When Jon-Boy Buchholz was justifying himself for the evil, cowardly, duplicitous things he did in his pathetic reign of terror, he claimed UOJ was "settled doctrine."
That reminded me of the time I was discussing Purgatory with two Roman Catholic priests. The senior priest said I made too much of it in Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant. The young priest asked in a pleading way, "It isn't de fide, is it." His elder said sharply, "It is de fide."
De fide means - this is what Catholics must believe in order to be saved - although "to be saved" leaves something to be accomplished, like 1,000 years of torture in Purgatory.
Readers who think about this exchange will spot the contradiction. I made too much of a dogma required by Rome - undebatable dogma. Silly me.
Thus, in his Human Nature, Buchholz allowed a discussion of justification by faith, but only so long, because UOJ is de fide in WELS. That doubles up on the irony - one must believe that faith means nothing in justification. De fide means just about the same in Rome and WELS, a pale imitation of Rome. De fide is not faith in the Gospel but faith in Holy Mother Church.
Holy Mother Church is never wrong. The Holy Spirit will not allow that. I have seen that published in Roman Catholicism and taught in WELS.
The Hellishness of Hell
As we know from the eructations of JP Meyer, Paul McCain, Jack Cascione, and LutherQueasy, Hell is just backed with righteous, guilt-free saints.
What put them there? They answer glibly, "They did not decide in favor of UOJ - they did not believe the world was absolved on East by the resurrection of Christ." This absolution was never recorded in the Bible for our edification, but that does not slow them down. They continue to repeat their mantra.
Rolling this back to Walther - people go to Hell after dying because they did not accept the teaching of Walther and his syphilitic bishop, Martin Stephan.
One must trust in a human being (one of our guys) not in Christ.
Proof of the degradation of the Gospel message is the state of Lutherdom today.
