaer, Calov denied the Atonement, etc.

Brett Meyer Answers an Earlier Post

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Has the Lutheran Church Fallen So Low That Pastors...":

Has the Lutheran Church Fallen So Low That Pastors Cannot Teach Justification by Faith?

Yes.

On Ichabod alone, there are more direct examples and quotes to prove this contention than any other place on the world wide web.

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GJ - Perhaps someone from LutherQueasy could explain how they understand the Quenstedt quotation above, which Preus quoted with approval.