The Walls Came Tumbling Down - Kah-Boom!CHURCH GROWTH!

 

Listen up, former Growthers. Business never taught the Scriptures, faith, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, forgiveness, everlasting life, eternal life, and much more. Who perished? At what cost? 

Someone phoned to laugh about CHURCH GROWTH! He said, "The Growthers are gone! Vanished! I can't name them all! And where are the fancy buildings and names?"

He added, "You did it, Greg!"

In fact, they did it to themselves and gloried in their glory, boasting without shame. One great GROWTHER lost his special church location, his clergy, his marriage - but not his big pile of cash. 

A decent academic library can easily identify dozens of those ashes of hubris. But they are 99% gone.

I simply observed their absence of Biblical teaching, including the denominations. The gullible ones were sure to follow their heroes.

 This ELCA steeple almost fell completely during a sudden storm.

The Non-Reformation - "Conservative" Lutherans Lapped Up Church Growth. Where Are The Apostates Now?

 

Reformation Day is approaching, so I am recalling a few matters about its desecration.

When I finished my PhD dissertation at Notre Dame, through Augustana College and the Lutheran Theological School of Theology, the college published the edited book about A. D. Mattson.

Later I had a very long essay for Herman Otten and his Christian News. He suggested that I finish it for WELS as a book. That took a little time as a WELS book, but it came out as Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure. That irritated some!

My teaching basic Lutheran doctrine made the Church Growthies go nuts, but Liberalism did well and went into three editions. The efficacy of the Word was nothing compared to the Fuller gimmicks. Justification by Faith was loathed and disputed in every possible way. Justification without Faith - that remains their delight and oath.

My next effort was Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, describing the basics of the three major religious groups. Kurt Marquart endorsed it and Herman Otten handled the printing. WELS promoted and distributed the books. I did some additional printings.

Many "conservative" Lutheran pastors avoided what they stealthily advocated.

I am done with writing new books; I have little to say about the so-called Lutheran sects. I will keep on blogging about the Scriptures, the KJV, hymns, and sermons.

Another WELS Congregation Is Folding Up Faster Than a Cheap Tent

 

Watch Us Grow!

An abomination - WELSians were hotter than Georgia asphalt to buy the New NIV with "all are justified" in Romans 3.

The Trouble with Lemon Meringue Pie - Denominations Today, Especially the Lutherans

 

All lemon meringue pies are divided into three parts. The ideal crust is homemade and a delicacy by itself. Now that pie crusts are available on their own, the homemade, fresh crust is rare. 

The lemon filling itself can be obtained from many sources. 

Home-made meringue? A package deal is more likely today.

The Church Growth Movement is a lasting reminder of the lemon meringue pie, even at its best, when mothers made them from scratch for the big events. Any child will say, "What is this white stuff?" They are expected whipped cream and get whipped air instead.

"Oh, that is meringue, vey difficult to do exactly right." 

"But it's nothing but air, Auntie."

That is the first ingredient in the Church Growth Movement and related magic acts. They pretend to be something and are nothing at all, once examined.

The filling of a lemon pie is a strange balance between the lemon flavor and the aftertaste. Lemon and acid may work well together, but the background taste is often bad and lasting. 

All the efforts of the Church Growth swamis leave a definite sour aftertaste, one that is difficult to remove. One congregation president listed all the things his previous congregation did for evangelism, and it was a long list. I asked, "How did it work out?" He said, "Nobody came because of it," and he was trying to argue that we should do the same things. In fact, we had people drive from 50 miles away because a genuine Lutheran church was difficult to find in Columbus.

The crust of a pie is similar to the foundation of a parish. The best ingredients and the right care will turn out a pie crust that rivals the rest of the dessert. A congregation needs the correct Bible, the KJV, not a Burglar Bible where key doctrines are stolen by the skillful knives of the "modern" translations. Hymns and worship should highlight the Means of Grace rather than entertainment, soft drinks, and snacks. Preaching, teaching, and visiting are basic to the work of the Gospel. 

