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.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
List of Hyles Related Clergy Sex Abuse Cases « Blog on the Way
List of Hyles Related Clergy Sex Abuse Cases « Blog on the Way:
List of Hyles Related Clergy Sex Abuse Cases
I have been documenting clergy abuse of children cases in Christian Fundamentalism since 2001. And, obviously, the sins and crimes of First Baptist of Hammond and Hyles-Anderson graduates make up a huge percentage of that list. That list, by the way, runs down the right side of my blog front page. Just go here:http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/.
I include any pastor or church officer from a Fundamentalist church. Most of these are IFB, but the list also includes the Free Presbyterian Church and some Bible churches, all of whom designate themselves as Christian Fundamentalist.
Just a year ago, I was harassed and vilified in public for continuing to document and post accounts of Hyles-Anderson graduates who were molesting kids. ,I was accused of being a traitor to the victims of clergy sex abuse: a rat, a snake, and a mole, and a secret agent for Bob Jones University. A lot of pressure was put on me to stop doing my comprehensive documentation and to focus on only one case, or one type of case, those cases that come from BJU grads. Some people just wanted me to go away altogether. Of course, as a person with a conscience, I did not knuckle under to bullies. I’m a grown up, and I left schoolyard politics back on the schoolyard.
Now, suddenly, it is very much in fashion to document what has been going on at FBCH/HAC for decades. Great! But all I can say is, what took you so long to appreciate that victims have value and dignity, even when they don’t get you on national television? Unless, of course, the victims of Jack Schaap are just another way to get on national television….
If you need an index of only FBCH/HAC-related cases, here it is. This is similar to what I provided for Darrell Dow of Stuff Fundies Like, except this list also includes proteges of Jack Hyles, and not just former HAC students. Please note that, unless otherwise stated, all of these people are pastors:
Andy Beith, Hyles-Anderson graduate, sentenced for sex with an 11 year old girl, previous arrest for contributing to the delinquency of a minor:
AV Ballenger, Former FBCH Deacon, convicted for molesting a child. Jack Hyles had the church give him a standing ovation and kept him in the bus ministry: http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=219
Charles Shifflett, Hyles protege and fanatical Hyles devotee, convicted for sexual indecency with children:http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=127
Chester Mulligan, Hyles protege and fanatical Hyles devotee, accepted plea deal for felony stalking an underage girl, though the facts warranted more serious charges:http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=211
Chris Settlemoir, Hyles-Anderson graduate, convicted for Criminal Sexual Conduct wth underage males, http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=51
Craig Sisson, Hyles-Anderson graduate, convicted of first degree child molestation: http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=126
Dave Hyles, Hyles-Anderson student, former FBCH staff member, former heir to the Hyles throne, never been convicted, but attached to numerous scandals, pleaded the fifth amendment when questioned about the death of Brent Stevens:http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=168
David Joseph Jorgensen, Hyles-Anderson graduate: has successfully gotten his criminal record expunged in Chico CA, but still part of a civil lawsuit for “committing lewd acts” on a female when she was 14. Now on staff at First Baptist of Hammond:http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=349
Earl Reeves , Hyles protege and fanatical Hyles devotee, took a guilty plea for molesting four adolescent girls from his church, Lighthouse Baptist Church in San Diego California:http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=375
Evangeline Combs, former Hyles-Anderson staff member, now serving sentence for multiple counts of child abuse against the woman formerly known as Esther Combs:http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=216
Greg Neal, Hyles-Anderson graduate, escaped charges of sexual misconduct by hiding evidence of his crime until the statute of limitations had run out:http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=118
Jeffrey Jarrell, Hyles-Anderson graduate, took a guilty plea for molesting 11 girls from his church:
http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=220
http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=220
Jeremiah Owen, former Hyles-Anderson student, convicted on various counts of burglary and sexual assault:
http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=129
http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=129
Joe Combs, former faculty member at Hyles-Anderson College, now serving sentence for multiple counts of violent and sexual child abuse against the woman formerly known as Esther Combs:http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=216
Kerry Martin, HAC/OBC former student, serving 205 Years for rape of a girl in his church: http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=209
Matt Jarrell, former Hyles-Anderson student, arrested on suspicion of rape and sodomy. Committed suicide in his jail cell as the investigation closed in on him: http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=89
Russell K Overla, Hyles-Anderson graduate, convicted for child molesting: http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=210
Ted Butler, Hyles-Anderson graduate, sentenced for Criminal Sexual Misconduct (two separate counties):http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=124
William Beith, Hyles-Anderson graduate, charged with solicitation for sex and for exposing himself in public:http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?cat=208
Want More Research?
Here are some recordings to help you gt an overview of the culture and realities of just how corrupt First Baptist Church of Hammond and Hyles-Anderson College are:
Here are some recordings to help you gt an overview of the culture and realities of just how corrupt First Baptist Church of Hammond and Hyles-Anderson College are:
Interview with Paula Hyles Polonco, first wife of Dave Hyles. Paula narrates her introduction to the inner circle of the royal house of Hyles: http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?p=179
Preying from the Pulpit: a documentary produced in May 1993 by WJBK of Detroit, Michigan on the culture surrounding Jack Hyles and the number of sex abuse cases related to his ministry:http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?p=183
The Lambs of Culpeper, Episodes One and Two: Although this documentary is about Hyles protege Chuck Shifflett, the first two episodes include a lot of coverage of Jack Hyles, and some of the horrible things he said and did from his pulpit:http://www.jeriwho.net/tloc.html
'via Blog this'
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http://brucegerencser.net/2012/08/01/the-legacy-of-jack-hyles/
The Legacy of Jack Hyles
Members of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indianaand people closely associated withHyles-Anderson College and Jack Schaap are astonished at the firing of Jack Schaap for sexual misconduct with a minor. (see previous posts hereand here) Evidently these people have a short memory or live in denial because First Baptist Church has a long history of pastors getting themselves in trouble with the fairer sex.
