Roman Catholicism on the Decline

 

Catholicism on the Decline in the US

There is a crisis of belief in the Catholic Church. Will the priests and bishops of America remedy that?

GJ - Judging by the religious in Notre Dame classes 50 years ago, those who belonged to religious orders were as Unitarian as the mainline Protestants. For example, when the class rejected the infallibility of the Pope, a local priest railed at everyone and said, "How can you call yourselves Catholic?"

     I pointed out the paganism of Paul Tillich and the professor said, "Lutherans do not understand Lutheranism." I responded "Lutherans do not understand Luther?" Dead silence followed. 

     The Courage To Be, by Tillich, was a best seller. Other Protestants - like Bultmann and Barth - were equally apostate. 

God Is Punishing the LCMS with the McCain-Harrison Administration

Nils A. Dahl studied under Bultmann and disagreed with his professor. Dahl was considered the finest New Testament exegete in the world, so I was honored to study under him for the S.T.M. at Yale University. I took the Gospel of Mark in Greek and NT Christology from him.

David Becker reviewed the reviews of LCMS professors - the Hamman biography of Rudolph Bultmann, the "great" demythologizer.

Dahl pointed out that Bultmann rose to prominence because the other German scholars died young - he lived to the age of 92. His famous works were derived from the work of others. He was lionized for being a rationalist, and his American fan club promoted his ideas without ceasing.

Becker seems surprised that LCMS professors love Bultmann and urge students and pastors to read this expensive biography - $60, though not as overpriced as CPH mythology books. "Rudolf Bultmann: A Biography, by Konrad Hammann. 657 pages. Polebridge Press. January 16, 2013. List price $60.00, Amazon price $50.06, Amazon Kindle $9.95."

McCain-Harrison made the seminary debacle possible, and Christian News enabled the McCain-Harrison miracles of deception. More importantly, Christian News played a major role in the character assassination of Dr. Walter A. Maier II - who dared teach Justification by Faith. Scaer - a long-time friend of Otten - revealed his jealousy and vindictiveness against WAM II in his bizarre autobiography.

Objective Justification and Bultmann - Two Forms of Rationalism

God is punishing the LCMS with leaders and professors who sneak into the sheepfold to scatter, rend, and murder. They systematically replaced the Reformation's Justification by Faith with the rationalism of Halle University Pietism. They claimed to hang onto Biblical inerrancy (wink ;) while denying the clear, plain teaching of the Bible.

Where does Objective Justification come from - the main source? - Answer - Halle University.

Where do most of the early rationalistic, demythologizing Biblical scholars come from? Answer - Halle University. 

I knew the scholars' names from various classes, such as New Testament Christology (Dahl) and background research. When I recently reviewed the history of Halle, I was astounded at the number of pioneer "scholars" who came from there, whose names continue to dominate the history of modern Biblical scholarship. 

Dahl brought Malherbe to Yale, and I took his class in Thessalonians, in Greek. Dahl, Malherbe, and Wison emphasized the text in the original languages, not the dreamy theories of the celebrity scholars.

Robert Wilson spent a semester on Genesis in Hebrew. He not only rejected the claims of world religion scholars, but smashed them to bits. He let a student answer whether JEDP was a legitimate theory. "What do we do when the facts do not match the theory?" Meek voice - "Dismiss it?"

Today's Lutheran leaders do not comprehend Genesis 15:6.

Bad Boys, Bad Boys - Whatch Going To Do When They Come For You? Modern Theologians in the Woodwork

 Charlotte Kirschbaum is the Commie babe who lived with Karl Barth in a cabin in the summers and moved in with Barth's family later. She probably wrote most of the Dogmatics and
the research for his lectures. When she died, "his" writing
stopped.

Lutherans should concentrate on the Lutheran Reformation rather than the Stephanite (LCMS) Sex Cult, but the faithful should also study the modern theologians - with discernment.

