I remembered the cartoon from Yogi Bear where the lion sharpened his claws on the whetstone, so that image came to mind when I created the graphic for Brett Meyer's comments.
Brett is a good example of a dedicated layman who has made himself an expert by constant study.
"The Holy Spirit teaches man better than all the books; He teaches him to understand the Scriptures better than he can understand them from the teaching of any other; and of his own accord he does everything God wills he should, so the Law dare make no demands upon him."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 280. Pentecost Sunday John 14:23-31.
When Martin Chemnitz was appointed a bishop, he insisted that his district have regular doctrinal discussions, which he knew were good for the clergy and laity. His time of office was marked by doctrine harmony as a result.
In contrast, there is a stark terror of discussing doctrine today. The SynConference answer is to send down papal edicts from their mini-Vatican. Everything has already been settled, so "Settle down out there in the boondocks." That is why the knowledge of Christian doctrine is at an all-time low. The professors and synodical leaders have no grasp of justification or the Means of Grace. Their language betrays their Enthusiasm, every time they repeat their talking points. Instead of promoting a study of the Confessions, the pastors kill an interest by saying the Book of Concord is "boring and irrelevant."
If they believed in the efficacy of the Word, they would welcome doctrinal study, because the Word of God always prospers and always accomplishes the will of God, never returning to Him in vain. Perhaps that is why the jaded leaders trust in the word of man, since the Word of God will condemn them for their apostasy and corruption.
Everything will be revealed in the end, when insurance booty and foundation grants are gone.
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| Couldn't they read F. Pieper a bit? He belongs to Missouri and WELS together. Instead, they oppose this statement teach the opposite. Pope Paul the Unlearned, with his sinecure at CPH, would choke if he had to say these words out loud. |
Narrow-minded Lutheran has left a new comment on your post "Lutherans Benefit from Doctrinal Discussion and De...":
I have been thinking about 2 Cor. 5:19 being used to support UOJ.
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
The wording is conveying ongoing action to the present, so this seems pretty weak to support UOJ. If this were UOJ, it would be rendered, "...God was in Christ, having reconciled..."
Secondly, did the UOJers neglect the next verse?
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Why was St. Paul pleading with his audience to be reconciled if they were all reconciled at the atonement? If Paul were a UOJer, he would have said, "You are reconciled, even if you don't know it."
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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Lutherans Benefit from Doctrinal Discussion and De...":
As pointed here on Ichabod, a doctrinally discerning laity is a real blessing but is also a threat to SynConference leaders. They would much rather lead the members around with a ring in their nose, wasting their time with leadership workshops and conferences. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find doctrine seriously discussed anywhere, including the congregational level so called Bible studies. Most of these are just re-hashed how-to sessions that are cut and pasted from the Reformed camp. Even a serious look at Luther's Large Catechism would open up some eyes. The leaders certainly do not want that.
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Keeping with this topic, here is a quotation from one of Luther's Sermons for Easter Monday (text: Acts 10:34-43).
"Then Peter explains this new Gospel message as the doctrine of peace, the peace proclamation commanded of God; in other words, salvation and every good thing...Paul offers the same thought (Eph. 2:17)...A delightful message is this in which God recalls his wrath and, as Paul says (2 Corinthians 5:18-20), reconciles us unto Himself, having commanded the Gospel to be preached to the world for that very purpose, and the office of preaching to be called the ministry of reconciliation; and God admonishes us to be reconciled unto Himself, to be His friends, that we may from Him receive grace and every good thing."
I stumbled across this in my recreational reading. Notice the sequence of tenses in the following sentence: "God reconciles us unto Himself, having commanded the Gospel to be preached to the world for that very purpose..." The commanding the Gospel to be preached occurs before the reconciling activity. Luther also ties it in with the ministry of reconciliation. From the context of Luther's sermon, this is not used as a universal act apart from the Means of Grace, but rather ongoing through the Means of Grace.
Sermons of Martin Luther, Lenker Edition, Vol.7. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan
