Ichabod Lutheran Lexicon - Creation

 Raised without man-madechemicals and toxins, this Falling in Love rose is patrolled by beneficial insects and this tiny spider.

 This Easy-Does-It rose (center) bloomed spectacularly for our granddaughter's wedding, about 40 blooms on two bushes, May 19th, 2019.

Creation by the Word

Compromising Calvinists have undermined God’s Creation by the Word, ever since they decided that the Scriptures need to be reasonable and relevant.

Genesis 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

The more people place human reason above the revelation of God, the more they admire their intellect, the less they comprehend God’s mysteries revealed in the Word.

In Six Days

Rather than concede God’s power, the 19^th century scholars debated the length of a day in Genesis 1. The Hebrew word day (yom) being 24 hours long became the breaking point for many, their enlightened moment.

John 1

Since John 1 is a commentary on Genesis and the Pentateuch, the Spirit clearly reveals that the Son of God is the Logos, the Creating Word of Genesis 1.

John 1:3 All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.

The domino method of modern Biblical scholarship is to knock one down and watch in mock surprise as the others follow. In the 19^th century, Evolution judged Genesis 1 and found Creation wanting. Next, John’s Gospel was so doctrinal and compelling to believers that it had to be dismissed by rationalistic scholars as Hellenistic, late, unreliable, and symbolic rather than revealed truth.

But the domino method pays tribute to the truth – everything is linked together in the Bible, from beginning to end. Consequently, God’s Creation is all around us, an interdependent perfection revealed in its engineering and management. Those who find gardening with man-made chemical solutions will find great satisfaction in building an environment where all creatures can live, struggle, reproduce, and flourish as God intended.

The divine harmony of the Scriptures can be seen in the Son as the Creating Word using that Creation in His parables, each example so clear to those familiar with gardens, farms, and wildlife. This harmony naturally carries over to the language of our Faith.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature[1] [creation]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The Word created the universe in Six Days, and the Holy Spirit in the Gospel Word converts us into His New Creation.

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[1] Examples of the Greek word  as Creation - https://biblehub.com/greek/2937.htm

 He developed the Queen Elizabeth rose. A PhD in plant genetics, he taught the Creation of the universe in Six Days.

Two Copies of The Path To Understanding Justification Sent To Christian News.Time To End the Neglect

 This path was hidden by neglect - and covered with grass - for over 25 years, to such an extent that no one recalled even seeing it - much like Justification by Faith in WELS and the LCMS.

A free Kindle version of The Path To Understanding Justification is available here, if you qualify.

I am sending out copies now, but people can obtain a free Kindle if they click on the link above - and qualify for it.

Christian News is getting two (2) free copies to review. I know, they probably will not even mention it, because the book is not Babtist, Catholic, or OJ. But would they review if I did not send it? I doubt that, too.

One bonus comes from a research who shows how clearly LCMS taught Justification by Faith in the early days, in catechisms and doctrinal work. But LCMS switched to the opposite - World Justification without Faith - Objective Justification - and began persecuting those who taught the Chief Article of Christianity.

WELS did exactly the same thing. The Synodical Conference was united on Justification by Faith. Walther and his gang began the split which he bemoaned, and Pieper achieved the first stage of OJ triumph in the 1932 Brief Statement.

 Walther's nephew, Alfred Fuerbringer, read Luther and studied the Scriptures - in Hebrew and Greek - constantly. Does it show?

Luther - On Holy Baptism - From 2011

"Thus it appears what a great, excellent thing Baptism is, which delivers us from the jaws of the devil and makes us God's own, suppresses and takes away sin, and then daily strengthens the new man; and is and remains ever efficacious until we pass from this estate of misery to eternal glory."
The Large Catechism, Part Fourth, Of Baptism. #83. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 751. Tappert, p. 446.

The Cutting Edge - From 2012

AC V has left a new comment on your post "Bet on Bad Doctrine in the Age of Apostasy":

And this is a Lutheran Church? Just what I need on Sunday morning - a seminar on how to balance my checkbook. Check out Hope Lutheran Church (WELS) in Dousman, WI this Sunday, if you want to either be formed into a Pharisee or sent a guilt trip:

The Good Life. How could the richest nation on the planet, the nation with the most resources and the most opportunity be facing financial crisis? It's obvious isn't it? Isn't it the other political party? Or it's the current administration? Or it's the previous administration? Nope. The problem isn't in Washington. The problem is looking at you in the mirror. As we begin this series, we will discover that if our country is ever going to experience a recovery, it will start when the Christians begin paying attention to what God has taught us about how to handle financial responsibility.

http://hopeinjesus.org/

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Bet on Bad Doctrine in the Age of Apostasy":

(W)ELS is not using the Confessional Lutheran clergy to teach the next generation of Seminarians.

 They’re using the cutting edge New Age Emergent clergy like Ski, Glende, Patterson and Oldenburg.

