The Non-Gospel of Calvinistic Pietism and F. Pieper - Regurgitated Anew by Brad Kerkow ELS

 

Why do the Waltherian dimwits cite Romans 4:25 when the context demands the entire sentence? The Brief Statement, canonized by the LCMS-ELS-WELS places itself above the Scriptures and against the Scriptures.

Alan Lubeck

tnsrdoSeoph5g3fu1fuag4a254537h5t36ffl07i78u5426uc09i2l3u065u  · 

August 2023.

The Reason Why You Can Share Jesus with Anyone!

One of the greatest comforts for the Christian is the teaching of Objective Justification. This is the teaching that God has declared the verdict of ‘not guilty’ upon the world for the sake of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

Here is comfort for you: Do you ever wonder whether your sins are truly forgiven? Do you have a past sin that haunts you? Do you wonder if God is still angry with you? Well, if the whole world is declared 'not guilty' for the sake of Christ, then you also must be included. Franz Pieper said,

"The reconciliation which Christ brought about is history, a finished event lying in the past that pertains to all mankind and is of an entirely objective character. For it does not consist in a change of mind or "moral transformation" on the part of man, but in a change in God; God in His heart is not imputing their trespasses unto men, but forgiving them (2 Cor 5:19)."*

God has forgiven you in Christ! He has declared it! It is an historic fact. This is also true for anyone else you meet (i.e. any other human): If the whole world is declared 'not guilty' for the sake of Christ, then they also must be included. Pieper continued, referring to the Apostle Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 5,

"To the report of the finished universal objective reconciliation the Apostle immediately adds that God has committed unto us the Word or news of this complete reconciliation in order that men may share in the finished reconciliation."*

This is the reason why you can share Jesus with anyone! We use the Means of Grace (God's Word and the Sacraments) to do this. In fact, the above quote comes from the section of Pieper's Christian Dogmatics which discusses and explains the Means of Grace. God's Word and His Sacraments are the means which He has chosen to deliver this beautiful truth of Jesus' forgiveness for everyone.

This does not mean that everyone will go to heaven. The other aspect of justification is Subjective Justification which means the benefits of God's verdict of 'not guilty' become yours through faith. Sadly, some people will reject this truth and remain in their sin. But until Christ returns we live in this time of grace and we can confidently use every opportunity to share the Gospel with others and let the Holy Spirit work faith in their hearts.

Be comforted, and know that you can share this comfort with anyone. No one is excluded, including you.

God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. And he has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, inasmuch as God is making an appeal through us." 2 Corinthians 5:19-20

*Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, Vol. 3, (St Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953), p. 105.

Rev. Brad Kerkow, Evangelism and Missions Counselor (ELS)

David G. Peters and 8 others

Alan Lubeck Author

To Gregory L. Jackson

Try reading the Bible as though it doesn't contradict itself and submit yourself to the revelation that justification is already in Christ and received from Him to the individual through faith. You don't manufacture justification with faith you receive it. The objective justification denier heretics imagine a justification that somehow didn't get off the ground in the work of Christ, it wasn't finished...till you justify yourself with faith. I notice in the article that Pastor Kerkow is careful to point out that everyone is justified IN CHRIST. He doesn't teach that the individual is justified apart from Christ...but IN Christ who IS already the justification of the world. The article is sound. "Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men."

GJ - Quoting without a citation and without the translation is lazy. No wonder the newest NIV spells out Universalism so clearly.

Francis Pieper - Good and Bad. From 2010

Francis Pieper was chosen by Walther to carry the mantle of the Great Prophet, the One Who Explains All.

I bought my set of Pieper around 1987 and studied all three volumes. Pieper was a good introduction to the Two Natures in Christ, although nothing quite like Chemnitz. I also studied Calvinism through the eyes of Pieper, after spending some time on the topic at Notre Dame in the PhD program, where my advisor was a Remonstrant, or Dutch Arminian.

One of the oddities of Upper Midwest Lutheran sects is their eagerness to jump on Luther citations as "worshiping Luther," while they clearly view any criticism of Pieper as blasphemy. No one subscribes to the Weimar edition of Luther, and no one subscribes to anything by Pieper. However, by default the old Syn Conference does have a quia subscription to the Brief Statement and what little they remember of the Dogmatics.

This nonsense cannot be reconciled with the Bible,
Luther, or the Book of Concord.
Jar Jar Webber eats it up and serves it raw.

Pieper Paradox
I struggled to understand how Lutherans could embrace the pox-riddled Church Growth Movement, so I turned to Pieper for more perspective. Here is the great paradox, which unfolds in the quotations below. Pieper could be very good in describing the Means of Grace in Lutheran doctrine and in showing how Calvinism is wrong. However, his advocacy of two justifications contradicts everything said on the the topic of the Holy Spirit working exclusively through the Means of Grace. To put it another way, he contradicts the topic of grace coming to us only through the Means of Grace.

The Pieper quotations address the schizophrenia of the Syn Conference. The ELS, LCMS, and WELS may say the right words about the Means of Grace (although muted and rare these days) but they promote the opposite view, a butchered version of Calvin, in their precious Universal Objective Justification.

Francis Pieper Quotations
"The starting point in presenting the doctrine of the means of grace must be the universal objective reconciliation or justification. This is the procedure of Scripture."
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 105.

"We saw before that Scripture ascribes the forgiveness of sins without reservation to the Word of the Gospel, to Baptism, and to the Lord's Supper. Therefore all means of grace have the vis effectiva, the power to work and to strengthen faith." [Note: Augsburg Confession, V, XIII]
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 108f.

