Apology of the Augsburg Confession - That Faith in Christ Justifies

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/05/gutenberg-project-apology-of-augsburg_14.html

WELS Layman to Blogmeister - "More Justification Quotations!"

WELS DP responds to justification quotations.

A WELS layman, who is too secretive for a code name or enigmatic number, has asked for more justification by faith quotations.

The Apology of the Augsburg Confession contains one of the most beautiful essays on justification by faith, so I decided to produce graphics with extended quotations from it.

After finishing Part 3, I inserted the graphics on that page. The graphics are also published on FB in a special album for my FB friends. Graphics are a lot of work, but they are also enjoyable and fulfilling to produce.

Opposition to justification by faith has made me especially interested in the topic. When an MDiv plagiarist like Paul McCain cannot find the theology of the cross in Luther's works, he has obviously never read Luther's sermons. That is the wretched state of Lutherdom today, led by self-serving salary skimmers who do not comprehend the subject matter of the faith and oppose the few scraps they think they know.

I find it ironic that McCain and his spokesman, Harrison, find it necessary to prove their fidelity to C. F. W. Walther to be good Missourians.

Walther was not a Lutheran - he was  Pietist. More importantly, he was a dictatorial criminal:

1. A kidnapper of two minor children, transporting them to America.
2. A kidnapper of his own boss.
3. A mob organizer and thief.
4. A pope in love with his own dogma, an opponent of the Chief Article of the Christian Faith.

Yes, McCain and Harrison are Waltherian - but that does not make them Lutheran. It only proves they are anti-Lutheran.

Steadfast Lutheran Site Allows Ichabod To Criticize the LCMS. Ichabod's Comments Blocked

Pope Paul the Plagiarist has another copied post on  his copy and paste site.
http://cyberbrethren.com/2012/06/27/commemoration-of-cyril-of-alexandria/
http://aardvarkalley.blogspot.com/search?q=cyril+of+alexandria

McCain's Irenaeus post is plagiarized from The Catholic Encyclopedia, with a disguised link "Source" at the end of the post.

bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Apology of the Augsburg Confession.New, More Detai...":

Steadfast Lutherans say it's okay for Ichabod to criticize the LCMS:

http://steadfastlutherans.org/?p=20800


***

GJ - I am all busted up about being blocked on Steadfast Lutherans (sic), which is seldom more than a PR vehicle for SP Harrison the Silencer.

Felony child abuse by a rostered LCMS lay pastor in Minnesota - Silence! DPs are involved. Rev up the 10-horsepower shredders.

Steal the property of the U. Minn campus ministry, sell it, and give a morsel to the parish - Applaud Harrison for approving it as legal while registering his useless 12th hour objection! What a man - now that is real leadership. That is almost as good as a hand-written thank-you note following a rape.

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LPC has left a new comment on your post "Steadfast Lutheran Site Allows Ichabod To Criticiz...":

Steadfast Lutherans say it's okay for Ichabod to criticize the LCMS:

Really? I can believe that except what they meant was that you are free to criticise LCMS just don't do it at Steadfast Waltherians blog.

LPC

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LPC has left a new comment on your post "Steadfast Lutheran Site Allows Ichabod To Criticiz...":

Steadfast Lutherans

Indeed it deserves a (sic) because the blog title is a joke.

LPC

***

GJ - The Missouri Compromise (an American joke) has been - we will balance the so-called conservatives with the ELCA wannabees, keeping everyone a little bit happy but always moving to the Left.

