Ecclesia Augustana - Martin Luther College - "Mr. Rusch, Tear Down Your Name."Second Student To Be Warned.

http://ecclesiaaugustana.blogspot.com/2013/03/rusch-encouraged-to-take-your-name-down.html
Thursday, March 21, 2013

Rusch: "Encouraged" to Take Your Name Down

I've just been proverbially "called into the principal's office" for my contributing to this blog. (Cue dramatic music.) Beforehand, I had only a vague idea of what or why I was being called in, and therefore had no defense prepared.

The French call it L'esprit de l'escalier -- the spirit of the staircase. It is the flood of retorts and rebuttals that arrive in your mind after you've already exited the argument. The term comes from Diderot when he wrote: "a sensitive man, such as myself, overwhelmed by the argument leveled against him, becomes confused and can only think clearly again when he reaches the bottom of the stairs on his way out." It is my privilege to voice my L'esprit de l'escalier below.

"Do you think it is a good thing to associate with such people on this blog?"

Association is a powerful device. If one associates with heavy drinkers, can he be expected to sympathize with excessive drinking? If one associates with heretics, can he be expected to sympathize with heretical doctrine? If one associates with Lutherans, can he be expected to sympathize with Lutheran doctrine? The correct answer is: "it does not necessarily follow."

But is it a good thing to associate with such people? This begs the question: Who are "such people?" This blog has its purpose statement in its very first post, which, I will concede, is not at all well publicized:

At the same time, this blog will not present itself as more than it is.  It is a platform for a group of laymen to opine concerning the state of Confessional Lutheranism in America and abroad.  We do not pretend to be esteemed theologians or learned academics.  We have no fancy degrees or extensive doctrinal training.  We come armed only with Sacred Scripture, the Confessions, the writings of the Church Fathers, and our Liturgical heritage.  We welcome constructive criticism and diversity of thought.  We hope you will join us in struggling with the difficult questions we attempt to face. (emphasis mine)

Note the emphases. My first post, on Holy Baptism, although it was in its original form a somewhat scholarly treatment, I deliberately removed much scholar-talk. I don't want to confuse/alienate a large part of blog readers with such thick stuff. I merely commentated using what mere undergrad skills I had, not attempting to stand upon the shoulders of theological giants in order that I see more than they, but rather I attempt to stand up at all, supported by quotes and paraphrases of theological giants. I'm writing more about theology and reading more Lutheran church fathers than I have ever before in my life. Yes, my association here is so far a very "good thing". Potential "bad things" will be addressed below.

"You have not taken serious theological classes yet. It would be better if you were to wait before you attach your name to anything that this."

Does that negate private study? Does that negate your very own undergrad classroom theological instruction? Does that negate the exegesis class I am currently taking? Am I incompetent in Lutheran dogma if I am young and not yet in seminary? But, ah, "we do not pretend to be esteemed theologians", so let us assume for the moment that I am incompetent."We welcome constructive criticism" would therefore be my stance as an author here.  The truth is, I have received no negative criticism about my theology yet, even though my colleagues have received plenty, especially concerning Universal Objective Justification (a subject on which I have not published anything yet). Besides, here, I am able to collaborate with and be curbed by other professing confessional Lutherans (both authors and visitors) should I ever write heresy.

I am not expected to agree entirely with my co-authors on this blog, either. For example, there are posts of a deliberately inflammatory nature, and posts containing sensationalist language. Even though using some sensationalism can be very effective in capturing attention, I dislike using it to excess. Polemic has its place, and I am no polemicist.

"Since I don't agree entirely either, what if I wanted to write articles against Ecclesia Augustana?"

This absurd question has no place in whether or not I ought to be able to write for Ecclesia Augustana. It seems more like a question to trap me into acknowledging that the blog is heretical. To treat a blog as an apple barrel with one bad apple is not an applicable comparison. You're welcome to join the discussion, although if you are actively publishing against other author's theology, I would be prepared for a barrage of criticism (although criticism, it seems, is unable to deter many Lutheran bloggers.)

"What if I were a lay member of yours looking at this, and I discover Pastor/Vicar Rusch had been a contributor on this blog?"

If that is the case: Hooray! I have a lay member who is interested in theology! I can have an intelligent conversation with him about Lutheran dogmatics!

If Mr. Theoretical Lay Member is concerned about my association with certain theological stances, I'd be delighted to talk to him, as well as recommend that he read my own posts in the context of this blog's statement of purpose (quoted near the beginning of this post.) Were there one intelligent enough to be so interested in theology, would he immediately and rashly brand me a heretic for such a petty grievance?

"That doesn't really answer my question. What if this were the average lay member, not well-versed in theology?"

Alright, you've got me there. First off, such a person I would be delighted to chat with, too. I hope you can tell by my presence on this blog, and my choice of career path, I love to talk about Christianity.

