Ichabod, The Glory Has Departed: ELDONA Justification by Faith Theses

Thursday, October 10, 2013

ELDONA Justification by Faith Theses - Introduction

DP Jon Bucholz and SP Mark Schroeder removed
WELS Circuit Pastor Paul Rydecki and his congregation
from WELS in the midst of discussing
justification by faith with the Arizona-California District.

WELS did not remove ex-VP Paul Kuske (previously voted out of office)
for attacking their precious UOJ.

Theses on the Article of

Justification

as Taught in

Holy Scripture and the

Confessions of Christ’s Holy Church

with Special Attention to “Objective Justification”

as discussed during the 2013 Colloquium and Synod

of the

Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America

and later approved in the following form

by the pastors of the diocese

Preface
A pastor [GJ - Paul Rydecki] was recently removed from a church body’s clergy roster, ostensibly for false doctrine concerning the Article of Justification. His statements concerning this article of doctrine were entirely compatible with the fathers of Lutheran orthodoxy,1 but were considered “inadequate,” because they did not
fully express certain formulations demanded by said church body. The official position of the (defunct)
Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America (and of the current bodies that were constituent of it) is clear from, e.g, the 1932 “Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri
Synod,” to wit, the teaching of “Objective Justification.” However, that teaching 2 has by no means been
consistent throughout the publications or seminaries of said bodies since that time. The following theses
examine both the terminology and the teaching of “Objective Justification” to see whether it was what
was understood by the old Lutheran dogmaticians and exegetes, complementary to what they taught
concerning the Article of Justification, or inimical to it.

1 By this phrase, we are restricting our present consideration to the period beginning with Martin Luther and ending with Johann Gerhard (c. AD 1515–1637).
2 Or even what is meant by that term.

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Commentary

The inconsistency of WELS continues to this day, which is just as true of abusive sects and it is true of abusive parents. One is abused, the other is spared.

ELDONA surprised me by issuing the theses, which are found here, because I know how vicious, underhanded, dishonest, and disruptive the UOJ claque is. I kept hearing the rumors, but I did not see them until LutherQuest (sic) alerted everyone with their hissy-fit.

The ELDONA introduction is correct in stating that the Synodical Conference has not been consistent in its embrace of UOJ, and that polarity exists to this day. WELS used the Gausewitz justification by faith catechism for many decades before it was replaced by David Kuske's UOJ catechism. The LCMS had a 1905 German catechism that clearly taught justification by faith, but false doctrine struggles against sound doctrine. The 1932 Brief Statement was elevated to canonical status, perhaps because it included a ridiculous, unexplained declaration of UOJ.

Paul McCain will never admit that Concordia Publishing House still sells a KJV catechism that is all justification by faith. But - the UOJ Enthusiasts think they teach justification by faith, even while they are attacking the doctrine of St. Paul. UOJ is the perfect dogma for unbelievers, ecumenists, and Church Shrinkers.

This Synodical Conference devolution has paralleled the decline of the Muhlenberg tradition, which had a fine record of promoting Reformation studies and theology, until rationalistic Pietism asserted its dominance, after the ULCA merger of 1918. Like Gausewitz, such ULCA pioneers as Jacobs, Krauth, and Schmauk were forgotten and allowed to go out of print. Lenski (ALC) survived in WELS-LCMS-ELS, but not in those groups that united to form the ELCA in 1987.

By merger time, ELCA was almost devoid of Lutheran doctrine - so what was left? They rested their dogmatics on rationalistic Pietism, as all modern theologians do. The Book of Concord means nothing. Everything is subject to man's reason. Naturally, these trends moved all the Lutherans closer together. Once united by a common promotion of inerrancy and efficacy, they created a new, more perfect union based on UOJ, ecumenism, joint religious projects, and Enthusiasm.

Those who look into the documents can see what has happened, and any layman can read the Scriptures and understand justification. An honest discussion of justification is good for everyone, but WELS and Missouri will not allow it.