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bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Steadfast Lutheran Site Allows Ichabod To Criticiz...":

Just as the gentiles had to stay behind the soreg (wall) dividing the Court of the Gentiles from the inner court of the temple where only Jews could go, so non-LCMS gentiles must restrict their comments to Ichabod. Dare any non-LCMS person try to comment on Steadfast, an uproar ensues and the person is banned (Act 21:28-29):

Soreg, Middle wall of Partition, Herod’s Temple, Jerusalem, Israel:
http://biblicalgeographic.com/2011/09/27/soreg-middle-wall-of-partition-herods-temple-jerusalem-israel/

View of the Area Between
the Royal Stoa and the Soreg:
http://www.neveh.org/mikdash/koren/koren5.html

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bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Steadfast Lutheran Site Allows Ichabod To Criticiz...":

That they are discussing whether people outside the LCMS can criticize those in the holy synod tells me they didn't like this cartoon on Ichabod:

Someone Has Sent an Insider's Report from the LCMS:
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/06/someone-has-sent-insiders-report-from.html

***

GJ - As Dr. Cruz says, "Touch not the Lord's anointed!" - in this case, Holy Mother Missouri.

Irony alert - from Pope Paul the Plagiarist:

Rev. Paul T. McCain

June 28th, 2012 at 08:59 | #45

Reply | Quote

Here’s the very important truth we must not compromise, in our zeal to defend the Office of the Holy Ministry.

The Gospel is always an absolving/forgiving word of good news. This is true when brothers and sisters in Christ comfort one another with the Gospel. This is true when pastors pronounce absolution.

If the Gospel is ever something other than Gospel, then we have a very, very serious problem on our hands.

---

bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Steadfast Lutheran Site Allows Ichabod To Criticiz...":

Harrison bio information - educate by Methodists:

http://www.morningside.edu/morningside/about_morningside/index.htm

Founded in 1894 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, Morningside College is a private, four-year, co-educational institution affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/article_4e663364-ce6f-55e6-850f-e5099a10c060.html

Harrison was born in Sioux City, Iowa, where he graduated from Morningside College in 1984. He attended seminary in Fort Wayne, Ind., and was ordained in 1991 and served two parishes in the next 10 years — St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Westgate, Iowa, and Zion Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. He plays the five-string banjo, and is a former member of the Missouri Area Bluegrass Committee.

Pastor Nathan Bickel on Scaer's UOJ

“Scratch the Holy Spirit”

A Significant Erroneous Mark of the “Universal Objective Justification” Enthusiasts

Comment Following the Ichabod Article:

“Some Thoughts Often Ignored by the Learned Pharisees of UOJ”

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/06/some-thoughts-often-ignored-by-learned.html

Ichabod -

While at seminary I had Dr. Scaer for at least one course. It was about 13 -15 years before he wrote this UOJ assessment in the Concordia Theological Quarterly, you reference.

I don't recall much (if anything) of his teaching, as my professor. I can only conclude that the Holy Spirit shielded me from the universal objective justification error that he may have taught when I was in his class.

One thing I can say, I liked his class. I don't recall much homework. And, he was one to encourage his students to think and discuss various Scriptures. He loved to utilize the [then] $50 "Synopsis of the Four Gospels" - the Greek-English Edition based upon the Greek Text of Nestle-Aland, the 26th Ed.

But, be that as it may, the more I read this quotation of Dr. Scaer’s; it appears ambiguous and simply out of whack. Without looking at any context, these two sentences appear to be alien; and also alien to each other.

Here's what Professor Scaer incorrectly says:

"Whoever denies objective justification reduces justification to the act of believing and does not believe in it at all. Logically, he denies the atonement and preaches that man is responsible for his sins." [The Third Use of the Law: Resolving the Tension – CTQ – 2005; page 256]

Dr. Scaer introduces logic to make his (human) reasoned argument point. But his contention isn't very Scriptural or logical when he claims that those who deny objective justification deny the atonement. His statement is fallacious - the old "either / or, argument."

Professor Scaer (though) did get something right. Basically, he states that those who reject (universal) "objective justification" preach that the sinner is responsible for his sin. Of course we do – because we are! That is why the words of the famous hymn lyric are so precious to the sinner / saint who strives against sin and seeks to walk in the Spirit, seeking the "things that are above." - Colossians 3:1:

"Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.

Naked come to Thee for dress; helpless, look to Thee for grace.

Foul, I to the fountain fly, - wash me Savior, or I die!" [Third verse of “Rock of Ages”]

Universal Objective Justification enthusiasts, basically minimize, diminish and / or disregard Sanctification:

I believe in the Holy Ghost; [Spirit] the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean?

