To Understand the Bible, These Basics Are Necessary

 Norma A. Boeckler

The Bible is not about God, but is God's unique Book of the Holy Spirit, teaching one Truth through various human authors. Thanks to the influence of Karl Barth and his lovely Commie mistress, Charlotte Kirschbaum, many Evangelicals see the Bible as containing God's Word, not as God's Word. Fuller Seminary has disseminated this false view from their own faculty learning under Barth/Kirschbaum.

 Norma A. Boeckler

The Spirit always works with God's Word and never apart from God's Word. Isaiah 55:8ff makes that clear, as do many other passages in the Old and New Testaments. The beginning of all false doctrine is the Spirit/Word divorce. That separation makes possible the decrees of the Pope in Rome and the popes in Lutherdom. All pagan religion comes from this Enthusiasm, the label Luther gave this basic error.

This divine efficacy and power means that God created the universe in six 24-hour days. Young earth? The only reason for an old earth is God's need to slowly work out the details of evolution to the satisfaction of the Calvinists and compromisers.

The Real Presence is also related to the efficacy and power of the Word. And Sacraments do accomplish - through the Word - what is promised in the Scriptures.

Jesus Himself made it clear that the foundational sin is unbelief, specifically not believing in Him.

 Norma A. Boeckler

John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

Grace can only come to us through the Spirit at work in the Word, so God has appointed Means or Instruments to end all anxiety and doubt about whether we are forgiven. Those who despise the Means of Grace are merely exhibiting their hatred for the Word of God and the grace of God. The UOJists imagine they are God's counselors, so they have God doing and saying things that cannot be found in the Scriptures but readily available among the Universalists, Unitarians, and occultists.

Therefore, the work of the Bride of Christ is not to burn more incense and attend more Romanizing workshops, but to teach faith in Christ the Savior.

Because these basics have been neglected, mocked, and jettisoned, the Lutheran Church is no more. Lutheran pastors and congregations still do their work. But the synodical apparatus is against them at every level, from the Circuit Pastors and District Pastors to the Synod Presidents and learned or unlearned professors.

Notice how the false teachers, corrupt, and incompetent are rewarded, praised, and promoted. This is not man's work, but God's work - to punish people for their indifference to sound doctrine. Their insurance dollars pay for ELCA programs. Their offering dollars evaporate faster than booze at a Fox Valley gathering.

 Norma A. Boeckler

Updated List of Books To Read for Laity and Clergy. But First of All, For Laity

Best Bibles

• King James Version, aka the English Luther Bible
• KJV 21 - slightly modernized, just as our current KJV is...
• Third Millennium Bible - ditto. All three Bibles above use the traditional text and precise translations rather than anything goes text and paraphrasing (NIV, ESV, Surfer Dude, The Message, Good News).
• Note how the apostate "conservative" Lutherans will not let any KJV Bible even be named in any discussion about translations.

The KJV is the Tyndale Bible, and the Tyndale Bible
is Luther's Bible in English. So why do the SynCon seminaries and synod poobahs hate the KJV? Answer - they loathe Luther.

Best of Luther

• Luther's Sermons, Lenker Edition
• Galatians Lectures, either the shorter version or the longer one.
• The Large Catechism
• The Small Catechism, by itself.

Best of Melanchthon

• The Augsburg Confession
• Apology, on Justification

Best of Chemnitz

• The Formula of Concord, especially the Righteousness of Faith and the article on Election.
• Read carefully through Examination of the Council of Trent, any single volume, or
• The Two Natures in Christ is beautifully written and can be considered as a devotional work of the highest caliber.

Best American Lutherans - Learn These Authors To Realize Who Is Discarded Today

• Henry Eyster Jacobs - Doctrinal Outlines. Clear treatment of the Efficacy of the Word and the Means of Grace.
• Theodore Schmauk - Confessional Principles. He battled for Lutheran doctrine and had many wise things to say about issues we face today. So also with...
• C. P. Krauth. The Conservative Reformation.
• Johann Michael Reu. Lectures on Unionism. Read about your unionistic synod leaders. Reu knew the score. He was a little bit liberal at first and became conservative.
• RCH Lenski was rejected by his own Ohio (ALC) Synod and seminary, but he is read today - NT commentaries and also other books. 

From the Reader Who Ordered All of Luther's Sermons

 No there was one even worse in WELS,
comparing Jesus to the Energizer Bunny.
And the pastor was proud of it.

From the Layman Ordering All of Luther's Sermons

After wandering in the wilderness of various strands of Enthusiasm I believe I stand at last on solid ground, the Rock of Confessional Lutheranism,  which I take to be not really an "ism" at all, but in fact is the genuine Christianity as preached by the original Apostles, as sent forth by Christ Himself. 

