Two Sons of the Muhlenberg German Lutheran Family Led the Way - Fourth of July

 Source for the painting and history

The American Revolution propelled Frederick and Peter Muhlenberg to positions of prominence in the new nation. Frederick had no hesitations supporting independence. He returned to Pennsylvania in 1776 before New York was occupied by the British. In 1779-80 he was a delegate to the Continental Congress. He served in the Pennsylvania Assembly from 1780 to 1783, where he presided as its Speaker. Frederick wrote many letters and articles, in both English and German, supporting the revolution. In one letter during the darkest hours of the war, he exhorted his brothers to “be steadfast, rely on God, and our own strength, and endure courageously, then we shall after be sure of reaching our goal.”

As a minister, Frederick’s support of independence did not include military service. Peter, on the other hand, stepped down from the pulpit to take on the uniform of an officer in the Continental Army. There is a legend that he ended a sermon on January 21, 1776, in dramatic fashion, throwing back his black ministerial robe to reveal a military uniform.

c. 1880s painting of Peter's dramatic uniform reveal from the pulpit

Although there is no contemporary evidence to back up the story, it does reveal the importance of the clergy’s support for the revolution. The British even referred to such support as “the Black Robe Regiment.” The myth, however, was so powerful and persistent that Blanche Nevin’s 1889 granite statue of Muhlenberg in the Capitol’s National Statuary Hall Collection depicts him with the ministerial robe draped around his right arm and shoulder as he stands proudly in his military uniform.

Luther's Sermon on the Miraculous Catch of Fish, Luke 5

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.


Text. Luke 5:1-11. Now it came to pass, while the multitude pressed upon him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and he saw two boats standing by the lake: but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the multitudes out of the boat. And when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answered and said, Master, we toiled all night, and took nothing: but at thy word I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes; and their nets were breaking; and they beckoned unto their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, Lord. For he was amazed, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken; and so were also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they bad brought their boats to land, they left all, and followed hint.

Norma Boeckler

PETER’S MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES.

1. This Gospel is easy for those to understand who believe, and it presents to us two thoughts, namely: Faith in its relation to temporal blessings, and faith in its relation to eternal blessings.

PART I. FAITH IN ITS RELATION TO TEMPORAL BLESSINGS.

2. In the first place Christ shows that those who believe on him will certainly have sufficient also for this present life. And this he does in that he gives Peter and his partners such a great multitude of fishes, more than they had any reason to expect; also, in that Christ also provides for the feeding of our stomachs, if it were not only for our cursed unbelief. For behold Peter and look deep into his heart and you will find, that he had no idea that he should catch so many fishes; then God came and drove the fish into the net, and more than all the disciples had desired.

3. Therefore this is an example that all who believe will have enough for their temporal needs; but those who do not believe can never get enough and have no rest in scheming how to secure riches, by which they fall into all kinds of vice. Then comes to pass what Paul in 1 Timothy 6:6-10 says: “But godliness with contentment is great gain; for we brought nothing into the world, for neither can we carry anything out; but having food and covering we shall be therewith content. But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

4. Now this passage of St. Paul shows clearly what follows our unbelief, namely, that he who strives after possessions and will become rich, must fall into the temptations and snares of the devil. These we cannot see, for they are spiritual. However if we could see the harm and ruin he does in spiritual things as he does in corporal things, then we would be good preachers. For we see publicly how an unbelieving man scrapes and does violence to everybody in order that he may scratch together something in which he may place his confidence, and say: Yea, now I have enough. Thus we see, what an avaricious, unfriendly thing unbelief is; for it is a benefit to no one, it sells no one anything unless it sees its own advantage in doing so.

5. For it has ever been a curse that we cannot trust God even for the daily food our stomachs crave, and that we continually think we are to die from hunger; and yet, we are to have enough, as Christ in Matthew 6:25f. says: “Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life? And why are ye anxious concerning raiment?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

6. Here you see how God cares for the birds and flowers, and adorns them so beautifully; much move will he give us what we need; and yet we cannot trust him. So successfully has the devil taken us captive by his snares. If one comes now so far that he is not satisfied and does not trust God, then love must at once cease, so that he does no one any good, but he scratches together everything only on his own heap.