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ , my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost [Spirit] has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all sins to me and all believers, and will at the Last Day raise up me and all the dead, and give unto me and all believers in Christ eternal life.

This is most certainly true. [Dr. Martin Luther [b. 1483; d. 1546]

Christians of all walks of life, and even, whether they are pastors or professors, often forget and overlook the whole work and process of Sanctification. I'm becoming more and more convinced that those who do [so] are easily sucked into the whole UOJ - "universal objective justification" morass. By myopically focusing solely on the Second Person of the Trinity they not only offend the Holy Spirit, but His work of justification in the believer. Please again recall what Luther stated in the aforementioned explanation of the 3rd Article of the Apostle's Creed:

"............in which Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all sins to me and all believers ......”

Those who put all their "forgiveness 'eggs;’" into the universal objective justification basket, simply err against the Holy Spirit and His ongoing (continued) work in the life of the Christian believer. In reality they pervert the Scripture. I could offer a couple major reasons why the UOJ enthusiasts are driven to believe in their "scratch the Holy Spirit" false teaching, but that must wait for another time and another occasion.

Oh - by the way, I am reminded of Dr. Peter Scaer's book on “Christology,” Volume VI of the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics with Robert Preus the editor:

Professor Scaer's last chapter is entitled:  "The Ascension and Second Coming of Christ." Not once did I notice a single reference to the Holy Spirit! This is what I mean when I say that the error of the "universal objective justification" enthusiasts is to slight the Holy Spirit. That's their (failing) mark. They readily overlook how our true God, is Triune. They then emphasis (without balance) the Second Person of the Trinity at the expense of the Holy Spirit! And, I might add that Christ did not slight the Third Person of the Trinity as He related to His [then] 12 disciples (and to us through the divine revelation) that the Holy Spirit would be alive and well and very active between His [Christ’s] Ascension and Second Coming!

Nathan M. Bickel – emeritus pastor

www.thechristianmessage.org

www.moralmatters.org

Paul Scaer, LCMS pastor, died as an ELCA member.

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Pastor Nathan Bickel on Scaer's UOJ":

Very good statements Rev. Bickel.

Scaer's UOJ statements remind me of a trifecta of quotes thrown at me by Evergreen Lutheran High School's Rev. Humann in his rage against one Justification solely by Faith Alone.

"But, sad to say, there are some Lutherans who want to be conservative and orthodox and yet find it very difficult to say with equal fervor and vigor that God has forgiven the sins of all men in Christ." (p.53)

"And yet many Lutherans still labor under the delusion that God does not forgive us unless we believe. Instead of seeing faith as nothing more than the spiritual hand with which we make the forgiveness of God our own, they see it as a reason why God forgives us. They believe that Christ has indeed provided forgiveness for all men, that God is willing to forgive them, but before he really forgives he first of all demands that we should be sorry for our sins and that we should have faith. Just have faith they say, and then God will forgive you. All the right words are there. The only thing wrong is that the words are in the wrong order. God does not forgive us IF we have faith. He has forgiven us long ago when he raised his Son from the dead." (p. 59)

Finally, "If forgiveness were dependent on faith in the sense that God does not forgive until we believe, we would always have to be sure that we are believers before we would be sure that we are forgiven." (p.60)
(W)ELS Our Great Heritage

The discussion ran from September to November 2008 and ended with the Board for Evergreen passing a resolution in favor of UOJ which included this gem:

”K. While the election controversy was in its second stage in the first years of the 20th Century, a somewhat related controversy over objective justification erupted. This development prompted August Pieper to write for the third volume of the Quartalschrift his unforgettable article. The conclusion reads:

One cannot oppose any doctrine of God’s Word with impunity; this increases sin and guilt, damages consciences and blinds the heart. One error begets another, as in the election controversy the insistence on intuitu fidei soon brought with itself the synergistic doctrine of conversion. But whoever molests the doctrine of justification stabs the gospel in the heart and is on the way of losing entirely Christian doctrine and personal faith and of falling into the arms of heathenism, even if he ever so much emphasizes justification by faith.”

