VirtueOnline - News - Exclusives - Nigerian Anglican Archbishop Says North America is Fertile Soil for the Gospel:
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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.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
VirtueOnline - News - Exclusives - Nigerian Anglican Archbishop Says North America is Fertile Soil for the Gospel
VirtueOnline - News - Exclusives - Nigerian Anglican Archbishop Says North America is Fertile Soil for the Gospel:
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Joe Montana and Jeff Long:
Leadership at Walmart Saturday Morning Meeting
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| Joe Montana and a Walmart executive discussed leadership. |
LI and I watched Joe Montana play at Notre Dame. He was very close to his father, which I believe was key to his confidence in the game. The meeting erupted when Montana was introduced. He pointed out that he was one of seven quarterbacks recruited for Notre Dame, that he had to work his way up to being the seventh of seven QBs.
Asked about his long career and four Superbowl rings, he said, "Jerry Rice came to practices, caught the ball, and headed for the end zone. He did not just run a few yards and stop. His attitude changed the whole team's approach. That is why he is the all-time receiving record holder."
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| Jeff Long spoke about the qualities emphasized at Arkansas and most importantly, "What we will not tolerate." |
Jeff Long is the Arkansas Athletic Director who fired Bobby Petrino for having an affair with his young, blonde, engaged-to-be-married assistant.
When the news first came out, and Bobby's initial lies were exposed (before the stripper story came out), sports writers were betting on Petrino getting a pass because of his team's top ten status. College football really matters in the South.
A. D. Jeff Long fired Petrino, and the school leaders backed him up. The student body produced sweatshirts in support of Long's decision, unlike the Penn State students who rioted when Joe Paterno was fired for covering up Jerry Sandusky's heinous crimes against children.
Walmart's featuring of Jeff Long is an indication of their emphasis upon executive integrity. A business has the same problems as a church body when infidelity is overlooked, approved, or covered up. One deception leads to another, so the initial problems expands and infects.
Does it matter that WELS, Missouri, and the ELS rely on money from an adulterous billionaire - praising him for being such a saint? Yes, I think the initial dishonesty has infected all the other decisions and claims made afterwards. Or - the reprobates had no problem with making money from selling indulgences.
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| Coach Petrino was the highest paid Arkansas employee when he was fired. The SynConference would have made him Athletic Director and fired anyone who disagreed. |
Summer Greek class fountain jump 2012 - respublica
| Concordia, St. Louis tradition for summer Greek class. |
Summer Greek class fountain jump 2012 - respublica:
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Friday, August 17, 2012
VirtueOnline - News - Exclusives - Bishop Mariann Budde's Fantasy Theology: Her Manipulation of the Christian Faith.
How Is This Different from Harrison, Schroeder, and Moldstad Embracing Church Growth?
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| Bishop Mariann Budde |
VirtueOnline - News - Exclusives - Bishop Mariann Budde's Fantasy Theology: Her Manipulation of the Christian Faith:
Bishop Mariann Budde's Fantasy Theology: Her Manipulation of the Christian Faith
By Sarah Frances Ives
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
August 1, 2012
On July 30, 2012, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of Washington, an article published on a Washington Post blog "Rediscovering the Reasons for Our Existence: Liberal Christianity Can Be Saved." Budde has based her career on this plan; during her 2011 election, she openly declared this as her signature notion at public forums. As she presented her plan, she noted accurately that only orthodox and conservative churches are growing. With their vibrant faith, these churches refer to Jesus and God in their preaching and in their prayers. So, Budde concludes, ultra-liberal Episcopal churches should keep their same values but should talk about these values by simply using the name of Jesus. Incredibly, she has told both ordained and lay leaders to use more religious language in public meetings. Yet Budde's plan for using the name of Jesus as a rhetorical device endangers the very reality of redemption: now in her vision for the Episcopal Church, members are not seeking the will of God but marketing faith through the manipulative use of the name of Jesus. She takes personal idiosyncratic ideas that appear narcissistic and then labels them with the name of Jesus.
The danger of this should be noted. The scripture reads, "At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow." Philippians 2:10. Indeed, knowing the name of Jesus is a great gift to humanity. But Jesus also said, "Not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Matthew 7:21. In fact, Budde does not emphasize seeking the will of God.
The best examples of Budde's twisted reasoning come from her own writing as she exposes her plan to rejuvenate the Episcopal Church. In a November 13, 2011 sermon, Budde quoted her non-Christian, New Age master David Whyte. In one sentence towards the beginning, Budde demotes Jesus to the level of one of many spiritualists by saying, "Jesus and all of the great spiritual masters before and after him." Budde's self-revelation about her mantra and dependence on Whyte came quickly in the sermon. "In a fragile time in my young adulthood, a person I admired... looked into my eyes and said, 'You are a unique expression of God's creative genius.' And she told me to repeat that mantra every morning as I looked in the mirror until I knew it in my heart. Now from this esteemed pulpit and on behalf of Christ, I say the same to you. In the words of David Wythe 'you are not an accident amidst other accidents you were invited from another and greater night than the one from which you have just emerged.'"
Throughout her sermon, Budde then peppered the name "Jesus" and "Christ" frequently, giving her own unique interpretation of what He stood for. Budde said repeatedly, "Jesus lifted me." But then we must wonder why she encouraged this mantra rather than faithful dependence on Jesus. And when Budde wished to support her ideas, she continually turned back to the Whyte poem "you are not an accident" and her autosuggestion mantra (whose source is unknown). Although her words and values were from David Whyte, she concluded that "Jesus lifted me." This is Budde's classic modus operandi.
Her thinking is completely New Age spirituality but she glosses it over with an attribution to Jesus. "On behalf of Christ" she tells people "you are not an accident" words which are clearly not ones of Christ.
At the height of her sermon, Budde broke loose with one of her characteristic flights-of-fancy. "And so, back in 2003, when a Lutheran pastor whom I deeply admired wondered aloud why the Episcopal Church insisted on taking so controversial a position on the full inclusion of gays and lesbians at the very time we needed to grow our congregations, I said to him, 'You don't understand.