Jack Schaap’s father-in-law, Jack Hyles, had an illicit sexual relationship with his secretary. The evidence against Hyles was overwhelming, yet the church rejected the evidence and Jack Hyles continued to pastor the church. (see Conservative Babylon’s section on Jack Hyles)
David Hyles, the son of Jack Hyles and youth pastor of the church, had numerous sexual relationships with women in the church. The church quietly sent him away to pastor another church, not telling the new church about his sexual proclivities, and he continued to have numerous sexual relationships with women in the new church. (see Conservative Babylon’s section on David Hyles)
Some people are praising the church for publicly exposing Jack Schaap’s “sin.” This is the same church that ignored Jack Hyles’ “sin”, covered over David Hyles’ “sin”, and whitewashed numerous other scandals in the Church and College, so forgive me if I don’t think they are acting “better” than the Catholic Church. (as one commenter said)
The people of First Baptist Church were taught that if they didn’t see something it didn’t happen. They were taught that unless an allegation could be confirmed by two or more people (Matthew 18) they were not to believe it. This kind of thinking resulted in a culture where “sin” was ignored or swept under the proverbial rug. (a rug that is so high now that you have to walk up a five foot hill to get into the church)
In general, the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) Church movement abhors scandal and they do everything they can to cover it up. More important than the sin or the victims is the church’s testimony. The church’s testimony must be protected at all costs, even if we ignore a pedophile in our midst, like Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida did. (see Conservative Babylon’s section on Bob Gray)
For First Baptist Church of Hammond to out Jack Schaap they had to have been backed into a corner without the option of covering it up or quietly making the “problem” go away. (calling in attorney David Gibbs to “manage” the crisis speaks volumes about depth of the scandal)
The root of the Jack Schaap scandal is found in the ministry, teaching, and doctrine of his predecessor, Jack Hyles. The remainder of this post will focus on Jack Hyles. It is impossible to understand the Jack Schaap story without first looking at Jack Hyles’ forty-two year ministry at First Baptist Church of Hammond. (a church that was an American Baptist Church until Hyles pulled it out of the Convention a few years after he arrived there in 1959)
In its heyday, First Baptist Church of Hammond was the largest church in the United States. (and, at times, claimed to be the largest church in the world) The Church was built around two things: the bus ministry and Jack Hyles.
The Church saw attendances exceeding 25,000 people. At the center of this huge church was its Pastor, Jack Hyles.
In the late 1960’s and 1970’s Jack Hyles was, what many of us described, the pope of the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church movement. He authored numerous books with titles like Let’s Go Soulwinning, Let’s Build an Evangelistic Church, Enemies of Soulwinning, The Hyles Church Manual,How to Rear Infants, How to Rear Children, How to Rear Teenagers, Satan’s Bid for Your Child, Marriage is a Commitment, Woman the Completer, and Blue Denim and Lace.
There was a hard-fast rule in the IFB movement. The bigger the church attendance the more authority you were granted and the more weight your words had. I heard countless big- name IFB pastors say, “until you have as many eggs in your basket as I do you have no right to criticize me.” Pastors with small churches were looked down on and were expected to shut up and learn from the top dogs of the movement.
From 1976 to 1989, I heard Jack Hyles preach numerous times. I traveled to a number of Sword of the Lord Conferences, often taking people from the churches I pastored with me.
Hyles was a dynamic preacher, a real motivator. He used very little of the Bible in his preaching. His sermons were always topical or textual and were littered with personal stories and illustrations.
Hyles was a narcissist. Most of his stories and illustrations were about his own personal life and exploits. His stories about he and his mother are legendary.
Over time, as I became more and more dissatisfied with the IFB movement, I paid closer attention to the substance of Hyles’ sermons. In particular, I focused on the stories that Hyles told. I came to the conclusion that Hyles was a narcissistic liar.
Hyles would often talk about how important and busy he was. In several sermons he talked about how many people he counseled every week. I sat down and did the math and I concluded it was physically impossible for Hyles to have counseled as many people each week as he claimed.
Hyles was a ruthless man. I watched him, during Q and A times at a conference, dress down and belittle pastors for asking the “wrong” question. He refused to allow anyone to challenge his authority as the king of the IFB hill.
To understand the scandals at First Baptist Church in Hammond, we must understand the gospel that has been preached at First Baptist for over 50 years. It is the same gospel that is/was preached by men like Bob Gray of Texas, Bob Gray of Jacksonville, Curtis Hutson, Dennis Corle, and thousands of other IFB pastors.
Jack Hyles preached a bastardized version of the Christian gospel. The Hyles gospel has been labeled as decisional regeneration or one, two, three, repeat after me. I used to label the gospel of the IFB church movement as:
- win them
- wet them
- work them
- waste them
The only thing that mattered was winning souls. Dennis Corle told me one time that I should spend more time soulwinning and less time studying in preparation to preach on Sunday.
The key to church growth was to keep more people coming in the front door than were going out the back door. IFB churches are notorious for turning over their church memberships, especially when a pastor leaves and a new one comes in. (more on this later)
The Hyles gospel focused on praying the sinners prayer. Pray this prayer and you are saved. Good works? They were desired and even expected, but if a saved person never exhibited any change in their lives they were still considered saved.
If a pastor dared suggest that new life in Christ meant a change of conduct they were accused of preaching “works salvation.” (the Lordship Salvation controversy) According to the Hyles gospel, it was all about praying the prayer and once a person prayed the prayer they could NEVER,EVER be lost again. This is why some people insist that I am still saved even if I don’t want to be. Once God has you he never lets go of you. (check out RB Thieme’s teaching of this perverted gospel)
The Hyles gospel filled churches with people who had made a mental assent to a set of propositional facts. Every year churches like First Baptist Church in Hammond and Longview Baptist Temple report thousands of people being saved. Most of these new converts stop attending after a short while but this is of no consequence. They prayed the “prayer”…on to the next sinner in need of saving.
The IFB church movement is centered on men. Most IFB churches are pastored by one man who has complete, total control of the church. Most IFB churches are congregational in name only, with the pastor being the autocratic king of the church.
Jack Hyles, Jack Schaap, and countless other big-name IFB traveling preachers routinely promote the notion of pastoral authority. The pastor, under the authority of Jesus and powered by the Holy Spirit, is the final authority in the church. He is the hub around which everything turns.
IFB churches are not known for their name but for who their pastor is. IFB church members routinely say, when asked about what church they attend, I go to Pastor So-and So’s church.
