The Great Walther, as LCMS likes to say, has many hagiographies but few honest publications about the man who signed Bishop Stephan's elevation and protected the bishop from scrutiny. Walther then organized a riot to get rid of Stephan, stealing his gold, land, house, books, and personal possessions.
Greta's response to the truth about Walther's crimes, false doctrine, and Objective Justification blasphemy.
The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod does not like to reveal that the holy mission of moving hundreds of people to America was made easier for Pastor Martin Stephan. He left his ailing wife and children at home, but took his mistress and healthy son on the ship with him, in nearby cabins. Walther kidnapped his niece and nephew for the trip, on another ship, and they never saw their grandparents again. Yes - this is already the perfect description of an abusive cult.
As evil, greedy, and dishonest as Walther was, his greatest crime was blasphemy. As defined by Luther, Walther took the words of the Scriptures (Luther's Bible, not the modern crackpot kind) and defined them for his own purpose, teaching against the Chief Article of Christianity, Justification by Faith.
Some of Walther's Crimes Listed
He kidnapped his niece and nephew from his father's parsonage.
He avoided the police and let his future mother-in-law take the rap while he hid.
He and the Walther circle, extreme Pietists, knew Pastor Martin Stephan, STD, was a serial adulterer who preyed upon young women.
He called himself a pastor even though he left his call.
He concealed Stephan's syphilis from the group until it was revealed that young women in the group were infected by his seductions. Walther and his pals created a story that a sermon made one of the young women confess Stephan's adultery, even though the key leaders must of known this earlier, since Stephan went to spas for his syphilis symptoms.
Stephan left his wife and children behind in Europe, taking his mistress (adjoining cabin) and his son on the same ship.
Walther secretly took back the property title given to Bishop Stephan, prior to the riot he organized. Later, he talked Stephan's son out of the ownership. Two felonies.
When Walther brought the rioters down from St. Louis, only those against Stephan were allowed to come. His brother did not. Check Walther's Pastoral Theology for missing insights.
The Walther rioters threatened Stephan's life, kicked him out of his house, took his entire library, stole all of the bishop's money and possessions, and forced him across the Mississippi at gunpoint.
Stephan tried to get his wealth, books, and land back in court but did not succeed. Walther used the stolen chalice for communion at his St. Louis church.
Stephan's son went back to Germany, became an architect, and returned to St. Louis to became a pastor. Walther made a point of undermining Stephan's son in the ministry.
Walther blamed Stephan's adultery on Mrs. Stephan.
The LCMS continues to deny the crimes of The Great Walther and keeps the evidence hidden away.
My next-door neighbor gave me some hosta plants, about 10 years ago. I planted them without thinking about their benefits. Once established, they produce flower spikes that attract hummingbirds. When I mentioned the plants on Facebook, a classmate responded, "Rabbits ate all of mine."
Mature hosta do not attract rabbits, but new sprouts from irresistible Internet ads do. Eventually I had survivors of various colors, sizes, and textures. I looked for a used hosta book and found one endorsed by King Charles III nee Prince Charles, the previously overlooked royal. It is one of those coffee table books and worth reading to see what can be grown.
Enchanted Peace Rose
Touring the garden yesterday, I found hostas popping up all over - where we left them in the hot, dry fall. They were far more established and enjoying the semi-shade. The autumn of 2022 was a challenge, requiring a lot of watering to keep plants alive, yet even the most parched hostas popped up as if by the Creator - and not "by magic."
The calendar of the plants and animals is a secret but they know what to do. The day before my tour, I worried that triple crown blackberries were back. The new plants suggested and mocked my fears. Instead, the little yellow flowers of wild strawberries appeared - same family - but you knew that. Wild strawberries will fill in every gap front and back, blooming for bees, forming berries, thriving in deep shade and bright sunlight.
I do not have to wonder about which plants to use between roses. Bee balm is a mint, attracting bees hummingbirds, and butterflies. They also spread, given time. I saw their distinctive leaves yesterday, with older plants already forming large clumps. Small sprouts from last year's efforts are popping up in front of the patio, so everyone can watch the bees, hummingbirds, butterflies.
Knockout roses are in full bloom and the new hybrid tea roses are leafing out. Clethra bushes are in deep sleep, all the better to bloom and scent the air later in summer, when the bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies are bored.
My English kin are veteran gardeners, so it should not be surprising that the royals and I have so much in common. Christina said, "You went to graduate school and out popped a farmer: digging, manuring, weeding."
I just ordered a garden plaque which includes her own royal command - "Build a rose garden, grass is boring."