The full inclusion of lesbians and gays wasn't something we thought up on our own. God led us to this place. It has not been an easy road. And some day you will thank us because we are making it easier for you to do the same. This is our treasure. This is our treasure.'" She continued with the autosuggestion mantra, "We are a unique expression of God's creative genius. Never doubt the importance of what you are doing and what we are doing on this earth."
The Bible of course never sees homosexuality as our treasure and also never states that we are a unique expression of God's creative genius. Yet Budde proclaims these New Age words in the name of Christ. Budde denies the guidance of Christian scriptures and doctrine in her pronouncement but only uses the name of Jesus as a rhetorical device to sway people's thinking and actions.
Yes indeed Budde has been transformed but not by the Christian faith but by an unknown spiritual power. In her words, she calls the Episcopal Church to a similar mission "to help transform this culture by allowing ourselves to be transformed." The reason for the decline in the Episcopal Church is because of this rejection of the orthodox understanding of redemption of Jesus and the replacement of this with thinkers like David Whyte and his follower Budde.Budde appears to have had some private revelation declaring that homosexuality within the Episcopal Church is a treasure, yet she tells us nothing about the source or method of communication of this revelation. She writes, "Hard as it is for some to believe, we felt led by God to change." Then as part of the church, explain this. Did you have a vision and see things or people talking to you? Was it just feelings of wanting to go along with the dominant liberal movement of our culture? Her giddy assertion about this call needs public discernment and not just blind following. Her ideas read like personal fantasies.
Yet even Budde surpassed herself in her bizarre July 19, 2012, diocesan email. After the 2012 General Convention, she sent out an email in which she refused to discuss the actions of the Episcopal Church and its now tradition-breaking acceptance of the blessing of homosexual relationships. Instead, she highlighted that she had trouble finding her way around the Convention Center, which means she had trouble reading a map and finding rooms.
She writes, "I'll leave discussion about the decisions and potential results from Convention for another time and place. Today, I remember the hundreds of people who volunteered their time simply to be of help. Without exception, every time I had a question about where a gathering was held, or where to go, or simply where I was in the maze of the Indianapolis Convention Center and adjacent hotels, there was someone in a brightly colored vest ready to assist me. I was typically late for meetings, and those standing by with a smile and directions spared me the embarrassment of feeling hopelessly lost in a great sea of efficient and busy Episcopalians."
What? We will not discuss whether our very relationship with the creator of the universe and his Son our Savior has been threatened. We will leave that for another time? When? When our culture lies in desolation and our lives have become a wasteland, we might notice that we have decided to leave behind our Christian faith and instead live into a demonic New Age spirituality?
The General Convention changes the two-thousand year tradition about homosexuality and all should be concerned about the theological and spiritual roots and implications of this change. Yet Budde tells us about her literally lost walks around the Convention Center.
Budde also announced that she ignored an old friend. "My deepest regret at General Convention is that I didn't take the time to spend with an old friend. His kindness and concern was a palpable expression of grace. . . . At General Convention, we passed in the hall several times and greeted each other in the hotel restaurant. . . But, I never extended to him the gracious hospitality and concern that he so freely gave when my family and I were guests in his country."
Anglicans don't need to hear about her intentional or unintentional snubbing of an old friend. We need to hear about the greater Church's relationships with the living Lord of heaven and earth whose friendship we have snubbed.
In fact, she has created on the Diocese of Washington website a Photo Gallery of pictures of herself and everyone is invited to send in pictures not of church functions, but pictures featuring Budde. Budde's self-disclosures just seem puzzling and raise questions about her motivations. In short, the Diocese of Washington seems to be struggling under a leader who suffers from self-absorption or even narcissism.
Budde reveals more than she intends. She is far away from the intense drive for salvation and the hope that humanity can live in the glorious relationship with Jesus, knowing that Jesus asks for sacrifices and divine commandments are given to us. We will honor God, not only with our lips, but with our lives and everything that has been given to us. The metaphors Budde offers in her writing are unsettling to say the least and create questions about her self-awareness.
Clearly Bishop Budde is indeed hopelessly lost in a position and culture she does not understand. And instead of seeking Jesus speaking from scriptures, she pathetically asserts her personal feelings and keeps hoping that those in the Episcopal Church want to know more about her personal life and feelings. And this is the leader we look to to help us live in the Kingdom of God?
We look to a bishop for guidance in finding salvation, entering the Kingdom of God, being kept away from temptation, for fresh hope and love and faith and a closer relationship with Christ. No one in the Diocese of Washington or even in the Anglican Communion wants to hear about her personal life and problems. Sadly her words do seem to reflect her inner life and she is "hopelessly lost" not only at the 2012 General Convention but in bizarre spiritual realities. Budde has long left behind the Christian faith and her recent article presents a sad vision for the Episcopal Church already in a path toward spiritual desolation.
'via Blog this'
Works from the Age of Lutheran Orthodoxy by Johann Gerhard
Works from the Age of Lutheran Orthodoxy by Johann Gerhard:
After being out of print for nearly two years, Johann Gerhard's "An Explanation of the History of the Suffering and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1622) is back in print!
Originally published in 1998, Gerhard's "An Explanation" has been one of our best selling volumes over the years, but finances delayed a reprint for two years while several other new titles were added to our inventory.
Gerhard's concern as a theologian was, above all, pastoral, and this concern is reflected in his numerous devotional books and sermon collections. Gerhard's "An Explanation" leads the reader through many types and prophecies in the Old Testament pointing forward to Christ's suffering and death.
The work is divided into two introductory sermons and five 'acts' (I. In the Garden, II. At the Home of Caiaphas, III. Before Pilate, IV. Christ's Crucifixion, and V. Christ's Burial) for a total of 24 sermons.
Gerhard's knowledge of Holy Scripture and his ability to connect the Old Testament types with their fulfillment in Christ combine to make this a profound book.
