Follow Up on Hunnius - The Righteousness of Faith

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Hunnius Has an Excellent Summary of the Pre-Existe...":

I cannot recommend enough the follow-up Hunnius translation to Rydecki's Theses Opposed to Huberianism which is called "A Clear Explanation Of The Controversy Among The Wittenberg Theologians Concerning Regeneration And Election: (subtitled: With a refutation of the arguments that Dr. Samuel Huber has thus far brought into the midst of Dr. Aegidius Hunnius, Polycarp Leyser, Solomon Gesner, etc., in defense of his opinion.)

It utterly destroys the prevalent contention that the false gospel Samuel Huber taught in his rationalist doctrine of UOJ is different than the false gospel of UOJ being taught by Rev. Boisclair and the Seventh Day Adventists, New Age Religion, ELCA, LCMS, WELS and ELS.

The double mindedness which the doctrine of UOJ imposes upon the Triune God is enough to label it a heresy worthy of the final days of a wicked world.

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Christian Schulz has left a new comment on your post "Follow Up on Hunnius":

What I find telling/disturbing is that if anyone has been in a debate with UOJers and you cite numerous passages of Scripture and the Fathers to them about how there is only one justification that happens by the gift of faith, they'll always cite their devilish, philosophical, man-made dichotomy just as Huber did, that, "well, they're only talking about subjective justification." Well, the fact of the matter is that all the Fathers talk about a subjective justification because that's the only justification of the sinner that exists. Here's how Huber did the same thing; and I think we can all honestly agree that he logically pulled the same stuff with his universal justification despite that this quote deals only with his universal election. Surely Hunnius quoted JBFA passages and got the same response, don't you think -- especially for those involved in these debates? Hunnius as follows: "Among his fallacies also this: whenever the saying either of Scripture or the Church oppose him -- when they teach that predestination pertains only to those who persevere and remain believers in the Son toil to the end --, his [Huber's] immediate response is usually that 'those sayings only have to do with individual election and do not, for that reason, overturn the universal election.'"

I mean really, these translations, to a normal person, is evidence mounting higher and higher against the UOJ position. I've still never seen their claim that Huber was [not] a Universalist backed up with evidence other than their own testimonies from thin air. They roar about that all the time in an attempt to separate their teachings, but the only people with evidence on the Huber - Lutheran debate are JBFA people. Their (UOJ adherents) only argument is from majority consensus (majority as far as alive people in charge of the synods go) just as the papists had in the Reformation.

Our congregation just finished a study of Luther's Commentary on Galatians,
and Galatians itself.
Now we are on Romans, using Luther's Romans Commentary.
The UOJ Hive quotes Walther and Becker - it is to laugh.

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GJ - I supplied a missing [not] above.

Pastor Ski and WELS Fox Valley - The CORE Non-Updates

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Baby Blue Eyes wrote to ask:

"Where is Ski? What is happening with The CORE?"

Answer -

A campaign of disinformation has been launched. One version has DP Doug suspending Pastor Ski for six months without telling the congregation why. He has a new form of suspension, where one pastor is given a six-month vacation and brought back, with the same divine call.

DPs lie to congregations all the time. Bob Mueller in Michigan lied about his VP leaving the parish (for adultery, not "depression"). Good ol' Bob lied to the congregation, lied to the man's wife, and lied to the district. That is considered a good month's work in WELS.

The COP is supposedly confused by a non-suspension suspension. They are famous for extending the Left Foot of Fellowship, in public, for great justice. But this is a yo-yo suspension.

The real congregation is St. Peter in Freedom, where Ron Ash was the pastor while chairing Jeske's Church and Change. Ski was on the board of Church and Change, which will meet again in the area in the disguise of Jeske's Men of His Word.

Ski has been on and off the staff list at St. Peter Freedom. Someone saw him on it before, on the St. Peter website. I never did, but I saw him as a staffer in the WELS yearbook listing for St. Peter.

