 |
| "Hi there! I had an honorary doctorate, too. It never stopped me from publishing!" |
What is left to say about a project gone wild? Today I received my copy of Luther's Large Catechism, a fraudulent title. The gigantic book with tiny print seems to be a showcase for everyone who might re-elect Synod President Matt Harrison.
The original Jewish Talmud was designed to add layer upon layer around the Old Testament, to build a fence around the Torah. This is not Jewish or Lutheran or anything more than a vanity publication, like those Who's Who in Academia or Cosmetics or Plumbing books one can buy for the mantle, coffee table, or Mom.
Can anyone find a coherent Large Catechism in this publication? I have a print copy of the Henry Eyster Jacob's Book of Concord, published for $16.95 by the Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry and also free at this link. The Large Catechism is 100 pages in the book, not 700 pages. Ask to get back 85% of the price.
The Large Catechism of Luther teaches, but this monstrosity does not. Why does the LCMS need to explain Dr. Luther, a real doctor, through the limited scope of Pless and Vogel, the MDiv editors. Pless' last degree was an MDiv from Trinity (ELCA) Seminary. Vogel's PhD is coming from Concordia seminary, St. Louis, May, 2023 - "The dissertation examines membership data for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) from the mid-1970s to the present. It considers the analysis of LCMS decline by two scholars, George Hawley and Ryan MacPherson, who independently proposed that LCMS membership decline was internal in causation due to diminished birthrates and fewer young families." How bizarre - the dissertation analysis explains the analysis of two others. And what a captivating, sociological conclusion!
Could the decline come from not teaching faith in Jesus Christ and clinging to the rotting remains of Fuller Seminary dogma?
That reminds me of Pless and Vogel explaining Luther and Melanchthon.
.jpg)