'via Blog this'
A. Berean Asks about Objective and Subjective
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| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Gerhard Gerhard's main publisher in English - http://www.repristinationpress.com/Repristination_Press/Greetings%21.html |
A. Berean has left a new comment on your post "Justification by Faith Is the Chief Article of Chr...":
Dr. Jackson,
For the benefit of the readers of this blog, could you briefly summarize the difference between Objective/Subjective RECONCILIATION and Objective/Subjective JUSTIFICATION? Since there is that connection between atonement and reconciliation can one make the claim that the whole world has been reconciled? The same question could be asked concerning redemption. In Greek, there's a difference between λυτρωσις and απολυτρωσις. So in that sense is there an Objective and Subjective aspect with regard to redemption?
Just some possible topics for consideration...
Respectfully,
A. Berean
***
GJ - There is quite a difference between Christ dying for the sins of the world and justification by faith.
The objective and subjective terms ought to be dropped. They came from the Woods translation of the Halle Pietist - Georg Christian Knapp.
When an issue has been muddied up by heretics, the Biblical terms should be used exclusively.
The Gospel is Christ dying for the sins of the world. That message, conveying Christ to us by the Holy Spirit at work in the Word, creates and sustains faith. This Gospel-energized faith receives the Promises offered.
Christ redeemed the world because He paid the price for the sins of the world. That does not mean that all the Sikhs and Hindoo and Eskimeaux and cannibals and Humanists were declared absolved and saved. Quite the opposite is true.
John 3 reveals two groups of people in the world.
The unbelievers are condemned.
Those who believe in Christ are forgiven and saved.
KJV John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
ELS Pastor Jay Webber has been shopping his favorite term - "in Christ" - around Lutherdom. The only way someone can be "in Christ" is to believe in the Savior. We need more pastors who spend some time gardening.
The parable of the True Vine is clear. John 15:1-10. In that passage, "in Christ" means being part of the True Vine, bearing fruit. Abiding in Christ means active participation in the Means of Grace.
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| Andreae got the Book of Concord project going. McCain thinks he is Andreae, but he is really Samuel Huber. |
Adolph Hoenecke has left a new comment on your post "A. Berean Asks about Objective and Subjective":
A huge Thank You to Dr. Jackson for saying the terms objective and subjective should be removed. They make the simple truths of the Gospel more complex than needed.
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GJ - Martin Chemnitz said it earlier, and he was quoting the early Fathers (not to be confused with Stephan, Walther, and JP Meyer).
They actually brought out the Scriptures during their conferences and urged one another to set aside the various man-made confessions in favor of the Word alone. When the streams are muddied up, return to the source, they said.
I appreciate the faithful and the studious readers. The vast majority of the clergy are too indolent or too scared to deal with the issues and defend the truth.
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Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "A. Berean Asks about Objective and Subjective":
Ichabod -
The Scriptures you have quoted under the Apostle John picture illustrate a major Gospel paradox. Salvation issues forth entirely by God's grace. But, it is faith that justifies. That personal belief is such that makes it possible for the human soul to be at peace with God because the forgiveness of sins offered by the sacrifice of Christ, is received by the individual.
What is often overlooked is the verse:
"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish." [John 3:14,15]
How were those Israelites saved from the poisonous snake bites? They looked up in faith at the bronzed serpent prepared by Moses. And, in the same token the human soul is saved (spared eternal damnation) by believing in Christ [looking to Christ for salvation].
Nathan M. Bickel
http://www.thechristianmessage.org/
http://moralmatters.org/
***
GJ - Pastor Bickel, the UOJ specialists play the role of Calvinists versus the Arminians. Ironically, they think justification by faith is Calvinism.
Let me unwind this a bit. In the later part of the Reformation, when the Arminians (Remonstrants) battled the Calvinists, they argued against Calvin's robotic double pre-destination. The Arminians said faith was a decision or virtue.
The graphics below show some of the many statements about faith in the Book of Concord.
Walther lived in two realms. He earned a bachelor's degree in a rationalistic university. He joined one Pietistic circle with his group of clergy wannabees. When their leader moved away and died shortly afterwards, they joined Stephan's Pietistic cell group ministry. Most of them could not get a call because of the rationalistic state church.
Walther never had a solid Lutheran education. Apparently, many LCMS clergy were asleep during theirs, because these facts are known and described at great length in Zion on the Mississippi. There is no reason to regurgitate Walther's attitudes, since he did not grasp justification by faith any better than his guru, Bishop Martin Stephan.
Warning people against faith is absurd.
The Formula of Concord
Thursday, August 16, 2012
I Could Use The Handbook to The Lutheran Hymnal
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| http://firstlutheranmoline.org/history.html |
I really need The Handbook to The Lutheran Hymnal for the work I am doing. Pollock has a lot of resources in the little volume, such as all the verses to the hymns use, original wording, author biographies, etc.
A regular reader of this blog is mailing his copy. I like the handbook for a variety of reasons. One is the way he groups all the hymns by the same author or composer. The biographies are very good. I also appreciate all the verses in the original and the original language.
Like many others, I appreciate The Lutheran Hymnal more and more. In one university class in California, TLH was used as an example of excellent harmonization and arrangement. That was a secular music class.
WELS and Missouri replaced it. They could have issued a new edition with larger print and some modest changes. No, they wanted to show everyone how good they were.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Salvation Unto Us Has Come - Paul Speratus - The Lutheran Hymnal #377
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| Old Trinity was O. H. Walther's congregation, then CFW Walther's congregation after his big brother died. |
"Salvation unto Us has Come"
by Paul Speratus, 1484-1551
1. Salvation unto us has come
By God's free grace and favor;
Good works cannot avert our doom,
They help and save us never.
Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone,
Who did for all the world atone;
He is our one Redeemer.
2. What God did in His Law demand
And none to Him could render
Caused wrath and woe on every hand
For man, the vile offender.
Our flesh has not those pure desires
The spirit of the Law requires,
And lost is our condition.
3. It was a false, misleading dream
That God His Law had given
That sinners should themselves redeem
And by their works gain heaven.
The Law is but a mirror bright
To bring the inbred sin to light
That lurks within our nature.
4. From sin our flesh could not abstain,
Sin held its sway unceasing;
The task was useless and in vain,
Our guilt was e'er increasing.
None can remove sin's poisoned dart
Or purify our guileful heart,-
So deep is our corruption.