Apology of the Augsburg Confession.New, More Detailed Graphics on Justification by Faith

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/05/gutenberg-project-apology-of-augsburg_9930.html

Some Thoughts Often Ignored by the Learned Pharisees of UOJ

quercuscontramalum (http://quercuscontramalum.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Has This Changed Too, VP Wayne Mueller?":

But Mueller to St. Paul is 2000 years. Maybe God created and revealed a new dispensation in these 2000 years?

Let's rewind another 2000 years further and see how God's Word changed:

"And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness." Genesis 15:6

Oh, wait. Nevermind.

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Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Has This Changed Too, VP Wayne Mueller?":

Ichabod -

Thank you again for highlighting more Scripture which teaches that faith justifies. When I saw the Romans 5:1-2 Scripture highlighted, I was elated because the Scripture agrees [with] and correlates [well] with my Sunday's topical message [LOL]:

"Cheap Grace is a Worthless Substitute for a Faith That Saves:"

<<<<<<<<<< Luke 15 Cannot be a Favorite Chapter for the Cheap Grace (AKA, "Universal Objective Justification") Crowd:

This Gospel of Luke chapter 15:1f, is a testament to the error of cheap grace (which I believe) includes the whole "universal objective justification" teaching. The lost (prodigal) son was not forgiven (justified) until he became repentant. His act of coming to his [spiritual] senses was a gracious act of God.

In the Parable of the Lost Coin, the coin did not find itself. Neither did the prodigal son, "find himself." UOJ (universal objective justification) teachers and preachers gloss over the Biblical teaching of repentance on the sinner's part [Luke 15:7] and most often slight and / or ignore the Holy Spirit who works His saving process from start to finish in the individual. - John 3:1-21 ; Titus 3:5 ; Ephesians 2:8-10 ; John 1:12;13 ; 1 Corinthians 2:12 ; 1 Corinthians 6:11 ; 1 John 5:1

See also:

John 1:12-13 ; James 1:18 ; Matthew 16:17 ; Ephesians 2:4-5 ; Ephesians 2:8-10 ; 1 Peter 1:3 ; 1 Peter 1:23 ; Colossians 1:20-21 ; John 3:5-8 ; John 6:65 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 ; Romans 8:29-31 ; Romans 9:15-18 ; Titus 3:3-7 ; Philippians 2:13 ; 1 John 5:4 ; 1 Peter 1:5 ;Hebrews 2:3 >>>>>>>>>>>

http://www.thechristianmessage.org/2012/06/cheap-grace-is-worthless-substitute-for.html

Nathan M. Bickel

www.thechristianmessage.org

www.moralmatters.org 

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Famed Crystal Cathedral to become Catholic church - Yahoo! News

"One day, son, all this will be your sister's,
then the pope's."

Famed Crystal Cathedral to become Catholic church - Yahoo! News:


GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) — Retired schoolteacher Dolores Rommel has followed the Rev. Robert H. Schuller almost her entire adult life: She was baptized in his church as a young woman, sent her children to his Sunday school and laid her husband to rest near the soaring, glass-paned Crystal Cathedral that was to be the televangelist's ultimate legacy.

But when the Roman Catholic church bought the famous sanctuary and its cemetery in bankruptcy court last year, Rommel began looking for another spiritual home. She has resigned herself to being entombed in a Catholic cemetery so she can be near her husband, but not without plenty of soul-searching.

"I have no choice. I am going to be buried there because that was his choice and we paid a lot for that vault," said Rommel, who bought a two-casket tomb with her husband in 1997. "At the time, who would know that this was going to happen?"

The Crystal Cathedral congregation recently announced that it will vacate its modernist steel-and-glass church by June 2013. The Diocese of Orange re-baptized the church Christ Cathedral earlier this month and plans to turn the Protestant landmark where the "Hour of Power" TV ministry is based into its spiritual and administrative headquarters. The fast-growing, 1.2 million-person diocese bought the church campus for nearly $58 million last year.