More Light for an Insane Old World

“Yet there ever exists the pull toward organizational structure, especially as a church increases in membership and complexity. How is this tension resolved between the Church’s identity as an organism—the Body of Christ—and its composition as an organization?”

David J. Peter, “Organization Is Not Optional,” in Organizing for Ministry and Mission

***

GJ - They all sound the same. Peters went to Trinity Divinity - one of the Church Growth franchises - for a D.Min. WELS staff wore a path to Trinity Divinity and WELS was thanked twice in print by the school.

"A resource for pastors and church administrators, Organizing for Ministry and Mission offers helpful advice to guide church leaders on maximizing the effectiveness of their congregation's organizational structure."

These yokels - like David Valleskey and Frosty Bivens - both Fuller Seminary sycophants, gush words right out of the Napoleon Hill lectionary. They do not sound like Biblical Lutherans but exactly like bug-eyed salesmen in cheap J. C. Penny suits.

The Holy Spirit only works through the Word, never apart from the Word. 

ELCA Also Sent Their Genius Leadership to Fuller Cemetery and Willow Crick

"The ELCA remains the largest Lutheran body in North America at 3.26 million members, despite shedding more than 1 million members — or 25% of membership — across the last reporting decade, down from 5,288,048 members at the denomination’s founding in 1987." 

From Juicy Ecumenism

A New Day - Making Time for More Publishing and Videos. The Bible Book: The KJV Reborn for Those Who Love the Word of God

 

Teaching has changed a bit. Both schools improved their software for classes. When I began online teaching, it was by email. I even kept the classes in my regular email area on the computer, so I could teach and converse with others. At first the schools discouraged graphics, but now they encourage the faculty to use video, even to grade with audio or video snippets.

I remember when online education was greeted with shock and dismay. What about cheating? Ted Kennedy was kicked out of Harvard, without having online. Harvard Law was dealing with its faculty members cheating not long ago - without online. When I was taking some journalism courses, I reminded the journalist teacher that his peers were caught making up stories. He was deep into denial.

Now I am restricting the teaching jobs I accept, which are scheduled only a month or two in advance. There is so much to do, and it is so enjoyable to produce materials and be encouraged by so many people. Lutheran higher education went on vacation about 100 years ago. We have been discussing that, as Alec Satin finds and publishes books. 

1. I wrote long ago that Lenski's weakness was in playing around with the Greek text, which happened at the time the Westcott Hort Greek New Testament was just  being accepted. Two others of that era are considered conservative but were giddy about the Hort agenda. 
2. A. T. Robertson, the Greek grammarian was greatly admired by Lenski. 
3. The Calvinist Benjamin Warfield was delusional on the topic, but held up as conservative by his readers.

Westcott Hort did their dirty work 1870-1880, but were allied many years before that, honored as ordained ministers and scholars. They secretly produced their own Greek New Testament for "revising" the KJV, which was to be done in a very limited way, only in English. The result was an English and an American Bible that went against almost all the manuscript evidence - in favor of two (one of them from the Vatican) fraught with errors and omissions.

The Revision came out at exactly the same time as the covert Westcott Hort Greek New Testament. Some may notice that the secrecy and  dishonesty of these two clergy roughly parallel the way WELS, LCMS, and the Little Sect on the Prairie have promoted Church Growth (denying it three times, nay 300 times) and Objective Justification (their only dogma). The ELS was born from OJ, but Missouri and WELS performed their about-face by deep-sixing their original materials and statements - not to mention the plain language of the Bible, which they swore to teach.

Think about this, readers. Those who stayed with the King James Version, in essence the Tyndale-Luther Bible, preserved a constant English standard in language and the best Greek New Testament - the Majority Text, aka the Received Text, often called the Byzantine version.

Everyone helps me figure out what has happened in theology and why. For example, Andrea's father and I just had some long conversations about our denominational histories. Alec Satin and I discuss frequently potential and recent books from his Spindletop-like publishing mission. The Bethany Scholars bring up topics to discuss and research. 

I appreciate hearing from members and friends, too. Virginia Roberts decided to help with Luther's Sermons and has spotted typos ever since.

Fifty years of decay and false doctrine, serving their Father Below.