5. Yet as the Law must be fulfilled
Or we must die despairing,
Christ came and hath God's anger stilled,
Our human nature sharing.
He hath for us the Law obeyed
And thus the Father's vengeance stayed
Which over us impended.
6. Since Christ hath full atonement made
And brought to us salvation,
Each Christian therefore may be glad
And build on this foundation.
Thy grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,
Thy death is now my life indeed,
For Thou hast paid my ransom.
7. Let me not doubt, but trust in Thee,
Thy Word cannot be broken;
Thy call rings out, "Come unto Me!"
No falsehood hast Thou spoken.
Baptized into Thy precious name,
My faith cannot be put to shame,
And I shall never perish.
8. The Law reveals the guilt of sin
And makes men conscience-stricken;
The Gospel then doth enter in
The sinful soul to quicken.
Come to the cross, trust Christ, and live;
The Law no peace can ever give,
No comfort and no blessing.
9. Faith clings to Jesus' cross alone
And rests in Him unceasing;
And by its fruits true faith is known,
With love and hope increasing.
Yet faith alone doth justify,
Works serve thy neighbor and supply
The proof that faith is living.
10. All blessing, honor, thanks, and praise
To Father, Son, and Spirit,
The God that saved us by His grace,-
All glory to His merit!
O Triune God in heaven above,
Who hast revealed Thy saving love,
Thy blessed name be hallowed.
Hymn 377
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Rom. 3: 5
Author: Paul Speratus, 1523, cento
Translated by: composite
Titled: "Es ist das Heil uns kommen her"
Tune: "Es ist das Heil"
German melody, c. 1400
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| Paul Speratus |
http://www.lstc.edu/chapel/sermons/?a=sermon&id=234
“Salvation Unto Us Has Come” (ELW 590), composed in prison in Olmütz in 1523, it became THE Reformation “Sturmlied” [battle hymn] in many locales, e.g. Heidelberg, Magdeburg, & Waiblingen. i.e. not Ein Feste Burg. 12 stanzas in the original German, 10 to describe law and gospel, the last 2 for the Lord’s Prayer at the end. One can understand why it became the battle hymn of the Reformation in parts of sixteenth century German. It rings the changes on law and gospel, on which Luther based his theology.
In 1523, he came to Wittenberg where he worked with Luther and assisted him in preparing theAchtliederbuch, 1524. Later he was appointed court preacher to Margrave Albrecht at Konigsberg. Luther had recommended him for the position. Speratus had a great deal to do with drawing up the Liturgy and Canons, the Kirchenordnung, for the Prussian Church of his day. He died on August 12, 1551 as the bishop of Pomerania. Speratus wrote the text for one of the hymns in the LBW: "Salvation Unto Us Has Come."
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After Speratus was released from prison, he and his wife went to join Luther in Wittenberg in 1523,[5] where Speratus helped Luther to create the first Lutheran hymnal, the Achtliederbuch, published in 1524.[3] This hymnal contained only eight songs: four by Luther, three by Speratus, and one by Justus Jonas.[6]
[edit]Es ist das Heil uns kommen her
Main article: Es ist das Heil uns kommen her
The words of this hymn were written during the time Speratus was imprisoned; the melody is taken from a 15th-century chorale.[2][4] According to Catherine Winkworth, "Luther himself is said to have given his last coin to a Prussian beggar from whom he heard it for the first time."[7]
The 14 stanzas of Speratus's text expound Luther's teaching concerning salvation by faith rather than by doing good works. According to Scott Hendrix, "It not only emphasizes justification by faith alone but it also underlines the vitality of that faith manifested in service to others".[5]
Welcome To Cyber-Plagiarism.
Otten Should Choose Better Allies
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| "I hid the source at the bottom, again!" |
http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/229.html
Besides Jesus himself, only two humans are mentioned by name in the Creeds. One is Pontius Pilate, Roman procurator of Judea from 26 to 36 Ad. That Jesus was crucified by order of Pontius Pilate pins down the date of his death within a few years, and certifies that we are not talking, like the worshippers of Tammuz or Adonis, about a personification or symbol of the annual death and resurrection of the crops. His death is an event in history, something that really happened. The other name is that of Mary. The Creeds say that Christ was "born of the virgin Mary." That is to say, they assert on the one hand that he was truly and fully human, born of a woman and not descended from the skies like an angel. On the other hand, by telling us that his mother was a virgin they exclude the theory that he was simply an ordinary man who was so virtuous that he eventually, at his baptism, became filled with the Spirit of God. His virgin birth attests to the fact that he was always more than merely human, always one whose presence among us was in itself a miracle, from the first moment of his earthly existence. In Mary, Virgin and Mother, God gives us a sign that Jesus is both truly God and truly Man.
It sometimes happens that someone will report an appearance of the Virgin Mary, bearing a message, usually encouraging faithfulness in prayer. A reader has asked, "How far back do such reports go?" According to Donald Attwater (Penguin Dictionary of Saints), Gregory of Nyssa (335-395) says that the earliest known report of a supernatural appearance of the Blessed Virgin to anyone was of one to Gregory Thaumaturgos (213-270). At the request of a Roman Catholic listmember, I point out that the genuineness of these appearances is not official Roman Catholic doctrine. It is perfectly possible to reject all such appearances as delusions, and still be a Roman Catholic in good standing.
Little is known of the life of the Virgin Mary except insofar as it intersects with the life of her Son, and there is an appropriateness in this. The Scriptures record her words to the angel Gabriel, to her kinswoman Elizabeth, to her Son on two occasions. But the only recorded saying of hers to what may be called ordinary, run-of-the-mill hearers is her instruction to the servants at the wedding feast, to whom she says simply, indicating her Son, "Whatever he says to you, do it."
This we may take to be the summation of her message to the world. If we listen to her, she will tell us, "Listen to Him. Listen to my Son. Do what He tells you." When we see her, we see her pointing to her Son. If our regard for the Blessed Virgin does not have the immediate effect of turning our attention from her to the One whom she carried in her womb for nine months and suckled at her breast, to the Incarnate God, the Word made flesh, then we may be sure that it is not the kind of regard that she seeks. A right regard for her will always direct us to Him Who found in her His first earthly dwelling-place.