The Lutheran Leaders Are Lying about "Always Teaching Objective Justification" - Ha!
They are lying to you - Justification by Faith was taught in the early days of the synods (maybe not in the ELS), snuffed out after the Brief Statement, 1932, was canonized and gilded with fool's gold.
The Synodical Conference Small Catechism was edited by Carl Gausewitz, Wisconsin Synod, who died young, and was thrown under the bus. Try to find a copy now! They are as scarce and apologies from Mirthless Mark Schroeder.
CFW Walther was a Pietist fanatic from the start, following one Pietist guru and then becoming a disciple under Pastor Martin Stephan, after the first Pietist guru died. Walther always taught the entire world being forgiven and saved without faith. We can see in the Concordia Publishing House catechism booklets that Justification by Faith was taught in the KJV version of the catechism and also in the Synodical Conference catechism of Gausewitz.
The Norwegian Pietist brothers, Jack and Robert Preus, followed the Objective Justification error, but Robert wrote his last book, Justification and Rome, destroying Objective Justification.
Debate? They are both Objective Justification Enthusiasts.
Johann Wilhelm Baier was born in 1647 and died in 1695. He taught at Halle University, the mother ship of Pietism, a fact never mentioned when people say "Oh! Baier! Walther edited him!"
Justification/Atonement - Fourth Part of the Blasphemy Essay
Bishop Martin Stephan's pimp, CFW Walther, began forging the dogmatics leg irons of Missouri with his edition of Wilhelm Baier, a 17th century Pietist dogmatician at Halle University. Baier is now largely forgotten, or ignored, or forgotten-yet-praised because he was blessed by the Great Walther Himself and Francis Pieper Himself.
Halle's Pietism soon turned into rationalism, the branch now highly praised by ELCA Biblical scholars and CPH (see the elaborate pratfall of their two volume Gospel of Mark commentary).
Nobody ever says, "Oh! Rambach!" - except Jay Webber rose to support this Halle Pietist on 1 Timothy 3:16. See Steadfast (sic) Lutherans.
The Halle gang is protected by the Pietistic and the Rationalistic strands of Lutheran apostasy and blasphemy. Just to be polite - the doctrinal foundation of Walther and Pieper was not the Lutheran Reformation but the Halle Deformation. That is why Jay Webber so gleefully embraces the Pietist Quistorp to prop up his Objective Justification errors. And yes, Walther also liked and quoted Quistorp.
1Johann Quistorp; quoted in C. F. W. Walther, Justification: Subjective and Objective
(translated by Kurt E. Marquart) (Fort Wayne, Indiana: Concordia Theological Seminary Press, 1982), p.
21.
3. Cited by Jay Webber.
Lutheran dogmatics are best summarized by their reactions against the constant yowling pack of Calvinists, who were always trying to pick apart Luther, Melanchthon, Chemnitz, and Gerhard (not to be confused with the hymn writer Gerhardt).
Many are waiting for a retraction from David Scaer. The peacock is a symbol used by Luther - the strutting know it all who makes a lot of noise because its feet (foundation) are so ugly.
Just to be concise and not turn into another batch of verbose dogmatics experts, faithful Lutherans can summarize the error of the Objective Justification fanatics as merging Justification by Faith with the Atonement.
Traditional Lutherans believe in Justification by Faith because they have not been brain-damaged by repeat-after-me graduates and professors of Mordor, Ft. Wayne, St. Louis, and the Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie. The OJ cancer is deeply troubled by the Chief Article, because faith is necessarily individual, not universal.
The ELS is in denial about their favorite dogma being pure hogwash. The Halle DNA mixed with Calvinist Enthusiasm created an eternal truth - the residents in Hell (Hitler, Stalin, Mao) are guilt-free saints.
Heirs of Knapp-Woods confused people into thinking that the entire world was absolved of all sin - that believing this nonsense was Subjective Justification - two justifications without faith! Walther taught making a decision for Objective Justification was just perfect.
The poorly educated leaders of the synods think they can paste sticky notes all through the Bible - OJ and SJ. "For God so loved the world (OJ!) that He gave His only Son (OJ again!) so that whosoever believed (SJ!) in Him might not perish (OJ!) but have everlasting life."
The man who covered up his bishop's syphilitic adultery until the right time to stage a riot and steal gold, land, and books - that Pietist embraced the Objective Justification taught by Martin Stephan, STD.
Their idea of salvation is exactly the same, with a minor concession from LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC side - an individual must make a decision, agreeing that everyone is already forgiven and saved without faith.
