Yes - Dishonesty at the Top Is a Major Problem

 Faithless politician. Faithless politician. Faithless politician.

Hi Greg,
Thank you for the information about Eldona, etc.  In thinking about it, and the other things I've read on your blog and we've discussed over the years, I'm wondering if a big part of what you are consistently reacting to and picking out is systematic dishonesty amongst the Lutheran clergy. This realization may seem obvious or overly simplistic to you.  But it did not really occur to me until now.
So many of the objections raised against you (at least the ones I've seen, which are certainly a small subset), fall into:

• personal attacks, ad hominems
• your "denial of UOJ"
• (wrongly applied) eighth commandment including "who told you"

What I never seem to see are Scriptural objections to you or to the means of grace, efficacy, or justification.


Perhaps your readers, and especially those who are seminary training poor, but Bible reading rich, would appreciate a steady hammering on the theme of honest conversation as contrasted with the "Secret Society" and/or "we know best" approach and/or "hide dirty laundry" habits.  Adding the contrast of the Scriptural examples and exhortations, and the behavior of our Lutheran forebears like Luther, Melanchthon, Chemnitz, Passavant, Loy, etc, etc, we can see that these honest and flawed men were completely different than those we see today.


The difference is not only doctrinal (UOJ vs. JBFA).  It is "conversational". 


Not sure if this is helpful to you - but thought it might spark some ideas...

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 Time of Grace!

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GJ - Good idea. I will write about it.

How To Communicate with LutherQuisling Know-Nothings

Even if I read all the volumes of Johann Gerhard, and they all agreed with Walther, they would not supplant the plain, simple truths of Scripture.

The Preus politicians feared the enormous popularity of WAM II, in part because of his popular seminary teaching, but also because of Dr. Walter A. Maier (PhD, Harvard Semitics, a bit tougher than a Ft. Wayne DMin or DMiss in Church Growth). So they used their UOJ clubs on him and anyone else who touched the third rail of Norwegian Pietism and German Rationalism/Unionism.

But the facts remain, not only in the Scriptural teaching, but also in the actual record. LCMS and WELS published Justification by Faith teaching materials at the beginning, yielding only when the Stephan-Walther-Pieper dogma took over. The proof is in The Path To Understanding Justification.

The UOJ thralls think Atonement = Justification of the Word, Without Faith. They cannot read the basic Scriptures and learn from the Holy Spirit. They imagine their philosophical treatises will convince everyone. Unbelievers cannot abide the teaching of the Spirit in the Scriptures, so they turn to philosophy, looking inward at their own MDiv education.

Lenski's Eisenach Epistles - Over 1000 page - Free Ebook. Thank You Alec Satin

Lenski's old books are hard to find. I gave one to WELS VP Huebner and inscribed it in the hope he would abandon Church Growth dogma. He did not thank me, even though he asked me for one when I found it.

The Eisenach Epistle book is over 1000 pages. It is linked below. Alec Satin prepared the PDF. He exhales classic books!

Lenski Eisenach Epistles Dropbox Link

Yes, Knapp Was a Real Halle Pietist Who Taught the Objective and Subjective Justification Owned by His Calvinist Translator

As an addendum to my previous post I might add that G.C. Knapp in his book is a pure Pietist in that he speaks about the fulfilling of conditions on the part of people to attain their salvation in Christ. You do not find such teaching in Walther and Pieper - [GJ but the same dogma and terms as the Calvinist and the Pietist in the graphic.]

GJ -

CFW Walther, Justification: Subjective and Objective. Fort Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary Press, 1982. Translated by Kurt E. Marquart. This is a more recent translation of the essay delivered at the 1872 convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference.

 Let me count the ways: 1. He was part of a Pietist circle when that guru moved and died. 2. He and his cell group attached themselves to Pastor Martin Stephan, a Bohemian Pietist with a Bohemian Pietist congregation, the land given to them by Zinzendorf, the original Bohemian Pietist. 3. Stephan attended Halle University, where the Pietists taught the Easter absolution of the entire world. 4. They still had cell group meetings in America.

 Halle Pietist

 Fuller Pietist

 Pietist Taught OJ by a Halle Pietist

Retired ELCA Pastor - ALPB Forum. Sioux City Iowa No Longer Feels Like Home

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I don’t know then what to make of the fact that two recent young pastors and a seminarian I met seemed very much like myself, no visible tats, formal liturgical presence in the chancel and (I think) preachers who know how to use scripture.
But then, one was female and one was gay.

 Logged

Retired ELCA pastor. Iowa born. Long-time New York/New Jersey. Just spent 4 days in Sioux City, where I spent the first 22 years of my life. Some things are the same, many have changed. But the feelings of “home” and place are mostly gone. Nostalgia has faded.  This is no longer “my“ place.

 Nadia

Quote from: Charles Austin on Yesterday at 02:13:54 PM

Pastor Bolz-Weber is not the theology Of the ELCA.

Charles Austin (left) and ELCA Bishop Tracie.

The current graduates of our ELCA seminaries resemble Pastor Bolz-Weber (in dress, language, sexual ethics and theology) far more than they resemble you or me.