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| What is the treasure of the Bible? See below for the explanation. |
One WELS layman had a light-bulb moment when the mission pastor, now teaching at the Asian mini-seminary, did not provide a mid-week Lenten services.
Many episodes of enlightenment have happened since that crisis of conscience. It comes down to two approaches to history. One is lots of fun, because it consists of telling tall tales, in the style of Herodotus. Many things we supposedly know about ancients times come from Herodotus, who is great fun to read. That is the style of synodical history that prevails today, legends and mythologies, some without a trace of evidence, but still entertaining - like the cartoons about Bullwinkle, Rocky the Squirrel, and Yogi Bear.
The other approach to history is analytical, which examines both sides of a dispute, looks at evidence, and lacks a political agenda. Thucydides and Gibbon wrote this way, although no one has ever equaled Thucydides, as he foresaw. "This work will last forever."
Post-Synodical Pratfalls
The so-called conservative Lutheran synods enjoy their Schadenfreude about ELCA, but they are only a few years behind the radicals. The downhill trend in ELCA (seminaries, colleges, congregations) is just as prevalent in the LCMS-WELS-ELS corner of Lutherdom.
ELCA has repudiated its past, and the Synodical Conference has built a house of cards from its lies.
Synodical Conference Lies
The LCMS-ELS-WELS confraternity anchors its teaching in Walther and similar rationalistic Pietists, not in the Scriptures and the Book of Concord.
SP Mirthless Mark Schroeder tried to sell WELS on the deception that his sect was orthodox from the beginning and remains so, fresh and pure like the morning dew. Schroeder has been a conscious participant in removing all traces of Lutheran doctrine and worship, so the synod can return to its unionistic, Pietistic roots. Yes, there are historical reasons why WELS leaders love Disciples of Christ guru Donald McGavran and the Southern Babtists.
The SynCon leaders have financed and promoted Fuller/Willow Creek Church Growth for decades while denying the truth and punishing dissenters.
The SynCons have done even worse - promoting a Universalistic dogma foreign to the Bible, the Reformation, and the Confessions, as if it were a precious treasure. John Sparky Brenner, with a PhD from a Jesuit school, wrote about the dunce JP Meyer and his teaching of "the precious doctrine of objective justification." (Jars of Clay) Brenner is a good example of someone who cannot say the words Justification by Faith and takes every opportunity to promote the dogma of Halle University - universal forgiveness.
JP Meyer is known for his commentary on II Corinthians, Ministers of Christ. Brenner wrote:
The commentary is a masterpiece offering, among other things, practical advice on Christian stewardship and insight into the precious doctrine of objective justification. Jars, p. 184.
Here is the ELS, from its own websty -
This doctrine has often been called by our older theologians “Objective Justification.” It is a precious teaching of the Bible. Therefore, our synod was disturbed when our sister-synod, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, adopted at its convention in 1950 a document called “The Common Confession” which contains the sentence:
“By His redemptive work Christ is the Propitiation for the sins of the whole world; hence the forgiveness of sin has been assured and provided for all men. (This is often spoken of as objective justification.)”
From this sentence, one may gain the impression that although Christ has redeemed all people, God has not declared all people righteous in Christ.
Our synod expressed itself as not satisfied with the definition of objective justification just quoted from “The Common Confession.”
Here is the dunce Rolf Preus making fun of Justification by Faith, from his own websty -
The denial of objective justification forces us all into a vicious kind of fideism (faith in faith in faith in faith) which cannot get out of the circle because the final question to be answered is never "what does God tell me?" but always "how is my faith?"
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| Rolf's biggest problem, besides his poor education, is his lack of comprehension about faith. Luther was a fideist, a solafideist. |