WELS Is Wile E. Coyote - Always Losing to the Road Runner. Beep. Beep.

WELS is having a gigantic Leadership Conference to kick off 2020, so one person compared the sect to Wile E. Coyote always chasing the Road Runner and losing.

 The warm-up Jeske event - an ELCA gay and abortion activist pastor plus the president of the liberal, anti-Creation St. Louis LCMS seminary, their very thoughts guided by ELCA bishop staffs, WELS DMin Growthers, and other pests.
The ghastly debacle is linked here.

The Wisconsin Sect hated everyone out who questioned the beloved Church Growth Movement. That was the springboard for clergy advancement for decades, so the dumbest of the dumb lined up and pledged their allegiance to Fuller Seminary.  No one wants to take credit now. But look at how early the push from the top began.

 That is almost 43 years of doctrinal error and stupidity.

This reminds of WELS big Airport scheme. They gathered all their Church Growth/OJ experts together and planned and planned and spent and spent. They would love to go back to the statistics of that year. And they were scared witless then!

Now they will launch another one.

Remember when Paul Kelm DMin, Larry Olson DMin Fuller, and James Huebner went around to teach all the ministers about what they were supposed to do?

One pastor asked me, "Are you going, Greg?"

I said, "Yes, if they hold a machine gun to my head."

Laughter ensued. And WELS continued its downward spin. My disarming comment meant I did not go. The pastors said it was a big waste of time and money.

This is Paul Calvin Kelm teaching the hot program - Gasoline!

Ten years of Jeske's Change and Die! conferences. All the synods involved - from ELCA down to the Little Sect on the Prairie - have shrunken. Did they throw Gausewitz under the bus? Yes they did, gleefully.

Looking for Unity When They All Despise the Chief Article? Another Case of Denial, Finger-Pointing, and Sanctimony

We are one with Liz Eaton, We are one with her bunch
And we pray that old Thrivent will pay for our lunch.
And they'll know we are Luthruns by OJ, by OJ,
And they'll know we are Luthruns by OJ.

Rev. Richard A. Bolland (Bolland) Advanced Member Username: Bolland Post Number: 815 Registered: 8-2001

Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2018 - 6:48 pm:       I have tried my best to keep up with Rev. Klawitter's case over time. I will have to say that this orthodox man was truly treated in a very shabby manner by the LCMS. It was a case of going after the "Whistle Blower" in a matter that really needed a whistle blown. He is most correct in his assertion that the Synod was misled by the current LCMS officials (inclusive of President Harrison), that this was a fellowship founded on full doctrinal agreement when, in fact, it was anything but. I can appreciate Rev. Klawitter's frustration at being shoved aside by people he thought should have recognized the correctness of his assertions respecting the LCN. Frankly I can't imagine being stuck overseas in a foreign country, being betrayed by one's own Synod, and stabbed in the back by one's fellow Confessionals with blades of apathy and indifference. BTW I will have to say that when the ACELC sent out its 2010 Letter of Fraternal Admonition we expected that the liberals in the LCMS would be less than welcoming, but we did not anticipate the vicious attacks that were leveled at us by the so-called Confessionals in our Synod. In many ways these attacks contained more vitriol than those coming from the left. [GJ - No Gospel, no Gospel fruits!]Thus I second Rev. Klawitter's assertion that if we do not stand together as Confessional men in the LCMS and support good faith efforts to reform, then there really is no future for us in the Synod. [OJ got you embracing ELCA, Fuller, and Willow Creek.] Finally, I will have to say that this is perhaps the main reason why I have put forward the idea of forming a new orthodox Synod. I have found little support (other than chat on a few websites), to do what actually needs to be done to correct the errors of our Synod. If there is no will to do the hard things necessary, then there is no hope for the LCMS to find the will to reform itself. If faithful, Confessional men will not engage in concerted action within the Synod, then we need a new Synod. As for the failures of ELDONA and the LCR, yes a failure could occur again. But what is actually be said here is that God cannot bless faithful men taking faithful action to retain the one true faith in an institutional context. The assertion that every such effort must end in failure is both illogical and faithless. If the assertion that all efforts to establish an orthodox Synod are doomed, then the LCMS never should have been formed by all of 16 congregations in 1847. “It does no good to say: I will gladly confess Christ and His Word in all articles except one or two which my tyrannical masters will not tolerate…but he who denies Christ in one article or word has in this one article denied the same Christ who would be denied in all articles; (Luther) [GJ - What is the Chief Article? Boland? Boland? Anyone? Anyone?]

