ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
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Saturday, October 8, 2011
Roger Williams obituary: Pop pianist Roger Williams dies - latimes.com
Roger Williams obituary: Pop pianist Roger Williams dies - latimes.com: "The son of a Lutheran minister, he was born Louis Weertz on Oct. 1, 1924, in Omaha and grew up in Des Moines.
At 3, he toddled toward the piano and just started playing, Williams often recalled.
While majoring in piano at Iowa's Drake University, he began developing a style that was a fusion of jazz, classical and pop.
When a school official overheard him playing the show tune "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," he was expelled because the school had a "classics only" policy, Williams later said."
'via Blog this'
***
GJ - Roger Williams was an LCA member originally, a member of St. John's in Des Moines. The pastor at the time--Henry Opperman--was later my supervisor in Canada, returning to Kitchener, Ontario. At St. Peter in Kitchener, the largest Lutheran congregation at the time, we always had a liturgical service and stood for every verse of every hymn.
Labels:
ELCA,
Roger Williams
Registration for the ELCA’s 2012 Youth Gathering to open - News Releases - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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"Have fun, kids, because you are already forgiven." |
Registration for the ELCA’s 2012 Youth Gathering to open - News Releases - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
'via Blog this'
Online registration opens Oct. 9 for the 2012 Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The gathering will be July 18-22 in New Orleans with the theme of “Citizens with the Saints.” The ELCA hosts churchwide youth gatherings every three years.
Registration opens online only at 2:00 p.m. EDT and will close on May 26, which is also the deadline for final payment. There will be no onsite payment option in 2012.
The registration fee is $315 per person and includes inspirational sessions in the Superdome, Community Life activities, service learning experiences and community-based justice projects. A $150 nonrefundable deposit per person is due at the time of registration.
At the Gathering, youth and adults will be invited to step into a global community of interactive learning through the program area called “Practice Peacemaking.” The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center will be transformed into a learning space where participants will engage in multi-sensory opportunities that will invite them to reflect on God’s value of everyone, particularly those who are marginalized by society.
Young people are invited to participate in this event by accompanying neighbors next door and across the world.
A Definitely-Abled Youth Leadership Event will be July 16-18 at the Astor Crowne Plaza New Orleans. The event offers time for participants to acclimate and orient themselves to the city of New Orleans before the Gathering begins.
Any teenager going into the ninth through the 12th grade or having just graduated from high school at the time of the Gathering is eligible to register as part of a congregational group. Registration for the Definitely Abled Youth Leadership Event will open with the Gathering registration on Oct. 9.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Mollie Ziegler Hemingway: Twenty-First Century Excommunication - WSJ.com
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Mollie Ziegler, LCMS |
Mollie Ziegler Hemingway: Twenty-First Century Excommunication - WSJ.com:
"When the Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, N.Y., left the Episcopal Church over disagreements about what the Bible says about sexuality, the congregation offered to pay for the building in which it worshiped. In return the Episcopal Church sued to seize the building, then sold it for a fraction of the price to someone who turned it into a mosque."
'via Blog this'
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The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is suing every parish and bishop who opposes her reign of terror. |
Bishop Jefferts Schori says this new Anglican group is encroaching on her church's jurisdiction, and she has authorized dozens of lawsuits "to protect the assets of the Episcopal Church for the mission of the Episcopal Church." The Episcopal Church has dedicated $22 million to legal actions against departing clergy, congregations and dioceses, according to Allan Haley, a canon lawyer who has represented a diocese in one such case.
Now the Episcopal Church has upped the ante: It has declared that if congregations break away and buy their sanctuaries, they must disaffiliate from any group that professes to be Anglican.
Identifying the Signs of Apostasy:
Grade Your Congregation and Synod
I published a few articles about the Episcopalians recently, causing me to think about how close they are to the Lutheran situation. A number of fatal characteristics are at work in those Lutheran groups that still congratulating themselves on how faithful they are. The following list fits any denomination, including the Lutheran franchises:
- The most prominent theologians of the past are largely ignored, dusted off only for anniversaries.