Two years ago, in a post titled, The Cult of Personality, I wrote:
Churches aren’t known for what they believe or even the works they do. They are known for who their pastor is.When asked where they go to Church a Christian will often say “I go to Pastor Smith’s Church.”The focus of everything is on the pastor. He is the mover and shaker. He is what powers the machine. Without him it all fails.Christian TV, radio and publishing is all about the personalities within the Church. Name recognition is the name of the game.Does anyone really believe Rod Parsley is a good writer? Yet, his books sell. Why? Name recognition.Everything is focused on and culminates with the sermon and the preacher.I had people drive 40 minutes to the Church I pastored in SE Ohio. They loved my preaching. They thought I was the greatest preacher since the last guy they thought was wonderful. Really? As much as I think that I am a pretty good public speaker, they had to drive past 40 Churches to get to the Church I pastored. Not one of those Churches had a preacher that could preach competently? (well maybe not, after hearing more than a few preachers)What happens when the pastor leaves the Church? What happens when the personalities change, when a new preacher takes over? Strife. Division. People leave the Church. Why? Because Church became about the preacher rather than about Jesus and serving others.Why is it the pastor’s name is on everything? The sign out front. The bulletin . Every piece of literature the Church produces.If it is really is all about Jesus then why does it matter if anyone knows the pastor’s name?Ah, but it does matter. Most Christians are good capitalists. (serving a socialist Jesus) They are consumers first and Christians second. They know people are “attracted” (the attractional method) to the Church by the pastor, the programs, the building, etc.They know the pastor becomes the face of their Church. It shouldn’t be this way, but it is, and quite frankly, it is the Church itself that must bear the blame for this.They revel in the cult of personality. They love having a name brand preacher. They watch Christians TV and listen to Christian radio because Pastor/Rev/Dr/Evangelist/Bishop/Apostle so-and so is on. Take away the names and it becomes as interesting as eating a no-name hamburger at a no-name restaurant surrounded by no-name people.
Is it any wonder IFB pastors and churches have the scandals they do? Members are taught to obey their pastor without question. He is the man of God. If he is doing something wrong God will chastise him.
This kind of thinking allows IFB pastors to commit adultery, molest children, and steal from the church without anyone ever knowing about it. I could spend the next two days writing about IFB pastors who have abused their place of authority and committed heinous acts against the people they pastored.
IFB churches think they are above the world and other churches because of what they believe. They are Bible believers, and their pastors preach hard against sin. Because of this, they have a hard time believing that their pastor or any other noted preacher could ever commit sins like Jack Hyles, Jack Schaap, David Hyles, and Bob Gray did.
Bob Gray, pastor emeritus of Longview Baptist Temple had this to say on this blogabout the Schaap scandal:
May I present the practical side? There exists more molestation cases proportionately reported in the 42,000 churches of the Southern Baptist Convention than in the 22,000 independent Baptist churches. Consider the largest denomination in our nation, the Catholic Church, and then think on their sexual transgressions for a while. This is not to take lightly one person who is violated by a leader in a church.
Look carefully at the argument Gray is making here. The Southern Baptists and the Catholics are worse than us! Praise Jesus! Such thinking should sicken all of us.
Here is what I know about the IFB movement. They will wail and moan for awhile but, in a few weeks or months, the scandal will pass, and they will go back to “winning souls” and “Preaching hard against sin.” It is only a matter of time before
a-n-o-t-h-e-r scandal rocks the IFB movement
a-n-o-t-h-e-r scandal rocks the IFB movement
Until the IFB movement repudiates its corruption of the Christian gospel and changes how their churches are governed there is no hope of meaningful change. Will they change? Not likely.
Change is not likely to come because of their literalism and belief in the inerrancy of the Bible. Armed with certainty, knowing they are right, they will continue to preach a corrupted gospel and allow narcissistic pastors to rule over them. It IS in the Bible…
(Please read my post Independent Fundamentalist Baptists and the Secrets They Keep)
Consider What Chemnitz and Melancthon Taught
A. Berean has left a new comment on your post "Imputation Is the Foundational Issue - Says A. Ber...":
Justification - the Chief Article of Christian Doctrine as Expounded in Loci Theologici, by Martin Chemnitz. Translated by J.A.O. Preus. Published by Concordia Publishing House. Page 149.
Also in his Examination of the Council of Trent vol. 1, pg. 532, paragraph 17. Published by Concordia Publishing House. Translated by Fred Kramer.
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solafide (http://solafide.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Imputation Is the Foundational Issue - Says A. Ber...":
Here it is to be noted that these three things are joined together: faith, Christ, and acceptance or imputation. Faith takes hold of Christ and has Him present, enclosing Him as the ring encloses the gem. And whoever is found having this faith in the Christ who is grasped in the heart, him God accounts as righteous. This is the means and the merit by which we obtain the forgiveness of sins and righteousness. “Because you believe in Me,” God says, “and your faith takes hold of Christ, whom I have freely given to you as your Justifier and Savior, therefore be righteous.” Thus God accepts you or accounts you righteous only on account of Christ, in whom you believe.
Now acceptance or imputation is extremely necessary, first, because we are not yet purely righteous, but sin is still clinging to our flesh during this life. God cleanses this remnant of sin in our flesh. In addition, we are sometimes forsaken by the Holy Spirit, and we fall into sins, as did Peter, David, and other saints. Nevertheless, we always have recourse to this doctrine, that our sins are covered and that God does not want to hold us accountable for them (Rom. 4). This does not mean that there is no sin in us, as the sophists have taught when they said that we must go on doing good until we are no longer conscious of any sin; but sin is always present, and the godly feel it. But it is ignored and hidden in the sight of God, because Christ the Mediator stands between; because we take hold of Him by faith, all our sins are sins no longer. But where Christ and faith are not present, here there is no forgiveness of sins or hiding of sins. On the contrary, here there is the sheer imputation and condemnation of sins. Thus God wants to glorify His Son, and He Himself wants to be glorified in us through Him.
Martin Luther, Luther's Works, Vol. 26 : Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann, Luther's Works (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1963). 26:132-133.
SolaFide: Pretty clear, I think.
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Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Imputation Is the Foundational Issue - Says A. Ber...":
Ichabod - Thank you for highlighting, A Berean's excellent comment. Yes! The word "Imputation," is at the forefront of this universal objective justification controversy and discussion.
Luther correctly said: "Where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation."