The upcoming transition has been an emotional one for many longtime congregants like Rommel, who watched Schuller's blockbuster dynasty struggle to survive in recent years amid declining donations, a disastrous leadership transition and an endless family squabble that split the congregation.
Schuller built the church — an architectural marvel with 10,000 windows and room for nearly 3,000 worshippers and 1,000 musicians — in 1980, a decade after he began broadcasting his sermons on the "power of possibility thinking" into the homes of millions of evangelical Christians each Sunday.
Reaction to the church's sale was at first bitter: The children of one prominent philanthropist publicly threatened to disinter their father from its cemetery and another congregant sued for $30 billion, saying the transfer to Catholic hands had "permanently desecrated, defamed, polluted and cursed" the church.
Tempers have since cooled, but the recently announced timeline for the transfer to Catholic hands has revived questions about the fate of Schuller's ministry once it leaves behind the iconic building that gave it its name. The diocese will grant the congregation six months rent-free at a nearby Catholic church and it plans to continue filming the "Hour of Power."

"We could film in a studio," said John Charles, the new CEO of Crystal Cathedral Ministries. "We're still going to have the same great preaching, the same great music and pulpit guests. The ministry is not about the building — it's more about our congregation and who we are."

Some, however, wonder whether the ministry will fizzle out — or shrink dramatically — without the building that gave it its name. Broadcasts of the "Hour of Power" were recently cut back to 30 minutes on Lifetime and Discovery channels and Schuller, now 85, no longer appears on the program and hasn't attended church since last fall.

His son and daughter, who each failed to assume their father's mantle, are no longer involved in the ministry. Sheila Schuller Coleman formed a new church after a falling out last year.

"You are kidding about sis taking over, aren't you, Dad?"

The congregation, which now numbers up to 1,700 people each Sunday, will also change its name once it moves.

"It really needs to go back to square one and say, 'Who are we going to be? We can't be what we were 10 to 15 years ago,'" said Kurt Fredrickson, an associate dean and assistant professor of pastoral ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary. "There could be resurrection there or it could be that we say goodbye to a congregation and bless them and be grateful and thank God for years and years and years of really wonderful ministry."

Schuller tapped into California's blossoming car culture and the optimism of a post-World War II generation when he began preaching in 1955 from the roof of a snack bar at a drive-in movie theater in suburban Orange County. He exhorted worshippers to "come as you are in the family car" and his upbeat message resonated.
By 1970, Schuller was airing the "Hour of Power" and in 1980, he dedicated the Crystal Cathedral, an architectural marvel that served as the backdrop for the show. At its peak, the broadcast attracted 20 million viewers around the world.

The Rev. Christopher Smith, the Catholic episcopal vicar and rector of the newly baptized Christ Cathedral, recalls as a child watching from his grandparents' backyard as the young, energetic evangelist preached from the roof of the drive-in theater's concession stand. Now, Smith is in charge of a delicate transition as the diocese prepares to move into a religious and architectural touchstone cherished by evangelicals around the world.

The diocese hopes to honor Schuller and the history of his ministry with a museum that begins with the drive-in movie theater and ends with the Catholic acquisition. The diocese may also move its archives, which are currently not publicly available, to the cathedral grounds, said Smith.

"I just hope that we attend well to all the different people who are affected by this and also that this place be seen as a place where everyone is welcome to find hope and consolation and inspiration, whether they're Catholic or not," Smith said.

"That's the bishop's desire — that we are a real credible witness to Christ in the world through our work here."

Napoleon Hill inspired Schuller with this nonsense.
The most visible guru was Norman Vincent Peale,
who plagiarized his best-seller.
Thus Church Growth began with the plagiarism of Peale
and the adultery of Fuller's main theologian - Karl Barth-Kirschbaum.

'via Blog this'

WELS Church Lady Rebukes WELS Pastor Lillo

WELS church lady has left a new comment on your post "Fuller Has Been Their Main Post-Grad Seminary for ...":

To be fair, Pastor Lillo would be considered a loyal follower. Most of the WELS pastors who followed this blog, jumped over to the Intrepids in the summer of 2010. In January of 2010, Pastor GJ had to start the open ID for comments. Before open ID, this blog recieved tons of comments, which included WELS students and pastors alike. There was a little opposing noise coming from "some" leaders in the WELS, but that was more-or-less in late 2009.