Biblical Exposition Defeats the Dogmatic Dummies

The Ft. Whiners are always straining to assert their cumbersome verities, all based on dogmatic declarations without Scriptural support.

If Lutherans had a better grasp of Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz, they would immediately rebel against the Walther-Pieper-JP Meyer-Scaer-Preus franchise. The Walther franchise - or fanbase - lives on shouting their assertions at people. The self-proclaimed and the duly installed would be best served by people politely snickering at their contradictions.

 The new NIV invented "all are justified," which shows the lengths the WELS clowns will go to fit in with the mainline Barthians in ELCA.

Biblical exposition does not employ the vocabulary of Pietism, Calvinism, and Adventism. There are times when believers use a term to summarize centuries of discussion and debate - the Trinity. At other times a phrase will serve to express many difference aspects of the efficacious Word - the Means of Grace.

Notice that LutherQuash will start a topic about their beloved Objective Justification but abandon it when it is copied here. No one has attempted to counter our basic, plain exposition of Romans 4. Maybe the Ft. Whiners could teach Romans 1- 5 in Greek, stream and saved the videos, as this tiny congregation did.

Anyone with a good translation of the Bible (not NIV) can destroy the UOJ orcs. The best place to start is the KJV family of translations, which is directly linked to Luther via Tyndale.

Faith, the Neos, and the Quasis

 "UOJ is in here somewhere."

The pivotal issue in modern theology is faith, because the modern theologians are against it. As Professor Charles Caldwell said, "Faith without belief," and "Radicalism with a sentimental attachment to the Bible."

The origin? Calvin, his double-predestination, and his rationalism. He was Walther before Walther, which is why LCemessians should not study Calvin. They would see too much of their idol Walther in the Great Calvin.

When I hear Lutheran pastors warn against "making faith a work of man," I am reminded of all those Calvinism liberal apostate theologians. They have their little slogans too, the chief one being, "Do not allow for a contingency, because then grace is no longer grace." A contingency clause starts with if, so the modern theologians and Synodical Conference blind guides emphasize universal grace, universal forgiveness, universal salvation. But that does not mean Universalism!?

Paul did not raise himself to the level of being God's counselors, but these quacks do. So let us look at one verse which endangers their false doctrine so much that they purposefully ignore it. Yes, purpose-driven false exegesis.

Romans 4:24-25 King James Version (KJV)

24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

QED (therefore, it is demonstrated that) - God speaks about forgiveness if we believe. See just a few of the passages in the Bible that address this directly, opposed to UOJ.

On the Biblical side - the Holy Spirit works through the invisible Word of teaching and preaching to bring Jesus and His grace to individuals. The Holy Spirit also works throug the visible Word (the Sacraments) as instruments of God's grace.

The Enthusiasts of Rome, Geneva, Wheaton, and Pasadena do not acknowledge or teach the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace. Therefore, they mill about in confusion about the way in which people are converted to the Gospel, forgiven, and saved. 

Almost all modern theologians are neos - they work against faith and deny faith - but they imagine their work is a collection of fabulous wisdom. Although it may be interesting to read the imaginative literature of C. S. Lewis, he was a neo, enchanted with his own views, which are are dog-eared ideas from Calvinism.

Those who identify as conservative Lutherans and even call themselves orthodox or confessional...wait, I have to pause to stop laughing - they are quasi-Lutheran at best. They know a little more about Luther than the average Unitarian, but not much. They just remember a few more talking points from Dogmatics 101. They do not read or study Luther's sermons, which are the key to everything the Reformer did.