(W)ELS Pastor Jerrod Oldenburg – Eternal Rock Lutheran Church, Castle Rock, Co.
State of the Church 2012

01:55 - (W)ELS “Seminary asked if (he) would come and talk to the students about what it takes to start a church”
04:45 – “People are the most important part of a church.”
05:20 – “In order for us to have any success in trying to build a church we have to make sure we’re on the same page.”
06:50 – “How can we set it up so we can do worship with excellence.”
07:00 - “We don’t have a baptismal font today, we’re working on trying to pick the right bowl.”
07:15 – “we’re doing this because we’re ultimately trying to build this launch pad.”
07:44 – “So we said, what is the best possible way that we can get people to learn in God’s Word, so we went back and forth and we ended up saying let’s do like some sort of small group kind of idea.”
07:55 - “Some people asked why don’t we have Bible study right away – well we kinda wanta make sure we do worship well. So then we went to bible study and we worked on that and we started doing Grow Groups. And we’ll talk about how this is kinda shaken out in the end. And we also wanted to do some Serve Activities.”
09:30 – “we have over 30 people signed up for Grow Groups.”
09:50 – “Service. You say well how many people do we want to serve? The number I use is 50%, now this is probably getting a little convoluted, but 50% of the average adult attendance, so if we have 35 people I’m hoping we have 18 people serving in church in some way. And you say that actually doesn’t make sense because as a church you say we want you to worship, we want you to grow, and Bible study be we also want you to serve so why do we only want 50%? Well one, if you serve at the women’s shelter I don’t get reports from that. I have no idea how many of you are outside of these doors going to do something in the community and I have no way to figure that out. So I can say, of our own people I’m shooting for 50%. And why don’t we have a 100% of our people serving in church every week? Does anyone lift weights…yeah, burnout that’s exactly it, if you lift weights you don’t actually grow…your breaking down your muscle fibers as I understand it, breaking them down, breaking them down and the only time that they grow is when they recover. And I think it’s the same thing as believers…”
12:30 – “So we said let’s reduce this as much as possible. I want to do three things, cause that’s like triune and really neat. We couldn’t do it. We got it down to four, worship, growth, serve and share. But there’s something interesting though, we’ve nailed number three, have we nailed number four, really well?”
29:00 – “So you draw your little rocket…so right above that write five names of people that you want to say I want to have intentional impact with this year. Just five names…put it some place where you’re going to remember…”
http://www.eternalrock.org/media.php?pageID=23

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/search?q=oldenburg

From Alec Satin - Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry - On Those Enthusiasts Who Run from the Scriptures

[20] Yea, with good reason I may say to you still further, because they have not been able to establish or to prove their text and interpretation, it is certain that they should not represent our text and interpretation as false. For, as remarked already, who can combat falsehood with certainty and success, unless he can elicit the truth which is opposed to that falsehood. Who can charge any thing as being wrong, who does not, on the other hand, point out that which is right?

 

In the nature of things light must dispel darkness; darkness cannot dispel darkness: and so too Beelzebub never drives out Satan. The Enthusiast knows and feels this profoundly; hence he steals around, like the cat around the hot panada [bread boiled to a pulp], and contends with savage fury, that our text and interpretation cannot be right; and he shuns and flies from the word of God, like Satan himself, that he may not be forced to prove his own text and interpretation right, for he feels in his conscience that he is not able to prove it.

 

From "Luther on the Sacraments".  A Dissertation On The Lord's Supper By Dr. Martin Luther. LutheranLibrary.org downloadable edition to be released July 2019.

Greek Lesson - Mark 5:21ff - The Young Girl and the Woman with the Flow

Jesus raising the young girl from death - by Norma A. Boeckler

Parser - tells us the I.D. of the word

Lenski's Mark Commentary - download as a PDF


ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 5:21

21 και διαπερασαντος του ιησου εν τω πλοιω παλιν εις το περαν συνηχθη οχλος πολυς επ αυτον και ην παρα την θαλασσαν

22 και ιδου ερχεται εις των αρχισυναγωγων ονοματι ιαειρος και ιδων αυτον πιπτει προς τους ποδας αυτου

23 και παρεκαλει αυτον πολλα λεγων οτι το θυγατριον μου εσχατως εχει ινα ελθων επιθης αυτη τας χειρας οπως σωθη και ζησεται

24 και απηλθεν μετ αυτου και ηκολουθει αυτω οχλος πολυς και συνεθλιβον αυτον

25 και γυνη τις ουσα εν ρυσει αιματος ετη δωδεκα

26 και πολλα παθουσα υπο πολλων ιατρων και δαπανησασα τα παρ εαυτης παντα και μηδεν ωφεληθεισα αλλα μαλλον εις το χειρον ελθουσα

27 ακουσασα περι του ιησου ελθουσα εν τω οχλω οπισθεν ηψατο του ιματιου αυτου

28 ελεγεν γαρ οτι καν των ιματιων αυτου αψωμαι σωθησομαι

29 και ευθεως εξηρανθη η πηγη του αιματος αυτης και εγνω τω σωματι οτι ιαται απο της μαστιγος

find the Xerox word.

30 και ευθεως ο ιησους επιγνους εν εαυτω την εξ αυτου δυναμιν εξελθουσαν επιστραφεις εν τω οχλω ελεγεν τις μου ηψατο των ιματιων

31 και ελεγον αυτω οι μαθηται αυτου βλεπεις τον οχλον συνθλιβοντα σε και λεγεις τις μου ηψατο

32 και περιεβλεπετο ιδειν την τουτο ποιησασαν

33 η δε γυνη φοβηθεισα και τρεμουσα - ειδυια ο γεγονεν - επ αυτη ηλθεν και προσεπεσεν αυτω και ειπεν αυτω πασαν την αληθειαν

34 ο δε ειπεν αυτη θυγατερ η πιστις σου σεσωκεν σε υπαγε εις ειρηνην και ισθι υγιης απο της μαστιγος σου

hygiene

35 ετι αυτου λαλουντος ερχονται απο του αρχισυναγωγου λεγοντες οτι η θυγατηρ σου απεθανεν τι ετι σκυλλεις τον διδασκαλον

36 ο δε ιησους ευθεως ακουσας τον λογον λαλουμενον λεγει τω αρχισυναγωγω μη φοβου μονον πιστευε