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| "Do you copy?" |
http://cyberbrethren.com/2012/08/15/commemoration-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-mother-of-god/
Besides Jesus himself, only two humans are mentioned by name in the Creeds. One is Pontius Pilate, Roman procurator of Judea from 26 to 36 Ad. That Jesus was crucified by order of Pontius Pilate pins down the date of his death within a few years, and certifies that we are not talking, like the worshippers of Tammuz or Adonis, about a personification or symbol of the annual death and resurrection of the crops. His death is an event in history, something that really happened. The other name is that of Mary. The Creeds say that Christ was “born of the virgin Mary.” That is to say, they assert on the one hand that he was truly and fully human, born of a woman and not descended from the skies like an angel. On the other hand, by telling us that his mother was a virgin they exclude the theory that he was simply an ordinary man who was so virtuous that he eventually, at his baptism, became filled with the Spirit of God. His virgin birth attests to the fact that he was always more than merely human, always one whose presence among us was in itself a miracle, from the first moment of his earthly existence. In Mary, Virgin and Mother, God gives us a sign that Jesus is both truly God and truly Man.
Little is known of the life of the Virgin Mary except insofar as it intersects with the life of her Son, and there is an appropriateness in this. The Scriptures record her words to the angel Gabriel, to her kinswoman Elizabeth, to her Son on two occasions. But the only recorded saying of hers to what may be called ordinary, run-of-the-mill hearers is her instruction to the servants at the wedding feast, to whom she says simply, indicating her Son, “Whatever he says to you, do it.”
This we may take to be the summation of her message to the world. If we listen to her, she will tell us, “Listen to Him. Listen to my Son. Do what He tells you.” When we see her, we see her pointing to her Son. If our regard for the Blessed Virgin does not have the immediate effect of turning our attention from her to the One whom she carried in her womb for nine months and suckled at her breast, to the Incarnate God, the Word made flesh, then we may be sure that it is not the kind of regard that she seeks. A right regard for her will always direct us to Him Who found in her His first earthly dwelling-place.
[GJ - Hidden at the bottom - "Source"]
***
GJ - And who loved to post on the Appleton plagiarist's blog - Paul McCain!
And what do they have in common - a love for Universal Objective Justification.
McCain's post marks Assumption Day, part of the Romanist mold growing on LCMS.
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| All the Marian dogmas of Rome center on: 1. Paying for sins after death in Purgatory. 2. Works required for justification - but there are never enough works. 3. The infallible pope teaching that this is true, because the Holy Spirit would not let him make a mistake. |
How To Use Heinrich Schmid
H. Schmid, Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
Schmid's Doctrinal Theology was a favorite text for the ALC and WELS long ago. I sold mine after copying my favorite quotes from it. I bought another copy recently, to study in the car when waiting for Mrs. I.
There are many versions online. I like the text version that I linked above because it is easy to find Biblical passages and theological terms with control-f.
Schmid is a one-volume compendium of Lutheran quotations, arranged by topic. The ignorant UOJ Stormtwoopers wig out because they know so little about the Book of Concord and the post-Concord era.
The UOJ Stormtwoopers call themselves orthodox and confessional, but they oppose the Book of Concord and the era of orthodoxy following the 1580 publication of the Lutheran Symbols.
Schmid blended Book of Concord quotations with clarifying statements published after 1580. Some sections are verbose and tedious, because we are not engaged in the same debates at this time. However, most of the book is edifying and useful because of its orderly selection and range of authors.
ABBREVIATIONS. Ap. Conf., Apology of the Augsburg Confession. Art. Smalcald, Smalcald Articles. Behm., Bechmann. Br., Baier. Brchm., Brochmann. Cal., Calovius. Cat. Maj., Luther's Large Catechism. Cat. Min., Luther's Small Catechism. Chmn., Chemnitz. Chmn. ex. c. Trid., Chemnitz on the Council of Trent. Chmn. d. c. D., Chemnitz on the Lord's Supper. Conf. Aug., Augsburg Confession. Form. Conc., The Formula of Concord. Grh., Gerhard. Hfrffr., Hafenreffer. Holl., Hollazius. Hutt., Hutterus. Kg., Koenig. Mel., Melanchthon. Quen., Quenstedt. Schrzr., Scherzer. Seln., Selnecker. Symb. Nic., Nicene Creed.
Few people have all the works of these authors. Many of them have only recently become available in English.
The big guns are Luther, Melanchthon, Chemniz, Selnecker, and Gerhard.
Major theologians Calov and Quenstedt are worth reading.
The Holy Spirit and the Efficacy of the Word
H. Schmid, Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
PART IV.
OF THE MEANS OF GRACE.
S: 50. Preliminary Statement.
THE Holy Ghost employs external and visible means, by which He produces
in men the effects above described, [1] and appropriates to them
salvation in Christ, and we can only then consider an effect as
certainly produced by the Holy Spirit when it has been brought to pass
through these external means. [2] These means of grace, as they are
called, are the Word of God and the Sacraments. All those, then, who
through these means have become partakers of the salvation in Christ,
constitute an association which we call the Church.
Part IV, hence, treats, (1) Of the Word of God; (2) Of the Sacraments
as the means of grace; (3) Of the Church. [3]
CHAPTER I.
OF THE WORD OF GOD.
IN treating of the Word of God, [4] we consider its efficacy, and the
division of its contents.
__________________________________________________________________
S: 51. The Efficacy of the Word of God.
