Wikipedia Knows More about the KJV Than the Sausage Factory Professors

Wikipedia on Tyndale, which became the KJV

The chain of events that led to the creation of Tyndale’s New Testament started in 1522. It was in this year that Tyndale illegally acquired a copy of Martin Luther’s German New Testament. Tyndale was inspired by Luther’s work and immediately set out to imitate Luther’s work but in English.^[3] He made his purpose known to the Bishop of London at the time Cuthbert Tunstall. Hewing to his Catholic faith, for which he would later be imprisoned, Bishop Tunstall refused Tyndale permission to write this heretical text. After this rejection Tyndale moved to the continent and ended up in Hamburg where he completed his New Testament in 1524.^[4] During this time period Tyndale frequented Wittenberg where he consulted with Martin Luther and his associate Melanchthon.^[3]

Asking about Walther and Calvin

Northwest SD Lutheran has left a new comment on your post "Dr. Lito Cruz on Predestination. Chemnitz Delivers...":

Calvinists would believe in Double Predestination and thus there is no Gospel, as it could be predestination to destruction or in the case of the Waltherian all are predestined for life according to Romans 11:32-33 ; only if I believe as Walther did. This would be as unscriptural as Calvinism and make Walther and Calvin twins separated at birth but at different sides of the spectrum and essentially Rob Bell universalists then Atheists.

I remember Nagel once saying in a sermon that what God wants to do he cannot do by force. If faith is cultivated by Godly force it is coercion and not faith. Coercion leads one to be universalistic and then atheistic because there is no need for Christ or his merits. Am I on to something here?

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GJ - The running and planting quotation from the Formula of Concord, below, is very good. Chemnitz dealt with the Calvinists more than Luther did, because Calvin pretended to be Lutheran until Westphal flushed him out of the tall grass.

I do not like dealing with speculative theology. There is a difference between what God could do and what He does do through His gracious will. Lutherans have neglected the efficacy of the Word and the Means of Grace. That should be our focus.

The priestly elite is threatened by an articulate, informed laity.

AC V - Asking about Holy Communion

AC V said...

Inquiring minds want to know: Does Holy Communion grant the actual forgiveness of sins or the assurance that sins have been forgiven? If the full treasure of God's forgiveness is fully ours by faith worked by Word and Sacrament, then what need is there for Word and Sacrament? In other words, after conversion do the means of grace work the forgiveness of sins, or the assurance that sins have been forgiven? Give us an illustration on how it works.

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GJ - The Word conveys Christ and His benefits to us, so Holy Communion as the visible Gospel grants forgiveness. I believe the wording about assurance is meant to be a dodge, and it fits well with WELSian UOJness.

I am trying to recall the CW wording, from tippling Tiefel, but I never used the book.

Once the UOJ clergy teach that everyone is already forgiven, Hindu and Eskimo alike, without faith, the rest does not matter. WELS has been so good at pronouncing everything adiaphora that doctrine is also a matter of indifference.

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Lutheran Leaders, Trained by Fuller Seminary, Doub...":

AC V, the false gospel of Universal Objective Justification goes so far as to confess that it's only the declaration that "your sins are already forgiven" that is capable of creating faith.

Remember that it was DP Buchholz, who will go down in history as the one who exhumed Siegbert W. Beckers bones to ensure that this generation would completely abandoned Justification by Faith, who taught that faith could only be created based on forgiveness already declared and never on the promise of the forgiveness of sins through faith.

Note that it was under the so-called Conservative (W)ELS administration (Buchholz and Schroeder) that the first family since Kokomo have been excommunicated for confessing Justification by Faith Alone and showing that Justification without and before faith is neither taught in Scripture or confessed in the Book of Concord. Certainly a monumental event in the degradation of the (W)ELS.

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GJ - WELS has no sense of irony - excommunicating for doubting their precious UOJ, which claims they were were born forgiven. As Joe Krohn has recorded on his blog, he and his wife were glad to discuss the doctrinal problems with Patterson and the elders. Patterson refused and excommunicated them.

The other excommunication, in Appleton, took place because Rick Techlin followed what WELS leaders insisted upon.

Because WELS is stuck on its priestly infallibility, the chances of resolution are slight.