37 και ουκ αφηκεν ουδενα αυτω συνακολουθησαι ει μη πετρον και ιακωβον και ιωαννην τον αδελφον ιακωβου

38 και ερχεται εις τον οικον του αρχισυναγωγου και θεωρει θορυβον κλαιοντας και αλαλαζοντας πολλα

39 και εισελθων λεγει αυτοις τι θορυβεισθε και κλαιετε το παιδιον ουκ απεθανεν αλλα καθευδει

40 και κατεγελων αυτου ο δε εκβαλων απαντας παραλαμβανει τον πατερα του παιδιου και την μητερα και τους μετ αυτου και εισπορευεται οπου ην το παιδιον ανακειμενον

41 και κρατησας της χειρος του παιδιου λεγει αυτη ταλιθα κουμι ο εστιν μεθερμηνευομενον το κορασιον σοι λεγω εγειραι

42 και ευθεως ανεστη το κορασιον και περιεπατει ην γαρ ετων δωδεκα και εξεστησαν εκστασει μεγαλη

43 και διεστειλατο αυτοις πολλα ινα μηδεις γνω τουτο και ειπεν δοθηναι αυτη φαγειν

1550 Stephanus New Testament (TR1550)

Give-Away Starts Today - Kindle Version of The Path To Understanding Justification

 The Path To Understanding Justification -
was buried and obscured by neglect.

I have made it possible for new readers to get the Kindle version of The Path To Understanding Justification - for FREE!

It lasts 7 days, and it is only for the USA. You can still get the free PDF, but Kindle is handy for a lot of reasons.

The information has gone live!

Free Kindle version - if you qualify. Check out the link.

https://www.amazon.com/ga/p/0d3c5cb4876cb5d7?ref_=pe_1771210_134854370

 Will the LCMS candidates for Synod President be able to explain this verses, which anchor the doctrine of Justification by Faith?

LutherQuest (sic) Surrenders, Runs Away from Facing Genesis 15:6, Romans 4, and Galatians 3. Now the Boo-Hoo Babies Have Buried the Justification Thread

LutherQuest (sic) indulges its poorly educated denizens - letting them use puerile name-calling, bad information, and evasive maneuvers to avoid the facts of Biblical doctrine. They seem to be deeply disturbed by The Path To Understanding Justification by Faith (free PDF at the link).

 LutherQueasies do not get this, because they are wedded to the Calvinism and Pietism of Stephan and Walther. 

Update - Now they have buried the thread on Justification that they started, a tactic used before when someone said the wrong thing, such as Rolf Preus admitting that forgiveness only comes through faith.

Camp Forgiveness without Faith.
Experts on what is not Gospel preaching.

Graphics Are Powerful

God Landscapes My Garden - Yours Too. Big Project Managed by Ranger Bob and Sassy

 Hidden Lily was killed by the zero temps last winter, until it came up again.

A constant lesson of Creation Gardening is this - God does the landscaping. No matter what we plant, the forces of Nature (as some call it) will dominate the final outcome.

Our neighborhood is blessed with nut trees, squirrels, and rabbits.
Plenty of living space is above for the squirrels and in the bushes for the rabbits.

Birds built the green fence that blocks the view of our unused backyard (the farthest segment) and our neighbor's yards. All I did was build a rustic fence from logs. The birds perching there planted their favorite foods, and the rains boosted the growth. I added two elderberry plants, which are now nine feet tall and filled with sunflower like blooms, ready to convert into berries. Ranger Bob, who is an experienced landscaper, said it is perfect.

 Sassy is not a digger. One dog park friend taught his dog to dig, and that dog never stopped digging.

In the past I did a lot of mulching with newspaper, cardboard, and shredded wood. The heavy rains have proved that newspaper simply turns into soup and leverages weed growth. Cardboard does not last much longer. However, they do add plenty of organic mass to the top soil, and the soil creatures never complain.

The hay bail garden worked great - for the slugs - since I refused to poison everything to keep down slugs. I even wore a giant slug inside the house, after bending over near the wet bushes one night.

The butterfly garden was another success - for the rabbits. They ate most of the young plants I set out last fall. Comfrey, Joe Pye, and the Hidden Lily survived. That patch is so remote that rabbits gather there for food fests, socializing, and shelter.

Ranger Bob argued for a metal strip to edge our mulch-rich rose garden on two sides, to keep the driveway and sidewalk neater. That was the intended project yesterday. Sassy took up her station, in the shade, and watched everything happening on the block.

But lo, Bob brought his weed-eater, after deciding to cut back the grass growth in the rose garden. He kept the lethal line away from good plants and leveled the luxurious growth of the weeds. Our last rainfall was about six inches, and we have one more rain expected this week. His mechanical work gave me the freedom to removed some dead rose stumps and weeds intertwined with other plants.

We finished by installing some of the garden-edge material along the driveway.

Some spectacular results from the Creator so far this year:
Wild Strawberries are well established and large in the front and back;

• Roses are growing fast, attracting pests, which will attract more beneficial insects and spiders;
• Fever Few is blooming and five feet high;
• Daisies are ready to bloom;
• Bee Balm is especially tall and blooming;
• Borage (bee bread) and Buckwheat are blooming;
• Cat Mint bloomed early and continuously.

Hardly anyone grasps the concept of sheltering beneficial bugs and spiders to wipe the pests, which are in the minority. Plant it - and they will come - Fever Few, Daisies, Sunflowers, and mints.