What I'm confused about is: if he were not theologically strong, how would he detect heterodoxy in this blog in the first place? A lay member going to this blog would find: the authors here call themselves confessional Lutheran laymen, and he would be a bit intimidated by the Latin quotation at the top of the page. Would he only be perturbed by posts objecting to [current] Lutheran pastors' theology, or posts questioning Holy Mother Synod (please pardon the borrowed term) -- neither of which any of my posts here have done? At the moment, the only way I can think such a man would be offended is if there were some absurd public synodical declaration that "this blog is heterodox. Mark and avoid!"

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I was explicitly "encouraged" to think about my association with this blog, out of concern for my future. Do not be mistaken: I am genuinely grateful for that. "Out of concern for my future," though, touches on a culture problem (and harmful doctrine), detected by many, many people, that makes Lutherans very defensive. When there is a witchhunt for heretics (for me, in this episode, a theoretical future witchhunt), I believe it is at least partially because of pietism. But, interestingly, my own theology was never brought up, just my mere association with this blog! How petty! I wanted to explore theology. That is the reason I began to write for this blog. Other faculty members praise my interest in Lutheran systematic theology. But here I was scolded with weak "what if" arguments (which might be perceived as intimidation).

The unspoken suggestion is that I remove my name from the blog. I contend that it is foolishness to attempt to remove my name from the list of authors. This blog is powered by Blogger -- Google has already read and cached my posts for all posterity. Oops. I guess my Christian stance at this point in time cannot be erased now. 

Am I young? Yes. Am I inexperienced? Yes. Am I not widely trained in systematic theology? Yes. Am I hateful of instruction and unwilling to be corrected? Absolutely not! Should this episode stop discussion and study? Not at all! 

I am not yet at the terminus of my education, and in my meeting it was implied that I may yet remain a contributor, so that is what I intend to do for now, unless otherwise convinced.

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My name is Benjamin Rusch, and I am currently a senior at Martin Luther College who plans on attending Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary this coming school year.

(And, no. I don't necessarily agree 100% with every contributor to this blog.)

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Adolph Hoenecke has left a new comment on your post "Ecclesia Augustana - Martin Luther College - "Mr. ...":

Young man, I urge you to stand firm. I'm sure you already understand that boldness is not encouraged in the WELS. This may haunt you for a long time. Now, had you made a gay video.........

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narrow-minded has left a new comment on your post "Ecclesia Augustana - Martin Luther College - "Mr. ...":

Scaer had disciples following him around
and intercepting questions for him in class in the 1980s.
Stephan-Walther-Pieper-Scare.

I hope we don't have to use the term "Rydeckied" again, but this guy has likely cooked his goose if he even discusses theology outside of Holy Mother Synod. This is why I am so thankful that going to The Surrendered Fort didn't work out for me, although I was upset at the time. I would have been on permanent CRM status and up to my eyeballs in debt.

I visited The Surrendered Fort many times. Although I won't specifically mention the name of the prof (think peacock), I vividly recall the gaggle of students following him in "The Tunnel" between Loehe and Wyneken (imagine the Walther venerators naming a hall after the "heretical" Loehe), as if every word coming out of his mouth was directly inspired by the Holy Ghost. I knew right then if I questioned this prof, who had so many groupies in trail ,I would never get a call. If this prof were orthodox, that would be one thing, but he is a UOJer who is frequently cited here on Ichabod (think, "Those who deny UOJ know nothing about justification"[insert head scratching here]).

Having heard "cooperate and graduate" more than once, I knew it was more than just a joke. It was the threat placed in front of sem students, yet CTSFW helped foster the mass exodus to Constantinople shortly before I considered going there.

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Ecclesia Augustana - Martin Luther College - "Mr. ...":

bul·ly
Noun
1.A person who uses strength or power to harm or intimidate those who are weaker.

Verb
Use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants.

At a time when the United States has focused everyone's attention on bullies and bullying in our nations schools - the (W)ELS continues to intimidate those who are at a situational disadvantage. Typical of people who have abusive personalities they use manipulation, both physical and philosophical, to obtain compliance on the part of those who rightly do not conform to their dictatorial rule.

Those in authority in the (W)ELS should be held accountable for their bullying of students in their schools.

http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=5567

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Benjamin Rusch has left a new comment on your post "Ecclesia Augustana - Martin Luther College - "Mr. ...":

I'm glad that this is generating discussion, but I must caution every one of you that this case of argumentum ad consequentiam does not necessarily equate to bullying.

Read the paragraph right after the divider again. I am careful to mention that this was not coercion, but concern.

That does not mean, however, that bullying doesn't exist in other cases. I just contend that what I'm doing in Ecclesia Augustana does not invite or deserve legalistic bullying, whereas this person did think so, and [perhaps too vehemently] reproved me.

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GJ -

"And - he reads Ichabod. What further testimony do we need?" (Rends his Geneva gown.)