Every so often, a layman will say to me, "But I am only a layman. I don't have all the training that the clergy do."
Bullies like Tim Glende want the laity to think this way, which represents a false view of the Word and of the true Church. Most clergy have little training, except in how to conform to Holy Mother Synod. Ft. Wayne's motto is "Cooperate to graduate."
Worse, the clergy who party their way through seminary are often the leaders, and they lead in having poor study habits. What they learned badly 30 years ago is repeated. That is actually the model for WELS pastoral conferences - simply repeat the notes from the infallible Sausage Factory.
Even if all the clergy had real doctorates (neither Fuller DMins nor seminary ThDs), Jacobs' statement would still be just as true.
The laity have the advantage of NOT being brain-washed in seminary and NOT relying on such-and-such beloved professors. One must wonder about those poor Ft. Wayne seminary students who are imprinted by David Scaer and follow him around like ducklings. Or perhaps they are more like the devotees of Simon Stylites, venerating the saint who sat up on a pillar. Everything that came down was worshiped as a holy object. Everything.
The laity who suffer the most are the ones who have been trained to start with seminary essays and make that dogmatic template the one and only way to judge the Word. But that is a violation of the historic Christian interpretation of the Word.
The Scriptures judge the Scriptures. No synod can supplant that truth, and no man dare place himself between anyone else and the Word.
Anyone with a good translation of the Bible and a trustworthy Book of Concord can be a true student of the Holy Spirit. I would add Luther's sermons to that list, which is why I post them regularly and quote them often. "The closer to Luther, the better the theologian." That is true, even if CFW Walther said it. He was probably quoting someone else.
Luther could cite the ancients and base a sermon on philosophical thought. He avoided those methods most of the time because the Word alone is the clearest possible teacher. He took those side-roads because he knew how to demolish false arguments by using the authorities of the false teachers. He called it taking away the weapons of the enemy and defeating them with those weapons.
We learn this from the Concordists and Luther - they all relied on the Holy Spirit teaching through the Word.
The advantage of lay-led blogs like Ecclesia Augustana is the promotion of individual research, which leads to better preparation. I laughed at the prolix self-styled expert, who could not stop offering advice on EA not to write on EA, which was noble and edifying only if he did it anonymously. The self-appointed expert suggested the Martin Luther College managed websty, which does touch on neglected topics. But isn't that the college where Church and Changers are hailed as superstars and students steal Miley Cyrus music and gay interpretations of Party in the Fire Island Pines?
Many laity write for this blog, and they do exceptional research on topics. Some of it comes from personal observation, which is the best way to discuss what is happening currently. Others burrow into ancient and arcane dogmatics studies. Still others gather quotations from those so-called experts of synodical fame and fortune.
Most of the big breakthroughs on this blog have come from the contributions from others. Since people work independently we are able to piece together sources (Knapp, Halle, Calvinism, Stephan) and cover more materials.
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| Missouri, WELS, and the Micro-Mini sects have not grasped this statement of Luther, this teaching of Jesus from John 16:8-10. And they want to teach and excommunicate us Haha. |