- The true leaders of the denomination are widely known as heretics, and they glory in their ability to teach against whatever their group claims to believe and practice.
- The schools have been turned over to incompetents whose only virtue is their fidelity to the new thinking.
- Serious doctrinal issues are ignored at all costs, but even the slightest criticism of false doctrine is addressed with voices quaking with rage, "You are destroying the love and unity of our fellowship."
- The periodicals and journals are so bland that no one pays attention to them.
- The leaders, at various levels, are helpless to do anything about false doctrine and practice, but they assassinate anyone who dares to raise a question about their poor leadership.
- Women are in authority over men and teaching men, with women's ordination a fact or already de facto in place.
- Clergy think of their careers first, fearing the synodical leaders, who step in and get rid of them at the drop of a hat.
- A divine call may be discussed, but it is really a position in the franchise. The leaders feel justified in meddling with any congregation that threatens to become conservative, but they defend and protect those on the other side.
- The real leaders are part of overlapping lobbies that push the denomination according to their agenda.
- Open communion is either considered a right for anyone who happens to drop in, or portrayed as a way to include more people as members.
- Respectful worship is despised while entertainment is promoted as "the way to grow," an absolute necessity.
- Sermons are replaced with coaching sessions, bad imitations of pep talks from business meetings.
Luther Rocks: “Playing the Pharisee Card” - Issues, Etc.
Luther Rocks: “Playing the Pharisee Card” - Issues, Etc.: "Nicely done! It is a couple years old...but relevant still.
Sample Article: “Playing the Pharisee Card” - Issues, Etc.
The Real Pharisees?"
'via Blog this'
WELS Meditations Agrees with ELCA:
Everyone Is Already Forgiven
AC V has left a new comment on your post "Does Born Lutheran Count? How Is Steve Jobs Diffe...":
Here's a current example of how UOJ is used in the WELS. In the Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011 devotion from the WELS Meditations booklet, the author explains Matthew 18:18 "...whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.":
The author correctly quotes Luther from the Small Catechism: "The use of the keys is that special power and right which Christ gave to his church on earth: to forgive the sins of penitent sinners but refuse forgiveness to the impenitent as long as they do not repent." The author even quotes Jesus in John 20:22,23, "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Got that? All very good. But then the author says (I will highlight the UOJ subterfuge): "Lutherans are very familiar with the keys. After all, they are used in worship every Sunday. In the Confession and Absolution, we confess our sins and, upon this confession, the pastor forgives our sins just as Jesus told his disciples to do." All very good so far, but then he goes on: "That's the loosing key - the guilt of our sin is removed." See how only the "guilt" is removed? Why? The author goes on: "The pastor assures us that, for Christ's sake, God has already forgiven us all our sins...That's how the called worker uses the keys on a regular basis."
But what about the binding key? The author goes on: "But when a member refuses to repent of his sin, the body of Christ is authorized by Jesus to declare that the person has locked himself out of heaven." So, the binding key is given to the impenitent to "lock himself out" of heaven? Where does it say that in the Bible?
It all fits hand in glove in with the teaching of UOJ. You are forgiven whether you know it or not, whether you believe it or not. You are not actually forgiven of your sins by Word and Sacrament, you are only assured that your sins were forgiven on the cross 2000 years ago. You can't actually be refused forgiveness and therefore be in your sins. Forgiveness is already yours. You can only reject its benefits.
Cancel my subscription...
Labels:
ELCA; ELS; LCMS; WELS; CLC (sic)
David R. Barnhart: ELCA MEMBERSHIP FROM 1987 THROUGH 2010
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Changer John Lawrenz, WELS, anointed Changer Steve Witte, to keep the WELS Asian porta-sem apostate. ELCA started its decline the same way, with the buddy system. It only takes one generation. |
David R. Barnhart: ELCA MEMBERSHIP FROM 1987 THROUGH 2010:
'via Blog this'
Geoerge Erdner summarized the statistics this way:
Pastor Barnhart posted some stats on the number of members and congregations for each year of the ELCA's existence, obtained from ELCA Office of the Secretary. If anyone disputes the data, let him kvetch to the Office of the Secretary, not those who repeat that information.
