rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Kilcrease Uses Classic Romanism To Promote UOJ":
Any arguments that are not Scripture-based are bound to engage in the magisterial use of reason. Amateur philosophers and rationalists like to be masters of the conversation stopping cliche. They like to have their "gotcha moment" where you are caught off guard.
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GJ - Luther--remember him from last year's Reformation service?--was well trained in the law and Medieval philosophy. He could use philosophical arguments, and he did so when countering Medieval philosophy. However, he always relied on the Word of God as judge of all books and all human reason.
When the leaders of this generation grabbed the torch from the previous one, they tried to prove true Lutheranism was passed to them. But they grabbed the wrong end. Biblical, Means of Grace doctrine was present in the Synodical Conference, but the radicals chose to avoid that for UOJ. They took the worst from their precious Brief Statement of 1932, because it served their purposes. Lutheran doctrine got in the way of unionism, social activism, and Enthusiasm - all isms, in fact.
Holy Spirit or Catholic Philosophy?
I have been astounded by the number of times one post has been used in the last few months. It is already the second most popular in the last two years, with 6715 page-views..
"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.
Therefore, Luther was opposed to letting Aristotle control the categories of discussion about the Christian faith.
One can substitute the "Word of God" for the "Holy Spirit" in the above quotation, because the Spirit and the Word always work together. The Word is clear, easy to understand, and powerful in its effect, always accomplishing God's purpose and always prospering in that effect.
The SynCons are rattled and angry because many people are using the Word of God to defeat their obnoxious teaching and junkyard behavior. The UOJ Enthusiasts want to draw the debate back into their invented categories, dazzling everyone with their ability to prance around their own contradictions. They imagine sarcasm is wit, that verbal abuse is exegesis.
Magisterial versus Ministerial Use of Reason
No one is inherently superior in any discussion, because the Word of God is the ruling norm.
As Dr. Lito Cruz observed, from his experience in philosophy, logic, and Roman Catholicism, anyone can use philosophy to claim anything. Randall Schultz pointed out, above, that the philosophical gambit is a clear sign that the writer has abandoned the Word of God as the norm.
The ministerial use of reason places man's ability to understand and argue in the service of the Word, rather than judging the Word. Reason is not the master (magister) but the servant (minister) of the Scriptures.
UOJ Enthusiasts say, "We teach justification by faith better, because the Gospel rests upon justification without faith. You must use our newly invented categories to be one with us."
UOJ Enthusiasts say, "We teach justification by faith better, because the Gospel rests upon justification without faith. You must use our newly invented categories to be one with us."