"Also the objection that there is no need of offering and confirming to Christians one and the same forgiveness of sins in several ways betrays an astonishing ignorance. Both Scripture and experience teach that men who feel the weight of their sins find nothing harder to believe than the forgiveness of their sins. Hence repetition of the assurance of the forgiveness of sins in various ways through the means of grace meets a practical need of Christians."
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 114.

"Because saving grace is particular, according to the teaching of the Calvinists, there are no means of grace for that part of mankind to which the grace of God and the merit of Christ do not extend. On the contrary, for these people the means of grace are intended as means of condemnation. Calvin teaches expressly: 'For there is a universal call, through which, by the external preaching of the Word, God invites all, indiscriminately, to come to Him, even those for whom He intends it as a savor of death and an occasion of heavier condemnation' (Institutes, III, 24, 8)."
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 118f.

"But according to the teaching of Calvinism this 'inner illumination' is not brought about through the means of grace; it is worked immediately by the Holy Ghost. Modern Reformed, too, teach this very emphatically. Hodge, for example, says: 'In the work of regeneration all second causes are excluded....Nothing intervenes between the volition of the Spirit and the regeneration of the soul....The infusion of a new life into the soul is the immediate work of the Spirit....The truth (in the case of adults)[that is, the setting forth of the truth of the Gospel through the external Word] attends the work of regeneration, but is not the means by which it is effected." [Hodge, Systematic Theology, II, 634f.]
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 120.

Those who read Fuerbring will find he breathes the spirit of Luther.
He studied and used Luther all the time, and also focused on
Hebrew and Greek Biblical passages.
And - shhh - he was Walther's nephew and knew him well.

From 2010 - Francis Pieper - Good and Bad

Francis Pieper was chosen by Walther to carry the mantle. Walther changed the rules to get his guy in.

I bought my set of Pieper around 1987 and studied all three volumes. Pieper was a good introduction to the Two Natures in Christ, although nothing quite like Chemnitz. I also studied Calvinism through the eyes of Pieper, after spending some time on the topic at Notre Dame in the PhD program, where my advisor was a Remonstrant, or Dutch Arminian.

One of the oddities of Upper Midwest Lutheran sects is their eagerness to jump on Luther citations as "worshiping Luther," while they clearly view any criticism of Pieper as blasphemy. No one subscribes to the Weimar edition of Luther, and no one subscribes to anything by Pieper. However, by default the old Syn Conference does have a quia subscription to the Brief Statement and what little they remember of the Dogmatics.

Pieper Paradox
I struggled to understand how Lutherans could embrace the pox-riddled Church Growth Movement, so I turned to Pieper for more perspective. Here is the great paradox, which unfolds in the quotations below. Pieper could be very good in describing the Means of Grace in Lutheran doctrine and in showing how Calvinism is wrong. However, his advocacy of two justifications contradicts everything said on the the topic of the Holy Spirit working exclusively through the Means of Grace. To put it another way, he contradicts the topic of grace coming to us only through the Means of Grace.

The Pieper quotations address the schizophrenia of the Syn Conference. The ELS, LCMS, and WELS may say the right words about the Means of Grace (although muted and rare these days) but they promote the opposite view, a butchered version of Calvin, in their precious Universal Objective Justification.

This Calvinist superstar translated the  Halle University Knappe lectures,
coining the two justifications.
Walther liked the terminology of OJ and SJ,
which he found when the Woods language influenced the Germans.

Francis Pieper Quotations
"The starting point in presenting the doctrine of the means of grace must be the universal objective reconciliation or justification. This is the procedure of Scripture." Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 105. 

"We saw before that Scripture ascribes the forgiveness of sins without reservation to the Word of the Gospel, to Baptism, and to the Lord's Supper. Therefore all means of grace have the vis effectiva, the power to work and to strengthen faith." [Note: Augsburg Confession, V, XIII] Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 108f. 

"Also the objection that there is no need of offering and confirming to Christians one and the same forgiveness of sins in several ways betrays an astonishing ignorance. Both Scripture and experience teach that men who feel the weight of their sins find nothing harder to believe than the forgiveness of their sins. Hence repetition of the assurance of the forgiveness of sins in various ways through the means of grace meets a practical need of Christians." Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 114. 

"Because saving grace is particular, according to the teaching of the Calvinists, there are no means of grace for that part of mankind to which the grace of God and the merit of Christ do not extend. On the contrary, for these people the means of grace are intended as means of condemnation. Calvin teaches expressly: 'For there is a universal call, through which, by the external preaching of the Word, God invites all, indiscriminately, to come to Him, even those for whom He intends it as a savor of death and an occasion of heavier condemnation' (Institutes, III, 24, 8)." Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 118f. 

"But according to the teaching of Calvinism this 'inner illumination' is not brought about through the means of grace; it is worked immediately by the Holy Ghost. Modern Reformed, too, teach this very emphatically. Hodge, for example, says: 'In the work of regeneration all second causes are excluded....Nothing intervenes between the volition of the Spirit and the regeneration of the soul....The infusion of a new life into the soul is the immediate work of the Spirit....The truth (in the case of adults)[that is, the setting forth of the truth of the Gospel through the external Word] attends the work of regeneration, but is not the means by which it is effected." [Hodge, Systematic Theology, II, 634f.] Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 120.

---

LPC

4 years ago

 

In this whole wide world of Lutheran blogging and reading, I have not found, aside from you and Walther Maier II, anyone else critizing Pieper. The rest are gutless. That says something about how cultic things have become. LPC