Monday, April 10, 2017

Tombstones

One reader said I must take a lot of time to find photos.
I found this one in a few seconds.




 My search reminded me of this one,
which someone else designed - quite appropriate for this year.
Mequon cornerstone - Grace alone, Scripture alone, Without faith.


 Prophetic!

The ad Knapp Defense of Universal Objective Justification

 The Calvinist translator used ambiguous language -
as WELS loves to say - "It caaaaan be understood correctly."
"Error loves ambiguities."
Now Lutherans top-dog each other with their extreme statements,
revealing the inherent weakness of the initial error:
guilt-free saints in Hell, etc.

One long-time family (and FB) friend thought this graphic was misleading. His fellow pastors are always asking him (but not me) what I am trying to say when I write about Universal Objective Justification, which is the Helen of Troy for the WELS-ELS-LCMS and ELCA leaders. I am emphasizing leaders because the historical documents show just the opposite, even in those synods.

We should have some kind of award for 100% of the Lutheran leaders endorsing the opposite of what Luther taught, just in time for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

Following is the issue with the graphic above - The words are not Knapp's but the translator's, explaining what Knapp was trying to say. I have probably explained that a few dozen times. I have posted about UOJ over a thousand times.

Actually, the critic makes my point for me, because the translator (clearly identified as Protestant rock star Leonard Woods Junior was a Calvinist. Thus we have the hybrid formula embraced by the ELS-WELS-LCMS, from a Calvinist translating a Halle Pietist:

  1. God has forgiven the entire world its sins - Objective Justification.
  2. Man must agree with this state of affairs - Subjective Justification.
According to what I have read, these two terms made their way to Germany, became part of the literature, and delighted Walther. Most of the Missourians would have their German copies of Knapp, but perhaps also came upon the English translation. The English version of Knapp dominated Protestant theology for 90 years, finding a place in all libraries. During that era, Pietism was highly praised by all Protestants during - including the Lutherans. Spener, Halle, and Pietism were as untouchable then as Fuller Seminary is now.



From what I have read, Halle emphasized its Easter absolution of the entire world, backed by their false exegesis of 1 Timothy 3:16, which Jay Webber prefers over Martin Chemnitz' exegesis. Litmus test? I think so.


Agreeing with the Halle Pietist Rambach, Walther also taught the Easter absolution of the world, which he learned from Bishop Martin Stephan. 




Oddly enough, WELS and the Little Sect on the Prairie have adopted the OJ and SJ of the Calvinist Woods. He may not have invented the terms, but that book certainly popularized the concept and the terms in 19th century American Protestantism. The English translation was already in print before Walther swore life-long allegiance to Bishop Stephan, on the muddy shores of New Orleans. I wonder if Stephan's mistress, who came along on Stephan's ship, attended the enthronement.

As I explained to the pastor, I have been meticulous in reporting how all this developed. In fact, since the Calvinist translation of Knapp is the English version, there is little to distinguish Knapp the theologian from Woods the theological translator. What made Knapp so important to a Calvinist leader that the book had to be translated? I find no difference between the two men. Are there letters extant where Knapp called Woods a fool for introducing Objective and Subjective Justification?

The anti-UOJ quotations in Justification and Rome
make me think these theologians were arguing against
the UOJ rationalism of Halle University.

Calvinism is the unspoken secret of the Synodical Conference. LCMS pastors from the Bronze Age were fond of citing their favorite Calvinist sources for the inerrancy of the Scriptures. The rationalist approach of Calvinist is a greater threat to the Christian Faith than the depredations of outspoken atheist groups. Pietism and Calvinism had Lutheran pastors looking up the wrong sources, the wrong doctrine, enhancing the wrong attitude toward the Holy Spirit's efficacy in the Word.

For example, Professor John Brug's Ministry of the Word, which Otten loved, is unLutheran enough to appeal to any Protestant.



Some days, gardeners pull weeds. On other days they water and prune for growth. One Lutheran wrote to thank me for exposing UOJ but also to say it brought great disturbance into her thinking. Now she is aware of the falsehood in WELS/ELS.