Didja ever walk home from junior or senior high school, starved for somethign to eat? We often had donuts in a box, sometimes days old and hard as rocks. El donuts can be harder than granite when left alone a few days.When nothing was immediately available to eat, I warmed up the donuts.  I satisfied my immediate hunger, but that was not exactly nutrition. 

The Quasi-Lutherans are always looking for something, because they utterly neglect Luther and the Confessions. They see their Calvinistic Bible (probably NIV or ESV) as their guide, and grab anti-Means of Grace material as their snackfood.

On vacation in Florida, in the old days, my parents got lower and lower in cash. We were only eating fast food on the way home to Moline. What seems to appealing gets tiresome in time. Even as a kid I missed having a real, home cooked meal. Could that be the reason so few people want to sit through another amateur music hour, another meal of spiritual Twinkies and Diet Dr. Thunder?

 "We have apprehended the Justification by Faith rebel, Lord Vader. He is resisting arrest, so we will have to make him a little more eager to listen to your wisdom."

Beware of Knocking "Faith as a Work of Man"

John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?

31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

As anyone can plainly see, believing in Him is connected to the Bread of Life, never hungering, never thirsting.

 Eating three donuts will make someone hungry for three more. Donut ask how I know.

John 12:20ff - The Gospel Itself Is Far More Powerful than Man's Theories

Except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it remains alone. But in dying it becomes fruitful.
John 12:24

John 12:20 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast:

21 The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.

22 Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.

As Lenski writes in his commentary, there is a lot of fussing on this setting and motives. These Greeks are non-Jews attracted to Judaism and not yet complete converts to Judaism. The Greek Old Testament was a holy book that attracted the interest of those who found pagan religion stale, weird, empty, or revolting. This Septuagint was indirectly the result of Alexander the Great conquering the world of that time and making it Greek in culture, writing, language, and commerce. Alexander reversed the effect of the Tower of Babel and united peoples fragmented by tribal languages.

The details are what we find in eye-witness accounts, while a second-hand report would drop who said what to whom. The historical setting emphasizes the sermon of Jesus, not the disciples, not the Greek-speaking people. 

23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

 The first miracle, changing water into wine,
was followed by cleansing the Temple, John 2.

The tipping point in the Gospel of John is the raising of Lazarus. We can easily see the reasons for the tensions being explosive at this point, because they started early with the Cleansing of the Temple, John 2, which followed a widely viewed and impossible to refute miracle of changing water into wine.

As noted before, Jesus raised Lazarus when the disciples were already anticipating their own deaths from the Jewish opponents. Before, as at the Wedding at Cana, the hour had not yet come. Now the hour has come.

The hour is the atoning death of the Messiah. From Isaiah 53 to this passage to Paul's letters, the central point is the crucifixion of Christ. 

The magicians of modernism want to mis-direct our eyes - the method of all false doctrine - from the Atonement to their universal declaration of forgiveness, grace, absolution without faith - aka Objective Justification.

Jesus is that seed of wheat that dies in the ground, that is, germinating so that the Gospel will be fruitful. Before the death of Christ, the Gospel was the Promise of Atonement, Isaiah 53. The glorification is the death of Jesus in payment for all sin. 

The modernists want to change the Atonement into universal grace, because that is the easy, lazy, and contrary way to make Christianity into a philosophy for Satan's earthly realm. Nothing really matters because everyone is forgiven, they say, ever so slyly. As one thick-headed pastor said about confession of sin and absolution, "You were forgiven before you came here." That means giving someone a powerful opioid to take away the pain but not the disease.

Lenski:

"The death of Christ was the death of the most fertile grain of wheat." Augustine. In the petition of these Greeks Jesus sees the great harvest that will go on and on as the product of the great Grain of Wheat (himself) which fell in the earth.

 Cleansing the Temple took place early in the public ministry of Jesus, so the hostility and fear continued to build among the Jewish and Roman officials as thousands came to Him.

25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

From the fact of the glorification Jesus draws the lesson for these seekers of salvation. Being forgiven and saved means following Him on the way of the cross. Serving and following go together - not as titles like Bishop Jackson and Deacon Brett - but as the servant serving (text word play, servant as noun and as a verb). That means being where Christ is, which Luther described being among those weak and poor who needed this spiritual medicine. Not to be missed - the Father honors those who serve the Son.