HINT!!! HOW DO YOU THINK I WAS INTRODUCED TO THOSE WELS PASTORS/LAYMEN FROM INTREPID LUTHERANS??? IT SURE WASN'T AT THE LOCAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

In Christ,
Rebecca

***

GJ - Only 17,000+ comments have been published so far, so there is obviously little interest!

Lillo is addicted to reading and commenting while claiming no one reads or comments. It is difficult to generate 17,000 comments from a handful of people.

Open the windows when repainting that stinky old bar in downtown Appleton. I think the fumes are affecting your judgment, Joel.

Has This Changed Too, VP Wayne Mueller?

Did the Formula of Concord, Fifty Years after Augsburg, Abandon Justification by Faith? - As WELS CG Leader Wayne Mueller Claims

Michigan District, LCMS Hymn to Their District President

This was done at the Michigan District, LCMS, convention.
Sung to "I know that my Redeemer lives."

Mrs. Ichabod asked, after I sang the hymn to her, "Who wrote that? The DP?"

This graphic appeared overnight, but I waited to see what really happened, in case it was one of those Internet hoaxes.

The DP said something humorously, and this was a humorous response. A long comment thread on Facebook is denouncing people with no sense of humor, but I think this was done in poor taste. The DPs already think that way and act that way. No encouragement is needed.

People just do not realize that their Facebook efforts are published for all the world to see. Those graphics do not go away.

Like the WELS Michigan District, the Missouri Michigan District has been in love with Church Growth since the beginning. I recall copying junk from the LCMS Michiganders where they called their committee - Evangelism and Church Growth. In other words, the committee was devoted to Fuller dogma and practices.

The two districts could easily merge, giving Missouri a prep school in Saginaw and WELS a few more students to pay tuition. There are no significant doctrinal differences and many areas of complete agreement:

1. Church Growth is the ultimate. 
2. The DP is infallible. 
3. Holy Mother Church is indefectible.

Someone posted this as a response to the DP hymn.

Articles: Sex Slavery and Juvenile Justice.Organized Crime, Child Prostitution, and File Swapping Go Together

Articles: Sex Slavery and Juvenile Justice:

The focus of the report is on victim protection, one of the three Ps in the paradigm first established in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) -- protection, prevention, and prosecution.  It is interesting to note, though, that the TIP Report, which would not exist without the initial passage of the TVPA 2000, relies heavily on the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress & Punish Trafficking in Persons (Palermo Protocol) for guidance on how to handle victims.  While this may be appropriate for other countries, the United States has its own laws dealing with this: the TVPA and its subsequent Reauthorizations in 2003, 2005, and 2008.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/06/sex_slavery_and_juvenile_justice.html#ixzz1yzAK7aYF

'via Blog this'

Plagiarism and Pietism Go Well Together - Like Arsenic and Old Lace

Pope Paul the Plagiarist and Aardvark Alley have the same post on Jeremiah - verbatim! Astonishing.

Look for it - buried in the Pauline text is HT and a named link. Thus - HT: Aardvark Alley.

The Posturing Princes of Pietism Will Not Let the Augsburg Confession and Its Apology Deter Them

Where are the faithful confessors today?

Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Steal These Graphics - Justification by Faith - Ap...":

Ichabod -

Great posting! What could be more plain than those quotations from the Apology, which clearly state that it is faith that justifies!

However, be that as it may, I would not doubt that the universal objective justification enthusiasts have either black marked those quotations or cut them out of their Book of Concord books.......

Nathan M. Bickel - emeritus pastor

www.thechristianmessage.org

www.moralmatters.org

***

GJ - A WELS layman asked me to post statements from the Apology, so I did.

The spirit of Pietism exalts an amalgamation of dogma. They look upon their own creation and say, "Ah!"