Ichabod Lutheran Lexicon - Church Growth and Fuller Seminary and Barth-Kirschbaum

Church Growth Movement – Donald McGavran

The Church Growth Movement began with Donald McGavran. This highly organized and lavishly funded plague has been portrayed as doctrinally neutral or conservative in Christian values. McGavran belonged to the extreme leftist denomination, the Disciples of Christ, which began as a way of united all denominations and promptly split into four warring factions. McGavran received a Disciples education and, like many missionary children, graduated from Yale Divinity School, certainly the epitome of New England liberal trends, though less radical than Harvard and Union. McGavran omitted his PhD in sociology from Columbia University from his autobiographical lectures.[1]

The ALC-LCA-ELCA leaders tumbled for Church Growth, and so did WELS-LCMS-ELS. Mission funds and AAL-LB insurance donations made sessions at Fuller safe, legal, and effective. Objective Justification, which is shared among the mainline denominations and all the Lutheran, made the faux-neutral aspect of Church Growth ideal for the leaders, and the conservative claims made Church Growth appealing to uninformed laity.

Thus began the apostates’ Long March[2] through the Protestant denominations of American and the Roman Catholic Church. Congregations were no longer places of worship but marketing centers to be studied by sociologists. A drive-by D.Min. degree from Fuller Seminary is the ticket for denominational advancement and rewarded with undeserved academic positions.

Fuller Seminary

Although the school has a conservative reputation, that is only in comparison with the Disciples schools, such as their seminary at Butler, operating jointly with the Unitarians.[3] McGavran was invited to move his Institute of Church Growth to Fuller Seminary in 1965, after Fuller’s repudiation of inerrancy. That faux-conservative stance was watered down in the original version, so they subsequently treated inerrancy and sound doctrine as superfluous burdens for world and domestic missions. Several additional influences should be noted. Robert Schuller’s Garden Grove Community Church and Hour of Power TV broadcasts certainly influenced Fuller Seminary. Anything that worked, apart from the efficacious Word, was hailed as a Church Growth Principle.

Karl Barth and His Mistress Charlotte Kirschbaum

Two key figures at Fuller Seminary studied under Karl Barth and his mistress Charlotte Kirschbaum in Switzerland. The students and theological leaders knew of the mistress living in Barth’s family home. Barth-Kirschbaum were eager to adulterate their Calvinistic doctrine, which was bad enough, but it was mixed with Marxist dialectic, adding a hypnotic effect on those who favored the Bible containing God’s Word but not being God’s Word.

Fuller Seminary’s theologian continues to be Barth-Kirschbaum, whose deadly effect continues to wear Protestantism down to Unitarianism or worse.

Paul Y. Cho and C. Peter Wagner

One Church Growth ingredient to consider is the Pentecostal-Occult influence of Paul (now David) Cho and C. Peter Wagner. The far side of entertainment evangelism is the concept of attracting people through claims of miraculous manipulating God’s universe to benefit those with arcane knowledge of how to handle the spiritual powers (The Fourth Dimension, Wagner) who gladly obey orders.

Wagner, for all his charismatic clowning, should be honored for saying, “Church Growth Principles do not work.” Nevertheless, this vast movement of apostasy has achieved what an outsider never could have done. Every denomination is poisoned and shrinking after 65 years of Church Growth, degenerate Calvinism, and occult magick.

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[1] Dr. Donald Mc Gavran    A Brief History of the Church Growth Movement,  Lecture 5, The Final Lectures

Cited in   http://drboborr.blogspot.com/2015/05/a-brief-history-of-church-growth.html

[2] The Long March in China marked the beginning of Mao’s genocidal political control.

[3] McGavran earned his B.A. at Butler, founded as a Disciples of Christ school.

 Downplaying? Downplaying? John Sparky Brenner would not answer why their precious theological journal printed this lie, except to say, "Write a letter." I then asked, "Does anyone edit that journal?"

Ichabod Lutheran Lexicon - Initial Entries Will Be Made

 Samuel Johnson, English genius and Christian, graces the introduction to the Ichabod Lutheran Dictionary because he used his freedom to have fun with words and to omit words he detested.

Ichabod Lutheran Lexicon

Intuitu Fidei – In View of Faith

The term intuitu fidei comes from shortening the phrase “in view of the merits of Christ apprehended by faith.” Nothing is wrong with the longer or shorter phrase, but it does show a weakness in Lutheran scholasticism, using Latin terms to wax philosophical. That is a dangerous weapon.

Inuitu Fidei

The Appleton WELS version is inuitu fidei, which apparently means “the faith of the Inuits, or Eskimo.” That may be a nod to Edward Preuss who claimed the Hottentotts and Eskimeaux were justified, without hearing the Gospel or believing.

In Few of Faith

A fervent supporter of one discussion blog called it “in few of faith,” which seems to describe the Objective Justification faction with great precision.

Unfortunately, the original term is used in a prejudicial way to make Justification by Faith seem to be false doctrine of the worst kind. In fact, the Chief Article is hated so much by the Objective Justification lobby that it is called Calvinistic, Arminian, and Pietistic.

 

 

Ichabod

Ichabod comes from the Hebrew, meaning “the glory has departed” from Israel.

1 Samuel 4 21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.

The name of the blog came from a sainted WELS pastor calling Detroit – “The Ichabod District - the glory has departed.” Ichabod was a good name for a blog devoted to polemics against the final era for man – The Age of Apostasy. An apostate is not an atheist in the pure sense, but someone who was once a Christian believer but has fallen away from the Faith.

2 Thessalonians 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away (apostasia in Greek) first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Mrs. Ichabod

It is the custom of bloggers to name family members after the blog, in some cases for privacy. Therefore, Mrs. Ichabod is the wife and encourager of the blogger.

