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| Alexander's conquests made Greek the universal language of culture. The Lutheran Reformation promoted advanced studies, and Reformers took classical names - Melanchthon, Chytraeus. |
Weaknesses of UOJ:
- UOJ has only one dogma - the universal absolution of the world, with a rabid emphasis on unbelievers as forgiven, saved, righteous saints. That is also the dogma of mainline churches, because all drink from the same infernal fountain of Enthusiasm.
- Romans 4:25 (loved by Walther) is a sentence fragment, the complete thought of the sentence being exactly the opposite of UOJ claims. KJV Romans 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
- The Fourth Gospel contradicts their dogma at every turn, even though they try to use the Lamb of God statement as universal absolution. God loving the world (3:16) is not the same as God justifying the world.
- The resurrection of Christ was not the absolution of the world, although the Pietist Rambach thought so.
- The atoning death of Christ was not the declaration of the world's forgiveness. "It is finished" cannot be construed to mean - "The entire world--past, present, and future--has been absolved, without faith in Me."
- "Father forgive them" is a prayer, not an absolution. If it was an absolution, then the unrepentant thief on the cross went to heaven as well.
- Reconciliation, one for another (literally in Greek), does not mean that Christ becoming sin makes us righteous simply from His atonement (but without the Word, the Means of Grace, faith). That assumption forces a meaning from the origin of the word reconciliation, but the only possible meaning is the one in the context of the New Testament. "The entire world is righteous because Christ took on sin" is an advanced case of Kittel-itis. Therefore, fellowship really means "defilement" based on Matthew 15:18. This is easily answered in English by "What does gay mean?" KJV James 2:3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool.
- UOJ has a definite history, starting in Calvinism and continuing in Pietism, thriving today in mainline apostasy and Church Growth dogma.
- OJ is not found in the Luther or the Book of Concord, even though Atonement passages are cited as proof for universal absolution.
- UOJ Enthusiasts have nothing to say about the Means of Grace, "the peculiar glory of the Lutheran Church," except to say the Means of Grace affirm what is already universally true. So the Means of Grace are not grace, according to UOJ, and grace comes to people without Means (the Word and Sacrament). UOJ Stormtroopers thus define themselves as self-contradicting Anti-Confessionals.
- Concordia Publishing House still sells a KJV catechism that omits UOJ.
- The old German catechism of Missouri said nothing about UOJ.
- Gausewitz, as head of the Synodical Conference (tm) wrote a catechism that said nothing about UOJ, and it was used for many decades. Many in WELS were trained with the Gausewitz catechism. Papenfuss, the instigator of the Kokomo fuss, admitted to the families there that he never heard of UOJ before seminary.
- UOJ and Church Growth go together like ketchup and french fries. Ask David Valleskey and Frosty Bivens. They love both...passionately.