Ski is listed in the yearbook on the WELS.net site. If a pastor is suspended, it should be posted on the WELS call report page. But his name is not there.

The CORE has an Easter service, and people are expected to dress up for once. But who is preaching?

Ski is still on the animation starting The CORE's website, but no news is listed.

The irony is that SP Schroeder and Keith Free lavishly funded The CORE when all this ______ was known for years.

Is anyone minding the store?

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Adolph Hoenecke has left a new comment on your post "Pastor Ski and WELS Fox Valley - The CORE Non-Upda...":

I had a dream/nightmare last night in which Pastor Ski came to my congregation to preach. Unfortunately, the Lord did not grant me a vision concerning the reason for Ski's suspension/non-suspension,life-coaching/paid vacation. I have got to stop eating those (insert favorite forbidden food) before bed!

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GJ -


I dreamed a dream in WELS gone by
When funds were high
And beer worth drinking.
I dreamed that grants would never die
I dreamed UOJ without thinking.
Then I was young and unafraid,
And sermons stole and and used and wasted,
There was no ransom to be paid,
No song unsung, no brew untasted.

But the lawsuits come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your CORE apart
As they turn your dream to shame.

Lunch is served.

Cardinals open papal conclave at Sistine Chapel; no pope selected on first day - The Washington Post

Cardinals open papal conclave at Sistine Chapel; no pope selected on first day - The Washington Post:

"But no single candidate has clearly claimed that title here. Instead, the focus was on a small group of papabili, or possible popes, including Cardinals Angelo Scola of Italy, Odilio Scherer of Brazil and Marc Ouellet of Canada.

Other possibilities are Cardinals Timothy Dolan of New York and Sean O’Malley of Boston, either of whom, if elected, would emerge as the first “superpower” pope. Argentina’s Jose Bergoglio, the Philippines’ Luis Antonio Tagle and Italy’s Angelo Bagnasco are among the cardinals listed as long shots."

'via Blog this'

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bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Cardinals open papal conclave at Sistine Chapel; n...":

Front runner to be the next pope, and confidant of ex-Pope Benedict, Scola of Milan, has plenty of links to the mafia:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/12/cardinals-overcome-divisions-conclave-pope

But even as preparations for the mass were being made, Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan – and reportedly the hot favourite to be the next pope – suffered a blow.

Anti-mafia detectives swooped on homes, offices, clinics and hospitals in Lombardy, the region around Milan, and elsewhere. A statement said the dawn raids were part of an investigation into "corruption linked to tenders by, and supplies to, hospitals".

Healthcare in Lombardy is the principal responsibility of the regional administration, which for the past 18 years has been run by Roberto Formigoni, a childhood friend of Scola and the leading political representative of the Communion and Liberation fellowship. Until recently, Scola was seen as the conservative group's most distinguished ecclesiastical spokesman.

But Scola's candidacy has been overshadowed by his past links to a movement that has been linked with pervasive sleaze in Lombardy. By the time Formigoni dissolved the regional assembly last year, 13 members of the governing majority were under investigation, suspected of offences ranging from taking bribes to incitement to violence.

Thoughts on the Catholic Church | Churchmouse Campanologist. Worthwhile Reflectins about the Catholic Church and the Pope

The Antichrist and the Archbishop of Canterbury are leaders of apostasy.

Thoughts on the Catholic Church | Churchmouse Campanologist:

This ties in with the ideas behind la nouvelle théologie: dogma changes over time and old tenets of the faith, even scriptural teachings, can be discarded.

Indeed, Benedict XVI helped to develop the changes which emanated from Vatican II:

Ratzinger became a professor at the University of Bonn in 1959; his inaugural lecture was on “The God of Faith and the God of Philosophy”. In 1963, he moved to the University of Münster.