Wayne Mueller patiently explained to the unwashed like us that the Confessions welcome new dogma. I never read a more Roman Catholic definition of the church.

According to Roman Catholics, there were many doctrines passed on from bishop to bishop. That is their definition of the Deposit of Faith. Therefore, the lack of any evidence for current dogma is irrelevant. It was passed on by the bishops, by word of mouth, until the right time came for revelation to the world.

With that claim is the practice of Roman dogma emerging from Roman worship. For instance, what began as a celebration of the Dormition of Mary (falling asleep or death of Mary) became the Assumption of Mary. The Assumption of Mary into heaven was a central celebration of the Medieval Church, but not defined officially until recently, by Pope Pius XII. in 1950.

Likewise, the Immaculate Conception of Mary (that she was born without sin and never committed a sin) was long held after being debated in the Middle Ages. However, this new dogma was not defined until Pope Pius IX declared it on his own in 1854, before Vatican I declared Him infallible. (He was often hailed as pope-king and sometimes the pronouns were capitalized. The pope is not only Peter the Apostle, he is...hushed tones, with a little excitement...Christ on earth! - almost like WELS District Presidents.

Arguing against UOJ as an innovation has been countered by Wayne (No Church Growth in WELS) Mueller.

It is confessional to invent new dogma -
Wayne Mueller says so,
quoting another WELS false teacher.
If you raise one eyebrow to this blasphemy,
they will extend the Left Foot of Fellowship.

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "The Posturing Princes of Pietism Will Not Let the ...":

If I understand this correctly, the Roman Catholic church uses this whole Deposit of Faith doctrine to their advantage. They state that since they, and they alone, have this deposit, salvation can only be doled out by the institutional Roman Catholic church. From this they have built their hierarchy from priests on up to the pope. Lutherans used to talk about the distinction between visible and invisible church. These days, you rarely hear that brought up. Lifestyle is so much more important to them than sound doctrine.

***

GJ - That is correct. Roman Catholics define it their way and insist they are the only true church.

WELS does exactly the same thing, excommunicating people who know how false their leaders are, expelling ministers for writing an essay, and clearly aping the worst dogma from the Pietists, Fuller Seminary, and Willow Creek.

Steal These Graphics - Justification by Faith - Apology of the Augsburg Confession

Ottoman Invasion and Coffee. Part II of the Historical Lesson

bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Islam Helped the Birth of Lutheran Orthodoxy.":

And don't forget about the second Turkish invasion of our churches - coffee, sofas and ottoman's in the nave:

Faux Harrison mentions 2nd Turkish invasion:
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/06/someone-has-sent-insiders-report-from.html

Latte church with sofas:
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/03/melancholy-news-from-latte-church.html 

The barbarians are not at the gates now;
they are inside the temple and teaching the students.

Randy Hunter is a big cheese Church and Change guy,
promoted by WELS because they are much more confessional now.

***

GJ -

1529

The Ottoman Muslim forces failed to take Vienna in 1529, which brought their invasion of Europe to a halt. However, they controlled part of Hungary, so the country was divided between royal and Ottoman Hungary.

The 1529 attempt was foiled by unusually wet European weather, which made pulling the heavy siege equipment extremely difficult. The light artillery used against Vienna did little damage. The Muslims lost much of their equipment and many of their prisoners as they attempted to withdraw.

1683

This was the last attempt to take Vienna. The Muslim forces failed to protect their own lines. Polish General Sobieski saw his chance and drove his cavalry straight into the Muslim camp. The Austrian defenders poured out of the city to join the fun. In the panicked withdrawl the Muslims left behind all their artillery, their tents, their jewels, and their bags of coffee beans.

The tradition of the Viennese coffee house developed from that victory. To this day, the best coffee beans are Arabica.

Hebrews 3 and 4 Graphics. Lenski Commentary.

The Sharp Warning:
Harden not Your Hearts, chapter 3

Consider Jesus in the Light of Moses, 3:1–6.