Little Ichabod

The name seems outgrown, but that is the name of the son who did so much to encourage education in computer science, which led to online education teaching, which led to website design and social media – blogging, Facebook, Ustream, and more to come.

Ichaboat and Ichabode

The 1994 Lincoln Town Care, which served 10 years and went to another owner, is the Ichaboat, for its size and deluxe splendor. The Ichabode is wherever the family lives.

Justification by Faith – The Chief Article of Christianity

Those who despise the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace are by default opponents of Biblical, Lutheran doctrine. Nothing is distinctively Lutheran about Justification by Faith, except that so many sects oppose it, leaving the article to the Lutherans and now to a small and despised group within those dwindling groups. Justification is a clear word, the act of God making a declaration of forgiveness. Starting with Abraham in Genesis 15:6 and continuing with the patriarch as the prime example of Justification by Faith in Romans 4, Galatians 3, Hebrews 11, and many other places. This plain concept means that the Gospel Promises effectively create faith in one’s heart, and one is declared forgiven through this God-given faith.

Objective Justification

Objective Justification is the favorite term among those who also say General Justification, Justification of the World, and Justification of the Sinner. In each example, the declaration of God is the justification, but this is consistently the absolution of the entire world, without regard to faith. Objective Justification is not the Atonement, but the terms are mixed up among the adherents, who should be cautioned about wielding the weapon of the Word. Some derive the universal absolution from the cross, though the Holy Spirit is silent about this event. Others deduce it from a false, Pietistic reading of 1 Timothy 3:16, which makes the empty grave the declaration of universal forgiveness. This results in two conflicting moments of absolution, two different causes of an absolution never mentioned anywhere until Calvinism and Pietism arrived in the fulness of time.

Subjective Justification

Many try to market Subjective Justification as Justification by Faith, but Walther and JP Meier, giants of confusion and error, present Subjective Justification as making a decision in favor of universal forgiveness without faith – Objective Justification.

Warming Up the Tar and Feathers - Must Read - From 2012. LutherQuest at Their Hilarious Worst. Navigation Links Bonus

Karl Pierson (Karl_pierson) Senior Member Username: Karl_pierson Post Number: 1587 Registered: 1-2009

Posted on Saturday, October 06, 2012 - 4:53 pm:       I just heard that the WELS has suspended a pastor by the name of Rydecki for denying objective justification. Does anyone have the facts?

Kirk Meyer (Kirk) Member Username: Kirk Post Number: 104 Registered: 2-2002

Posted on Saturday, October 06, 2012 - 7:49 pm:       The following papers and letters, produced by Rev. Rydecki, would shed some light on the matter from his perspective: Emmanuel Lutheran Church Resources

Louis Benoit (Louis) Intermediate Member Username: Louis Post Number: 278 Registered: 12-2010

Posted on Saturday, October 06, 2012 - 5:43 pm:       Karl, a group calling itself Intrepid Lutherans reports on Rev. Paul Rydecki's suspension from the WELS this past week.

Kirk Meyer (Kirk) Member Username: Kirk Post Number: 104 Registered: 2-2002

Posted on Saturday, October 06, 2012 - 7:49 pm:       The following papers and letters, produced by Rev. Rydecki, would shed some light on the matter from his perspective: Emmanuel Lutheran Church Resources

Karl Pierson (Karl_pierson) Senior Member Username: Karl_pierson Post Number: 1588 Registered: 1-2009

Posted on Saturday, October 06, 2012 - 10:48 pm:       Well, that pretty much says it. Paul Rydecki denies objective justification. What does he make of 2 Cor. 5:19: "... in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them..."? How can God count their trespasses against them if according to the Scriptures he does not count their trespasses against them? What does he make of John 1:29: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"? How can the Lamb of God not away the sin of the world if according to Scripture he does take away the sin of the world? Good choice, WELS! Good choice!

GJ - Polish the thumb screws and dust off the rack.

Daniel Gorman (Heinrich) Senior Member Username: Heinrich Post Number: 1613 Registered: 11-2004

Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 12:24 am:       Karl Pierson: "Paul Rydecki denies objective justification." You are entitled to your opinion based on Rev. Rydecki's public writings. I have not evaluated them as yet. According to the Intrepid article, Rev. Rydecki was suspended "on the charge of teaching the “false doctrine” of Justification by Faith Alone not for denying "objective justification." I went to the WELS Az-Ca District website and could not find any information regarding the cause of Rev. Rydecki's suspension. If WELS Az-Ca District suspended Pr. Rydecki, the district should promptly disclose the reason for Pr. Rydecki's suspension and publicly refute his errors so that others are not misled.

Joe Krohn (Jekster) Member Username: Jekster Post Number: 91 Registered: 4-2011

Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 12:32 am:       This is an unfortunate and sad story that can be attributed, at least in this writers opinion that the Jacksonian sect has had an affect on Pr. Rydecki and serves as a warning to mark and avoid Jackson and his followers. (The Ichabodians are claiming victory this evening...) These guys scoff at the universal reconciliation and redemption of the world and refuse to address the 'intuitu fidei' issue as espoused by Lenski. I don't believe that Pr. Rydecki denies objective justification, but rather the sloppy teaching of OJ in parts of the WELS as this ex-WELsian can prove by his suspension scars...

Daniel Baker (Livinthehylife) New member Username: Livinthehylife Post Number: 5 Registered: 10-2011

Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 1:41 am:       Ah, yes, someone thinks it's unbiblical to say that the reprobate have been forgiven and declared righteous - must be brainwashed by Greg Jackson. Please.