7. And in this way the calling of the priests and monks arose; only in order that they might help themselves and feed their stomachs, and not being permitted to work they ran into the cloisters. And the proverb is true:

Despair makes monks; yea, not only monks, but also priests, bishops and popes; for they do not trust God that he is able to feed and clothe them, and only think how they may fortify themselves against all want and poverty. All this is the life of unbelief. Then they go and keep strumpets or commit adultery, which are the fruits that follow unbelief; for they never trusted God, that he was able to sustain them, if they took unto themselves wives and remained out of the monasteries.

8. Now, here is an example that excites us to trust in God, and first for the needs of the stomach; since he cares for us also in temporal things. This we see here in the case of Peter, when he thus caught a great multitude of fishes, more than filled their boats. From this it is clearly shown God will forsake no one, each must have what he needs, if he trusts in God alone; as Psalm 37:35 says’ “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” There is no lack of provisions, only a lack of faith; before that should take place the angels would come and minister unto us. Therefore the fact that the people suffer now such need, is caused only by unbelief.

9. And although God is near us and will give us what we need, yet he requires on our part both work and hope, even if he delay for a time; therefore he gives Peter here a draught of fishes, and says: “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.”

10. As if the Lord would say: Let down the nets, and do the work that belongs to a fisherman, and let me care for the rest. The care or solicitude shall not be thine but mine, and the work thine. We however wish to turn this around for Christ: we want the care and let him have the work. Hence it is that everyone strives after usury, and hoards money so that they may never need to work.

11. Therefore if you wish to lead a truly Christian life, let thy God see to it how the fishes come into your net, and go and enter some calling in life that you may labor. But we all wish to fill such positions, where we do not need to labor; that has ever been the trick of the devil. And because of this we became monks and priests, only in order that we might live like noblemen and would not need to work. Moved by this mothers left their children go to school, in order that they might have good days and serve God. In this way it came so far that people did not know what good living was; and yet God commanded and took pleasure in it, that man should eat his bread in sweat; as he said to Adam: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,” Genesis 3:19. And the deeper you stick in the law, the better it is. Therefore labor and believe, and let God rule unhindered.

12. If we speak of faith, and are to lean upon God and let him care for us, then they say: Yes, I must believe a long time before a roasted dove flies into my mouth, if I do not labor. Yes, it is true, you must toil, for you are commanded to do so: but let thy God provide for you. Believe and labor, then will not only a dove but a roasted goose fly into your mouth.

13. But to these belong also another part, namely, that we should hope, even if God does delay for a, time. Hence Christ here left them toil all the night without catching anything and it seemed he would permit them to die of hunger. Peter might have well thought since he fished so long and caught nothing: now God will let the stomach languish. But he despairs not, he continues to labor, and stands and hopes, God would give it to him although he might delay. Then God comes and gives him such a great multitude of fishes all at once, and more than he had been able to catch in eight days.

14. Therefore you must learn this part well, that you are to work and hope, even if God should delay a little and let you toil in your sweat, so that you imagine your labor is now lost. Then you must be wise and learn to know your God and to trust in him. Then he arrives and gives you more than you need, as he does here to Peter. Therefore if God has already delayed, only remember in the example of Peter there was also a little delay and yet it richly came. Thus it strikes in the time of his good pleasure; therefore do not despair, but hope and then thy works will be golden and pleasing to him; and then hope waits patiently, when God withdraws from us and does not do at once what we earnestly wish. Therefore he must make an appendix and hang on it a costly stone that thy works may become important. This precious stone is faith; but the works of unbelievers are stubble, for they are not built upon faith. This is the first part of our Gospel, now follows the second.

PART II. FAITH IN ITS RELATION TO ETERNAL BLESSINGS.