27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

Jesus was deeply troubled, shaking and weeping at the grave of Lazarus. I interpret this as a special emphasis on allowing His friend Lazarus to die in order to complete the details for His own death and resurrection. In this age of grief for a few days, we overlook the powerful and lasting emotions of losing a loved one, so we also pass over Jesus' human reaction to the tomb of Lazarus. The sisters were correct - He could have rushed there to heal His friend. In fact, He could have commanded the healing from afar, as He did with the centurion's son.

If we look for the answers why, Jesus supplies them many times over - the Father commands and the Son works in complete harmony with Him. All the Old Testament Scriptures had to be addressed, because they are the foundation of the Promises fulfilled. If we take away those Promises from the Old Testament, as the rationalists do in their blind glee, the Old Testament makes no sense at all.

29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.

30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.

The popcorn-and-soda crackpots of today, bragging about the numbers who come to be entertained and fed, do not want to hear about bearing the cross. Yet Jesus identified His glorification with the cross. As I understand the reaction. those sincerely seeking the truth were certain an angel spoke (the verb used for Jesus' solemn declarations - laleo). However, the bystanders dismissed it as thunder.

Likewise, when I ask Lutheran pastors if they teach Justification by Faith, they say, like smart-alecs, "Universally" and "Objectively!" - to make fun of the Chief Article they clearly reject. It is just distant thunder to them, old and irrelevant compared to their special sauce with the secret ingredients.

31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?

John's Gospel is the Doctrinal Gospel because Jesus' sermons and teaching clarify any issues in advance. We can view the Fourth Gospel as a commentary on the Books of Moses, fulfilling everything promised or implied, such as the healing figured raised up to cure the Israelites of the toxic bites of the serpents.

From the bronze serpent to John 3:16 to John 12, it is one coherent and unified message. The Son must be lifted up on the cross to show the cost of sin and the payment made.

The class clowns of Lutherdom - and mainline apostasy - fail to see that the Bible has many synonyms for Jesus' Atonement - redemption, propitiation, ransom, etc. But - justification is not a synonym for the Atonement, but the result of preaching and teaching the Atonement. The Atonement shows our sin and Jesus' payment, and this Gospel Word implants and nourishes faith in the Promises.

Jesus did not directly answer "Who is this Son of Man?" but if He had offered an entire chapter on the topic, the rationalists would have dismissed it as well. When they are done paring away those passages that do not appeal to them, hardly anything is left. The Jefferson Bible is the OED in comparison. Yet we are supposed to gasp and coo when we hear the precious names of Barth, Bonhoeffer, Gerhard Forde, Tillich, Carl Braaten, and a tribe of lesser frauds. After all, Barth is the official theologian of Fuller Seminary, we should never forgive the Commie adulterer for that explosion of Dreck. 

Yes, Virginia (famous, old newspaper column) - Karl Barth was known as a Communist and as a flagrant adulterer, who - like Bishop Martin Stephan - moved a young woman into his home.

35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.

If we look for a passage that says "Everyone is forgiven and saved, whether they ever believe or not" - disappointment follows for the cultists.

Instead, the entire Gospel emphasizes the importance of faith in Christ, a faith so complete that people followed Him to death, as they did then and still do today.

37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:

38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?

39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,

40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

41 These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.

42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

This explains the false teachers perfectly. I take doxa in verse 43 as glory, because that contrasts with "I have glorified it and I will glorify it again." Compare as contrast - the glory of God and loving (agape) the glory of men.

44 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.

45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.

46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

Jesus proclaimed faith in Him, so why should be teach unFaith? 

48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words [divine utterances - rhema], hath one that judgeth him: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

To this day, the Word of God condemns those who reject, mock, and supplant Justification by Faith. The Gospel makes them bitter and hateful, so they seek refuge in their little essays and favorite false teachers.

49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak [solemnly declare - laleo].

King James Version (KJV)