Karl Pierson (Karl_pierson) Senior Member Username: Karl_pierson Post Number: 1589 Registered: 1-2009	Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 8:53 am:       From "The Biblical Doctrine of Justification on One Page:" God credits the righteousness of Christ only to those who believe in Jesus, and thus justifies only those who believe in Jesus. (John 3:16-18, 36; Luke 18:14; Acts 13:39; Rom. 3:26; 4:5; 10:10; Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:8-9) These are Paul Rydecki's words, Daniel Gorman. Check out his sermon entitled: "Faith is the difference between those who are justified and those who are not." The sermon is mostly good, except that he confuses law and gospel by rendering the gospel as a description of persons having faith rather than God justifying sinners. Joe, I think I know what you are talking about when you speak of "the sloppy teaching of OJ in parts of WELS." It goes something like this: "God has forgiven all the sins you have ever committed, all the sins you are committing right now, and all the sins you are about to commit in the future." That may be an exaggeration, but sometimes you walk away with that impression. And, while the statement is technically true, it's not good penitential preaching. Well, the opposite must be avoided too. To describe faith as the conditio sine qua non for receiving Christ's righteousness is not false, but in the proclamation of the universal gospel, this conditio is often used as a preacher's crutch, a third leg between law and gospel, in order to avoid the cultivation of hypocrisy--as if such were the preacher's task to begin with. And, in the case of Paul Rydecki, the opposite has resulted in a categorical denial of objective justification.
Franz Linden (Franz_mann) Senior Member Username: Franz_mann Post Number: 1338 Registered: 12-2004	Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 2:57 pm:       Karl Pieron writes: To describe faith as the conditio sine qua non for receiving Christ's righteousness is not false, but in the proclamation of the universal gospel, this conditio is often used as a preacher's crutch, a third leg between law and gospel, in order to avoid the cultivation of hypocrisy--as if such were the preacher's task to begin with. This is a very good point. Just as it is not the responsibility of the preacher of the Gospel to make the people correct their behavior, it is also not the responsibility of the preacher of the Gospel to keep people from being hypocrites. They are two sides of the same coin. Franz
Dick Rockenbach (Drock) Senior Member Username: Drock Post Number: 1789 Registered: 11-2004	Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 4:11 pm:       "Just as it is not the responsibility of the preacher of the Gospel to make the people correct their behavior, it is also not the responsibility of the preacher of the Gospel to keep people from being hypocrites. They are two sides of the same coin." But it is the Preachers responsibilty to use the Law to drive them to repentance and restore them with the Gospel (Luther- Pless "what Luther says". It is also his responsibility to make clear who is under the Grace of God and who is not Walther- Proper Distinction of Law & Gospel 12th, 13th 23rd & (29th?). It would seem to me that those who deny OJ are attempting to do that but in the error of rejecing OJ in the effort to teach the Truth of SJ. Walther > But to preach properly is difficult. For this reason a student of theology ought to make proper preaching his highest aim. For if he is unable to preach, he does not belong in the ministry. In our orthodox Church a servant of God is a minister of Jesus Christ, and his worth does not lie in a certain undefined quality that has been imparted to him at his ordination or consecration, in something that other people have not and which, for that reason, makes him such a sacrosanct and precious person. By no means; the worth of a true minister of the Church lies exclusively in his ability to preach properly. If he has not this ability, the pulpit is not the place for him; for the pulpit is for preaching. Preaching is the central element of every divine service. What is to be effected by preaching? Bear in mind that the preacher is to arouse secure souls from their sleep in sin; next, to lead those who have been aroused to faith; next, to give believers assurance of their state of grace and salvation; next, to lead those who have become assured of this to sanctification of their lives; and lastly, to confirm the sanctified and to keep them in their holy and blessed state unto the end. What a task! A preeminent point that we must not forget is this: To achieve this task, it is especially necessary rightly to divide the truth, as the apostle says, or properly to divide the Law and the Gospel from each other. When a person does not understand how to do this and always mingles either doctrine into the other, his preaching is utterly futile, in vain. More than this, a preacher of this kind does harm and leads the souls of men astray; he leads them to a false faith, a false hope, a false contrition, makes them mere hypocrites, and frequently hurls them into despair. To divide Law and Gospel properly is a very, very difficult task. As Luther says, all preachers cannot but remain mere apprentices in this art until death. Nevertheless, a young theologian must be able to recite at least the first lesson in this curriculum. He must know the goal that he is to reach, and he must have made a start in reaching the goal. Walther, C. F. W., Dau, W. H. T., & Eckhardt, E. (2000). The proper distinction between law and gospel: 39 evening lectures (electronic ed.) (248–249). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
Louis Benoit (Louis) Intermediate Member Username: Louis Post Number: 279 Registered: 12-2010	Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 6:33 pm:       The idea that objective justification militates against justification through faith alone is based on pure confusion. Precisely the opposite is the case. Anyone who rejects objective justification rejects justification through faith alone. He may believe in justification because of faith, but he doesn't believe in justification through faith. If justification is through faith it must precede faith. Duh! This isn't rocket science. But Rydecki denies that justification precedes faith. Therefore it is he, not the WELS, that denies justification through faith alone. Intrepid Lutherans, my eye! [GJ - Get out the rack. Now! Celebrate the Reformation the old-fashioned way: burning Lutherans at the stake.]
Karl Pierson (Karl_pierson) Senior Member Username: Karl_pierson Post Number: 1590 Registered: 1-2009	Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 6:58 pm:       Well said, Louis. What a strange monster the Jacksonites have made of faith! Faith, and not *justification* by faith, has become their chief doctrine. And that will lead to Schleiermachian self-delusion, if not in them, then in their hearers. I pray that Rydecki recants and repents, for his own sake and for his sheep's sake. [GJ - Read the Cliff Notes on Schleiermacher? He was OJ, too, Mr. Anonymous Fake Name.]
Christian Schulz (Schulzcj) New member Username: Schulzcj Post Number: 1 Registered: 10-2012	Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 7:00 pm:       Justification is the imputation of Christ's righteousness to the sinner. How on earth is that objective, Louis? How was I imputed with Christ's righteousness prior to my God-given faith? Justification by faith alone is not rocket science. We are accounted righteous and holy when we receive faith from the Holy Spirit. Not hard. However, saying that the whole world has been justified (imputed with Christ's righteousness) prior to faith is ludicrous -- that is, if we're running with how Scripture and the Confessions define justification. This is simple, simple stuff -- sola fide, sola fide, sola fide. There is no other justification except the one and only justification and imputation of Christ's righteousness by faith alone.
Daniel Baker (Livinthehylife) New member Username: Livinthehylife Post Number: 6 Registered: 10-2011	Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 7:29 pm:       "If we want to be Dresden Lutherans, then we will teach justification by faith alone as the chief article of the Christian faith. The justification of the poor sinner before God is presented explicitly and quite exhaustively in the Lutheran Confessions (and by other 16th Century Lutheran theologians) as including four key components, without any of which the poor sinner is not, in any sense, justified before God: 1) the grace of God, 2) the merit of Christ, 3) the means of grace, and 4) faith in Christ. The Confessions do not speak of a sense in which all sinners have already been justified before God whether they believe in Christ or not, nor do I believe the Scriptures to teach such a thing, yet such is commonly heralded among Lutherans today as the “central teaching of the Bible.” I contend that our Dresden forefathers did not miss anything or take anything for granted in this chief article of the Christian faith. Forgiveness of sins, life and salvation were, indeed, won for all people by Christ on the cross, through His merit alone. But no one is forgiven, justified, made alive or saved apart from the means of grace and apart from faith in Christ, which is graciously worked by the Holy Spirit. Dresden Lutherans would never think of qualifying Luther’s battle cry, “Faith alone justifies!”, with “Yes, but, only in a subjective sense, since we know that all people are already justified without faith!" (Rev. Paul Rydecki, "Do We Want To Be Dresden Lutherans?", P.10).