15. After the disciples caught the fishes and tasted the fruit of faith, their faith increased and grew. Now, we must first come to the point that we can commit unto God the care of our stomachs. For whoever cannot entrust that to God, can never commit unto him his soul. But this is only the faith of the child, where we learn to go to the public bank and continue to suck our mother’s breast. Yet, by this we must learn to confide our soul to God for his keeping. This to-day’s Gospel aims to do, when it says:

But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was amazed, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken.

16. Let Peter here be a figure of those who should believe in the eternal possessions, and substitute for him the conscience, that now waits and looks for temporal blessings and possessions. A sinful conscience by reason of its nature is apt to do just as Peter does here, flee from its Savior, and think: O, God, I am not worthy to be saved and sit among the saints and angels! Oh, that treasure is far too high for me’. Here the narrow small conscience cannot grasp these great treasures, but thinks: Yes, if I were as St. Peter and Paul, then I might believe it. This is foolish; for should you wish to establish yourself upon your holiness, then you would build on the sand. No, not so; but do like St. Peter. For in that he considered himself so unworthy, then he became first worthy. And just because you are a sinful person, you must trust. Here you must open wide your conscience and greatly expand your heart, in order that grace may flow freely into them.

17. If you have now learned to know God, then refuse him nothing whatever; that is, if we behold the great treasures, then we should not despair. It is proper that we know ourselves, and the more thoroughly we do this the better; but you must not reject grace because of your sins. For if you find that your conscience struggles and would drive you to despair, then you are most comfortable and fortunate; then you will find the consolation in your conscience, and say like Micah 7:18-19: “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and casts their sins into the sea and drowns them?” All gods that do not take away sin are idols. Therefore Micah well says, that there is no God like our God; for other gods wish to discover righteousness, but our God brings it; God the Lord brings it and does not discover it. Therefore you must not despair, although your conscience struggles and feels its sins; for the more disgraced you are, the quicker God imparts grace.

18. Now the great multitude of people go and dress themselves like the kitten does, and think God will then accept them. No, the Scriptures praise God that he takes away sins and casts them into the ocean. We cannot help our sins by our works nor become righteous by means of any power within ourselves: God, and no one else, will do that, without merit and without works, out of pure grace; as in Isaiah 43:22 he says: “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake: and I will not remember thy sins.” And thus it must be, or you will never obtain a cheerful conscience. Therefore when Peter said, “I am a sinful man,” he did right. It is true he had indeed cause to fear and humble himself; but he was constrained not to reject God, but to accept him.

19. Therefore, if I feel my sins and become like St. Peter, and would run away from God; then I must first turn and approach nearer and nearer to him. For if God had fled and had not desired to take away your sins, he would not have come to you and run after you. Therefore the more you feel that you are a sinful man and the more you wish to flee from God, the more you should press forward to him; mark that well. For as St. Peter does here, so do all consciences, that are terrified before their sins, they wish to flee from God and seek another idol. Then do not desist, but approach God with fresh confidence and hold to him. On the other hand, if we flee from him and seek work righteousness and obtain help from another God, and afterwards come to the true God; then we will find him just like the foolish virgins, to whom, while they went to buy oil, the door was closed. Matthew 25:10.

20. But what did Christ do, when Peter humbled himself and in the face of great fear and terror he asked the Lord to depart from him? Did he let him stick in his despair? No, but he came to him, comforted him and said: “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.”

21. These are evangelical or Gospel words, that comfort weak hearts. And just in this way God makes our work and temptation golden before our eyes. Therefore observe now, how God provides for our bodies, in that he here gives Peter a great multitude of fishes, when he would have had enough with two, and in like manner satisfies and enriches him spiritually, so that he could from his fullness impart to others, and thus he made him a natural and a spiritual fisherman; a natural fisherman in that he caught a great multitude of fishes which he could sell; a spiritual fisherman in that he should henceforth catch men; for he had now the Gospel, by which he should gather the people and enlarge the kingdom of Christ.