But it is here where the universal objective justification enthusiasts [UOJE] get tripped up, and never do get to first base:
UOJE [Universal objective justification enthusiasts] become hung up on the Atonement as a "be all" and "end all." They would rather just view Christ's universal sacrifice for sin as the one time imputation to the human soul. Their basic view of imputation is that when Christ died and rose; - that is what Luther talked about - "Where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation." To them, that is the sum and substance of imputation. Hence, this is why UOJE often don't highlight the Holy Spirit's work in the salvation process. [John 3:8 in context] They essentially diss (ignore) faith. They bypass faith and actually believe that with the forgiveness of sins brought about by the Atonement, - that has brought [as Luther put it] "life and salvation" to all. So, then, their understanding is all based around the Atonement; that Christ's sacrifice was imputed, - not, faith.
On the other hand, those of us who believe Scripture, (and, the Confessions, concur); we believe that we, (by God's grace) are justified by faith. [Ephesians 2:8-9] We believe that the faith the Holy Spirit creates in us is imputed to us. We could almost use the words "infused" and "continually dispensed." Luther put it this way in his explanation of the 3rd Article of the Apostles Creed:
"In which Christian church He daily and richly forgive sins to me and all believers......"
Finally, I will point to an illustration, using an analogy. [And, I realize that no analogy is perfect]:
The universal objective justification crowds are stuck on the Atonement. To them that is their priceless "auto body."
But, the car doesn't travel (anywhere) without wheels and fuel. Hence, the Atonement without its (Holy Spirit) "imputation wheels & fuel" is useless. Without the Spirit's wheels and fuel, the human soul cannot personally partake of and benefit from Christ's all encompassing Atonement. Nor, (without Holy Spirit wheels and fuel) will that human soul travel to heaven. All that, though, does not matter for the universal objective justification enthusiasts still stuck in their Atonement auto. To them a car without wheels and fuel is a perfect and complete auto.
Nathan M. Bickel
www.thechristianmessage.org
www.moralmatters.org
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GJ - The readers and I are grateful for the thoughtful contributions that arrive as comments.
Imputation Is the Foundational Issue - Says A. Berean
A. Berean has left a new comment on your post "Chemnitz Taught Justification by Faith - Not Unive...":
If you want to strike at the heart of the UOJ error, its not about "given but not received" or "declaring the whole world righteous," because those are only symptoms... its imputation. Its clear that the Confessors taught and understood from the Scriptures that in order not to violate His own justice, God does not declare someone to be righteous without some intervening righteousness, namely Christ's. It is clearly taught in Scripture and addressed multiple times in the Confessions that this imputation takes place by faith, because faith is that thing which is reckoned/imputed for righteousness (Romans 4). This is where the UOJ error falls apart, because it teaches that God imputed (or is imputing) Christ's righteousness to all mankind from eternity. So then the question becomes, "To what is this righteousness imputed? What is reckoned for righteousness?" This is the fundamental error of UOJ - imputation.
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GJ - I agree that the key term is imputation. There are many different approaches to error, all of them stemming from one problem - Enthusiasm.
But if we want to find the one key word, it is imputation. This is why I agree.
The term justification is clear enough to most people, but UOJ fanatics have fouled the Lutheran nest so badly that people just tangled up on justification and faith.
Next, there are many synonyms for the atonement:
- reconciliation,
- expiation,
- propitiation,
- ransom,
- redemption (expressed two ways in Greek).
Imputing is a nice Latin word. In plain English, it is count or reckon.
When someone believes in the atonement of Christ for his sins, he is counted righteous, forgiven of his sins, in the eyes of God. He is truly absolved through faith and is never righteous without faith.
It is that simple. That concept does not require years of brain-washing at an overpriced seminary.
UOJ does.
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Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Imputation Is the Foundational Issue - Says A. Ber...":
Ichabod - Thank you for highlighting, A Berean's excellent comment. Yes! The word "Imputation," is at the forefront of this universal objective justification controversy and discussion.
Luther correctly said: "Where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation."
But it is here where the universal objective justification enthusiasts [UOJE] get tripped up, and never do get to first base:
UOJE [Universal objective justification enthusiasts] become hung up on the Atonement as a "be all" and "end all." They would rather just view Christ's universal sacrifice for sin as the one time imputation to the human soul. Their basic view of imputation is that when Christ died and rose; - that is what Luther talked about - "Where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation." To them, that is the sum and substance of imputation. Hence, this is why UOJE often don't highlight the Holy Spirit's work in the salvation process. [John 3:8 in context] They essentially diss (ignore) faith. They bypass faith and actually believe that with the forgiveness of sins brought about by the Atonement, - that has brought [as Luther put it] "life and salvation" to all. So, then, their understanding is all based around the Atonement; that Christ's sacrifice was imputed, - not, faith.
On the other hand, those of us who believe Scripture, (and, the Confessions, concur); we believe that we, (by God's grace) are justified by faith. [Ephesians 2:8-9] We believe that the faith the Holy Spirit creates in us is imputed to us. We could almost use the words "infused" and "continually dispensed." Luther put it this way in his explanation of the 3rd Article of the Apostles Creed:
"In which Christian church He daily and richly forgive sins to me and all believers......"
Finally, I will point to an illustration, using an analogy. [And, I realize that no analogy is perfect]:
The universal objective justification crowds are stuck on the Atonement. To them that is their priceless "auto body."
But, the car doesn't travel (anywhere) without wheels and fuel. Hence, the Atonement without its (Holy Spirit) "imputation wheels & fuel" is useless. Without the Spirit's wheels and fuel, the human soul cannot personally partake of and benefit from Christ's all encompassing Atonement. Nor, (without Holy Spirit wheels and fuel) will that human soul travel to heaven. All that, though, does not matter for the universal objective justification enthusiasts still stuck in their Atonement auto. To them a car without wheels and fuel is a perfect and complete auto.
Nathan M. Bickel
www.thechristianmessage.org
www.moralmatters.org
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A. Berean has left a new comment on your post "Imputation Is the Foundational Issue - Says A. Ber...":
An earthly example from today - the United States dollar used to be backed by gold. Our faith (created by the Holy Ghost) is like the dollar. Like the green piece of paper its made out of, it has no intrinsic value in a of itself. But it is called a dollar because to it is reckoned (or imputed) the value of the gold in the reserve. The Gold is like Christ's righteousness. Therefore our faith is reckoned (or imputed) for righteousness (Christ's).
Chemnitz teaches in his book, Justification, that for imputation to take place four things are needed: the person doing to imputing (God), the person to whom something is imputed (the believer), the thing which is imputed (Christ's righteousness), and the thing to which this righteousness is imputed (faith).
Monday, August 6, 2012
Steadfast Lutherans » It’s Official (and has been for more than 2 years).