6-20-2011 - email from Joe Krohn:

Most laity are not aware of this doctrine.  They have been lulled to sleep by it for some time now.  I went round and round with my dear mom last evening.  She is WELS.  She has a real skewed idea of how forgiveness works now…much different from what she taught us as kids.  Since OJ says that all are forgiven prior to faith and repentance, we must now forgive everyone regardless of if they are sorry or not.  Sound like ELCA?

Letter off to DP Glaeske and the Patterson cult tonite…hard certified copies in the mail tomorrow…

Keep up the fight!

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Warming Up the Tar and Feathers on LutherQuest. No...":

Following Joe Krohn's reconversion to Universal Justification Without Faith (UJWF) he has been twice the son of his father below in his name calling, rage and baseless accusations.

Dr. Cruz and I just completed another round with him on Extra Nos where Joe was trumpeting his singularly sourced universal reconciliation UOJ doctrine - which was firmly trounced by the Christian Book of Concord. Joe used a BOC sentence which bestowed both reconciliation and eternal salvation in the same sentence. He wants to apply the reconciliation to the whole world but not take responsibility for the eternal salvation (Universalism) caused by his taking the sentence out of context.

Discussion can be read here:

http://extranos.blogspot.com/2012/09/uojers-are-huberites-their-denials-are.html

With a chief doctrine like UOJ, who needs enemies. The doctrine is so entirely contradictory it practically defeats itself as long as the UOJists just keep talking.

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David Becker has left a new comment on your post "Warming Up the Tar and Feathers on LutherQuest. No...":

I notice that on Lutherquest "Karl Pierson" (which I guess is a pseudonym) writes:

"From 'The Biblical Doctrine of Justification on One Page:'

"God credits the righteousness of Christ only to those who believe in Jesus, and thus justifies only those who believe in Jesus. (John 3:16-18, 36; Luke 18:14; Acts 13:39; Rom. 3:26; 4:5; 10:10; Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:8-9)

"These are Paul Rydecki's words..."

What is wrong with Paul Rydecki's words there? Nothing.

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Franz Linden (Franz_mann) Senior Member Username: Franz_mann Post Number: 1339 Registered: 12-2004

Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 8:04 pm:       Uh ohh! Here we go again. Actually, I am being a bit facitious. I think it important that we have this out every opportunity we get. So... Christian Schulz writes: There is no other justification except the one and only justification and imputation of Christ's righteousness by faith alone. By that statement, Mr. Schulz, you have just made your faith the object of your faith because, according to your statement, faith must precede justification. If faith precedes justification, it has nothing in which to believe except itself. It's not only unScriptural, which is most important, but it is also non-sensical. Faith is the passive reception of God's Gospel declaration that your sins are forgiven because the sins of the world were taken away when Christ bore them on the cross. To be forgiven is to be declared righteous. Your assertion turns faith upon itself by making it some legal thing that you must obtain before you can possess righteousness. So you must conclude, to be consistent, that your faith is the cause of your salvation and that salvation is not entirely by grace. We who cling to the doctrine of objective justification do not deny justification by grace through faith. Objective justification establishes it because it keeps the proper definition of faith, which, again, is the passive reception of God's declaration. If God didn't declare it, faith has nothing to receive.  Franz [GJ - Very David Scaer-like.]