22. Behold, thus it comes to pass: If one believes, God gives him so much that he is able to help all people, outwardly with his property and gifts; and from within he breaks forth, teaches others and makes them inwardly rich also, for such a person cannot keep silent, he must declare to others what he experienced; as Psalm 51:10-13 says: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy Spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” Also in another Psalm, 116:20, David says: “I believe, for I will speak.” This comes to pass thus: If I believe, I know God and then I see what other people lack, and go and preach to them the Gospel.

23. Thus we see in this Gospel how God cares for his own and how he sustains them temporally and spiritually both in body and soul. But where for the time there is need, it is certainly because of our unbelief or because we lately first began to believe. For when faith is still new and small, its blessings at the time are small and insignificant, to the end that we should learn to know and trust God. But if we are come to the point that we freely trust God, then we will be in want of nothing, for God then fills us with temporal and spiritual blessings, and with such superabundant treasures, so that we are able to help all people. That is called making the poor people rich and feeding the hungry. This is sufficient on to-day’s Gospel.

The Trouble with Angels - 1966 Farewell to Vatican I

 Pope Francis, the Jesuit, honored an abortion advocate.

Tonight we watched a movie, The Trouble with Angels, 1966, with Haley Mills and Rosalind Russel. Haley was 20 and did not look like a Catholic schoolgirl, but the movie a light fantasy with some laughs. It also signaled the last of those traditional, private Catholic high schools. Vatican II began in 1962, so the film was a farewell to the Catholicism of the past.

Vatican II emptied the seminaries which trained priests, closed most of the Catholic high schools, and shut down many new facilities built just before Vatican II. A Catholic bishop told me how remarkable it was that so many orders expanded and built in time to shrivel from Vatican II - start loaning their excess capacity to Lutherans and other mainline groups.

The Notre Dame Moreau seminary for Holy Cross Fathers was down to 80 students for a three year course of study. One priest told the mixed class that people from all over used to come to the campus on Sunday and watch the armies of priests, brothers, and nuns march along the lake. The complete name of the university is Our Lady of the Lake, Notre Dame du Lac.

The "reforms" were anything but that, since the Documents of Vatican II preserved everything from before. Instead, rationalism took over so the Roman Catholics could be as Unitarian-Universalist as the mainline Protestant denominations. 

Vatican II as reform was as honest, sincere, and Spirit-anointed as a DMin at Fuller Seminary.

The Catholic leaders, apostates even from Catholicism, were able to rebrand their dogma - forget the Documents - and invite an era of total Left-wing activism

The Protestants coveted the smells, bells, and pink copes of Catholicism, and already beat them at German rationalistic doctrine.

So we should not be shocked that the Protestant collapse came at roughly the same time as the Church of Rome's meltdown. 

 Would he keep you from attending Luther Seminary - ALC, now ELCA?
This is the Luther Seminary Chapel.

Matt the Fatt Is Liquidating the Missouri Synod - Already on the List, Concordia College in Portland, Oregon

 "Next we'll sell Concordia College in Portland."

I was looking for information about seminaries and found the ALPB Online discussion (2017) about the ELCA seminaries losing 80% of total student enrollment in relatively few years. ELCA seminary names have continued, but they are all a shadow of what they were 20 years ago.

The LCMS is following the same pattern in colleges and seminaries. Missouri sold the China property for a bundle, closed the Selma college, and shuttered Portland's LCMS college. They sold their NYC Concordia  College to Iona College, run by the Christian Brothers, a Roman Catholic order.

Harrison - "I cannot but reflect with thanksgiving, even today, on the myriad blessings God has produced through this school. We thank God, too, for the heroic effort of the CCNY Board of Regents, CCNY President Rev. Dr. John Nunes, the LCMS Atlantic District and District President Rev. Derek Lecakes, and the faculty and staff of CCNY to find a way forward."

The LMCS extension fund has bought the Portland college for a mere $3 million. The college owed the synod $36 million. The college got involved with HotChalk, a company partially owned by Noodle. The Portland college was using HotChalk/Noodle, apparently in a scheme where the online component recruited students who would keep the LCMS college solvent. 

I would hate to be the chief accountant at HotChalk/Noodle trying to explain the numbers to giggling reporters. Or - a student with a diploma printed by HotChalk with a footnote - "A Subsidiary of Noodle."