No - Twenty Years. Wake Up To Women's Ordination
Steadfast Lutherans » It’s Official (and has been for more than 2 years).:
Apparently, the “Diaconate Guidelines” of the Atlantic District of the LCMS have been allowing female “deacons” to preach and administer the Sacrament since 2010. Who knew?
Don’t take my word for it. Read it here. The document, dated February 11, 2010, reads in part:
“Members of the district diaconate are men and women who have been selected by the Church and approved by the Atlantic District Board of Directors to serve after the example of our Lord Jesus…
“In the absence of an ordained pastor and with approval of the pastor and congregation, the deacon may serve at the divine service including the communion liturgy using reserved sacrament. This practice should be used sparingly so as to not confuse the “Office of Deacon” and the “Office of Pastor.” The deacon may officiate at funerals under the direction of a supervising pastor. The deacon may proclaim the Gospel in formal and informal settings after he/she has received training in homiletics and while remaining under the supervision of an ordained pastor.”
HERE is the Atlantic District President’s unofficial explanation for his district’s guidelines. And, HERE are his assurances that his district is most definitely not following its own guidelines.
Apparently, it’s opposite day in Brooklyn.
Read more here and here.
'via Blog this'
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Facebook comment from another's link of this story:
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GJ - My. My.
Someone just jumped off the convent schoolbus and discovered women's ordination in the LCMS. The idea is to establish it for several decades, study it, and approve what has been going on without any conflict or controversy. Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect did that with Church Growth.
Let's travel back in time to 1993, almost 20 years ago. Al Barry was newly elected as president of the LCMS. His covert campaign manager, Paul McCain, was promoted to his assistant, after serving about two years in the parish. Hey, Walther did the same thing - two years in the parish and made himself pope of the new synod, replacing Bishop Stephan, whom he robbed, kidnapped, and dumped in a hovel to die.
McCain was feeling his oats, so he invited me to visit the Purple Palace for a personal tour, for some moments in the posh executive suite area. Bohlmann walked by - tossed from office but given a year's salary to roam around and have some fun.
The topic of women's ordination came up. I had lived in Columbus five years and often visited the ELCA seminary, Trinity, the product of the LCA/ALC merger. Hamma merged into Capital Seminary and the two became Trinity, complete with a Lenski room and a bookstore that did NOT sell Lenski. Who he?
I pointed out that female seminarians at Trinity wrote up their vicarage year, where they were hired to work at ELCA congregations. The vicars had their little annual publication for the men and women to record their thoughts. The ELCA women said they preached and administered the sacraments at LCMS congregations.
When I told McCain this, he immediately began denying it. I suggested that he find the documentation, but he was not interested in the facts.
The simple fact remains - the LCMS has practiced women's ordination, semi-stealth, for decades. No one has ever been disciplined. When a female ELCA pastor preached at a Missouri congregation, probably during Barry's lukewarm presidency, nothing was done.
Likewise, the WELS latte church, highly praised in FIC, had a woman pastor who bragged about administering the Means of Grace. Martin Luther College even had her designated as a featured speaker for their Church and Change events. But publication of that in Ichabod got her a dis-invite. Two steps forward in Christ, one step back. The process moves on.
Steadfast's publication of this moldy old news is proof that they are as clueless as they are spineless.
When Harrison snapped his banjo-scarred fingers, they erased all evidence of LCMS duplicity in child rape in Minnesota. Fortunately, I copied the evidence for the future lawsuits emanating from Missouri's obstruction of justice (deliberate and systematic destruction of evidence). That is a felony, ye DPs united in denial and obfuscation.
Sermon Writing - The Old-Fashioned Way
If someone does not look forward to writing and giving a sermon, there is something wrong. Most likely, the pastor has been pointed toward pleasing people or delivering good statistics to Holy Mother Synod. A sermon is neither a recruiting nor a pacification device.
Stuck in this mindset, many ministers turn to plagiarism, encouraged by failed pastors (professors, Church Growth experts), who have done the same.
Constant brain-washing keeps men in this mode of thinking, so they rake up the latest fads, which seem to be working at Baptized by Fire World Pentecostal Cathedral.
Another Approach
Walther had a good idea about sermons - write them out completely, leave the manuscript somewhere else (hidden in the pulpit if a fail-safe is needed), and preach freely. Notes and outlines are not a sermon. It should be written out. Based on my experience and others, notes and outlines should not be used in the pulpit, because they are crutches that reduce or eliminate eye contact.
If Lutheran pastors did this and published each one, they would accomplish three good things at once.
- Everyone would have access to the sermon, which would be beneficial to everyone.
- Corrections could be made early in one's service, before going off the deep end and turning atheist, as so many ministers are. An article on the Net discussed this development. Anyone dealing with synodical officials need not doubt it.
- The discipline of writing is good for thinking and for verbal communication. Our thoughts are jumbled. Talking is more organized, but still wordy and disjointed. The most disciplined form of communication is the written form.
Good Sermons Start with Luther, Lenski, the Book of Concord
For my benefit, and others, I posted the entire Lenker set of Luther's Sermons on this blog. If ministers would wean themselves from the pope's three-year lectionary series, they would have a sermon or three for each Epistle and Gospel lesson for the year.
Two ways to get a lot from a Luther sermon are:
- Looking for good quotations on a particular topic.
- Preparing to preach on a difficult text (like Luke 16:1-9).
Lenski is ideal for his summaries and explanations of technical details. The digital version makes it easy to quote him the text of the sermon. When I copy from Lenski, the citation appears as a footnote. I move that to below the quotation and mark it as coming from Lenski with the heading - Lenski:
The Book of Concord is good for clarification and Biblical exposition. If I want to study justification, I turn to Luther and the Book of Concord, not to Wayne Mueller and Larry Olson. The Book of Concord is published on this blog, so there is no reason to quote Groeschel instead of Luther, Melanchthon, Chytraeus, and Chemnitz.
Luther dealt with each verse, so that is a good plan. Copy a verse from the KJV, put it in bold, and explain it. Repeat. There is a lot of room for exposition, discussion, and digression. Thanks to the Net, someone can link books, resources, entire libraries, Wikipedia (handy for many topics), and this blog.
After reading a Luther sermon, writing a sermon should be reasonably easy. Following his insights will mean the sermon is Gospel-centered, orthodox, and edifying. Following this approach will mean a constant education for the pastor, congregation, and reading public.