Let My People Go Already.Moses As a Dude

Mo-Mentality

Moses was a man's man. He yelled at people, went on long desert hikes, hit things when he was upset, and beat people up. On the other hand, he was sometimes a wimp, a coward, and made a lot of excuses, yet God made him into a leader. What can we learn from Moses?

Title	Date	CrossWalk Notes
Origins	6-05-2011	Notes:
		Download:
Getting It	6-12-2011	Notes:
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Strength	6-19-2011	Notes:
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Faith	6-26-2011	Coming Soon!
Heart	7-03-2011	Coming Soon!
The Goal	7-10-2011	Coming Soon!

Jesus is his rice. Seriously, dude.

Be a Clown, Be a Clown, Everyone Loves a Clown.

This was old, trite, hackneyed 50 years ago.

Lenski is evil, according to Tim Glende, so we can ignore his entire New Testament commentaries. JP Meyer is much better.

Nevermind JP Meyer. He is old and irrelevant.

Returning to the Plain Words of Scripture And the Doctrinal Witness of the Book of Concord

"Now, although both, the planting and watering of the preacher, and the running and willing of the hearer, would be in vain, and no conversion would follow it if the power and efficacy of the Holy Ghost were not added thereto, who enlightens and converts the hearts through the Word preached and heard, so that men believe this Word and assent thereto, still, neither preacher nor hearer is to doubt this grace and efficacy of the Holy Ghost, but should be certain that when the Word of God is preached purely and truly, according to the command and will of God, and men listen attentively and earnestly and meditate upon it, God is certainly present with His grace, and grants, as has been said, what otherwise man can neither accept nor give from his own powers."
Formula of Concord SD II. #55-56. Free Will. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 903. Tappert, p. 531f. Heiser, p. 246.

Psalms 147:15-18 (KJV) He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly. {16} He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. {17} He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? {18} He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.

The Lutheran clergy want to be priests who impress their audiences with exotic terms - not bothering to explain them, if they could.

I often hear the UOJ Enthusiasts condemn justification by faith, throwing out a red herring, intuitu fidei. That means as much, undefined, as the term grace. Roman Catholics promote grace (plus works), but they say grace. The reason for the popularity of Amazing Grace is its vagueness. Uncoverted Inuits could sing it with gusto, Tim Glende's inuitu fidei.

A discerning layman will ask, for instance. "Do you believe we are justified without faith? Before we are born?"

Or - "Has God pronounced the entire world, Hindu and cannibals alike, forgiven of its sin?"

Or - "Is everyone in Hell a guilt-free saint, as taught infallibly by the Wisconsin Sect?"

Citing intuitu fidei does not display one's education but a lack of it. The MDiv graduates who engage in this farce are simply trying to dazzle laity and confuse them.

The Little Three are one generation or less from self-extinction. No one cares what made The Kidnapper fuss and fume. They want to hear the Gospel. The Syn Conference is now so deep into navel-gazing that they believe their ministry of condemnation is working somewhere, in spite of evidence to the contrary.

I might have mentioned this before--on 6,700 posts--the Little Three obviously have no use for the Means of Grace, since they have skimmed millions of dollars income to fund study at Fuller Seminary and the other beehives of Enthusiasm. Not once has a solid, principled condemnation of Enthusiasm come forth, with an equally forceful emphasis upon the Means of Grace.

The Word of God can change this, but not until there is genuine repentance from top down, a rejection of sophomoric posturing to preserve the Fuller elite, an extensive new look at the nuda Triglotta, without all the fluff from overpaid staffers.

Isaiah, mighty seer, in days of old
The Lord of all in spirit did behold
High on a lofty throne, in splendor bright,
With flowing train that filled the temple quite.
Above the throne were stately seraphim;
Six wings had they, these messengers of Him.
With twain they veiled their faces, as was meet,
With twain in reverent awe they hid their feet,
And with the other twain aloft they soared,
One to the other called and praised the Lord:
"Holy is God, the Lord of Sabaoth!
Holy is God, the Lord of Sabaoth!
Holy is God, the Lord of Sabaoth!
Behold, His glory filleth all the earth!"
The beams and lintels trembled at the cry,
And clouds of smoke enwrapped the throne on high.

Symbols:Lutheran and Otherwise

"Are you talking about my classmates?
We'll take your church and just leave you some small change."


AC V has left a new comment on your post "The Preached Word Is God's Instrument of Grace":

Your photo with caption brought to mind what John Brug said in the Spring 2011 WLQ: "Substance is more important than symbols, but the importance of symbols of preaching should not be underestimated. Well-chosen symbols reflect and build inner attitudes. If symbols like vestments and pulpits say to people that the preacher believes he is set apart from the crowd, then they are functioning as very effective symbols and conveying their intended meaning....

Symbols are intended to express and reinforce values. Though some laughed at his action as pretentious, there was a reason President-elect Obama felt a need to stand behind a podium with a seal of the Office of President-Elect. There is a reason that presidents often speak from the Oval Office. Historically, symbols have always functioned as signs of office. If a preacher is embarrassed by symbols because he is embarrassed by the concept of office, he needs to examine his understanding of his role."

WELS readers, do you see a trend among your pastors to wander from the pulpit when preaching, just like the TV preachers (or like Time of Grace Jeske)? Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

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GJ - Pentecostal churches have stages and pit bands.

Roman Catholic churches have altars and almost no pulpit.

Methodist and Presbyterian churches have large pulpits and almost no altar, perhaps a table, more like a card table.

Babtists have pulpits and an immersion tub, because immersion is required. Lenski - "The only ones immersed in the Bible were those who drowned in the Flood."

Wandering from the pulpit is a gimmick, and a dumb one at that. When Lutherans doubt the efficacy of the Word, they imitate those who mock the efficacy of the Word.

The Preached Word Is God's Instrument of Grace

AC V has left a new comment on your post "The Basics of the Christian Faith. Misleading for ...":

Pastoral Work in the Word

"The pastor has no other calling than to preach his own sermons, based on his own study. He should offer the Sacraments without hesitation or shame, and to take Word out on visits to shut-ins, the hospitalized, the grieving, and the spiritually indolent."

So simple, yet so hard.

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GJ - Simple and fulfilling. The difficult part is bearing the cross. Those who reject the cross--any difficulty associated with the pure Word--are the ones who reject the Gospel, even if they dress in fancy robes and fold their hands just so.

Lutheran Leaders, Trained by Fuller Seminary, Doubt the Word, So They Teach against Faith

How does this doctrinal statement from the Formula of Concord affect you? I think it clarifies the power and effectiveness of Holy Communion. These words support and clarify faith in God, trust in His Word.

That old harlot Reason loves to say, "How can this be?" I read on one forum about non-Lutherans avoiding the Consecration and unionists of the Lutheran Left using similar words. Holy Communion is symbolic, and it is a memorial meal, in remembrance of the Last Supper. Christ is indeed spiritually present. But stopping there is a denial of the Word.

Jesus said, in plain Greek (since there is no Hebrew or Aramaic text) - "This is My Body."

He did not say, "This My Body" to confuse people. Greek is very good in the state of being verbs, which are irregular. I spent half of college memorizing irregular Greek verbs. (Thus I am never wrong, according to TG). LI was so good in Greek that NWC hired him to tutor others.

Jesus did not say, "This symbolizes My Body."

Nor did He say, "In the future, this will be My Body, but not right now, because the rationalists cannot handle that concept."

Holy Communion is the Gospel, using the Gospel itself to consecrate the elements: "given for you, for the forgiveness of sin."

Those who say, "We do not know when it is the Body and Blood of Christ" are fools who do not trust the power of the Word. Omitting the consecration has the same effect.

What do the Maggot Churches (Emergent Churches) do in Lutherdom? They hide the Sacraments because they trust in Willow Creek and Mars Hill, but not in God's Word. That is also why the Maggot Churches want a feminazi translation with Adam turned into a clever myth. Leading the way - Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

I was 25 years ahead on ELCA's apostasy. Only a few years ago, I taunted the ELCA congregations about leaving Whorely Mother Synod, following the example of the Episcopal Church breakup. At this point, no one can keep up with the exits from ELCA. LCMC has about 800 congregations. The bishops' synod, NALC, brand new, has around 200.

Thousands of letters of thanks are rolling in. Not exactly. My predictions about WELS are already coming true, at this convention. The SP has ordered a major cover-up on the MLC gay video, and the seminary is promoting the NNIV. The entire synod switched from justification by faith to Universal Objective Justification--from Gausewitz to Kuske--and no one noticed.