"Doctor" Harrison's sales pitch has probably gone from "I will resuscitate this synod" to "I inherited this mess." Potential replacements for Harrison are probably already at the point of wondering how much more will sold at a sheriff's auction and argued in various courtrooms. 

 "Honey, I shrunk the synod!"

The Abuse of the Word and Concept - Grace

 

Long ago I heard a tape from the LCA Word and Witness program. They were quite bothered that individual Evangelical leaders made more money through TV than the entire denomination. The LCA forgot that the mainline denominations gave up using the media for almost no cost and let the others take over.

The man narrating in his most disgusted tone of voice said, "The TV ministers have no concept of GRACE!" He clearly meant - and the LCA/ALC/ELCA approved this message - "The TV ministers emphasize FAITH!"

Pitting grace against faith shows the utter ignorance and apostasy of the mainline denominations, which include ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic). The fatal trap for them - the skandalon - is in Romans 4:

KJV Romans 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

To be fair, we should look at that is the opposite of grace - 

KJV Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

Verse 4 shows that works are not counted as grace but debt. That should be clear with all the virtue signaling done by denominations -

1. "We built more buildings."
2. "We started (or restarted) missions."
3. "We took the OJ Gospel to the world." (GJ - Why? The world is already forgiven and saved.)

Mischief-maker that I am, verse 3 was left in to show just one of the instances where Romans 4 teaches Justification by Faith.

WELS-LCMS-ELS people consider justification and the atonement the same, which they have to say, because they replace the Means of Grace with Jesus Christ dying on the cross. They are pretty mixed up, but they make the death of Christ the universal absolution and also make His resurrection (twisting 1 Timothy 3:16) the world's absolution (Rambach, Webber).

Information on Luther's Translation of 2 Corinthians 5:19

 

Dear Pastor Jackson,

Do you have any information on Luther's translation of 2 Cor. 5:19 to offset what seems to be clear representation of UOJ?

“Denn Gott war in Christo und versöhnte die Welt mit ihm selber und rechnete ihnen ihre Sünden nicht zu und hat unter uns aufgerichtet das Wort von der Versöhnung.”

“For God was in Christ and reconciled the world with himself, and did not count their sins on them, and established among us the word of reconciliation.”

Added by GJ:

KJV To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

ως οτι θεος ην εν χριστω κοσμον καταλλασσων εαυτω μη λογιζομενος αυτοις τα παραπτωματα αυτων και θεμενος εν ημιν τον λογον της καταλλαγης (Stephanus)

***

GJ - This reader is very polite, and I am glad to respond to Objective Justification claims.

First of all, why is Justification by Faith the Chief Article of Christianity and not Objective Justification - a deception claimed by Mark Zarling and Frosty Bivens?

How did that escape Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz?

--

Next - why does OJ come from Calvinism - Huber? and from Pietism - Rambach, Stephan, and Walther/Pieper? The OJ/SJ terms were first used by a Calvinist translator of the Pietist Knapp.

--

Also, context matters, even though context is ignored by the OJ army. Paul was writing a letter to believers, reminding them of their continuing forgiveness of sin. He was not making a claim that the entire world, back to Adam, was absolved of sin - regardless of the Gospel Word or faith.

--

Error always grows worse. Pieper blended  the Means of Grace, Justification by Faith, the efficacy of the Word, and OJ/SJ in his dogmatics. Now the typical WELS/LCMS advocate raves against Justification by Faith.

--

Finally, WELS and Missouri originally taught Justification by Faith, even though Walther and Pieper promoted OJ. Both synods now despise Luther and Lenski and foam at the mouth for the NIV.

++

Look at the influence of Pietism and the Easter absolution of the world. A short history of this distortion and false proclamation follows:

1.     Samuel Huber (1547-1624) was a former Calvinist who joined the faculty of Wittenberg University, but turned against the Biblical doctrine of the Reformation to claim this should be said to someone who has no knowledge of Christ:

“You have the grace of God, you have the righteousness of Christ, you have salvation.” Concilia Theologica Witenbergensia, 1664, p. 654.[1]

2.     J. J. Rambach (1693-1795) was a well-known, prominent figure in Halle, at the height of Pietism. He wrote:

“In His Person, all mankind was justified and absolved from all sin and curse.” Tom Hardt, Robert Preus Festschrift, “Easter and Absolution.”

