Scaer - Refuted. Hale - Refuted. Walther - Refuted. Stephan - Refuted. Calvin - Refuted. Adventists - Refuted.

 Romans 4 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. 5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Chapter 5 - I John

4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Ichabod Reader Amused by Philip Hale's Book on Objective Justification. Does Heiser Know Hale? Did This Ever Come Up at The Fort?

According to Bishop James Rodham Heiser, he was not "cognizant" of Objective Justification until Paul Rydecki was kicked out of WELS in 2012. However, Heiser's favorite professor at Fort Wayne, David Scaer, is and was obsessed with OJ and settling that issue once and for all - Surviving the Storms.

Philip Hale graduated from "The Fort," where all the professors (except Walter A. Maier II) taught Objective Justification, following Pieper, Walther, Calvin, and the Jehovah's Witnesses. 

I have read with amusement the book by Philip Hale Aspects of Forgiveness: The Basis for Justification and its Modern Denial.

Chapter 18, "Justified for the sake of Faith, not Christ" is one of my favorites, full of fallacies and straw man arguments and Walther quotes! A brief sampling of excepts:

"Though, if justification is only tied to faith, there is no other aspect, rendering it incomplete without man’s involvement." p. 137 (Except no one that believes the Bible teaches that faith is in any way a work of man or that faith completes salvation - which are both false OJ claims.)

"But today, faith is what makes forgiveness real for many Protestants, so that ‘‘ faith itself becomes with them a meritorious human work.’’ p. 137

(UOJists to the crowd at Pentecost and the jailer at Philippi - don’t you know, you are already saved (and forgiven and justified and a saint)?!? Just believe it! The Bible to the same audience - "repent, be baptized, believe and you will be saved." The irony is that the faith that God creates in us IS what leads to our forgiveness, “repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” Acts 2:38)

"Justification by faith is a simplistic slogan. 'The expression, ‘we become righteous through faith,’ is a metonymy; that is, the container is here named in place of the content.'" (Hale quoting Walther)

"The traditional Lutheran phrasing is shorthand, but what was formerly assumed no longer can be, due to new errors." p. 137 

(Instead of correcting the errors by teaching what the Bible actually says, the UOJ gang feels that they need to protect the Bible and the Gospel by claiming that all are already justified - that will show them!)

"The phrase 'justified by faith alone’ is, at best, incomplete. It can be defined to not require the death of Christ, let alone His resurrection." 

(I don’t even know how to respond to this, complete nonsense.)

"In fact, the word ‘‘ justify’’ need not always be articulated, any more than the word ‘‘faith’’ is needed to actually bestow justification and faith in Christ. ‘‘ We do not say that one by necessity always has to use the expression: ‘the world is justified in Christ’ . . . for we know very well that this article of faith can be explained and represented completely and correctly by other words.’’ 

(This may be my favorite quote and it is Walther and ingenious! Since the UOJ camp cannot find one single verse in the entire Bible that says “the world is justified in Christ” or “God justifies the world” or “God forgave the world”, just use a quote from Walther that says no problem, you can use other phrases and words because that is all there is....pure gold)

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Does this read like a correction against those influenced by Calvin? Judge for yourself - do not rely on Hale to think for you.

 Does this read like a correction against those influenced by Calvin? Judge for yourself - do not rely on Walther to think for you.

 Imputation (counting) is the Greek word used for Abraham in Genesis 15:6 (LXX) and again in Romans 4. When are we counted forgiven? Before birth (Edward Preuss)? At the resurrection of Christ? (Halle's Rambach, Stephan, and Walther) 

Squirrels and Birds for the Creation Garden

Mama kicks the squirrel babies out when they need to forage on their own. They usually head for the bird-feeders, the Harvard and Yale of squirrel educations.

Squirrels made the all-time views list.

We are ready to declare an armistice. We have city-supplied garbage cans on wheels, so I decided to use those tops for extra food, whether eaten by squirrels or birds.

They were making a racket and destroying the hanging bird feeders, so I stopped filling them. Naturally, the squirrels concentrated their attention on the "squirrel-proof" feeders - quotation marks used to designate the irony.

The squirrels, whose IQ is easily thwarted by new plans, were delighted and spent plenty of time on the lids. Birds took their turns and they devoured all our old, extra food.

The pileated woodpecker gained about 7,000 views (not my photo). They are hard to find, but they were visible in Bella Vista, eating the bugs finishing off the oaks after a drought.

String the Birds Along

I found some loose twine, so I cut it into pieces and placed the remnants on the garbage cans. Part of the fun is seeing how quickly the string or twine disappears.

Birds love twine and other building materials for their nests. I have seen robins hopping on the ground, determined to keep their mouthful of leaves from me. One got the orange twine I put on the Crepe Myrtle tree, but dropped it on the flight up to the next. The robin dived down to get the fancy piece from the garden, flying high up in the front yard maple to add it.

Dryer lint is another favorite of birds, soft material to line their nests. Wire cages for suet work well to store lint. When we were poor, we borrowed lint from our neighbors. Now we have our own.

Birds need food least of all in the warm weather. They loves nesting materials and clean water for baths. Flight depends on cleaned, preened feathers, so they wash and perch on higher objects to finish their flight prep.

 Norma Boeckler's yard is an ideal place for birds - water, woods, gardens, and wild flowers.