Looking for Unity When They All Despise the Chief Article? Another Case of Denial, Finger-Pointing, and Sanctimony

We are one with Liz Eaton, We are one with her bunch
And we pray that old Thrivent will pay for our lunch.
And they'll know we are Luthruns by OJ, by OJ,
And they'll know we are Luthruns by OJ.

Rev. Richard A. Bolland (Bolland) Advanced Member Username: Bolland Post Number: 815 Registered: 8-2001

Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2018 - 6:48 pm:       I have tried my best to keep up with Rev. Klawitter's case over time. I will have to say that this orthodox man was truly treated in a very shabby manner by the LCMS. It was a case of going after the "Whistle Blower" in a matter that really needed a whistle blown. He is most correct in his assertion that the Synod was misled by the current LCMS officials (inclusive of President Harrison), that this was a fellowship founded on full doctrinal agreement when, in fact, it was anything but. I can appreciate Rev. Klawitter's frustration at being shoved aside by people he thought should have recognized the correctness of his assertions respecting the LCN. Frankly I can't imagine being stuck overseas in a foreign country, being betrayed by one's own Synod, and stabbed in the back by one's fellow Confessionals with blades of apathy and indifference. BTW I will have to say that when the ACELC sent out its 2010 Letter of Fraternal Admonition we expected that the liberals in the LCMS would be less than welcoming, but we did not anticipate the vicious attacks that were leveled at us by the so-called Confessionals in our Synod. In many ways these attacks contained more vitriol than those coming from the left. [GJ - No Gospel, no Gospel fruits!]Thus I second Rev. Klawitter's assertion that if we do not stand together as Confessional men in the LCMS and support good faith efforts to reform, then there really is no future for us in the Synod. [OJ got you embracing ELCA, Fuller, and Willow Creek.] Finally, I will have to say that this is perhaps the main reason why I have put forward the idea of forming a new orthodox Synod. I have found little support (other than chat on a few websites), to do what actually needs to be done to correct the errors of our Synod. If there is no will to do the hard things necessary, then there is no hope for the LCMS to find the will to reform itself. If faithful, Confessional men will not engage in concerted action within the Synod, then we need a new Synod. As for the failures of ELDONA and the LCR, yes a failure could occur again. But what is actually be said here is that God cannot bless faithful men taking faithful action to retain the one true faith in an institutional context. The assertion that every such effort must end in failure is both illogical and faithless. If the assertion that all efforts to establish an orthodox Synod are doomed, then the LCMS never should have been formed by all of 16 congregations in 1847. “It does no good to say: I will gladly confess Christ and His Word in all articles except one or two which my tyrannical masters will not tolerate…but he who denies Christ in one article or word has in this one article denied the same Christ who would be denied in all articles; (Luther) [GJ - What is the Chief Article? Boland? Boland? Anyone? Anyone?]

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Mea Culpa

Studying Melanchthon teaches us to articulate the faith in Biblical terms, as he did with great - but simple - eloquence.

Here is my mea culpa on the topic of starting with the Scriptures. I was working on Thy Strong Word when I ran into a little essay by Egbert Schaller (same Schaller family, but largely unknown, I think). He said that Walther was not a Biblical theologian and that crippled his work. That jolted me from relying on quotations alone from famous theologians. 

I had to go through the Scripture passages and prove efficacy and the Means of Grace apart from quotations. I had to ask, "Does the Bible really teach the the Spirit is never without the Word and the Word is never without the Spirit?" So I built up material from the Scriptures that argued against the Biblical position of Luther.

I enjoyed the task, which is laid out in the first chapters of Thy Strong Word. I realized from that work that no one was doing this at all. Everyone was burying himself in his synod gurus and loyalty to the infallible sect.