During this period, Ratzinger participated in the Second Vatican Council (1962–65). Ratzinger served as a peritus (theological consultant) to Cardinal Frings of Cologne. He was viewed during the time of the Council as a reformer, cooperating with theologians like Hans Küng and Edward Schillebeeckx. Ratzinger became an admirer of Karl Rahner, a well-known academic theologian of the Nouvelle Théologie and a proponent of church reform.

Read more here.

'via Blog this'

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GJ - This article deserves a careful reading, because it comes from a former Roman Catholic, now a Protestant, who has experienced the changes and studied the background of Pope Benedict.

News from The Associated Press. Celebrity Predator Could Have Been Stopped Early - Just Like WELS Hochmuth and LCMS Schauer

Someone knew about WELS Joel Hochmuth, because he was caught before.
He was even caught when on work release, after being convicted.

Convicted sexual predator? No problem for LCMS.
They made him a lay pastor, then wiped out the discussion of how it happened.
Destroying evidence is LCMS policy.

News from The Associated Press:

LONDON (AP) -- An independent report into how British police handled allegations against disgraced late BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile said Tuesday that police held records that connected him to sexual abuse as early as 1964, but failed to carry out an investigation.

Jimmy Savile, was early on, a friend of the
homosexual priest who became Britain's only cardinal.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, an independent police oversight group, found that police recorded five allegations and two pieces of intelligence against Savile during his lifetime.

Once one of Britain's most popular entertainers, Savile's reputation took a dive after his death in 2011 at age 84, when hundreds of witnesses and victims came forward accusing him of sexual abuse. Police have since described the television and radio presenter as a serial sexual predator who used his fame to target young victims across Britain.

Tuesday's report suggested that Savile could have been stopped decades ago.

'via Blog this'

Paul Scaer, LCMS pastor, died of AIDS.
If a victim tries to sue the LCMS, the machine goes into action.

VirtueOnline - News.WELS Spares the Paddle for Felonies, Alcoholism, and Sexual Harrassment

VirtueOnline - News:

The Episcopal Church's Tyranny and Thought Control over Filed Amicus Briefs

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org 
March 11, 2013

The Episcopal Church has embraced tyranny and thought control when it charges certain Episcopal bishops with filing amicus briefs supporting former Episcopal bishops who still defend the faith and who refuse to bow to TEC's pansexual agenda.

Recently, following a January conciliation meeting concerning complaints involving the Episcopal Dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy, nine bishops were held in contempt and threatened according to Canon IV.10. This could have led to their being dismissed from the Episcopal Church.

This past week an Accord was struck wherein the nine bishops, four of whom are sitting bishops (five had resigned), agreed to a sound thrashing from Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori but fell short of being inhibited and deposed for their actions. They were not allowed to express an opinion on the polity of TEC and they were punished for signing a brief she did not like.

The nine are:

The Rt. Rev. John W. Howe (resigned, Diocese of Central Florida) 
The Rt. Rev. Paul E. Lambert (suffragan, Diocese of Dallas) 
The Rt. Rev. William H. Love (diocesan, Diocese of Albany) 
The Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson (resigned, Diocese of W. Louisiana) 
The Rt. Rev. Daniel H. Martins (diocesan, Diocese of Springfield) 
The Rt. Rev. James M. Stanton (diocesan, Diocese of Dallas) 
The Rt. Rev. Maurice M. Benitez (resigned, Diocese of Texas)
The Rt. Rev. Peter Beckwith (resigned, Diocese of Springfield)
The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon (resigned, Diocese of South Carolina)

The Presiding Bishop demanded and got (through conciliation) terms which "promoted healing, repentance, forgiveness, restitution, justice, amendment of life and reconciliation." 

The nine orthodox bishops committed the ecclesiastical "sin" of filing amicus briefs supporting continuing Episcopal Dioceses in Ft. Worth and Quincy in their struggle over property and funds lawsuits.