3.     The Pietistic, rationalistic theology of Halle’s Georg Christian Knapp (1753-1825) became a major doctrinal book in German and also in English, the translation found in every American theological library in the 19^th century. It remains in print. The Calvinist translator, explained Knapp’s theology this way, and those italicized justification terms became normative within the Synodical Conference:

“This is very conveniently expressed by the terms objective and subjective justification. Objective justification is the act of God, by which he proffers pardon to all through Christ; subjective, is the act of man, by which he accepts the pardon freely offered in the Gospel. The former is universal, the latter not.” (Italics in the original)

Lectures on Christian Theology, by Georg Christian Knapp, Professor of Theology in the University of Halle. Translated by Leonard Woods, Jr., D.D., President of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, later at Andover Seminary, which later became Andover-Newton, which merged into Yale Divinity School in 2018.[2]

4.     Schleiermacher’s Christian Dogmatics - “According to Schleiermacher, the decree of redemption already means that human beings are agreeable to God in his Son; an individual act of justification in time is not first needed in each individual person. It is only necessary that each individual person become aware that in God’s decree of redemption in Christ he is already justified and made agreeable to God.”

Hoenecke, Dogmatics, III, p. 339.

5.     C.F.W. Walther - "For God has already forgiven you your sins 1800 years ago when He in Christ absolved all men by raising Him after He first had gone into bitter death for them. Only one thing remains on your part so that you also possess the gift. This one thing is--faith. And this brings me to the second part of today's Easter message, in which I now would show you that every man who wants to be saved must accept by faith the general absolution, pronounced 1800 years ago, as an absolution spoken individually to him."

The Word of His Grace, Sermon Selections, "Christ's Resurrection--The World's Absolution" Lake Mills: Graphic Publishing Company, 1978 p. 233. Brosamen, p. 138. Mark 16:1-8.  

6.     Barth and Kirschbaum’s Church Dogmatics, IV, 1, p. 638

“There is not one for whose sin and death he did not die, whose sin and death he did not remove and obliterate on the cross...There is not one who is not adequately and perfectly and finally justified in Him. There is not one whose sin is not forgiven sin in Him, whose death is not a death which has been put to death in Him...There is not one for whom he has not done everything in His death and received everything in His resurrection from the dead.” Barth, Church Dogmatics, IV, 1, 638

7.     Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics, II, Concordia Publishing House, 1951, p. 321.

"Now, then, if the Father raised Christ from the dead, He, by this glorious resurrection act, declared that the sins of the whole world are fully expiated, or atoned for, and that all mankind is now regarded as righteous before His divine tribunal. This gracious reconciliation and justification is clearly taught in Romans 4:25: 'Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification.' The term dikaiosis here means the act of divine justification executed through God's act of raising Christ from the dead, and it is for this reason called the objective justification of all mankind. This truth Dr. Walther stressed anew in America. He taught that the resurrection of Christ from the dead is the actual absolution pronounced upon all sinners. (Evangelienpostille, p. 160ff.)…

8.     LCA Professor Carl Braaten, who felt ELCA was too radical for him –

“We cannot hold a universalism of the unitarian kind. People are not too good to be damned. There is no necessity for God to save everybody nor to reject anyone. God is not bound by anything outside of himself. He is not bound to give the devil his due. If we take into account God's love, he would have all to be saved. If we reckon with his freedom, he has the power to save whomsoever he pleases. This does not lead to a dogmatic universalism. But it does mean that we leave open the possibility that within the power of God's freedom and love, all people may indeed be saved in the end. This follows as a possibility from the fact that God is free from all external factors in making up his mind.”

Justification, The Article by Which the Church Stands or Falls, Fortress Press, 2001.

