Walther is the perfect example of Pietism. He set aside Justification by Faith to teach his private brand of Halle Pietism, which he copied from Bishop Stephan, STD.
Walther's Pietism and UOJ set the stage for the decline of the LCMS, which began in earnest once the Brief Statement of 1932 was promoted as the ultimate revelation of God's will on earth, with its laughable repudiation of the Chief Article.
Pietism emphasizes what one does, but the Christian Faith emphasizes what one believes. Note how this shows itself in attitudes and words.
Pietism -
- The individual must belong to the right sect. The right action is to join that sect and maintain an ovine, submissive attitude.
- The sect is glorified as the ultimate group. All other sects are condemned, including the affiliated sects and different segments of the same sect.
- The sect is a personality cult, where one person or a few individuals, are idolized, obeyed, and kept in ignorance of their many failings.
- The sect itself is the Means of Grace, so everything done within the sect, even violating criminal and civil law, is blessed.
- Lying for a good cause - the sect - is necessary and worthwhile.
- If individuals show themselves to be amoral, incompetent false teachers, they rise to leadership positions and are excused for everything they do.
- Questioning the sect is considered self-excommunication.
- Nevertheless, people find a certain comfort and security within the narrow, legalistic confines of their sect, because they know the 10,000 unwritten rules about how to behave.
If you find these characteristics all too familiar, it is worthwhile to do more study and decide on what to do. A sect easily becomes an abusive cult.
The LCMS formed in St. Louis and Perryville was a genuine sex cult. Over time, that was watered down by new members, the Lowe influence, and working away from cell group Pietism. The strength of the LCMS today is its loose organization, the ability of pastors to be ordained and come in from the outside without kissing the feet of the UOJ idol.
The Pietistic sect model is still quite influential in the LCMS, as the Bronze Age Christian News publication shows. Otten has faithfully told readers what to do - such as voting for the SPs that subsequently rejected him - while remaining alarmingly indifferent to false doctrine.
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| Meme violations - wordy, not humorous, self-referential, and not ad-free. |
A return to Walther is really a step backwards into Piestistic cult abuse. Unfortunately, the various shards of the LCMS have proven that their version of orthodoxy is being as abusive, dictatorial, and heretical as Walther Hisself. These sects - whether small, large, micro-mini, new or old - seem to specialize in being deceptive bullies, smugly satisfied that their sect is the best.
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| Zion has a good summary of the Walther-Stephan sex cult, but loyal Missourians condemn the author for being bitter. Walther robbed and kidnapped a bishop so he could be a pope. LCMS sycophants deny that Walther signed the statement making the cult leader a bishop for life. |