In 2010, based only on reported losses of membership, the ELCA lost 268,182 members. That's 6% of the membership from the prior year. The two preceding years only saw losses of 2%. (All percentages rounded to whole numbers.)
From 1988 to 1998, the ELCA's losses were less than 1 single percent. Those small losses added up, but it was still a rather slow rate. From 2000 onward, it was at least 1% for most of the first years of the decade, then 2% a year for the latter half of the decade, then the dam burst.
One can only imagine how much worse the losses would be if congregations didn't usually wait a few years to consider people who just stopped showing up as gone.
When it comes to congregation losses, there were only two years when the losses came to more than 1%. Then, in 2010, it jumped to three percent. There was a net loss of congregations in 2010 of 353. There are already 309 congregations gone this year, and it's only October.
Also from George Erdner, same thread:
Here's what the totals are up to, as of today:
Left ELCA = 583
Leaving ELCA = 57
Total Left & Leaving = 640
New Non-ELCA Start = 218
ELCA New Wine = 22 [apparently new ELCA parishes where the old one left ELCA and took the property with it]
Thursday, October 6, 2011
VirtueOnline - News - Exclusives - The Invisible Hand Is Writing On the Episcopal Church Wall
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The Episcopalians and the Syn Conference Lutherans are enjoying the same feast. "He who dances with the Spirit of This Age will be a widower in the Age To Come." |
VirtueOnline - News - Exclusives - The Invisible Hand Is Writing On the Episcopal Church Wall: "American author Walter Russell Mead, a leading foreign policy expert, has written a piece for the American Interest in which he declares that an invisible hand has been writing on the nation's wall of late, and the message is scaring the markets. "The markets should be scared; there is real trouble afoot, and the world's political and economic leaders are terrifyingly out of their depth," he writes.
According to Mead, the message being sent to the markets, the kings and rulers of this earth, the Davoisie and the bankers, the economic sages and the lords of finance by the invisible hand that shapes us like a potter's wheel is this:
MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN, "You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting." Now your punishment begins.
"The thin rhetoric of a backward looking president, the obstreperous negativism of an opposition better at rejecting what it hates than building or even conceiving what it needs, the lotus-eating educational formation that cuts us off from our past, and the incessant noise of a superficial pop culture: none of this is worthy of America at its best and none of it will help us now."
'via Blog this'
ELCA presiding bishop says building trust is key work of this church - News Releases - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
ELCA presiding bishop says building trust is key work of this church - News Releases - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: " For the ELCA, inviting Sayyid Syeed from the Islamic Society of North America served as a "powerful witness in a culture and world where religious differences so often breed cultures of distrust," Hanson said.
The presiding bishop also highlighted the strengthening of relationship between the ELCA and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which has its roots in conversations among leaders of both churches for the past five years. This dialogue culminated in a festive, meaningful joint worship service and summit with members of both churches "proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, living, reconciling and setting us free," said Hanson."
'via Blog this'
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"Brett, you were not invited - on purpose." |
The presiding bishop also highlighted the strengthening of relationship between the ELCA and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which has its roots in conversations among leaders of both churches for the past five years. This dialogue culminated in a festive, meaningful joint worship service and summit with members of both churches "proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, living, reconciling and setting us free," said Hanson."
'via Blog this'
"A Teacher Affects Eternity; He Can Never Tell Where His Influence Stops.”
- Henry Brooks Adams
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Bruce Johnson (l.), George Small (c.), and Jim Krohn were part of the Garfield Gashouse Gang, denounced by Mr. McAllister at John Deere Junior High. |
I was talking to George Small, one of my more hilarious friends from Garfield and John Deere. I asked, "Have you recovered from the Panama Canal?"
On Facebook, someone just posted the newspaper article where George and others were working on a mock-up of the Panama Canal.
George said, "Recovered? That is why I became an engineer. Your mother had us create this model of the Panama Canal and she explained everything, how the gates and locks and everything else worked. It was tactile experience. I told myself - this is what I want to do. And I became an engineer. And later, I got to see it myself. It was exactly the way we were taught and worked just as your mother told us. It was fantastic."