Luther wrote about the sign spoken against in Volume 1 of his sermons:


44. From this we learn to be assured that we may comfort ourselves and cheerfully bear up when many people stumble at our Word and speak against our faith, especially the great, the learned, and the priests. This is a sign that our message and faith is right, for it receives the treatment foretold by Simeon and all the prophets. They must take offense at it, stumble over it, rise by it, and speak against it; it cannot be otherwise. He who would have it otherwise must look for another Christ. Christ is set for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against; consequently his members, or every Christian, must be like him on account of his faith and his message. He is called “antilegumenous,” he who is spoken against. 

His doctrine must be rejected, condemned and execrated as the worst heresy, error and foolishness. It is treated rightly when this is done; but when this does not take place, then we have neither Christ, nor his mother, nor Simeon, nor the prophets, nor faith, nor the Gospel nor any Christians. For what does speaking against mean but to deny, blaspheme, curse, condemn, reject, prohibit and persecute with all disgrace and ignominy as the worst heresy?



Why Water Before the Rain?


We are destined for another rain today, and I am very happy indeed. I planted the Shasta Daisies and two little Bee Balms yesterday. They were soaked, yea even immersed, in rainwater for a day before planting. I would rather risk fishing something out of the bottom of a rainbarrel (deep, cold, murky) than plant it dry.

I water plants before rain because those barrels are going to fill again. This keeps the barrels fresh and really grants a bonus to plants. Roses coming back from the winter appreciate the extra moisture and fertilizer in rain, and the soil life also gets a boost. Without the soil life of fungi, bacteria, protozoa, earthworms, and such, the roses would be dying. So I water the roses and hydrate other plants to boost the soil too.

My argument that Creation Gardening works well.


Publishing 
The Luther's Sermons project is going well. Some might ask, "But why start a new printing when anyone can buy or Google Luther's sermons?"

The reason is - this gets Luther's Sermons into a new group of people. I was thinking about Matt Harrison waving his copy of Luther's Sermons on a video. "He must be feeling the pain of those Here I Stand socks at CPH," I mused.

The project is only slightly connected with the anniversary of the Reformation. I just got angry that a good set of his sermons are priced so high, even on the used market. Publishing houses have the resources to print economy editions, but they do not. Look at a franchise bookstore. They sell economy editions of great literature for almost nothing because the books are open source and easily printed by the thousands. People will always buy Moby Dick, even if they do not read it.

So we are watering the roses. Lutherans have Luther's Sermons, but more copies will not hurt - and only help. I know the initial volunteer efforts have provoked cries of "I am learning so much!" - not a bad result.

One proof-reader, Virginia Roberts, named a new book unawares. She kept mentioning "gems" she found in Volume 1. I was going to put some best quotes in each volume. But no, I will call them "Gems from Luther's Sermons, Volume 1" and so forth. At the end, we will have a separate book called Gems from Luther's Sermons, about 100 pages.

Some other Luther projects are planned, but I will keep them secret for now, since secrets generate interest.

An essay that needs to be written is - Two Felons and a Christian Leader: A Critical History of the LCMS and the Synodical Conference. The felons are Stephan and Walther. The leader is Loehe.  That could be 20 volumes, but instead it will be about 50 pages or so, just an indication of what could be done if the "conservative" Lutherans would get over their worship of Walther the Anti-Luther. That will be done in my normal irenic style.

Did I mean polemical instead? The false profits* of today say "peace, peace" where there is no peace. They only seek silence and abject obedience to their agenda, which is ever-shifting and never Luther. True peace comes from Justification by Faith, not from Stalinistic management efforts.

Work
My work situation is always changing, and I think a good solution is around the corner. As I mentioned to two social friends, the main thing is keeping the publishing going, which is fun and worthwhile. Thanks to various factors and Social Security, it only takes a little extra work to balance costs and income.

*Yes, I know how to spell, typos being no argument against my spelling skills.