Apt to teach is a requirement for pastors - not an option.
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| Would Luther be impressed with the pope setting the agenda for Lutherans today? For inviting Roman Catholics to speak at Lutheran schools like Bethany and WLC? |
Three Quotations, From Luther's Second Sermon on Luke 16:1-9,
Demolish Universal Objective Justification
NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
SECOND SERMON — LUKE 16:1-9.
KJV Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. 8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. 9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
This sermon appeared during the years 1522 and 1523 in eight editions. It was translated first into Latin in 1522, and again in 1525.
CONTENTS:
THE DEFENSE OF THE TRUE DOCTRINE, CONCERNING FAITH, WORKS AND THE MERITS OF THE SAINTS AGAINST THE OBJECTIONS OF THE PAPISTS.
I. THE TRUE TEACHING CONCERNING FAITH,WORKS,AND THE MERITS OF THE SAINTS IN GENERAL.
II. THE OBJECTIONS OF THE PAPISTS AGAINST THE TRUE DOCTRINE.
III. THE TRUE DOCTRINE DEFENDED OR RESCUED.
A. The defense of the true doctrine concerning faith.
1. The true doctrine concerning faith. 4-6.
2. The defense. 7-14.
B. The defense of the true doctrine concerning works.
1. The true doctrine concerning works. 15-16.
2. The defense. 17-19.
C. The defense of the true doctrine concerning the merits of the saints.
1. The true doctrine.
2. The defense. 21-22.
IV. THE ANSWERS TO THREE QUESTIONS.
A. The three questions in general. 23.
B. The three questions and their answers in detail.
1. The first question with its answer.
2. The second question with its answer. 25-26.
3. The third question with its answer. 27-28.
1. Although in my Postils hitherto, and in my little book, Christian Liberty and Good Works, I have taught very extensively, how faith alone without works justifies, and good works are done first after we believe, that it seems I should henceforth politely keep quiet, and give every mind and heart an opportunity to understand and explain all the gospel lessons for themselves; yet I perceive that the Gospel abides and prospers only among the few; the people are constantly dispirited and terrified by the passages that treat of good works; so that I see plainly how necessary it is, either to write Postils on each gospel lesson, or to appoint sensible ministers in all places who can orally explain and teach these things.
2. If this Gospel be considered without the Spirit by mere reason, it truly favors the priests and monks, and could be made to serve covetousness and to establish one’s own works. For when Christ says: “Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles;” they force from it three points against our doctrine of faith, namely: first, against that we teach faith alone justifies and saves from sin; second, that all good works ought to be gratuitously done to our neighbors out of free love; third, that we should not put any value in the merits of saints or of others.
3. Against our first proposition they claim the Lord says here: “Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness,” just as though works should make us friends, who previously were enemies.
Against the second is what he says: “That they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles;” just as though we should do the work for our own sakes and benefit. And against the third they quote: “The friends may receive us into the eternal tabernacles;” just as though we should serve the saints and trust in them to get to heaven.
For the sake of the weak we reply to these:
I. FAITH ALONE MAKES US GOOD, AND FRIENDS OF GOD.
4. The foundation must be maintained without wavering, that faith without any works, without any merit, reconciles man to God and makes him good, as Paul says to the Romans 3:21-22: “But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe.” Paul at another place, Romans 4:9, says: “To Abraham, his faith was reckoned for righteousness;” so also with us.
Again, 5: “Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Again, 10:10: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” These, and many more similar passages, we must firmly hold and trust in them immovably, so that to faith alone without any assistance of works, is attributed the forgiveness of sins and our justification.
5. Take for an illustration the parable of Christ in Matthew 7:17: “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” Here you see that the fruit does not make the tree good, but without any fruit and before any fruit the tree must be first good, or made good, before it can bear good fruit. As he also says, Matthew 12:33-34: “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?”
Thus it is the naked truth, that a man must be good without good works, and before he does any good works. And it is clear how impossible it is that a man should become good by works, when he is not good before he does the good works. For Christ stands firm when he says: “How can ye, being evil, speak good things?” And hence follows: How can ye, being evil, do good things?
6. Therefore the powerful conclusion follows, there must be something far greater and more precious than all good works, by which a man becomes pious and good, before he does good; just as he must first be in bodily health before he can labor and do hard work. This great and precious something is the noble Word of God, which offers us in the Gospel the grace of God in Christ. He who hears and believes this, thereby becomes good and righteous. Wherefore it is called the Word of life, a Word of grace, a Word of forgiveness. But he who neither hears nor believes it, can in no way become good. For St. Peter says in the Acts 15:9: “And he made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.”
For as the Word is, so will the heart be, which believes and cleaves firmly to it. The Word is a living, righteous, truthful, pure and good Word, so also the heart which cleaves to it, must be living, just, truthful, pure and good.
7. What now shall we say of those passages which so strongly insist on good works, as when the Lord says: “Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness?” And in Matthew 25:42: “For I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat.” And many other similar passages, which sound altogether as though we had to become good by works. We answer thus: 8. There are some who hear and read the Gospel and what is said by faith, and immediately conclude they have formed a correct notion of what faith is. They do not think that faith is anything else than something which is altogether in their own power to have or not to have, as any other natural human work. Hence, when in their hearts they begin to think and say: “Verily, the doctrine is right, and I believe it is true,” then they immediately think faith is present. But as soon as they see and feel in themselves and others that no change has taken place, and that the works do not follow and they remain as before in their old ways, then they conclude that faith is not sufficient, that they must have something more and greater than faith.
Behold, how they then seize the opportunity, and cry and say: Oh, faith alone does not do it. Why? Oh, because there are so many who believe, and are no better than before, and have not changed their minds at all. Such people are those whom Jude in his Epistle calls dreamers, 5:8, who deceive themselves with their own dreams. For what are such thoughts of theirs which they call faith, but a dream, a dark shadow of faith, which they themselves have created in their own thoughts, by their own strength without the grace of God? They become worse than they were before. For it happens with them as the Lord says in Matthew 9:17 “Neither do men put new wine into old wine-skins; else the skins burst, and the wine is spilled.” That is, they hear God’s Word and do not lay hold of it, therefore they burst and become worse.
9. But true faith, of which we speak, cannot be manufactured by our own thoughts, for it is solely a work of God in us, without any assistance on our part. As Paul says to the Romans 5:15, it is God’s gift and grace, obtained by one man, Christ. Therefore, faith is something very powerful, active, restless, effective, which at once renews a person and again regenerates him, and leads him altogether into a new manner and character of life, so that it is impossible not to do good without ceasing.