9.     The LCMS new two-volume dogmatics set, $90.

“To understand the role of faith in the justification of the sinner, one must first recall the significance of objective justification or universal reconciliation, namely, the divine proclamation that God has accepted the sacrifice of his Son for the sins of the whole world, that his wrath has been appeased, that he is reconciled to the whole world, and that as a result he has issued a full pardon for all humanity. Since this pardon is unconditional, it is clear that faith cannot be a cause of one's justification.” Confessing the Gospel, volume 1, p. 573.

10. The LCMS 428 page Small Catechism[3]

“By ‘objective’ or ‘universal’ justification one means that God has declared the whole world to be righteous for Christ’s sake and that righteousness has thus been procured for all people. It is objective because this was God’s unilateral act prior to and in no way dependent upon man’s response to it, and universal because all human beings are embraced by this verdict. God has acquired the forgiveness of sins for all people by declaring that the world for Christ’s sake has been forgiven. The acquiring of forgiveness is the pronouncement of forgiveness.”

11. J. P. Meyer, a president of Mequon (WELS), wrote even more extreme statements, three of which became part of the Kokomo Statements - such as:

I. "Objectively speaking, without any reference to an individual sinner's attitude toward Christ's sacrifice, purely on the basis of God's verdict, every sinner, whether he knows about it or not, whether he believes it or not, has received the status of a saint. What will be his reaction when he is informed about this turn of events? Will he accept, or will he decline?"  J. P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, A Commentary on the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1963, p. 103f. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.  

II. "Before Christ's intervention took place God regarded him as a guilt-laden, condemned culprit. After Christ's intervention and through Christ's intervention He regards him as a guilt-free saint." J. P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, A Commentary on the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1963, p. 107. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.

III. "This applies to the whole world, to every individual sinner, whether he was living in the days of Christ, or had died centuries before His coming, or had not yet been born, perhaps has not been born to this day. It applies to the world as such, regardless of whether a particular sinner ever comes to faith or not."

J. P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, A Commentary on the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1963, p. 109. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.

12. David Valleskey, “In Christ God has effected a universal justification a universal reconciliation, a universal ransom, a universal atonement. Different terms, but all conveying the same message: God in Christ has declared the whole world to be not guilty. We Believe, Therefore We Speak, Northwestern Publishing House, 1995, p. 71.[4]

At this, the beginning of the End Times, the LCMS has defined Justification as world absolution without faith, both in its new dogmatics and its prolix Small Catechism. Yet, no one is blushing. Praising Luther and Dr. Walter A. Maier in one breath, they promote Rambach and Knapp in another.

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[1] This is roughly what Rev. Wayne Mueller said to the Columbus WELS Youth Rally, showing them how easy evangelism is. Pastor Paul Rydecki (formerly WELS) has translated Hunnius, who with P. Leyser, refuted Huber’s early form of Objective Justification, which explains its Calvinist DNA from Huber. Calvinism also entered the Lutheran Church through the unionistic style of Spener and the Pietism that grew from his efforts.

[2] It is said, which is worthy of a dissertation, that the Objective and Subjective Justification terms were adopted in Germany and influenced Walther, who approved them. At first Knapp’s actual words seem to be Biblical, but he clearly speaks of universal justification, which combines the universal nature of the Atonement with Justification by Faith.

[3] Leaders Guide for the Small Catechism, reproduced here - http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2018/06/lcms-has-been-hatching-denial-of.html

[4] Valleskey has expressed fully the common error of Objective Justification – merging the Atonement with Justification by Faith, thus rejecting the Scriptural foundation of Luther’s Reformation, instead - embracing rationalistic Pietism and its bedmate, religious unionism.

Still Arriving - The Bible Book. I Have Started Work on the Second Edition

Still arriving at homes - first edition of The Bible Book: The KJV Reborn for Those Who Love the Word of God.

Most people can edit better from the print copy, so that will serve to improve the next edition.

The topic has so much history and variety that this second edition will give me a chance to fill in parts that I omitted, neglected, or rendered obscure and confusing. This will also improve the value of the limited first edition.

