Charlie Sue and I watch documentaries together. Last night we finished a series on Napoleon, finishing with a lengthy explanation of the Battle of Waterloo. The British under Wellington were being clobbered all day long until the end of the day, when the French threw down their weapons and ran to save their lives.
Historical narratives are fascinating, because so often the richest and most powerful nations seem to have it all and then collapse into ruin. We see that today in the Lutheran sects, only a few steps behind the old mainline denominations (Presbyterian, Northern Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, United Church of Christ, Roman Catholics) and their own leader/partner/idol - ELCA.
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| "I'm Liz Eaton. The rest of the Lutherans - LCMS, ELS, WELS - follow our example. They share the same programs with us through Thrivent. Ask Gregory Lee Jackson, CLU, if it ain't so." |
Rome's aqueducts still work, after 2000 years, but Italy's greatest dam and reservoir collapsed after three years.
Today we will watch the inevitable march of a great storm heading toward the South and the East, another coming from the West. NW Arkansas will get some rain but not much borrowed energy from Hurricane Lee. That is the key to all storms - energy. The Lord of Creation organized storms in such a way that heat builds them to release lakes of water, blankets of snow, sleet and hail. All rain begins as snow, but the snow usually melts. Hail is a dangerous combination of rain, ice, and snow making the worst kind of partnerships.
Scriptures a Dead Letter: No Energy?
Calvinism has dominated Protestantism, to take away the efficacy of the Scriptures. The King James Version was translated for all denominations, serving as the standard for the English language and correct translation. Twenty flavors of the Bible are perfect for the apostates, each having their own little book to sell.
Zwingli and Calvin
- Make the Scriptures subordinate to reason, so rationalism leads to Unitarianism - no Trinity;
- Consider the Bible a "dead letter" that needs to be helped, enhanced, made germane and interesting. "The statue in the garden points the way" - so they say about the Bible - "but cannot make something happen."
- The Reformed consistently teach that the Scriptures are dead, lifeless, and incapable unless man makes them germane, relevant, or appealing by his effort. The Reformed compare the Scriptures to a statue of Hermes or a road-sign, which points the way but does not give the individual the power to go in that direction.
