KJV 1 Peter 3:13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
15 κυριον δε τον θεον αγιασατε εν ταις καρδιαις υμων ετοιμοι δε αει προς απολογιαν παντι (always give an answer) τω αιτουντι υμας λογον περι της εν υμιν ελπιδος μετα πραυτητος και φοβου
16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.
Christian Apologetics
The term apologetics is the long lost part of historic Lutherdom, now in the grip of dogmatics, the art of filtering all Christian doctrine through the secular tools of philosophy. Aristotle is where dogmatics started for Protestants and Roman Catholics.
The Reformation went off the rails when the Lutherans began answering the eloquent nonsense of the Calvinists, falling for their terms and trying to rebut them in beautiful Latin. The last of the Lutheran dogmatics became rationalistic and Pietistic. When Jay Webber searches for someone who taught Objective (Faithless) Justification, the obscure source ends up coming from Pietism.
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Dogma is inherently institutional. The Church of Rome holds everything together with their dogma, infallible declarations full of deceit, having little or no support in the Scriptures. Example - Mary was born without sin and assumed into heaven. "Holy Mother Church has always taught this truth." That by itself is a lie, as Catholic scholars have admitted. Also, nothing in the Bible suggests that the Roman Catholic Jesuit translation/paraphrase inserted the dogma in Genesis 3. The Douay- Rheims Jesuit Bible is about Mary's heel crushing Satan. Yes, "her heel."
Luther's writings were mostly Apologetics, using the Word of God to defend the truth and to attack false teaching. That continued under Melanchthon, Chemnitz, and Gerhard. We are now at the point where the "conservative Lutherans" have used the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation to mock Luther's teaching of the Scriptures by selling goofy, crude, stupid trinkets. That came from Concordia Publishing House, which is 100% Seminex now. Letting CPH publish the Large Catechism - again - is like trusting the Jesuit Pope Francis to discuss the Bible and his precious Codex Vaticanus (a Greek translation of the Latin, so not exactly ancient and trustworthy).
Yes, the Opponents Freak Out
"Aha!" as the wicked say, they must smother the blaze started by Matt the Fatt waffling on the Large Catechism, which is strangely co-edited by ELCA leaders. I have noticed that the ALPB Online Ovaltine seniors have suddenly stopped discussing the CPH fiasco. The LutherQuestioners have also cooled their jets. It is like walking into a bathroom and noticing the crickets have stopped singing.
I am inclined to think that Matt the Fatt's political team has told both sides to silence themselves, because "It is hurting Holy Mother Missouri."
Many have told me what the WELS and LCMS genius class have said to them. I have also lost count of the people who really enjoyed these posts and suddenly went silent. Nevertheless, 2000 viewed the posts yesterday, doubtless much more attention than they get with their insurance funded publications, conventions, and luxury gatherings (district presidents, staffers, basking in the sunlight for their joint annual secret conference).
My only aim is to argue from the Scriptures and the Lutheran Reformation. The apostates need to argue with the Word of God itself, not with their shopworn ad hominems.