Is everyone clear on this? The president of WELS' shrinking seminary was an expert on Church Growth and grace without the Means of Grace.
ELCA has reached the obvious conclusion of apostasy - grace means everyone is forgiven and saved, without faith. They say, twisting Romans 4, that it is either grace or faith, and faith is Law.
The whole stack of Lutheran leaders has united around Thrivent loot and quasi-Unitarian dogma - social activism as necessary, faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God, not.
"Our work is done. Pacification is complete. All accept the forgiveness of salvation of all people. Our members are fewer but the dogma is pure.
4. So the Holy Spirit illustrates and teaches now in this example that without faith we are simply blind and completely hardened, as we see everywhere in the holy Scriptures that the human heart is the hardest thing in the world, harder than steel and adamant. And on the other hand, if it be bashful, despondent and soft, there is no water nor oil so soft as the human heart.
5. You find many examples and narratives illustrating this in the Scripture.
Pharaoh, before whom Moses performed so many terrible signs and wonders that he could not reply to them, yea, he had to admit that it was God’s finger and therefore also confessed he had sinned against God and his people etc.: yet his heart became harder and more obdurate continually until the Lord drowned him with all his army in the sea. Likewise also the Jews; the more powerfully Christ proved both by word and deed that he was the one who was promised by their fathers that he should be a blessing to them and to the whole world, the more vehemently and bitterly they raged against him and their hatred, blasphemy and persecution knew no measure nor end until they condemned their Lord and God to the most ignominious death and crucified him between two malefactors, nothing could prevent it although Pilate the judge himself declared against them that he was innocent, creation acted differently than usual and thereby testified that its Lord and Creator hung there on the cross etc.; likewise the thief freely confessed publicly, although Christ truly hung there and died, yet he was a king who had an eternal heavenly kingdom; and the heathen centurion publicly cried: “Truly this was the Son of God,” etc. Matthew 27:54. This all, I say, helped nothing to bring about this conversion.
I use the Internet to emphasize Creation, nutrition, and the efficacy of the Word. I need walnuts, every day.
"This my dear puppy."
I enjoy the conversations with members and friends across the country - and world. There is something special about someone 8,000 miles away who is delighted at getting Pilgrim's Progress when most Americans do not know the book at all. And two books were sent for a pastor who works way up north.
Blooms are bustin' out all over in the Creation Garden. The initial pesky little garden take-overs were the ajuga mints, purple, EV stations for pollinators. They look like bums but soon step aside to my favorite hardy weed - wild strawberries, which bloom in the shade, feed birds and bees, and fill the nocks and crannies of the garden. Want some? Put up a few tree stumps and wood leftovers. Birds will perch on the stumps while the wood rots into the ground. Knowing how to plant free food, the birds leave a deposit for the future wild strawberry plants that will grow around the stump, added and abetted with free fertilizer. If you are not laughing now, you grew up in a suburb.
The daffodils are done flowering in the backyard and front. I have added six bare-root roses (Maria Shriver and Plum Fragrance) plus five Knock-Outs (red, pink). Cannas are ordered for color and their ability to last the winter. I got Calla Lilies for Easter Sunday and planted them just off the front porch, where the Military Gardening Group gathered after supper - continuing their war stories after having chicken, rolls, and ice cream.
I was warned against placing the hummingbird feeder too close to the porch, so I put one right in front of where Ranger Bob sits. The look on his face when the hummingbird floated a few feet away was utter bliss. No more warnings.
There is no substantial difference between Creation, the efficacy of the Word, and Justification by Faith. Thanks to the Lutheran Librarian, Alec Satin, people can read extensive General Council and Ohio Synod (ALC) essays on
The efficacy of the Word,
Justification by Faith, and
the Means of Grace.
Why are the Lutheran politicians and professors so ignorant of those topics from the Bible and the Book of Concord? The toxic generations back 100 years ago began to erase and extract the substance of the Bible and Confessions from -
The Bible - rejecting the KJV.
Lutheran politicians
Lutheran colleges
Lutheran seminaries
Lutheran teachers and professors.
The sickening decay of Lutheran doctrine is nothing more than an utterly libidinous lust for Calvinism, Romanism, and marketing boosterism.
One well known pastor bragged about his huge Vacation Bible School and said, "Go big or go home." Thus the Great Commission has a new translation -
Trans-synods - ELCA-LCMS-ELS-WELS-CLC (sic) Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and go big or go home."