Daniel Baker (Livinthehylife) New member Username: Livinthehylife Post Number: 7 Registered: 10-2011

Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 8:13 pm:       Hogwash. Faith clings to Christ and His merits. His all-sufficient obedience has obtained forgiveness, life, and salvation for all people. These certainly precede faith and are what faith receives. But in no blessed sense does this equate to the heresy of universal justification.

Karl Pierson (Karl_pierson) Senior Member Username: Karl_pierson Post Number: 1591 Registered: 1-2009

Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 8:19 pm:       "His all-sufficient obedience has obtained forgiveness, life, and salvation for all people." - Daniel Baker That is the definition of objective justification. [GJ - KP needs to study his own dogma better.]

Daniel Baker (Livinthehylife) New member Username: Livinthehylife Post Number: 8 Registered: 10-2011

Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 8:23 pm:       False. The definition of objective justification is that God "has declared [all sinners] righteous for the sake of Christ." There is a difference between Christ possessing forgiveness, life, and salvation for all men, and God making an ineffective declaration of righteousness for the reprobate. The former is biblical Christianity. The latter is a damnable heresy of the grossest sort.

Christian Schulz (Schulzcj) New member Username: Schulzcj Post Number: 2 Registered: 10-2012

Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 8:28 pm:       Faith relies on Christ as Mediator, the propitiation, the Mercy Seat, His merits -- all as Daniel said. I said faith is God-given. Faith is that thing which God declares to be righteous. (Ap IV, 89) How is it at all a work of man when FAITH IS GIVEN BY GOD? If anything "objective justification" makes an individual look inward to his faith. If my justification is no different than the heathen, damned, unbeliever next to me, then all I have is to look at myself, my good works, and my faith because we're all justified anyway -- there's no difference between me and the unbeliever...God forgave them too, even though the holy spirit never brought them to repentance and faith. "The very voice of the Gospel is this, that by faith (C.S. - in Christ as the Mediator and Mercy Seat) we obtain the remission of sins." (Ap XII, 2) The voice of the Gospel is not, "you're already forgiven, just believe it! And then go tell your unrepentant neighbor that he's righteous too!"

Louis Benoit (Louis) Intermediate Member Username: Louis Post Number: 280 Registered: 12-2010	Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 9:35 pm:       Here is what we Lutherans confess in the Augsburg Confession: Our churches also teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works but are freely justified for Christ’s sake through faith when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven on account of Christ, who by his death made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in his sight (Rom. 3-4). Pay attention, Christian Schulz and Daniel Baker. Pay attention to the verb believe and the noun faith in order to learn what is the object of faith. According to AC IV men are freely justified through faith when they believe what? When they believe “that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven on account of Christ, who by his death made satisfaction for our sins.” This is what faith believes. It believes that we are received into favor and that our sins are forgiven on account of Christ, who by his death made satisfaction for our sins. When we speak of faith we are speaking of subjective justification. This faith God imputes for righteousness in his sight. What faith? The faith that believes that his sins are forgiven. “Are forgiven” is a reference to objective justification. There can be no subjective justification without a prior objective justification, for faith must have something to believe in. Anyone who denies objective justification denies justification by faith alone.
Franz Linden (Franz_mann) Senior Member Username: Franz_mann Post Number: 1340 Registered: 12-2004	Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 9:36 pm:       Mr. Schulz, How did God give faith? Through the Word, right? Right! What word? The Gospel. Faith is created by and believes the Gospel. If God only justifies the believer, then justification must be something apart from the Gospel because the Gospel most certainly precedes faith. But it's not. Justication (sic) is the Gospel, and the Gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, and this faith comes by hearing the Gospel it believes. If it comes by hearing the Gospel it believes then the Gospel must precede faith which means that justification must precede faith because it is the Gospel which saves. Franz
Louis Benoit (Louis) Intermediate Member Username: Louis Post Number: 281 Registered: 12-2010	Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 9:37 pm:       What I am asking you two men to do is to take AC IV literally. It was crafted carefully and presents the biblical doctrine accurately. What does justifying faith believe? That's what you must consider. If you do so honestly, you will see that subjective justification requires objective justification.
Franz Linden (Franz_mann) Senior Member Username: Franz_mann Post Number: 1341 Registered: 12-2004	Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 - 9:48 pm:       Christian Schulz writes: The voice of the Gospel is not, "you're already forgiven, just believe it! And then go tell your unrepentant neighbor that he's righteous too!" On the contrary, Mr. Schulz, that's exactly the voice of the Gospel. Yes, even Hitler, and Stalin, and Saul of Tarsus, the chief of sinners, were **declared** righteous **(justified)**. The problem you are having is that you are fixated on the difference between you and your unrepentant neighbor. Faith doesn't look for a distinction, it looks for a promise - the very promise which brought it into existence: Your sins are forgiven! I'll tell you here what I said on the "Karl Pierson for President" thread: Stop telling me what Jesus did for me if I believe, and just tell me what Jesus did. Franz

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Relevant Links

LutherQuest (sic) Discussion -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/10/warming-up-tar-and-feathers-on.html

Martin Luther on the efficacy of the Word -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/05/blog-post.html

Robert Preus on Justification by Faith -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/05/robert-preus-justification-by-faith_7573.html

The Biblical View of Faith -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-biblical-view-of-faith-contradicts.html

Review of Rydecki Translation of Hunnius -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/09/book-review-of-theses-opposed-to.html

The Dresden Catechism -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/07/dresden-why-does-everything-happen-in.html