As the Holy Spirit, through whom alone men are converted, operates only
by the Word, this Word must possess the power of producing in man all
those effects which are described in the preceding article, On the
State of Grace. And this power is of such a character that it is always
attended with success when no opposition is made to it on the part of
man. [5] Hence the Word is endowed with efficacy, i.e., "it has an
active, supernatural, and truly divine force or power of producing
supernatural effects; in other words, of converting, regenerating, and
renewing the minds of men." Hence the Word of God does not confine
itself merely to teaching man externally the way of salvation and
showing him the means whereby to attain it. [6] Its power is not to be
compared to the convincing force which even an eloquent human discourse
possesses; hence its power is not a natural one, such as dwells in
every human word, but it is supernatural. [7] This power is inherent in
the Word because the Holy Ghost attends it; from the moment that a Word
of God is uttered, the Holy Ghost is inseparably and continually
connected with it, [8] so that the power and efficacy of the Word is
fully identical with that of the Spirit. [9] This is a truly divine
efficacy; [10] and, just as we cannot conceive of the Holy Ghost as
separate from this efficacy, so neither can we conceive of the Word of
God as independent of it. [11] We are not, then, in any way to
represent to ourselves the relation of the Word and the Spirit as
though the Word were merely the lifeless instrument which the Holy
Ghost employed, [12] or as though the Spirit, when He wished to operate
through the Word, must always first unite Himself with it, as if He
were ordinarily separated from it. [13]
[1] QUEN. (IV, 1): "We have heretofore treated of the grounds of our
salvation; we must now consider the means by which we attain to it. The
means, properly so called, on the part of God, are the Word and
Sacraments, the saving antidotes to our spiritual disease."
The Word and Sacraments are also designated as means of salvation under
the general idea of the Word -- as the Sacraments are designated as the
Visible Word.
CONF. AUG. (V, 2). FORM. CONC. (Sol. Dec., XI, 76): "The Father will
draw none to Himself without means, but He employs His Word and
Sacraments as the ordinary means and instruments." ART. SMALCALD.
(VIII, 3): "We must firmly maintain that God bestows His Spirit and
grace on none unless through the Word and by the external Word
previously declared, that we may fortify ourselves against the
Enthusiasts, who boast they have the Spirit before the Word and without
it, and therefore judge, bend, and distort the Scriptures, or oral
Word, as they please, as Muenzer did, and many others at present do,
who wish to discriminate very acutely between the Spirit and the
letter." HOLL. (991): "The means of salvation are divinely ordained, by
which God graciously offers the salvation acquired by Christ, the
Mediator, to all men who have fallen into sin, and bestows and
preserves true faith in them, and at last introduces all who embrace
the merit of Christ and persevere in it into the kingdom of glory."
[2] FORM. CONC. (Sol. Dec., II, 56): "We should not and cannot always
judge of the presence, operations, and gifts of the Holy Spirit from
our feelings (the manner and time, viz., when they are experienced in
the heart); but, inasmuch as these are often cloaked under much
infirmity, we should be convinced from the promise that the Word of God
preached and heard is assuredly the ministry and instrument of the
Spirit, by which He truly and efficaciously operates in our hearts."
[3] From what was said in the remarks preliminary to the articles on
Faith and Justification, it follows that we cannot entirely adhere to
the systematic division of the Dogmaticians in this Part IV. They do
not treat, namely, of Faith and Works until under this head, and they
call Faith also a means of salvation, according to which, therefore,
they embrace more than do we under the phrase, means of salvation. This
they can do, because they distinguish between "the means of salvation
on the part of God, dotika, or those offering salvation (the Word and
Sacraments), and the means of salvation on our part, leptikon, or that
apprehending the offered salvation (faith in the merit of Christ)." In
this section the Dogmaticians also treat the subject of the last things
(death, resurrection of the dead, etc.), inasmuch as they designate
these as means "in a general sense, or executive and isagogical, that
is, means divinely instituted, without the previous occurrence of which
God does not accomplish the sentence of glorification, and by the final
intervention of which men persevering in the faith are introduced into
heaven."
QUEN. (I, 170): "When we attribute to the Word a divine power and efficacy to produce spiritual effects, we wish not to be understood as speaking of the Gospel only, but also of the Law. For, although the Law does not produce these gracious results directly and per se, i.e., kindle faith in Christ and effect conversion, since this is rather to be ascribed to the Gospel, still the letter is not on this account dead, but is efficacious after its kind: for it killeth, 2 Cor. 3:6; it worketh wrath, Rom. 4:15, etc. [6] HOLL. (992): "The efficacy of the divine Word is not only objective or significative, like the statue of Mercury, for instance, which points out the path, but does not give power or strength to the traveler to walk in it, but it is effective, because it not only shows the way of salvation, but saves souls." [7] QUEN. (I, 170): "The Word works not only by moral suasion, by proposing a lovely object to us, but also by a true, real, divine, and ineffable influence of its gracious power, so that it effectually and truly converts, illuminates, etc., the Holy Spirit operating in, with, and through it; for in this consists the difference between the divine and the human word." BR. (123): "(The Holy Scriptures have an active, supernatural force or power) which is to be sought neither in the elegance of their style, nor in the sublimity of their thoughts, nor in the power of their arguments; but it is far superior to every created and finite agency."