The toxin is so great, so cherished by its leaders, that anyone questioning the basics is hurled into
The Stygian darkness of Biblical inerrancy and efficacy,
Luther's Biblical doctrine, and
Freedom from cowardly tyrants.
We have 500-1,000 views each day, doubtless a wee bit larger than they enjoy in synodical and diocesan palaces large and small. They are closing down their print operations "out of an abundance of caution about insolvency." They are scared crazy about their expensive piles of bricks and mortar, their empty libraries and classrooms, their lack of spiritual discernment.
"Hosanna to the Living Lord" by Reginald Heber, 1783-1826
1. Hosanna to the living Lord! Hosanna to the Incarnate Word! To Christ, Creator, Savior, King, Let earth, let heaven, hosanna sing.
2. O Savior, with protecting care Abide in this Thy house of prayer, Where we Thy parting promise claim, Assembled in Thy sacred name.
3. But, chiefest, in our cleansed breast, Eternal, bid Thy Spirit rest And make our secret soul to be A temple pure and worthy Thee.
4. So in the last and dreadful Day, When earth and heaven shall melt away, Thy flock, redeemed from sinful stain, Shall swell the sound of praise again.
The Lutheran Hymnal Hymn #70 Text: Matt. 21:9 Author: Reginald Heber, 1811; 1827, ab. Tune: "Vom Himmel hoch" First Published in: _Geistliche Lieder_ Town: Leipzig, 1539
The Confession of Sins The Absolution The Introit p. 16
The Introit
He is risen, Hallelujah! Why seek ye the Living among the dead? Hallelujah!
Remember how He spake unto you, Hallelujah! the Son of Man must be crucified and the third day rise again. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Psalm. Thou crownedst Him with glory and honor: Thou madest Him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands.
The Gloria Patri The Kyrie p. 17 The Gloria in Excelsis The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Collect
Almighty God, who through Thine only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, hast overcome death and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life, we humbly beseech Thee that, as Thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by Thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gradual
This is the day which the Lord hath made: we will rejoice and be glad in it.
V. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
V. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us.
V. Let us keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Hallelujah!
The Preface p. 24 The Sanctus p. 26 The Lord's Prayer p. 27 The Words of Institution The Agnus Dei p. 28 The Nunc Dimittis p. 29 The Benediction p. 31 The Hymn #657Beautiful Savior
Prayers and Announcements
The Easter and Calla Lilies are in memory of our members, friends, and family who have passed into everlasting life, donated by Alicia Meyer in memory of Gary Meyer, by Norma Boeckler in memory of Walter Boeckler.
In our prayers - Lyne Cruz, Kermit Way, Callie, Pastor and Mrs. Jim Shrader, and those suffering from emotional stress.
Pray for our country as major trials continue and people suffer from foolish government interventions.
KJV 1 Corinthians 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
KJV Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
Witnesses of the Empty Tomb
KJV Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
Easter Sunday in the Gospel of Mark is the great lever, as people judge this day, based on the divinity of Jesus Christ and His resurrection - or not.
150 years ago, Britain and America released - at the same time - their Revision of the King James Version. Scholars on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean gathered for 10 years and produced a new KJV for the first time, 1881. The apostate leaders had two great targets - the divinity of Christ and the empty tomb. The Gospel of Mark is simply packed with stories of the divinity of Christ, so they erased the phrase "the Son of God" in Mark 1:1. Roughly 5,000 ancient manuscripts had "the Son of God" but the apostates removed that from the Greek New Testament edited in secret by Westcott and Hort. (I have the copy in Greek.)
The opponents then worked against the empty tomb so that, when I was in school, the empty tomb was being attacked by ordained, Lutheran PhD professors of the New Testament, both deceased now.
The modern translations - no surprise - erase and change verses to downplay and remove the divinity of Christ and faith in Him. The denominations refuse to mention the precise and beautifully written KJV, and they allow their "scholars" to use two phony fraudulent sources - Sinaiticus (the leather-paged forgery supposedly being burned by Tischendorf to warm the monastery library) and Vaticanus the version kept by the Vatican, a Greek translation of the Latin, making it late rather than early.
3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
The ladies coming to the tomb were not scholars - they simply wanted to honor the death of Jesus with the final preparations. They were so hurried in their devotion that they never thought of the tomb being closed with a huge stone, fashioned so that several men needed to move it.
At first that seems to be lack of faith, but in fact they proceeded onto the tomb when no one else was headed there and they did not turn back due to their lack of muscle power.
That can be seen from the perspective of being in a rush to finish what they wanted to do, full of grief and tears. But it really shows God at work while they are consumed with worries and sorrows.