Melanchthon contributed a lot that we do not really give him credit for, but his background in Aristotle and love for Greek culture started a trend toward the philosophical. Luther wanted Aristotle forgotten. As I recall, Melanchthon edited an edition of Aristotle after Luther died. It would be good to have the Manschrek bio of Melanchthon, The Quiet Reformer. He was a student of Bainton. Oh, I just found it and ordered it for myself - 99 cents. If we really want to understand the German Reformation, we also need to know and appreciate Melanchthon. His defense of JBFA in the Apology is superb - never mentioned by OJists.

2 Corinthians 5 is assuring the believers that this exchange, reconciliation is ongoing, Christ giving His righteousness through faith, our sins being drowned in a sea of grace. The genius of the OJists is to take an Atonement passage and make it OJ, always merged Atonement and JBFA, then denying OJ is the Atonement. Totally mixed up. That is why we have to unwind the debate and go back to the sources, the Scriptures, where your expert and my expert are silent and we only hear the plain Word.

My books are available free - public domain - here. Feel free to copy them and share them. No fees. No one will serve you papers. Just give credit, which is the foundation of academic honesty.

 I am waiting for the next wave of apostasy - Melanchthon taught OJ! You can prevent that by knowing his vital work for the Reformation. Luther and Melanchthon trained Chemnitz.

Keep Hiring the Destroyers - Their Salaries, Your Sin-Tax: Consider an Alternative to Synods

Keep hiring these destroyers: Matt the Fatt, Mirthless Mark, and Pope John the Malefactor. Replacements will be just the same. Ask the Otten political machine. In fact, the new ones tend to be even worse.

 Do the "conservatives" have a problem with this ELCA seminarian, certified for ordination, lip-syncing at Luther seminary? No, WELS is a leader in hosting drag events, from prep to the parish.

Someone named a concept I was thinking about for a long time. The name is Creative Destruction. People fear the loss of institutions, but those institutions are either outmoded - like Netscape - or they have destroyed themselves by betraying their constituents. The good part of the destruction is a new form that suits the individuals who abandoned the old one.

"Conservative" Lutheran leaders in sects - like LCMS, WELS, ELS, etc - gloried in the bounty coming when ELCA formed in 1987. I recall a Schaller column suggesting they would get 600,000 ELCA members disenchanted with the takeover of the radical Left. But the LCMS-WELS-ELS followed ELCA down the same path - closing parishes, shrinking seminaries, disastrous numbers, working with their ELCA colleagues at Fuller and Willow Creek, via Thrivent.

Mrs. Ichabod asks me about secular political villains - "Why do they keep doing crooked things when they are already in trouble and the NSA has the evidence?" My response is, "That is what got them there, and it is all they know - just like the synod leaders."

Creative Destruction
The synods are destroying themselves by rejoicing in Objective Justification, feeding the Church Growth parasite they invited to stay, getting even with everyone who dared to question them. (Ask Paul the Plagiarist and his pal Herman Otten for advice, tips, and strategies.)

 Children understand this too, but synod leaders do not.

This is all anyone can do, but it is a good start. 

The pastors and teachers can make their families and their local institutions an island where the Gospel Word is taught and practiced.

Parents have an endless supply of opportunities to teach their children from the earliest age. No other audience is so eager to learn and so able to take it all in. They can advance in their reading skills if they hear stories from the beginning, read early, and absorb a passion for learning, reading, researching. The first area is the Bible, with so much to learn, but the only book that energizes the reader to learn even more, with many blessings accompanying the practice.

What better way to combine efforts than to teach a new language - Latin, Greek, German, French, Spanish - while reading the Gospel of John? We did that in Latin and Greek, with no words written in, a German parsing guide, and Lenski for emergency help.

One IT expert was boasting to Little Ichabod about his knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. LI began conjugating a Hebrew verb. The expert said, "OK! OK!" But there are many other applications, such as being a father, teaching his children, and helping at his independent congregation.

One of the best lessons is time spent with the children. Parents who love spending time with their children - in only two decades - have children doing the same with theirs. Too many let their children become synod-orphans or parish-orphans. Mom and Dad may get many honors and positions that way, but titles and plaques are pretty hollow when people have nothing else.