I never bought first editions but I noticed they were almost always plain Janes, inexpensive printings and covers. However, I held a Tom Sawyer worth $40,000 and heard about a Princess Bride for $160,000 (in a safe).

The NIVs, RSVs, and ESVs being sold today are a swindle, no matter what the sale pitches say.

Ideas for the Second Edition - The Bible Book: The KJV Reborn For Those Who Love the Word of God

The Bible Book: The KJV Reborn for Those Who Love the Word of God

• Yes, a second, improved edition is already planned for The Bible Book. That will include: more information, 
• possible maps, 
• error correction, 
• maybe indexing too. 

Distilled from Various Books about Ultra-Rich Founders

John D. Rockefeller

Every so often I read a book about ultra-rich founders of vast fortunes. Rockefeller, Warren Buffet, and Sam Walton have something in common - they kept track of the smallest transactions and kept their eyes on the numbers.

Rockefeller quibbled over how many chicken legs they ate at a restaurant. He thought he was being overcharged. Buffet wondered at a child what could be done with all the traffic going by his house. He owns or owned GEICO insurance, which he bought when it was insolvent. Sam Walton called in an accountant and accused him of trying to "ruin this company." The computer printing sheets did not allow for fractions of a penny - not wide enough. "You find the solution!" A Walmart executive asked his secretary to buy more pencils. She asked what happened to the last box.

No, I do not admire any of the super-rich founders. They were pirates, but they paid attention to overhead. All the income in the world means nothing when the overhead is growing faster than a Fuller fad.

That overhead issue is the sinkhole being experienced in the denominations. Their wealth has become their chains. Have you noticed how much they love new buildings? LCMS-WELS-ELS. Large, luxurious office buildings are the most important. After that, deluxe seminaries ot impress the future students and their parents. College campus are always on the list for big projects that become white elephants. No one dare criticize buildings for "our future heritage."

Enrollments are down and many students need to take online classes so they can work enough to pare down the cost of synod education. This has turned college and seminary buildings into Stonehenges of education. "Pa, why do they have a huge library? We have all that on a hard drive and a Google search." Ft. Wayne squandered gazillions on a library face lift. Mequon built a chapel equal to Tiefel's massive ego. Ditto Martin Luther College - the chapel money they stole and had to pay back. The ELS has a Marvin Schwan campus, copper top chapel, and headquarters with a disappearing membership base. The WELS Love Shack is as luxurious as the LCMS Purple Palace, but Missouri has little Purple Palaces for each district. 

Martin Luther College, WELS, was far ahead of the rest of the Lutherans.
They foster a truly transforming educational experience.

The Pan Lutheran Association of Nonbelievers knows all about the bottom dropping out of membership and income. They have worked hard to drain off the equity of their members estates and fund their follies. Then it stops.

Amazon Delivered My Books - After Our Guests Departed

I actually had two Amazon boxes to bring in - The Bible Book and one with the right address and the wrong person's name, with stuff I did not order but he probably did.

The Northern Great Plains Choir Is Back Home

We have known Pastor Jim Shrader and his wife Chris for decades. We knew they were musically gifted back in Columbus, Ohio. We actually met Glen Kotten on our trip to Sioux Falls. We did not know he was a singer too (apart from the song he posted). That was great having them singing for the service, dealing with our distant computer pipe organ.

To test our patience, Sassy chose to walk in and settle down for attention. She was happy to be ushered out and join Mrs. Ichabod in the overflow section. She is getting a great deal of help through Medicare.

I finally saw The Bible Book, though Amazon continues to taunt me by telling me and showing me which copies are arriving everywhere.

 Those who bend the knee to CFW Walther take shelter in his election theses, confident that the contradictions will back up their Objective Justification. CFW's warmed over Calvinism cannot grasp what the Formula of Concord says. Martin Chemnitz wrote this part of the Formula himself, to guard against false teachers like Walther and Pieper. The Second Martin (as Chemnitz has been called) was trained by Luther and Melanchthon, so our century of apostasy has been shockingly silent about Chemnitz.