5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
This is such a remarkable verse. The women had one thing on their minds, honoring the dead Teacher. This was entirely different and was surely told many times in person by those women.
6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
This how God works. We have one thing in mind and yet an entirely new perspective becomes true in a moment. This is the first stage of the revelation. He is crucified and He is risen. Implied - He is alive! He is not here! Behold means - look! Your brain says one thing but your eyes see an empty place, so He cannot be here.
7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
Peter is not excluded, even though He denied Jesus three times. He is not named for being the first Pope, as some would claim, but for his fall from grace which had been anticipated. This is a strong reminder that Peter let fear take over and expel his faith in the Savior, but that faith would be restored three-fold (Gospel of John) through the absolution of Jesus.
8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
This is the transition to the conclusion of Mark, which harmonizers with the others. We know that the inner circle gathered there and Jesus appeared that day and a week later. There were doubts and confusion, which is normal, since the Roman Army was outside their door (figuratively speaking). They must have been well led by the Spirit and the risen Christ. Miracles were not over but just starting as the Apostles saw the Ascension and began spreading the Gospel through persecution and Rome's highways and ports.
The loss of a loved one begins very much like the walk to the tomb, early in the morning. Everyone was confused but determined to do what was right. The unknown becomes a fact over time. The reality is that we are a tiny fraction of the whole, but that amounts to everything.
A family friend lost her mother less than a year ago. I told her how terrible loss is at first, but the pain is slowly replaced by peace, joy, smiles, laughter. Eternal life is not a thought but a reality, and everything in the Scriptures point toward that truth. Everything is in harmony with the revelation of God.
I created a happy corner, which I can see from my computer desk, favorite photos of three girls (Christina, Bethany Joan Marie, Erin Joy) and Sassy. Each one was a part of many lives and each one remains with us in many ways.
Our lives do not end with loss but with gain. Life is ephemeral, like a dream, sometimes a nightmare, but eternal life is based upon the Rock, the Foundation of the Eternal Christian Church and our abode forever.
I am entering the fourth quarter now, the only one that counts (in football). The only worthwhile thing I can do is to preach and teach the Word of God as it is - supported by the heroes of the Reformation - Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz - as Biblical teachers.
I am a wee bit nostalgic about LSTC, comprising mergers of seven seminaries and now so broke it will rent space at a nearby Catholic school. The school and its Presbyterian partner sold the location to the Rockefeller funded U. of Chicago. They will get about $18 million for the two buildings and 3.5 acres.
Their Lutheran pipe organ was sold to another Catholic school, doubling the irony.
LSTC wanted their building to express open arms to the urban community, but they were happy to use the McCormick Seminary addition to close LSTC to that urban community. McCormick was "occupied" at one point, so the cloister effect was welcome for them too. How quickly the Left's goals sink into reality!
The new campus would replace not only one in Maywood, but also campuses in Rock Island, Ill., and Fremont, Neb.
The next year, a writer in Architectural Record described the building as “refreshingly free of any trace of obvious religious symbolism, and indeed has as much 20th century technological elan as the most advanced secular building.”
Christina and I saw the Augustana Seminary parcel sold to the college, and we visited LSTC for finishing some dissertation research in Chicago. We often visited Chicago and never worried about crime.
Robin Steinke, on the far right, is now the president of Luther Seminary. Her installation, viewed on the Net, foreshadowed the funeral of David Preus later - gloomy, unspirited, and poorly attended.
Luther Seminary (ALC) merged with Northwestern Seminary (LCA) to become Luther Seminary. They are selling off parcels of land faster than a parish rummage sale.
Meanwhile, the ELCA seminary overlooking the Pacific Ocean, is now a Muslim school, the seminary at the bottom of the hill. They kept the name Pacific Seminary, though my choice was Over the Hill, or Sliding into Home Base, or HowLo CanU Get.
Guy Erwin, on the far right, became the new president of United Lutheran Seminary when the divided community discovered the previous seminary president had a history of being normal.
In an abundance of caution, Gettysburg and Philadelphia, merged their names into "United Lutheran Seminary". The schools' mutual loathing was so great decades ago that I was warned never to use the wrong name for the school of the alumnus. I visited there once.
Christina and I visited Luther seminary once to get the goods on WELS working with ELCA via Thrivent. She found the article and said in the library, "Now I've got you (name withheld), you big, fat liar."
All the synods are "partners in ministry" in ministry - ELCA, LCMS, WELS, ELS, etc etc.
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