I'm happy that you received much encouragement from my email. I believe that you do valuable work in seeing us through this current age of apostasy, an age which ultimately will collapse under the weight of its own ridiculous folly.

More Glimpses from the Past - The Sparky Brenner Hagiography - Jars of Clay

Roland Bainton, Yale University,
author of Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther

My approach to reading history is to look for the telling detail. However an author might organize his material, certain things give away the agenda.

I have three heroes in the field of history:

1. Thucydides -  History of the Peloponnesian War remains the greatest analytical history ever. Written 2400 years ago.
2. Gibbon - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. This is the greatest history written in the English language. The volumes came out as America was gaining independence, so it profoundly affected the American leaders who were trained in the classics. Imagine that today - political leaders fluent in Latin.
3. Roland Bainton - Many call him an anecdotal historian. He collected vast amounts of material first, using stories to capture key points he wanted to teach about a given era. Fortunately, I was able to meet him and hear him lecture several times. He helped me when I was writing my dissertation and offered to do some xeroxing for me. Imagine the pampered peacocks of higher education doing that today. Bainton knew 20+ languages, so I borrowed his method for teaching Latin, Greek, German, any language.

I appreciate John Sparky Brenner's work because any scribe, rummaging through the closets, will throw out precious bits of data, which are valuable - even when left on the floor.

I am enjoying the narratives about various WELS leaders of the past. Hoenecke is one of my favorites. He was not translated into English until nobody was left who cared about doctrine. Brenner told about Hoenecke defending the "correct" position on Election. Missouri loved that.

"Now. I. Am. Interested."

Yes, I am a Kenda fan. So I pick up the cigar butt left on the floor and wonder - "Why is it on the floor and not thrown away? Was it deliberate? Accidental? DNA? Brand? Smoking habits?" A cigar butt can be a file cabinet full of information to investigate.

The cigar butt in this instance in "the correct position on Election," which is dropped and left alone. The main point was that our WELS guy became an instant hero to Missouri. That is often stated, so this is more of a point in a seminary class.

The "correct position" is Walther's divisive obsession about Election without Faith - to provide some foundation for the quicksand of his Justification without Faith/UOJ/OJ/General Justification.  

For people in WELS and for the desperately seeking UOJ in Missouri, Hoenecke is magical. He is little known and seldom quoted because WELS did not want to translate his Dogmatics into English, then took 10 years to complete the project. But he is one more expert to add to the Synodical Conference UOJ roster.

Hoenecke's environment was mostly rationalistic, and he graduated from Halle University when rationalism was dominant. His mentor Tholuck was a Universalist. I see Hoenecke as a man who came a long long from his educational background and was far better in his work than F. Pieper.

I do not think we have anyone left who really knows the German and Latin sources, as Lenski and Hoenecke did. They are both invaluable for their use of sources.

Jarring Admission

Brenner does not like Schleiermacher being quoted so much by Hoenecke, but Schleiermacher was the man who made OJ/SJ come of age, theologically speaking, by dropping the SJ. Barth and all the modern theologians followed. Everyone is forgiven and saved - there is nothing else to say.

I would not put Hoenecke in the same camp as the foaming-at-the-mouth UOJ Enthusiasts. I found his section lukewarm on the subject, but he added a horrible notion to the dogma - OJ "protects the Gospel." Nothing "protects" the Word of God, which is always effective in carrying out and prospering His will. If a claim goes against the clear teaching of the Bible, it cannot be maintained as Christian.

For Justification by Faith we have the entire New Testament, the Augsburg Confession, the Apology, the Formula of Concord, and that special book commended by the Formula - Luther's Galatians Lectures. Chemnitz, Gerhard, and Calov are also clear and compelling, but the Synodical Conference was a muddle and now is united with ELCA in teaching Universalism.

Why Read Sparky's Jars of Clay

Those who want to make sense of WELS-ELS-LCMS claims should study the details of the past. It is easy for some to cite a self-serving story to prove their case, knowing that most are supposed to be in worshipful awe about well known figures, even if they are mostly forgotten. 

Remember that every WELS anecdote about the LCMS has the Missouri Synod in awe of the Wisconsin sect's superiority. However, I never saw a hint of that in the Missouri Synod. Listening to WELS story-telling will reveal that self-serving habit, learned in seminary, polished to a fine sheen from never being rebutted.

 You question the superiority of WELS?

If you question the myths, you are no longer in fellowship and deserving of the stink-eye, the shun button, or the Left Foot of Fellowship.