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Robert Millman, Michael Rothweiler, George Small, and the late Terry Carlson worked on the model in this Moline Dispatch article. |
Then George brought up my mother's ring with the rock embedded in it. She reversed it in her hand and used it to clonk students who were not behaving. "I remember your mother's ring."
I said, "My wife wore the ring for the dinner tonight."
George got more excited. "She has it? Where is your wife? Excuse me. I have to go see it."
I walked over in a minute or two. Chris told me that George asked her to clonk him twice on the head. He claimed that one crack in the ring probably came from his head. More than one of her students brought up "the ring" at various times.
George and I, not to mention many others, talked about the great teachers we had in the Moline system. They agreed that we got the benefits of a very large private school with the best teachers. They went out of their way to do things for the students, such as taking them on overnight trips.
People often bring up Mary Copeland, Liz Copeland's mother, as one of their favorite teachers. Steph Sundine told a reporter that she got into music through Mrs. Leland, the singing teacher at Garfield with the angelic voice. Many guys were in the Moline Boys Choir - Lawrence Eyre, Bruce Johnson, Greg Keller, John Robeson, and more. Their director, Fred Swanson, had a PhD in music.
Alan Hoffman, our PhD rocket scientist, was encouraged by Mr. Goar at MHS to study physics. That chem-physics class was a riot, in and out of class.
Rex Bullock, whose entire ministry has involved singing, mentioned the musical ability of Mr. Partridge at MHS. There was no field, vocation, or skill that students could not pursue. We had so much available that we took it for granted, but everyone agreed, "We were prepared for college and anything else we wanted to do."
Does Born Lutheran Count?
How Is Steve Jobs Different from the Syn Conference Leaders?
Lutherans Do Not Adopt Fuller Seminary Doctrine.
Is John Brug Lutheran?
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John Brug, Sausage Factory, endorses women's ordination in a book lavishly praised by Herman Otten. |
AC V has left a new comment on your post "Steve Jobs: Ex-Apple CEO Dies - ABC News":
Was [Lutheran]. Correct.
http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_lutheran.html
I thought someone would correct me about the late Steve Jobs being Lutheran. Acey is arguing the point that one's confession is one's affiliation. Being born Lutheran or even confirmed Lutheran does not count. I agree, although the vast majority of Syn Conference Enthusiasts do not.
Someone who is Lutheran cannot attend Fuller Seminary unless he has given up the Faith. Even worse, his confession is gratifying to the false teachers there, because he is saying, "You have something to teach me." Artful Dodger wanted to know how Notre Dame study was different from Fuller Seminary enrollment. Academic study does not pretend to tell people what to believe or even how to practice one's faith as a pastor or theologian. Seminary study does directs its students into the doctrine and practice represented by that school.
For example, Fuller Seminary endorses women's ordination. If someone speaks against women being in authority over men, a seminary committee will administer discipline--and if necessary--extend the Left Foot of fellowship. Notre Dame was liberal Protestant overall, even among the Roman Catholics, but they could not do anything about my mocking of their love for Tillich and other rascals. The issue was whether I could learn the material and articulate a position. I used my study there for additional study of Roman Catholic doctrine, for writing a book comparing Lutheran doctrine to Catholic and Protestant errors.
Most leaders of the Lutheran Reformation were trained in Medieval Romanism. Luther--gasp!--earned a doctorate from a Roman Catholic school, since that was the only choice at the time. Besides, he was a Roman Catholic monk and priest. What he taught was different from what he learned, and his studies gave him background for distinguishing between sound doctrine and false doctrine. Luther could run circles around the rest in handling Medieval philosophy as a tool to defeat the claims made on the basis of Medieval philosophy.
Fuller Seminary has prospered over the decades by brain-washing denominational leaders into accepting their assumptions, that congregational work is just a matter of statistics and marketing, with no reference to the efficacy of the Word.