1) This is the preamble which resembles that found in 2:5–8. Moses is introduced because v. 7–19 cite the terrible unbelief that occurred on the journey through the desert under Moses. Let this story find no repetition under Jesus! We should not think that Jesus is put in contrast with Moses so that the readers are warned to forsake Moses for Jesus. They are paralleled—both Moses and Jesus are faithful. As Israel should have been faithful to Moses, so the readers should now be faithful to Jesus. In fact, the readers have a greater call to faithfulness than the unfaithful Israelites had as far as Moses was concerned because here is one greater than Moses. The two are alike, yet when they are paralleled, the greatness of Jesus must be kept in mind.

Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of the Epistle of James. Columbus, O. : Lutheran book concern, 1938, S. 99.

Do not Underestimate the Word of God, v. 12, 13.

12) This appendix is vital as the concluding word of both the warning voiced in chapter 3 and the promise given in 4:1–11. It is so essential because not only the warning and the promise are based on the Word of God as being “my voice,” Ps. 95 (see 3:8–11), but also because all that this epistle contains from 1:1 onward (“God spoke”) and will contain in the following chapters is based directly on God’s Word. So the writer says: Let there be no illusion in you, my readers, regarding this Word of God and what it says about Jesus; let no one think that disbelieving or disobeying this Word is a light matter. The writer has dwelt especially on Ps. 95:11 (3:8, 11; 4:3, 4), God’s oath, a most terrible Word of God. He now stresses the full power of the Word in its damning force. He has likewise dwelt on Ps. 95:7b plus 11: “Today” and “my rest,” with all the promise that lies in this Word (3:8, 15; 4:3–8). This, too, leads him to stress the power of the Word, the blessed promise of which is so mighty.

Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of the Epistle of James. Columbus, O. : Lutheran book concern, 1938, S. 139

On “High Priest” see 2:17 and 3:1; the addition “great” exalts his person and his office above all the Levitical high priests of the Jews and matches the fact that he “has gone through the heavens” in his high-priestly function, into the Holy of Holies of the very presence of God. “Passed into the heavens” (A. V.) is incorrect. In the Jewish Tabernacle the high priest passed from the altar that was outside through the Holy Place and so stepped behind the veil of the Holy of Holies. So our great High Priest, in a far more exalted manner, proceeded through what we call the created heavens into the presence of God. Only his greatness and this great act are now stressed and not the blood of expiation (2:17) and its effect although the title “High Priest” involves them; these points will be treated presently. As befits the new section of the letter together with the greatness of our High Priest, his name is added, “Jesus,” which again calls to mind his incarnation, his life, sufferings, and death here on earth, but with the mighty apposition “the Son of God,” which expresses his deity. Our High Priest is infinitely great in his person and his office.

“Having him, let us continue to hold fast to the confession!” We “have” him because of his having been made the great High Priest; God has given him to us as such. “The confession” recalls 3:1 where we are bidden “to consider thoroughly the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.” He, “our great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God,” and all that lies in this designation are the substance of the confession; κρατῶμεν means that we are to continue to hold him fast with all our “strength” by confessing our faith in him. The writer admonishes himself as well as his readers. Yet the present tense signifies that he and they have been doing this, it asks for steady continuation. The implication is that the readers have given evidence of wavering, of giving up this confession. “Keep on confessing him with heart and soul!” is the appeal.

15) We have the strongest motive for holding fast to him. The writer reverts to 2:17, 18 where he calls our High Priest “merciful,” “himself tempted and thus able to help those being tempted,” who calls us “brothers” (2:11, etc.). Our weaknesses dispose us to give up our confession instead of holding to it with strength; here is the answer that lifts up beyond any such weakness: “For we do not have a High Priest unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,” the very contrary is the case; he knows all these weaknesses from his own experience, “having been tried in all respects in like manner (as we) except for sin.” Is not his personal name “Jesus” which he bore here on earth when in his humiliation he took upon himself so many of our human weaknesses? How can we then think that he does not feel with us (συμπάσχω - sympathy - suffer with) in our weaknesses?

Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of the Epistle of James. Columbus, O. : Lutheran book concern, 1938, S. 149.