tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post1182126268530304578..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Elephant in the room. . .Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-78888976840410753692017-08-14T08:28:05.989-05:002017-08-14T08:28:05.989-05:00It's called satire, William. Is there anythin...It's called satire, William. Is there anything else?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-63247466605364198802017-08-13T16:33:09.498-05:002017-08-13T16:33:09.498-05:00"Rt Revd Luecke ..."
Who knew that he w..."Rt Revd Luecke ..."<br /><br />Who knew that he was a bishop?William Tighehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09043433059401608468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-61782640235473777962017-08-13T14:42:02.031-05:002017-08-13T14:42:02.031-05:00Why does the Rt Revd Luecke care so much about Lut...Why does the Rt Revd Luecke care so much about Lutheranism? It’s obvious that Lutheranism doesn’t have the right stuff to attract the lost hordes and save souls. It’s obviously doing something wrong. Lutheranism is out of step with modernity. The solution, according to the Rt Revd Luecke, is to forget about being Lutheran because Lutheranism gets in the way. Furthermore, if Lutheranism doesn’t stop all the incessant internal purification of doctrine and practice at the expense of the lost in the world, it is going to go the way of the Dodo bird and continue its declining trajectory into irrelevance. But why should the Rt Revd Luecke care what happens to Lutheranism when he would prefer that it meld in with the other Americanized churches and lose its distinctive confessional identity. Do you see the contradiction? He says, “Here is how to save Lutheranism from obscurity,” in one breath, and pronounces the solution to remake Lutheranism in another so that it fades into the backdrop with other Americanized churches that don’t distinguish between law and gospel, left and right kingdoms, justification as the chief article of faith, the real prandial presence, baptismal regeneration and so on and so forth. So, to save Lutheranism in his world is to kill Lutheranism. The Rt Revd Luecke has to kill Lutheranism to save Lutheranism. Why all the talk about pulling Lutheranism out of its nosedive? Just allow “nature” to take its course and what is left of Lutheranism after it utterly fails, crashes and burns, is a new American evangelicalism, also ran, wannabe. As more people come to rally around the Rt Revd Luecke and the vast numbers of those who feel the same way he does, the sooner what’s left of Lutheranism will be absorbed into the nebulous fabric of the Reformed churches and we can all carry on in a gray and mediocre world of muddled, subjective theology. But just think, the pews (if there are any left) will be filled with happy people.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-44499077046420774862017-08-13T13:25:15.153-05:002017-08-13T13:25:15.153-05:00This article calls to mind these two aphorisms:
“...<br />This article calls to mind these two aphorisms:<br /><br />“The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.” (Georg Friedrich Hegel)<br /><br />"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach." (Aldous Huxley)<br /><br />Hasn't Lutheranism in America been through this before? See Vergilius Ferm's The Crisis in American Lutheran Theology: A Study of the Issue Between American Lutheranism and Old Lutheranism (New York, 1927: Century). It has been well over three decades since I read this book, and my recollection is that the sympathies of Ferm (a Lutheran pastor) were decidedly with "American Lutheranism," but it sees to me that David Luecke is advocating for a position that has already been tried and found wanting. I remember reading an account of the heresy trial of Luther Alexander Gotwald (d. 1900); his "heresy" being his fidelity to classical Lutheran sacramental doctrine and practice, and particularly his advocacy for the revival (and practice) of individual auricular confession and "holy absolution." Cf.:<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Alexander_GotwaldWilliam Tighehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09043433059401608468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-90914425951653628012017-08-13T13:22:53.446-05:002017-08-13T13:22:53.446-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.William Tighehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09043433059401608468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-61130355841493017502017-08-13T12:45:55.769-05:002017-08-13T12:45:55.769-05:00How sad. And if we let our hearts lead in life, w...How sad. And if we let our hearts lead in life, we'd all have high cholesterol, heart disease, B.O. (Who likes to clean up?), We'd have children scattered all over born out of wedlock (that or our hearts would lead us to murder them), We'd all be divorced multiple times (if we ever married in the first place). No, our brains need to tell our hearts a thing or two, or disaster occurs. <br /><br />I think any Lutheran who knows his/her history could recognize doctrine/practice that belongs to schwarmerei (Enthusiasts).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com