 This is a basic academic treatment of Barth,
allowing that his relationship with his hawt assistant
caused considerable scandal and embarrassment.

Barth is the official theologian of Fuller Seminary, which is the dominant school for liberal and conservative Protestants - and some Catholics. Many conservative Evangelicals think Karl - or rather Charlotte - is the bomb. He was not only a flagrant adulterer and plagiarist, but also a dedicated Communist, sending his mistress to a key Party meeting.

The only thing the Synodical Conference has learned from Barth-Kirschbaum is how to get away with plagiarism. Like nursery school, only the bad habits catch on, and the disease organisms flourish.

 This Fortress book by a friend of Tillich is quite good -
honest about his academic weaknesses and paganism.
Tillich's wife wrote the tell-all about his affairs with the wives of his students and his fascination with sado-masochism.

Tillich soared in the estimation of Protestants and Catholics from the 1960s one, but I wonder if he has much influence today. He is a good example of leaving the faith behind completely while making a living from it. He also plagiarized the work of others, as exemplified by the best-selling The Courage To Be, based on the research of his graduate student.

Barth wrote so ambiguously that he was able to fool the undiscerning. One of my classmates teaches at a famous conservative Evangelical school. He became extremely upset with me when I categorized Barth as a liberal. With Tillich there is no doubt.

In both cases - Barth and Tillich - theology is divorced from the Word of God, except when the Scriptures are handy as a podium. As I repeated to a liberal at Concordia Ft. Wayne, Barth's theology is summarized by "holding the newspaper in one hand, a Kalashnikov in the other, while standing on the Bible." That quip was not original to me, but it enraged the liberal professor, as intended. Jay Webber was peeved, but I was the only one in the room to answer the question about Barth - and I was just visiting.

Bultmann out-lived many original scholars and became the leading New Testament scholar after World War II. The 1950s were quite prosperous for the mainline denominations, and they appreciated a famous man who backed up their mythical treatment of the Bible.

Meet the Founder of Modern Theology - Halle's Schleiermacher

 Friedrich Schleiermacher studied at Halle University as an unbeliever and also taught there in the same capacity.
Halle was a center of Pietism and soon became a center of anti-Biblical Rationalism.

“According to Schleiermacher, the decree of redemption already means that human beings are agreeable to God in his Son; an individual act of justification in time is not first needed in each individual person. It is only necessary that each individual person become aware that in God’s decree of redemption in Christ he is already justified and made agreeable to God.”
Hoenecke, Dogmatics, III, p. 339. Hat-tip to Joseph Schmidt. 

"Objectively speaking, without any reference to an individual sinner's attitude toward Christ's sacrifice, purely on the basis of God's verdict, every sinner, whether he knows about it or not, whether he believes it or not, has received the status of a saint. What will be his reaction when he is informed about this turn of events? Will he accept, or will he decline?"
J. P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, A Commentary on the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1963, p. 103f. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.

Decree of redemption - does that sound like the LCMS Brief Statement of 1932?

In Christ - does that sound like Jay Webber's eternal mantra? 

Schleiermacher is generally considered the pivotal figure for modern theology, divorcing faith from belief. Halle University turned Biblical studies on its head and became a hotbed for anti-Biblical teaching - especially UOJ.

It is fashionable for modern theologians to distance themselves from Scheiermacher, but they really start from his perspective. If they have been induced to read a lot of earlier theologians, Schleiermacher is definitely on the list. Barth is especially close to the same rhetorical tricks, but Barth is easier to spell and pronounce, so the modern theologians refer to Barth.

 Liberal Roman Catholic theologians enjoy the
philosophical smokescreen thrown up by Paul Tillich,
who is very much like their Karl Rahner.
Two of my classmates, both Catholic leaders and now retired,
were offended by my faith in the Virgin Birth and Resurrection
of Christ. They said, "There is no use talking with you, Jackson."
They were also offended that a visiting Catholic theologian
believed the New Testament was historical,
though he called the Old Testament mythical.