Rev. Philip Hale was installed as Associate Pastor at Zion in August, 2015. He previously served as pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Bancroft, NE in 2007-2015. He was also called to St. John Lutheran Church in Lyons, NE as part of a dual parish in 2012. Pastor Hale graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, 2007, following a vicarage in Fredericksburg, IA. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in electrical and computer engineering. After working briefly as an engineer in Austin, he entered the seminary. Pastor Hale was born in Oklahoma and raised in Keller, TX. In 2007, Christ gave Philip his blessed wife Aubri. God has given them eight children: Lily, Clara, Gerhardt, Esther, Ephraim, Mercy, Martha and Josephine.
The book is Aspects of Forgiveness, The Basis for Justification and Its Modern Denial, by Philip Hale. published by Amazon. The title itself is dishonest. An honest subtitle would be - The Basis for Objective Justification and Its War Against Justification by Faith.
Hale continues this deception throughout the book, constantly upholding the late, false Calvinistic or Pietistic Objective Justification against "those who deny it."
Is this a clumsy effort to poison the well? I pointed out recently that the OJ Enthusiasts resort to "OJ deniers" so they do not have to say Justification by Faith.
This book is an extended argument against Pastor Paul Rydecki (WELS, ELDONA). There are a few potshots at me, but Hale never stops long enough to make an intelligent point with proper citations and warrants for his claims. A video game - right up his alley - portrays this as the Death Blossom: mow down the opposition in every direction with random fire.
The biggest problem Hale has is a lack of reading comprehension, the curse of the present generation - who lack a thorough education in language, rhetoric, informal logic, Hebrew, and Greek.
The second problem, almost as significant, is loading his argument with all the authors on his side - a very shallow group - ignoring the actual meaning of some statements, and dismissing objections fatal to his cause. He avoids the Biblical, doctrinal anchors for Justification by Faith the way a vampire avoids garlic. Some call this cherry-picking, a clever term for this logical fallacy.
If I Were Hale
If I were Hale, I would start with Genesis 15:6, Abraham believing God's Promise of a Messiah and a Kingdom as numerous as the stars. Abraham was Justified by Faith, I would concentrate on why Abraham is such an important figure in the New Testament. Abraham would have to be exiled or demoted by some extensive, imaginative exegesis.
Next, I would address Romans 3 - 5 and Romans 10, but really concentrate on Romans 4 through 5:2, to prove that Abraham is not our example of Justification by Faith and that Paul did not mean to say we have peace, forgiveness, and salvation through Justification by Faith (Romans 5:1-2, for Mequon, Bethany, and Ft. Wayne graduates).
I would not cite Galatians against Justification by Faith, because even the dimmest dimwit knows the little epistle was written specifically about Justification by Faith. Hale's efforts are like warning people not to get into real estate like Donald Trump, because they will never get anywhere.
Finally, I would fight like a madman to make people forget the Chief Article of the Christian Faith and who endorsed it in the Book of Concord. I would make them forget Melanchthon. Mrs. Ichabod just said, "They already have." OK, that is taken care of. And I would get people to think all the serious scholars who wrote about the Reformation as Justification by Faith to burn those horrid books.
Page Through the Little Tome
Hale thinks Diers, Oh Jay Webber, and Jon-Boy Buchholz are experts on Justification. He quotes Rick Curia's OJ Autograph Book like it is the Bible. I am glad Curia collected all that nonsense, because he was cherry-picking like a fanboy, not even pretending to study an issue. Curia found OJ fool's gold long before Church Growth found - Oh! Oh! - CG principles.
Unanswered Questions
Why does Hale ignore Thy Strong Word, (available free) - written against Church Growth and Objective Justification - the research beginning when he was still using a three-wheeler?
Why did Hale quote from this blog but fail to cite it? Has Paul McCain ordered him not to mention this blog's URL, as he did with the ill-named Steadfast Lutherans?
How does a seminary graduate avoid the Book of Concord so perversely while raking up every bit of false doctrine from any OJist he can find? The implied answer? - the Synodical Conference, starting as an OJ Sex Cult absolved by Walther, trumps the Book of Concord.
Helpful Hints for the Misinformed Seminarians and Their Barthian Professors
Hale certainly does not know that the Atonement and Justification are different. The Atonement is the reconciliation, and it also called the Redemption with two different Greek words. Ransom is another synonym.
The Old Testament Gospel is Isaiah 53 - the Atonement. Where does it say that God absolved the sins of the world? No where. There is an obvious difference between Christ the Savior paying the price and this Gospel creating faith which receives the message of forgiveness.
Justification by Faith of Jesus - solve that puzzle and you might begin to grasp the meaning of the Bible. Until then, the OJists will continue to drift downward into mainline apostasy, coveting those big empty churches and seminary buildings of ELCA and the UCC.
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