Friday, January 18, 2008

The Marks of the Church



Augustine Refuting a Heretic

Joe Abrahamson has left a new comment on your post "From Michael Schottey":

Greg,
Among the many great and wholesomely thought provoking theological issues you raise and consider, you had to write:

"[GJ - Definitely. The Fuller grads would not give their lives for the Faith, but they will kill and lie to preserve the errors of Church Growth.]"

I'm saddened by this remark. Donatism marks true Christianity by a person's willingness to give his life for the faith. Lutheranism marks the Church by the right preaching of the Gospel and the right administration of the Sacraments. (AC VII:1)

Please adjust your sights by the marks of the Church, so that your view of who might be willing to give his life for his faith does not interfere with God's own external means of Grace.

***

GJ - I do not see the connection. The question was whether I thought the Church Growth people were like the Pope, would rather see the whole world condemned that give up their errors. Would I say the same about Fuller grads?

That was supposed to elicit a "No" from me. The CGM WELS/ELS/CLC/LCMS/ELCA leaders do not give a fig about whether they destroy the true Church. They have their political buddies, their ecumenical embraces, and most of all - the loot. Their tentacles are wrapped around every fund in Lutheranism right now.

As you know from the archives, confirmands used to swear they would give up their lives rather than the truths of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. That was a regular part of confirmation.

The Church began with martyrs. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." More accurately, "The more you mow us down, the faster we grow." Now the visible church makes martyrs, as you know. That is a sure sign of apostasy.

Ichabod locutus est, causa finita est.