Church Growth leaders are lucky to have an IQ in the triple digits. That is why the Lutheran Shrinkers claim to be "conservative" and even "confessional." In the Syn Conference, being born ELS or WELS or LCMS is equal to being orthodox. Wisconsin limits that to being born in Packerland and starting school in a Wisconsin (state and synod) parochial school. They really do not have those anymore. They are "academies" fighting for babies and toddlers to pay deluxe salaries and benefits for their teachers.
So-called "confessional" Lutheran professors like John Brug endorse women's ordination and do nothing about students and relatives basking in Groeschel Enthusiasm. Is Brug a Lutheran? He not by confession - nor does he use his position to correct error. He has a cushy job teaching a few students for a few hours each week.
Steve Jobs died a Lutheran by Syn Conference standards. At least he was honest about his apostasy.
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How is Steve Jobs different from John Brug or Frosty Bivens? |
Labels:
John Brug,
Steve Jobs
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Steve Jobs: Ex-Apple CEO Dies - ABC News
Lutheran Steve Jobs: Ex-Apple CEO Dies - ABC News:
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes, has died, Apple said. Jobs was 56.
"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," read a statement by Apple's board of directors. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."
The homepage of Apple's website this evening switched to a full-page image of Jobs with the text, "Steve Jobs 1955-2011."
---
AC V has left
a new comment on your post "Steve
Jobs: Ex-Apple CEO Dies - ABC News":
Was [Lutheran]. Correct.
http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_lutheran.html
Was [Lutheran]. Correct.
http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_lutheran.html
Meet the Senior Editor of Paul McCain's Bible -
J. I. Packer, Calvinist Anglican
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J. I. Packer is a respected Anglican Calvinist. |
"Packer served as general editor for the English Standard Version of the Bible (2001), an Evangelical revision of the Revised Standard Version of 1971."
Wikipedia:
In 1950, the ICRE merged with the Federal Council of Churches to form the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. The former ICRE became the new Council's Division of Christian Education, and the NCC became the official sponsor of the RSV.
After a thorough examination and about eighty changes to the New Testament text, the NCC authorized the RSV Bible for publication in 1951. St. Jerome's Day, September 30, 1952, was selected as the day of publication, and on that day, the NCC sponsored a celebratory rally in Washington D.C., with representatives of the churches affiliated with it present. The very first copy of the RSV Bible to come off the press was presented by Weigle to PresidentHarry S. Truman.
No one is quicker to say "Calvinist!" than Paul McCain, aka Minister-without-Portfolio, aka Minister-without-a-Call. The senior editor of the ESV Bible sold and promoted by Concordia Publishing House is J. I. Packer, a Calvinist.
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Herman Otten constantly wonders why the liberals are winning in the LCMS. Perhaps it is because Otten works with so many hybrids like McCain in his hybrid Lutheran-Babtist-Calvinist newspaper.
The state of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is shown by their patronizing nod at the 400th anniversary of the KJV while telling stories of Walther that would make The Glories of Mary author blush.
Labels:
ESV,
KJV,
Paul McCain
Another Fan of Rock N Roll Lutheran Church in Round Rock.
Matt Doebler, WELS Pastor
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Busta Gut rocks the Cradle Roll at Rock N Roll. |
The divine service Pastor
Matt and the Texas T-shirt style:
http://player.vimeo.com/video/29220102
http://vimeo.com/29220102
Audios and Videos of his sermons. Is he still plagiarizing?
http://vimeo.com/29220102
Audios and Videos of his sermons. Is he still plagiarizing?
Luther Rocks: Let the Woman Learn in Silence.