The nine bishops agreed to express regret for any harm to the bishops, clergy and laity of the Dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy resulting from their acts; agreed not to file or endorse any further amicus brief or affidavit in litigation outside of their respective dioceses and against the legal position of The Episcopal Church until the General Convention formally addresses this conduct, either by amendment to the Constitution and/or canons or by formal resolution; and to act in accordance with the action of the General Convention.

They also agreed to acknowledge that the 2009 Bishops' Statement on the Polity of the Episcopal Church is a minority opinion.

VOL was told by one of the nine bishops that while the Accord looks like they caved in to TEC in the face of the "conciliation" process and repented of what they had done, it was done to avoid causing any more harm to the four sitting diocesan bishops who have to go on living with Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and risk their future and those to whom they must minister. Had all the bishops been out of office, resigned or retired, the outcome might have been different, VOL was told.

The Episcopal Church has a double standard on who is being charged with what and by whom. When Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan was summarily dismissed from the Episcopal Church for his stand against the church's increasing immoral positions, a ruckus was raised that he had been fired without due process of a trial. To maintain the appearance of complying with canon law, Jefferts Schori then held a trial and declared him guilty. It was something right out of Alice in Wonderland; guilty first, then have a trial.

But that is by no means the worst case.

In January of 2002, twenty-six ECUSA bishops filed an Amici Brief supporting then Washington Bishop Jane Dixon in a legal clash with the vestry and rector Fr. Sam Edwards of Christ Church in Accokeek, Md.

It was a line up ECUSA's most liberal and corporatist bishops that included The Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of the Diocese of Nevada.

It was the beginning of open warfare amongst bishops in The Episcopal Church that continues to this day.

Two orthodox bishops, Jack Iker (Fort Worth) and Robert Duncan (Pittsburgh), signed an amicus brief in support of Fr. Samuel Edwards against Jane Dixon in her ongoing struggle to take back the parish and put one of her own postmodern priests in charge.

The 4th Circuit Court ordered the filing of the amicus brief by Bishops Iker and Duncan despite vigorous opposition by Jane Dixon, Suffragan Bishop of Washington.

The parish vigorously defended its right to call whom they wish, with Dixon vigorously fighting not to let them keep Fr. Edwards because of statements accusing the ECUSA of being the "unchurch" and "hell-bound." (Edwards later joined the Roman Catholic Church through the Ordinariate).

The bishops argued that The District Court determined that the Episcopal Church is a hierarchical polity and ordered that the Court accept and enforce Bishop Dixon's decision not to license Fr. Edwards as rector of St. John's Parish. They further said that the Court should not accept Amici's invitation to review Episcopal Church authorities' interpretation and application of Episcopal Church law. The bishops cited case law, scripture and canons of General Convention.

The 26 liberal bishops submitted their brief in response to arguments presented by the two orthodox bishops because they said their position would "undermine and drastically alter the authority and the role of bishops in the Episcopal Church." The bishops say that Dixon had acted within her authority in refusing to license Edwards as rector of the parish.

An Episcopal Church Review Committee concluded unanimously that Bishop Dixon had acted reasonably and did not commit an offense against the Canon law of the Church.

Bishops Iker and Duncan argued that Bishop Dixon violated the canons of the church, but a disciplinary Review Committee of the Episcopal Church cleared Bishop Dixon of all alleged wrongdoing.

Then Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold stated his support for Bishop Dixon's decision. Griswold publicly accused Edwards of being schismatic but without benefit of due process required by canon.

Bishops Iker and Duncan argued that the District Court erred in not adopting their interpretation of the "thirty day rule" of Canon III.17.2, claiming that the interpretation of Bishop Dixon and other Church authorities is "not rational."

Ironically, neither Iker nor Duncan was brought up on charges for filing an amicus brief in support of Edwards.

By filing charges against and by tightening the screws on the nine orthodox Episcopal bishops this year, the Episcopal Church demonstrated that they hope to cower any future opposition.