For just as natural as it is for the tree to produce fruit, so natural is it for faith to produce good works. And just as it is quite unnecessary to command the tree to bear fruit, so there is no command given to the believer, as Paul says, nor is urging necessary for him to do good, for he does it of himself, freely and unconstrained; just as he of himself without command sleeps, eats, drinks, puts on his clothes, hears, speaks, goes and comes.
Whoever has not this faith talks but vainly about faith and works, and does not himself know what he says or whither it tends. For he has not received it; he juggles with lies and applies the Scriptures where they speak of faith and works to his own dreams and false thoughts, which is purely a human work. Whereas the Scriptures attribute both faith and good works not to ourselves, but to God alone.
10. Is not this a perverted and blind people? They teach we cannot do a good deed of ourselves, and then in their presumption go to work and arrogate to themselves the highest of all the works of God, namely faith, to manufacture it themselves out of their own perverted thoughts. Wherefore I have said that we should despair of ourselves and pray to God for faith as the Apostle did. Luke 17:5. When we have faith we need nothing more, for it brings with it the Holy Spirit, who then teaches us not only all things, but also establishes us firmly in it, and leads us through death and hell to heaven.
11. Now observe, we have given these answers, that the Scriptures have such passages concerning works, on account of such dreamers and selfinvented faith; not that man should become good by works, but that man should thereby prove and see the difference between false and true faith.
For wherever faith is right it does good. If it does no good, it is then certainly a dream and a false idea of faith. So, just as the fruit on the tree does not make the tree good, but nevertheless outwardly proves and testifies that the tree is good, as Christ says, Matthew 7:16: “By their fruits ye shall know them”--thus we should also learn to know faith by its fruits.
12. From this you see, there is a great difference between being good, and to be known as good; or to become good and to prove and show that you are good. Faith makes good, but works prove the faith and goodness to be right. Thus the Scriptures speak in the plain way, which prevails among the common people, as when a father says unto his son: “Go and be merciful, good and friendly to this or to that poor person.” By which he does not command him to be merciful, good and friendly, but because he is already good and merciful, he requires that he should also show and prove it outwardly toward the poor by his act, in order that the goodness which he has in himself may also be known to others and be helpful to them. 13 So you should explain all passages of Scripture referring to works, that God thereby desires to let the goodness received in faith express and prove itself, and become a benefit to others, so that false faith may become known and rooted out of the heart. For God gives no one his grace that it may remain inactive and accomplish nothing good, but in order that it may bear interest, and by being publicly known and proved externally draw every one to God; as Christ says, Matthew 5:16: “Even so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Otherwise it would be but a buried treasure and a hidden light. But what profit is there in either? Yea, goodness does not only thereby. become known to others, but we ourselves also become certain that we are honest, as St. Peter in 2 Peter 1:10 says: “Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure.” For where works do not follow a man cannot know whether his faith is right; yea, he may be certain that his faith is a dream, and not right as it should be. Thus Abraham became certain of his faith and that he feared God, when he offered up his son. As God by the angel said to Abraham, Genesis 22:12: “Now I know, that is, it is manifest, that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”
14. Then abide by the truth, that man is internally, in spirit before God, justified by faith alone without works, but externally and publicly before men and himself, he is justified by works, that he is at heart an honest believer and pious. The one you may call a public or outward justification, the other an inner justification, yet in the sense that the public or external justification is only the fruit, the result and proof of the justification in the heart, that a man does not become just thereby before God, but must previously be just before him. So you may call the fruit of the tree the public or outward good of the tree, which is only the result and proof of its inner and natural goodness.
This is what St. James means when he says in his Epistle, James 2:26: “Faith without works is dead.” That is, as the works do not follow, it is a sure sign that there is no faith there; but only an empty thought and dream, which they falsely call faith. Now we understand the word of Christ: “Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness.” That is, prove your faith publicly by your outward gifts, by which you win friends, that the poor may be witnesses of your public work, that your faith is genuine. For mere external giving in itself can never make friends, unless it proceed from faith, as Christ rejects the alms of the Pharisees in Matthew 6:2, that they thereby make no friends because their heart is false. Thus no heart can ever be right without faith, so that even nature forces the confession that no work makes one good, but that the heart must first be good and upright.
II. ALL WORKS MUST BE DONE FREELY AND GRATUITOUSLY, WITHOUT SEEKING GAIN BY THEM.
15. Christ means this when, in Matthew 10:8, he says: “Freely ye receive, freely give.” For just as Christ with all his works did not merit heaven for himself, because it was his before; but he served us thereby, not regarding or seeking his own, but these two things, namely, our benefit and the glory of God his Father; so also should we never seek our own in our good works, either temporal or eternal, but glorify God by freely and gratuitously doing good to our neighbor. This St. Paul teaches the Philippians 2:5: “Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” That is, for himself he had enough, since in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and yet he served us and became our servant.
16. And this is the cause; for since faith justifies and destroys sin before God, so it gives life and salvation. And now it would be a lasting shame and disgrace, and injurious to faith, if any one by his life and works would desire to obtain what faith already possesses and brings with it. Just as Christ would have only disgraced himself had he done good in order to become the Son of God and Lord over all things, which he already was before. So faith makes us God’s children as John 1:12 says: “But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become the children of God, even to them thai: believe on his name.” But if they are children, then they are heirs, as St. Paul says, Romans 8:17, and Galatians 4:7.
How then can we do anything to obtain the inheritance, which we already have by faith?
17. But what shall we say of passages that insist on a good life for the sake of an external reward as this one does: “Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness?” And in Matthew 19:17: “But if thou wouldst enter into life, keep the commandments.” And Matthew 6:20: “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” We will say this: that those who do not know faith, only speak and think of the reward, as of works. For they think that the same rule obtains here as in human affairs, that they must earn the Kingdom of heaven by their works.
These, too, are dreams and false views, of which Malachi 1:10, speaks: “Oh, that there were one among you that would shut the doors, that ye might not kindle fire on mine altar in vain!” They are slaves and greedy self-enjoying hirelings and day laborers, who receive their reward here on earth, like the Pharisees with their praying and fasting, as Christ says, Matthew 6:2.