[8] HOLL. (993): "A divine power is communicated to the Word by the Holy Spirit joined with it indissolubly." Hence, there is a native or intrinsic power and efficacy belonging to the Word, deeply inherent in it. The Dogmaticians draw proofs of this, (1) From the qualities which the divine Word ascribes to itself, John 6:63; Rom. 1:16; Heb. 4:12, 13; 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:23; James 1:21. (2) From the similar supernatural and divine operations which are ascribed to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, ex. gr., calling, 2 Tim. 2:14; illumination, 2 Pet. 1:19; conversion, Jer. 23:29; regeneration, 1 Pet. 1:23; justification, 2 Cor. 3:9; sanctification, John 17:17. (3) HOLL. (ib.): "The Word of God, as such, cannot be conceived of without the divine virtue, or the Holy Spirit, who is inseparable from His Word. For if the Holy Spirit could be separated from the Word of God, it would not be the Word of God or of the Spirit, but a word of man. Nor is there any other Word of God, which is in God, or with which men of God have been inspired, than that which is given in the Scriptures or is preached or treasured up in the human mind. But, as it cannot be denied that that is the divine will, counsel, mind, and the wisdom of God, so it cannot be destitute of the divine virtue or efficacy." [9] QUEN. (I, 183): "We are to assume here not only a certain conjunction or union of distinct actions, or even a unity of aims or effects, but also a unity of energy and operation. For the Holy Spirit does not by Himself do something, and the Word of God by itself something else, in the conversion of men; but they produce the one effect by one and the same action. For such is the peculiar nature of the principal and subordinate causes, intrinsically united together, that they produce an effect by one and the same action. Thus the soul and the eye see by a single action, and not by distinct actions." [10] BR. (1124): "Truly that same infinite virtue which is essentially per se and independently in God, and by which He enlightens and converts men, is communicated to the Word, and, although it is communicated to the Word, yet it must be considered as divine." . . . But it by no means follows from this that there is a commingling of God and the Word in regard to this divine power; hence BR. (128) says: "They frequently and diligently impress it upon us that the same virtue belongs to God and the Scriptures, but not in the same way; for that of God is essential, fundamental, original, and independent, while that of the Scriptures is dependent and participative or derived." . . . Hence it is said of the Word that it exhibits its power and efficacy organikos, or instrumentally . . . . QUEN. (I, 172): "The divine Word is not the principal agent in the work of conversion, regeneration, and salvation, but it is only a suitable means or organ which God ordinarily uses in producing spiritual effects, not indeed by necessity or indigence, as if He so bound His efficacy in the conversion of men to His Word that He could not convert men without any means, or by any other means or organ than His Word if He wished, but of His own free will, because thus it pleased Him. 1 Cor. 1:21." [11] QUEN. (I, 170): "Whether the Word be read or not, whether it be heard and believed or not, yet the efficacy of its spiritual effects is always intrinsically inherent in it by the divine arrangement and communication, nor does this divine efficacy only come to it when it is used. For the Word of God, as such, cannot even be conceived of apart from the divine virtue and gracious working of the Holy Spirit, because this is inseparable from the Word of God." HOLL. (993) uses the following figures: "It possesses and retains its internal power and efficacy even when not used, just as the illuminating power of the sun continues, although, when the shadow of the moon intervenes, no person may see it; and just as an internal efficacy belongs to the seed, although it may not be sown in the field."The Lutheran theologians, in general, had reason to illustrate very particularly the doctrine of the operation of the Word of God, in order to oppose the Enthusiasts and Mystics, who held that the Holy Spirit operated rather irrespectively of the Word than through it; and to oppose also the Calvinists, who, led by their doctrine of predestination, would not grant that the Word possessed this power per se, but only in such cases where God chose. Hence the position that the Word also possessed a power extra usum was specially defended against Rathman (1628), who denied it, and who appears to have maintained only an objective efficacy of the Word of God. (QUEN. (I, 174) gives the following opinions of Rathman: "Rathman compares the Word of God to a statue of Mercury, to a picture, to a sign, and even to a channel; namely, to instruments altogether passive and inoperative. He asserts, moreover, that the divine efficacy is external to the Word of God, separable from it at any moment, and merely auxiliary (parastatikon); that the Holy Spirit with His virtue joins Himself to the Word only in the mind or heart of man, and only then when it is legitimately and savingly used.") But an efficacy extra usum must necessarily be maintained, if the Word of God is not to be put on a precise level with every human word.
HOLL. (992) thus sums up the doctrine: "The Word of God is the most efficacious means of salvation, for its power and efficacy are not only objective, but also effective; not consisting in moral suasion, but in supernatural operation; not external and coming to it when used by men, but intrinsic in the Word; not accidental, but necessary, by a divinely ordained necessity, and therefore not separable, but perpetual, inherent in the Word itself extra usum, as the first act. This efficacy is truly divine, producing the same effect as the Holy Spirit, who is perpetually united with the Word, which (effect) the Spirit influences together with the Word, by the divine power which belongs to the Holy Spirit originally and independently, but to the divine Word communicatively and dependently, on account of its mysterious, intimate, and individual union with the Spirit."
[15] FORM. CONC. (V, 5): "We hold the Gospel to be specifically that doctrine which teaches that man should believe, who has not kept the Law, and is therefore condemned by it; namely, that Jesus Christ has expiated and made satisfaction for all sin, and thus has procured remission of sin, righteousness before God, and eternal life, without any merit intervening on the part of the sinner." FORM. CONC. (V, 21): "Everything that consoles terrified minds, everything that offers the favor and grace of God to transgressors of the Law, is properly called the Gospel, i.e., the cheering message, that God does not wish to punish our sins, but for Christ's sake to forgive them." BR. (631): "The Gospel is the doctrine of the grace of God and of the gratuitous pardon of sin for the sake of Christ the Mediator, and His merit apprehended by faith." Hence, as far as this grace is declared in the Old Testament, so far does it also contain the Gospel. (Note 1.) Hence, BR. (ib.): "This doctrine was revealed not only in the New Testament, but also in its own way in the Old Testament (in the New more clearly)." Such intimations in the Old Testament are cited as occurring, not only in the protevangelium to the patriarchs and prophets, but also in the Ceremonial Law. BR. (632): "It is certain that those things which were contained in the ceremonial laws, had the force of Law, so far as they commanded certain acts and rites; yet as far as they represented Christ the Mediator, and His merit to be apprehended by faith, by certain rites, such as types and shadows, they are properly to be considered as Gospel." As to the relation of the Law and Gospel to the Old and New Testaments, QUEN. (IV, 61) says: "The Old Testament and the Law, and the New Testament and the Gospel, are not identical, but distinct; for they differ as the containing and the contained. For the Old Testament contains the Law as its part, but not to the exclusion of the Gospel, and the New Testament contains the Gospel as its portion, but not to the exclusion of the Law; and thus the evangelical intention of God respecting the remission of sin, grace, and salvation through the death of Christ, is declared not only in the books of the New, but also in those of the Old Testament." The word Gospel can also be used in various senses. HOLL. (1032): "Generally, but with less propriety, the word is used to designate the whole doctrine of the New Testament, taught by Christ and the Apostles, Mark 1:1; 16:15. Specially, for the doctrine of grace and the gratuitous remission of sin to be obtained by faith in Christ, whether proposed in the Old or New Testament, Rom. 10:15; Heb. 4:2. Most particularly, for the doctrine concerning the Messiah already manifested, Rom. 1:1." Here the word is taken in the second sense, for we are to describe that effect of it, which is different from the effect of the Law. (HOLL. (ib.): "In this special sense, the Gospel is sufficiently contradistinguished from the Law.") In the proper discrimination of these senses, the question is also settled, whether the Gospel also preaches repentance. FORM. CONC. (ep. V, 6): "We believe, etc., that if by the word Gospel be meant the whole doctrine concerning Christ [taken, therefore, in the general sense] which He taught in His ministrations, that we properly say and teach, that the Gospel is a preaching of repentance and the remission of sins. But when the Law and the Gospel, Moses himself, as a teacher of the Law, and Christ Himself, as a teacher of the Gospel, are compared together, we believe, teach, and confess, that the Gospel does not preach repentance or reprove sin, but properly is nothing else than a more cheering message and an announcement full of comfort."
