H. Schmid - The Old Theology and Scriptural Inspiration. Alec Satin and the Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry

"I submit to the learned public this second edition, with the same wish with which I accompanied the first, viz., that my book might contribute something to render the study of the Old Theology easy, and to incite others to engage in it.

"Although entirely different, and much larger demands must at the present time be made upon a system of divinity, surely no judicious divine will deny that a most direct reference must be had, in every such system, to the Old Theology, in which the Confession of the Church has been preserved in unspotted purity, cherished with the most praiseworthy fidelity, and developed and established with the most conscientious diligence, according to the demands of theological science at that day. These estimable qualities insure for it a permanent value.


"It has, indeed, become old, and we call it the Old Theology, but it is not antiquated, and never will become so. And hence the necessity of our still making it the object of our study.

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"The more accurate development of the doctrine of inspiration begins with Gerhard Hutterus (Loci Theologici (30)) still thus briefly expresses himself in regard to it:

“Although God did not directly write the Scriptures, but used prophets and apostles as his pen and instrument, yet the Scripture is not, on that account, of any the less authority. For it is God, and indeed God alone, who inspired the prophets and apostles, not only as they spoke, but also as they wrote; and he made use of their lips, their tongues, their hands, their pen. Therefore, or in this respect, the Scriptures also, as they are, were written by God himself. For the prophets and apostles were merely instruments.”

"This contains, however, essentially everything that we have adduced above from the later theologians. It was mainly the controversy with the Roman Catholics that gave occasion to detailed specifications; for these very well knew that they would rob the Protestant Church of all its weapons, without thereby injuring themselves, if they could cast suspicion upon the true inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. And then such discriminations were also called forth in part by the fanatics, who treated the written Word of God with little respect; partly by the Socinians and Arminians, who adhered to a merely partial inspiration of the Scriptures. In opposition to these, it became of great importance to the Lutheran theologians to defend with all earnestness the doctrine, not only of the real, but also of the verbal inspiration."

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GJ - Ever since Bishop Stephan, the founder of harems and the Missouri Synod, certain leaders have misled people into thinking that their teaching is the same as the Old Lutherans.

CFW Walther created an enormous body of material supporting the peculiar dogma of rationalistic, late Pietism. His stunned, stoned followers have traced their errors all the way back to Walther - and no farther - ever since. If Walther edited Baier, then Baier must be 100% pure. Did Baier begin the Reformation? Can anyone recite a significant fact about Baier?

We should not wonder that the Objective Justification experts of today want to point toward sources that are barely available today while avoiding Luther, Melanchthon, Chemnitz and - the Bible in a reliable translation (not NIV or ESV or The Message).

The Appleton Fox Valley chapter of AA went bonkers when I quoted Schmid. Their beloved Mordor in Mequon cannot even tolerate the quotations from the old theologians in dogmatics class. They have to be labeled as "misleading."

 Herman Otten's handler at Mordor is also the source of Tim Glende's great thoughts in theology. John Brug loves OJ and protects the Church Growth Movement, so he fits right in with the beehive.