However, in regard to the eternal reward it is thus: inasmuch as works naturally follow faith, as I said, it is not necessary to command them, for it is impossible for faith not to do them without being commanded, in order that we may learn to distinguish the false from the true faith. Hence the eternal reward also follows true faith, naturally, without any seeking, so that it is impossible that it should not, although it may never be desired or sought, yet it is appropriated and promised in order that true and false believers may be known, and that every one may understand that a good life follows naturally of itself.
18. As an illustration of this take a rude comparison: behold, hell and death are also threatened to the sinner, and naturally follow sin without any seeking; for no one does wickedly because he wants to be damned, but would much rather escape it. Yet, the result is there, and it is not necessary to declare it, for it will come of itself. Yet, it is declared that man might know what follows a wicked life. So here, a wicked life has its own reward without seeking it. Hence a good life will find its reward without any seeking it. When you drink good or poor wine, although you do not drink it for the taste, yet the taste naturally follows of itself.
19. Now when Christ says: make to yourselves friends, lay up for yourselves treasures, and the like, you see that he means: do good, and it will follow of itself without your seeking, that you will have friends, find treasures in heaven, and receive a reward. But your eyes must simply be directed to a good life, and care nothing about the reward, but be satisfied to know and be assured that it will follow, and let God see to that. For those who look for a reward, become lazy and unwilling laborers, and love the reward; more than the work, yea, they become enemies of work. In this way God’s will also becomes hateful, who has commanded us to work, and hence God’s command and will must finally become burdensome to such a heart.
III. IT IS NOT THE SAINTS, BUT GOD ONLY WHO RECEIVES US INTO THE ETERNAL TABERNACLES, AND BESTOWS THE REWARD.
20. This is so clear that it needs no proof. For how can the saints receive us into heaven, as every one himself must depend on God alone to receive him into heaven, and every saint scarcely has enough for himself? This the wise virgins prove, who did not wish to give of their oil to the foolish virgins, Matthew 25:9, and St. Peter, 1 Peter 4:18, says: “The righteous is scarcely saved.” And Christ in John 3:13: “And no one hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of Man, who is in heaven.”
21. What then shall we reply to: “Make to yourselves friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles ?” We say this: that this passage says nothing about the saints in heaven, but of the poor and needy on earth, who live among us. As though he would say: why do you build churches, make saints and serve my mother, St. Peter, St. Paul and other departed saints?
They do not need this or any other service of yours, they are not your friends, but friends of those who lived in their days and to whom they did good; but do service to your friends, that is, the poor who live in your time and among you, your nearest neighbors who need your help, make them your friends with your mammon.
22. Again, we must not understand this reception into the eternal tabernacles as being done by man; however, men will be an instrument and witness to our faith, exercised and shown in their behalf, on account of which God receives us into the eternal tabernacles. For thus the Scriptures are accustomed to speak when they say: sin condemns, faith saves, that means, sin is the cause why God condemns, and faith is the cause why he saves. As man also is at all times accustomed to say: your wickedness will bring you misfortune, which means, your wickedness is the cause and source of your misfortune. Thus our friends receive us into heaven, when they are the cause, through our faith shown to them, of entering heaven.
This is enough on these three points.
23. In this connection we will explain three questions, that we may better understand this Gospel. What is mammon? Why is it unrighteous? And why Christ commands us to imitate the unjust steward, who worked for his own gain at his master’s expense, which without doubt is unjust and a sin?
24. First, mammon is a Hebrew word meaning riches or temporal goods, namely, whatever any one owns over and above what his needs require, and with which he can benefit others without injuring himself. For Hamon in Hebrew means multitude, or a great crowd or many, from which Mahamon or Mammon, that is, multitude of riches or goods, is derived.
25. Second, it is called unrighteous, not because obtained by injustice and usury, for with unrighteous possessions no good can be done, for it must be returned as Isaiah 61:8, says: “For I, Jehovah, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity.” And Solomon, Proverbs 3:27, says: “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it.” But it is called unrighteous because it stands in the service of unrighteousness, as St. Paul says to the Ephesians 5:16, that the days are evil, although God made them and they are good, but they are evil because wicked men misuse them, in which they do many sins, offend and endanger souls. Therefore, riches are unrighteous, because the people misuse and abuse them. For we know that wherever riches are the saying holds good: money rules the world, men creep for it, they lie for it, they act the hypocrite for it, and do all manner of wickedness against their neighbor to obtain it, to keep it, and increase it to possess the friendship of the rich.
26. But it is especially before God an unrighteous mammon because man does not serve his neighbor with it; for where my neighbor is in need and I do not help him when I have the means to do so, I unjustly keep what is his, as I am indebted to give to him according to the law of nature: “Whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you even so to them.” Matthew 7:12. And Christ says in Matthew 5:42: “Give to him that asketh thee.” And John in his first Epistle,1 John 3:17: “But whoso hath the world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?” And few see this unrighteousness in mammon because it is spiritual, and is found also in those possessions which are obtained by the fairest means, which deceive them that they think they do no one any harm, because they do no coarse outward injustice, by robbing, stealing and usury.
27. In the third place it has been a matter of very great concern to many to know who the unjust steward is whom Christ so highly recommends? This, in short, is the simple answer: Christ does not commend unto us the steward on account of his unrighteousness, but on account of his wisdom and his shrewdness, that with all his unrighteousness, he so wisely helps himself. As though I would urge some one to watch, pray and study, and would say: Look here, murderers and thieves wake at night to rob and steal, why then do you not wake to pray and study? By this I do not praise murderers and thieves for their crimes, but for their wisdom and foresight, that they so wisely obtain the goods of unrighteousness. Again. as though I would say: An unchaste woman adorns herself with gold and silk to tempt young boys; why will you not also adorn yourself with faith to please Christ? By this I do not praise fornication, but the diligence employed.
28. In this way Paul compares Adam and Christ saying: “Adam was a figure of him that was to come.” Romans 5:14. Although from Adam we have nothing but sin, and from Christ nothing but grace, yet these are greatly opposed to each other. But the comparison and type consist only in the consequence or birth, not in virtue or vice. As to birth, Adam is the father of all sinners, so Christ is the father of all the righteous. And as all sinners come from one Adam, so all the righteous come from one Christ.
Thus the unjust steward is here typified to us only in his cunning and wisdom, who knows so well how to help himself, that we should also consider in the right way the welfare of our souls as he did in the wrong way that of his body and life. With this we will let it suffice, and pray God for grace.
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