[1] BR. (639): "Since, besides the Word of God, the Sacraments also are means of regeneration, conversion, and renovation, and therefore of conferring, sealing, and increasing faith, we must also treat more particularly of these." [2] QUEN. (IV, 73): "God has added to the Word of the Gospel as another communicative (dotikon) means of salvation, the Sacraments, which constitute the visible Word." Strictly speaking, there is but one means of salvation, which is distinguished as the audible and visible Word; through both one and the same grace is imparted to man, at one time through the mere Word, at another through the external and visible element.
[10] AP. CONF. (IV, 47): "The Sacraments are efficacious, even if they be administered by wicked ministers, because the ministers officiate in the stead of Christ and do not represent their own person." QUEN. (IV, 74): "The Sacraments do not belong to the man who dispenses them, but to God, in whose name they are dispensed, and therefore the gracious efficacy and operation of the Sacrament depend on God alone, 1 Cor. 3:5, and not on the character or quality of the minister. The dispute about the intention of the minister is more intricate. Propriety requires that he who administers the Sacraments should bring to the altar a good intention of performing what God has commanded and instituted: a mind not wandering but collected and fixed. It is absolutely necessary that the intention of Christ be observed in the external act. I say in the external act, for the intention of the minister to perform the internal act is not necessary; that is performed by the Church. On the other hand, the Church of Rome teaches that the intention of the minister is necessary to the integrity, verity, and efficacy of the Sacrament; that this intention has respect not only to the external act of administering the Sacrament according to the form of the institution, but to the design and effect of the Sacrament itself. Thus the Council of Trent: If any one declare that the intention of doing what the Church does is not required in the ministers, while they dispense the Sacraments, let him be anathema.'" (78).
HOLL. (1061): "Faith is necessarily required in order to the reception of the salutary efficacy of the Sacrament." Id. (1064): "The Sacraments confer no grace on adults, unless when offered they receive it by true faith, which existed in their hearts previously. In infants, the Holy Spirit kindles faith by the Sacrament of initiation, by which infants receive the grace of the covenant."
CHMN. (II, 35): "The Ap. CONF. correctly declares that the effect, virtue or efficacy of the Word and of the Sacraments, which are the seals of the promises, is the same . . . . As, therefore, the Gospel is the power of God unto the salvation of every one that believeth, not because there is any magical force in the letters, syllables, or sounds of the words, but because it is the means, organ, or instrument by which the Holy Spirit is efficacious, proposing, offering, presenting, distributing, and applying the merit of Christ and the grace of God to the salvation of every one that believeth; so also is power and efficacy attributed to the Sacraments, not because saving grace is to be sought in the Sacraments above and beyond the merit of Christ, the mercy of the Father, and the efficacy of the Holy Spirit, but that the Sacraments are instrumental causes in this way, that through these means or organs the Father desires to present, bestow, and apply His grace, the Son to communicate His merit to believers, and the Holy Spirit to exercise His efficacy for the salvation of everyone that believeth. As, according to this, the Sacraments effect the same grace as the Word, the question may arise, Why has God employed a twofold means to this end? CHMN. (Ex. C. Trid., II, 29) answers: "To such attacks and to the clamors of fanatics, we properly reply from the Word of God, that the Sacraments which God has instituted to be aids to our salvation can in no way be considered either useless or superfluous, or be safely neglected and despised . . . . And, indeed, (as Chrysostom says) if we were angels, we would need no external sign; but our carnal infirmity hinders, disturbs, distracts, and weakens our faith. For it is hard to continue firmly persuaded of those things proposed in the Word which are not apparent to the senses . . . . Moreover faith, when it determines that the divine promise is in general a living one, is yet principally concerned about the question, Does this promise belong to me individually? . . . God, therefore, who is rich in mercy . . . desires to present His grace to us only in one way, that is, by His mere Word; but He desires also to help our infirmity by certain aids, namely, by Sacraments instituted and annexed to the promise of the Gospel, i.e., by certain signs, rites, or ceremonies obvious to the senses, that by them He might admonish, instruct, and make us sure that what we see performed in a visible manner, externally, is effected internally in us by the power of God." "In this way the Sacraments are, in respect to us, signs confirming our faith in the promise of the Gospel; in respect to God, they are organs or instruments, through which God in the Word presents, applies, seals, confirms, increases, and preserves the grace of the Gospel promise in believers. The grace tendered in the Word is not different from that tendered in the Sacraments, nor is the promise in the Gospel different from that in the Sacraments; but the grace is the same and the Word one and the same except that in the Sacraments the Word is rendered visible, as it were, on account of our infirmity, by signs divinely appointed." The question of the necessity of the Sacraments is thus decided by CHMN. (Ex. C. Trid., II, 30): "The Sacraments are necessary both by reason of the infirmity of our faith, which needs aids of this kind, and by reason of the divine institution . . . . And in this sense we not unwillingly grant that the Sacraments are necessary to salvation, as the instrumental cause; but yet this declaration is to be added, that the necessity of the Sacraments to salvation is not so precise as that of faith and the Word . . . . But if any one have true faith in Christ form hearing the Word, and if the ability to use the Sacraments according to the divine institution be not conceded him, in such a case surely the necessity of the Sacraments to salvation is not to be considered an absolute; for then salvation would be denied to those who have no ability to use the Sacraments, although they embrace Christ as their Saviour by faith in the Word."
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