Wish I had said it. . .

The first clue, I did not say it although I wish I had.  Who said it is a bonus but if you can figure out the era in which it was first said, then you are worthy of more than a gold star.  Here is the quote:

“The glorification of man, and of human relationships, has had a profound effect upon the doctrine and liturgy.  This heresy flourished in the days of Renaissance and of Rationalsim, and has reached its zenith in our day.  This shifting of stress from Christ-centered to man-centered worship is the father of all modern heresies. 

This glorification of man puts human reason not the Lord, upon the throne.  It causes men to deny those parts of the Scripture which they cannot understand, and makes them picks and choosers of doctrine.  It prompts them to deny the mysteries of the Virgin Birth, Baptismal Regeneration, the Atonement, The Real Presence and the Resurrection, for these are beyond human understanding.  The spirit of glorification of man denies sin, for sin dims the glory of man.  It denies sola gratia and universalis gratia, and finds in man a cause of his own salvation.  It stresses salvation by works.  It makes the outward performance of a ritual, or the hearing of a sermon, or the receiving of a Sacrament, a work of merit.  It thinks of the Eucharist as a gift which man offers to God rather than a gift of God to man.  It exalts the words which man speaks above the words which God speaks, hence it regards prayer as more important that the Word and Sacraments.  It is the basis of all unionistic worship.  It ignores the Church Year with its press upon the Savior, and sets up a church year entered upon man and his achievements.  It sets aside the preaching of sin and grace, and stressed the preaching of human relationships.  It believes in salvation by slogans.  It gives publicity to men rather than to the Gospel.  It is the foundation of the social gospel heresy, for it would save the political and social fabric, which has no soul, and ignore the individual, who has a soul.

This glorification of man, so characteristic of liberal theology, has had its effect upon the liturgy.  The liberlist is ritualistic, but he selects a ritual which places man in the foreground rather than God.  It causes men to prefer hymns that speak of men’s thoughts and feelings rather than hymns of praise to the Savior.  It substitutes exhibition anthems and solos for congregational prayer and praise.  It glorifies its Good Friday cantata and its Easter musical program, rather than the doctrinal significance of these things… Unless we drive out this most malignant of all heresies, it is useless to think of doctrinal or liturgical purity.”

The author was Frederick Roth Webber, the book was Studies in the Liturgy (Erie, Pennsylvania: Ashby Printing Company, 1938. 173-174).  So while Herr Hitler was stirring things up in Europe and Neville was flying off to buy time and a brief piece with the author of the second world war, Pastor Webber was talking about something that was and is bigger even than WWII.  Yes, you read me right.  The rupture of worship and faith that Webber is referencing was and is bigger even than the devastation of a world war and the death of millions.  Or do we not believe the words of Jesus not to fear the one who can kill body only but the One who can kill body and soul?

The reason we are so concerned for the integrity of worship, the content of the liturgy, and the manner with which these things are lived out in the life of the Church has nothing to do with being fussy over details but everything over concern for the Gospel itself.  Remember this, that the most destructive liturgical change is when worship no longer is the prayed shape of doctrine and, therefore, when the focus of that worship moves from God to us.  We cannot maintain the kerygma while what we do on Sunday morning moves us in an opposite direction.  All of this is about salvation.  Salvation matters most of all.