A new twist was using a new canon passed at the last General Convention that allows not just bishops but clergy and laity to go after a bishop(s) on any frivolous grounds. In this case, only one bishop, C. Wallis Ohl (rump bishop of Ft. Worth), was a complainant, six were priests and three were laity.

A number of bloggers described the behavior of these people as "totalitarian" and described Jefferts Schori's leadership as a "sociopathic reign of terror." One layman who knew Ohl well when he was the Bishop of Northwest Texas said, "Wallace Ohl has a history of self-service and self-aggrandizement at the expense of others. In his last parish he left the congregation deeply in debt after having propped up the place to make himself look successful so he could become a bishop. He totally betrayed his diocese theologically and was a total ass to people who disagreed with him. He lied to his fellow bishops about standing with them against their apostate leadership, and now he goes after these very bishops with a vengeance because they challenged his betrayal."

It is ironic that the Episcopal Church in June 2012 hammered bishops Bruce MacPherson, Ed Salmon and Peter Beckwith bringing disciplinary proceedings against the three bishops of the Episcopal Church under the provisions of Title IV for filing an affidavit in the Quincy lawsuit, yet the paperwork in the Bishop Charles vonRosenberg federal motion against Bishop Mark Lawrence, reveals that bishops John Buchanan and Dorsey Henderson filed a similar affidavit in support of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina. Will bishops Buchanan and Henderson now be brought to account? Don't count on it.

What we clearly have is two sets of rules running here. If a TEC bishop files in support of a realigned diocese, he gets hammered, but if a TEC bishop files in support of TEC he gets a pass.

The hypocrisy stinks to high heaven. But then many now believe that there is little hope the Episcopal Church can or has any desire to be turned around. One must look to a realigned North American Anglicanism to provide hope for those who wish to be authentically Anglican.

The Anglican Church in North America recently announced that it was well on the way to establishing 1,000 new churches in the US and Canada.

END

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Hunnius Has an Excellent Summary of the Pre-Existence of UOJ - "Nope!"

"There are a great many sermons on the justification of men before God in our published writings -- in the Augsburg Confession, the Apology, the Smalcald Articles, in both Catechisms of Luther, in the Epitome and the Formula of Concord -- indeed, in the entire controversy with the papists that has gone on now for more than 70 years. But regarding this general justification by which all men were supposedly justified at some time, received into the embrace of divine grace, adopted, with sin having been forgiven to all men equally -- truly, properly and by the deed itself -- of this, I say, in all of these published writings and in all of Holy Scripture, there is nothing but eternal silence." -- Aegidius Hunnius (c. 1594)
Cited by Christian Schulz

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David Boisclair has left a new comment on your post "Hunnius Has an Excellent Summary of the Pre-Existe...":

Hunnius here is not speaking of what we believe, teach, and confess in the Lutheran synods that formerly constituted the Synodical Conference. He is speaking here about Huberianism, which is something totally different. Our doctrine is the same as that of Aegidius Hunnius. Notice that Hunnius is speaking here of the receipt and adoption by divine grace. For lack of a better label this is the heresy of Universal Subjective Justification. 

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David Boisclair has left a new comment on your post "Hunnius Has an Excellent Summary of the Pre-Existe...":

Correction: "Notice that Hunnius is speaking here of the receipt of and adoption by divine grace." Please excuse the omission of the preposition "of" after the posted word "receipt." 

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LPC has left a new comment on your post "Hunnius Has an Excellent Summary of the Pre-Existe...":

Yes and he is speaking also of sin having been forgiven to all men equally.

Like I said Rev. Boisclair, you focus too much on where you think you differ and there you comfort yourself, you should be bothered where your (UOJ) is similar to Huber.

That bit of having all sins forgiven to all men equally is something your UOJ shares with Huber.

LPC 

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GJ - The UOJ Storm-Brownies specialize in distinctions without a difference.