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| Thomas Cole, Subsiding of the Genesis Flood |
The term comes from the Greek word for war. Luther was a polemical writer, the best in Christendom. Few realize it because they do not read Luther. They are ashamed of the word and can barely allow the word Lutheran to mar the titles of their odious works (Christian Worship) and the signs of their lukewarm congregations.
Apologetics are different. That term is used for explaining and defending the faith. Now we are considered so dumb that the Apology of the Augsburg Confession is often called the Defense of the Augsburg Confession. When our high school English class heard about John Cardinal Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua, we knew what it meant - not an apology but a defense of his life. That was when all college bound seniors took two years of Latin.
This is a polemical blog. Those who want a Holy Mother Synod blog can find plenty of examples, where various people tiptoe around the issues and ban anyone raising a genuine doctrinal problem.
Facebook has a hilarious example, where Jack Kilcrease, an adjunct at a convent school, an ELCA and Jesuit graduate, lectures Lutherans on Lutheran doctrine. The title is Confessional Lutheran Fellowship.
Polemical writing is an art. Ignorant sarcasm, previously showcased on the Appleton blog (RIP) was a prime example of missing the mark.
A polemical book, essay, or post will identify what is wrong with the opposing opinion and describe the correct position.
Galatians is an excellent example of polemical writing. Adding works was an error in justification. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, argued for justification by faith alone. Luther wrote an extensive commentary on Galatians, a polemical commentary commended by the Book of Concord.
Therefore, a polemical post will show that UOJ is wrong, that justification by faith is correct because it is Scriptural. Errors have a history, and so does sound doctrine. Both sides can be studied as an exercise in scholarship. The documents are available. I have copied or linked plenty of them. Various Lutherans have shared their own research, which may seem to be mine. It is really a group project.
Many think that calling me a bad person is a sound argument, because they have never progressed beyond the Holy Mother Synod mode of thinking. The wise ones join Rome, where they have this concept down perfectly. One infallible pope is far better than many infallible little popes.
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| Detail, St. John in the Wilderness, by Thomas Cole |
The Museum
My wife and I have always enjoyed art museums. Our favorite place was the Art Institute of Chicago, with its vast collection. We have stopped at museums whenever we could. One was dedicated to Norman Rockwell.
Now we are volunteers at a billion dollar art museum, so we attend lectures and films. The Thomas Cole exhibit is visiting the museum at the moment. I have been posting his landscapes copied from the Net. Seeing them lit in a majestic, quiet room patrolled by anxious guards is another experience altogether.
I have lost count of the times I have seen the Cole paintings. We also attended several lectures on him and his group of painters - the Upper Hudson River School. The museum shows us what is already there in art. The various professors and guides point out what we need to know about each painting and style, what we need to look at to appreciate it more. Books and the Net supplement what we receive at the museum.
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| The Course of Empire, one of five paintings by Thomas Cole. This one is Consummation of Empire. People consider the series symbolic of all empires, including the American empire. |
Personal Agreement Is Not the Issue
I find it odd when people write to me and stress whether some agree with me or not.
The issue is whether they agree with the Scriptures or not, the Book of Concord or not. Ultimately, as Chemnitz stressed, the creeds and books have to be set aside in favor of the Word alone, because that is the font and source of all spiritual wisdom. Only one book is written by the Holy Spirit.
When I get people upset by telling them the truth and giving the evidence, they have to think about the doctrinal issues. A convenient escape for many is to say I belonged to as many synods as Al Barry or Robert Preus did. Polemical writing is entertaining and clarifying. One ELCA pastor cannot resist reading this blog, but he seems to hate everything he reads. He sends me nasty emails telling me I am nasty.
But I am a museum curator, rotating my exhibits, explaining what they mean. Some are entire books - Luther's Sermons, the Book of Concord. Some are works of art featuring great quotations and the Scriptures. An important part of education is combining the picture with the thought.
I am happy if people visit and increase their interest so much that they devour Luther's Sermons, study the various catechisms (with eyes opened). They should become students of the Word on their own - as everyone must be.
The curator asked me about the Thomas Cole exhibit. I said, "That is an experience. I have never seen anything like that before." His sagging face transformed into an ethereal look of peace, as if to say, "That is what this entire complex is designed to do." He cannot wait to set up the next one.
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Rev.
Dr. Jackson -
Regarding
your excellent article posting of:
Understanding
the Art of Polemics
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/08/understanding-art-of-polemics.html
Thank you for this wonderful explanatory posting. Perhaps,
now, some who are fearful of Ichabod and even more fearful of their synodical
bureaucratic [hierarchical] taskmasters, will, at least feel free to post some
comment feedback, even if they do so, anonymously.
I can't imagine how some of these active parish pastors and
members must feel, belonging to a Lutheran synod where they have so many levels
of "supervisory" "leadership" hoops with which they must
jump, crawl and / or straddle. I suppose the only thread holding some of them
to their perspective mother synod, is, the fear of being stereotyped, shunned
and / or the threat of somehow losing (their perspective) full church
retirement pension and benefits. Would that some of these parish pastors and
their perspective congregations consider going independent, to the end that
they be free of negative synodical restraints and their corresponding torturous
ecclesiastical bondage shackles.
Furthermore, I think
an appropriate question to ask, is: “Could our congregation survive without any
circuit, district and / or, synodical influence and / or interference?” If
that question is “No,” – then that
would be a clear indication to remove one’s church from a bureaucratic system
that need not be. There is no sense in being part of a self-serving system
which sucks the Scriptural life-blood out of a church fellowship.
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| Find the blogger. |
But,
be that as it may; Rev. Jackson - upon reading your remarks about
polemics, and those who (in cavilier fashion) capriciously speak ill of you; I
could not help but think of Christ's words to the (envious) religious
hypocrites of His time who would work themselves up in a frenzy every time He
spoke and connected to the crowds:
Luke
6:26 - "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did
their fathers to the false prophets." [KJV]
Presently, I am reminded of a recent conversation I had
with a member of my local WELS congregation. He expressed his displeasure of
Ichabod; its author, and my Ichabod comments. But, he stopped short of
attempting to contend with the Ichabod website's Christian Confessional
Lutheran content. It was clear to me that he doesn't understand and appreciate
the Lutheran tradition of polemics; and of the Ichabod web author's personalized
style of writing and online web use of corresponding pics.
As much as I respect this Christian Brother, I find that
his type thinking is systemic of many Lutheran church members glued to a
certain unmovable and fixed mindset. Don't ever object to mother synod; keep
those synodical boot clicking heels in top condition. And most of all, visit
your local chiropractor so that you are always limber (enough) to bow to the
latest Lutheran synodical bureaucratic innovation whim.
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| Pastoral care is rigorously applied in Fox Valley, WELS. |