Don Patterson and SP Gurgel at Work
Luther Rocks: Let the Woman Learn in Silence:
'via Blog this'
I blogged about the Holy Word's Deaconess of Hispanic Ministry earlier on this blog. I think it flies in the face of scripture as you have given a woman a proper title (denotes an authority) in the church based on one ambiguous passage in scripture; many of which translate it to 'servant'. Leadership always maintained that she would not and did not teach men. OK. But now we have a new cell group program called 'Connect Groups' (i.e. churchgrowth) that was rolled out in September that has women leading Bible studies. How is the woman learning in quietness from the man if she is teaching (even if it is to other women)? I know they will use the excuse that it is not in church...but this is an officially church sanctioned program of study! Never mind that the teaching of God's Word in an official capacity that lies solely on the Pastor as a duly called and ordained servant of the Word (nor laymen for that matter). But women leading study on the Book of Acts? (Group 107) And another woman leading study on the Book of 2 Corinthians to college students? (Group 118) I'd like to know if there are male college students attending? Last time I checked, men of the age of 18 are considered adults and able to vote at WELS voters meetings. Aren't 99% of college men in this category? By the way; one of the parties leading group #101 was just received into membership through adult instruction on August 28th. I was in attendance and heard it.
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narrow-minded has left a new comment on your post "Luther Rocks: Let the Woman Learn in Silence. Don ...":
http://www.bslcomaha.org/contentpages.aspx?parentnavigationid=9332&viewcontentpageguid=62d19f53-a7ad-42be-af4b-bccf2c7bdd55
Note the Thursday morning Beth Moore course led by a female in an LCMS parish. Also, note the small groups.
http://www.bethlehemlc.org/beth-moore-simulcast
Another LCMS parish eating up the narcissistic, pietistic Beth Moore heresy of "look at me and what I do for Jesus." (Anyone recall someone stating in red words that He wasn't impressed with our works? "I never knew you," comes to mind.)
So as to not neglect the WELS fans:
http://www.abidingpeace.org
Maybe some Lutheran parish will do something innovative and shocking someday and have a study of the Lutheran Confessions, illustrating how they are the proper exposition of Scripture.
Labels:
ELCA; ELS; LCMS; WELS,
Patterson
Easy Eight - The Most Terrible Errors: NNIV versus the KJV.
Paul Wendland's Tarbaby.
Wisconsin Synod Biblical Apostasy
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The last Mequon seminary president went to Fuller Seminary, so Paul Wendland is continuing the trend toward anti-Lutheran, mainline apostasy. |
marco has left a new comment on your post "Sausage Factory President Paul Wendland's NNIV Cam...":
I was wondering and would very much appreciate if you could give your own version of the top ten verses that argue for the KJV to be used over that of the NNIV. And give your reasoning for each of the 10 verses you choose.
***
GJ - I am happy to help out, Marco. I selected eight easy examples, with my explanations in purple, below each set.
Genesis 4:1
NNIV
1 Adam[a] made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.[b] She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth[c] a man.”
Genesis 4:1 a - Or The man
KJV
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
GJ - The NNIV has created two major problems with Genesis 4:1. The first is the corruption of a perfectly good verb - to know. This verb is used exactly the same way in Hebrew, Greek, and English. The deeper meaning of the verb has been trivialized to mean the act itself. This is a Bible for ninnies - the Ninny-veh edition. This problem emerges again in Luke 1:34, where Mary says, "34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” But Mary said, KJV and Greek, "Since I know not a man."
The second problem comes up in the footnote and in many subsequent footnotes. They change the meaning of the Word of God, to make the verse repudiate what the verse plainly reveals. Adam and Eve were actually people, not symbolic myths, but the footnote tells the reader that Adam, as a pun on "man," really stands for humankind evolved from the primates. Therefore, humankind and womenfolk conceived the symbolic Cain. The inventor of NNIV dynamic translation (sic) was Nida, a pea-brained liberal. Oh yes, WELS is hotter than Georgia asphalt for inerrancy, as SP Schroeder claims, except when it comes to picking Bibles.
Isaiah 7:13-14
NNIV
13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14Therefore the Lord himself will give you[a] a sign: The virgin[b] will conceive and give birth to a son, and[c] will call him Immanuel.[d]
Isaiah 7:14 a - Or young woman
KJV
14Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 13And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
GJ - Some may remember the scandal of the RSV (created by the left-wing National Council of Churches) denying the Virgin Birth in Isaiah 7. The NNIV denies the Virgin Birth in a footnote, claiming that the Hebrew word simply means "young woman." This rendering, though false, has great appeal for mainline apostates, who reject the Virgin Birth and the divinity of Christ. "Error loves ambiguities," so now the plain meaning of Isaiah 7 could be this or that. Could this be why the Southern Baptists voted against the NNIV, against displaying it in their own bookstores?
Matthew 26:28
NNIV
28 This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
a - Matthew 26:28 Some manuscripts the new
KJV
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
GJ - A testament is a one-sided promise. I can give all my money and property, to an heir - without the knowledge or consent of that person. That is called a Last Will and Testament.
A covenant is two-sided, so the non-Lutheran Protestants have favored the term covenant. Testament emphasizes that Christ's atoning sacrifice is payment for the sins of the world, whether anyone believes or not. WELS pretends to be against synergism but accepts this implied synergism. Synergism means that God acts but man "completes the transaction."
Matthew 28:18-20
NNIV
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
KJV
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven
and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
GJ - Fuller Seminary, which is a mainline school, and most Protestants love the false rendering of the Great Commission. The original text clearly says, "Go teach all nations." The Fuller-mainline-Baptist version reads "Go make disciples." The original meaning is in harmony with the Biblical efficacy of the Word, teaching rather than making. "Making disciples" puts the burden on man, turning a Gospel imperative into Law. The Fuller disciples in the Synodical Conference go crazy when someone tries to take away their "make disciples" passage, so they love the NNIV. The Means of Grace are central in the three verbs - Go, teach, baptize. The three verbs also harmonize with the naming of the Trinity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Mark 16:8-20
NNIV
8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.[a]
[The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9–20.]
9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
12 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
KJV
8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid. 9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. 10 And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. 12 After that he appeared in another form unto two ofthem, as they walked, and went into the country. 13 And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. 14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs
shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
GJ - Tischendorf promoted two ancient manuscripts (Vaticanus, Sinaiticus) of the New Testament as the best possible ones, far better than the thousands of copies from the Greek, Christian Byzantine Empire. Tischendorf's favorites do not always agree with each other. They also depart from the traditional texts preserved from the earliest days of the Christian faith, which grew first in the Eastern (Byzantine) Roman Empire. When the new translations began dropping the ending of Mark into a footnote, it was the next stage of apostasy. Rationalism first disputed the miracles of the Bible, then the canon of Bible. Tischendorf, Wescott, and Hort sound like a law firm, but this particular trio placed the text of the Bible in doubt, so an anything goes translation was sure to follow.
Here is a lot of statistical evidence about the ending of Mark.
Romans 3:21-25
NNIV21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[b] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—
KJV
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
GJ - WELS was dying for Biblical support of Universal Objective Justification, which was entirely lacking until the NNIV was invented. Halle University, as it moved from Pietism to Rationalism, gave birth to double-justification via Professor Knapp, whose turgid work is still in print. UOJ passed into mainline Protestantism and the Synodical Conference at the same time, but UOJ had a rough time until 1932. Notice that the second all in the NNIV takes the Apostle Paul by the shoulders and tells him what he should have written in the first place.
1 Corinthians 10:16
NNIV16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
KJV
16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
GJ - Lutherans teach the Sacraments - or they used to - and the others do not. Communion is an odious word to the anti-Sacrament crowd. They like other words, neutral words, meaningless words. WELS is anti-Sacramental. They begin their Emergent Church embarrassments without the Sacraments and hate to host Holy Communion. See The CORE and CrossWalk in Phoenix for examples. CrossRoads in S. Lyons, Michigan, called the Sacraments "ordinances" when they began. Now that parish is honestly not Lutheran instead of dishonestly Lutheran. WELS will follow CrossRoads in the same direction with the NNIV.
1 Peter 3:20-21
NNIV
20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.[a] It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
1 Peter 3:21 a - Or but an appeal to God for a clear conscience
KJV
1 Peter 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
GJ - This wild-hair NNIV reading is similar to other mainline evasions. Why not remove both Sacraments from the Bible? That is not really possible, but one step is mixing up a clear statement of the efficacy of the Word in Holy Baptism.
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