CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGICAL ISSUES IN THE BOOK OF CONCORD:

THE RESURGENCE OF ENTHUSIASM

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.

Shepherd of Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church

1950 Hard Road, Worthington, Ohio 43235

Ohio Pastor's Conference, Zion Lutheran Church, Toledo,

April 27-28, 1992

"Remember your leaders who have spoken the Word of God to

you. Consider how their lives ended, and imitate their

faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and

forever. Do not be carried away with different kinds of

strange teachings." Hebrews 13:7-9a

"We have no intention of yielding aught of the eternal,

immutable truth of God for the sake of temporal peace,

tranquility, and unity (which, moreover, is not in our power

to do). Nor would such peace and unity, since it is devised

against the truth and for its suppression, have any

permanency. Still less are we inclined to adorn and conceal

a corruption of the pure doctrine and manifest, condemned

errors. But we entertain heartfelt pleasure and love fore,

and are on our part sincerely inclined and anxious to

advance, that unity according to our utmost power, by which

His glory remains to God uninjured, nothing of the divine

truth of the Holy Gospel is surrendered, no room is given to

the least error, poor sinners are brought to true, genuine

repentance, raised up by faith, confirmed in new obedience,

and thus justified and eternally saved alone through the sole

merit of Christ."

Closing of the Formula of Concord, Concordia Triglotta, p.

1095.

Introduction

When we study the Book of Concord, I hope that the passage

from Hebrews 13:7 is always on our minds. I attended a

college named Augustana, named for the Augsburg Confession,

in opposition to the brand of Enthusiasm being promoted by

the General Synod in the 1850's. The revivalists of the

Reformed camp were having great successes, and the General

Synod wanted to emulate their protracted meetings and deny

the Biblical doctrines of baptismal regeneration and the Real

Presence to achieve unity. The General Synod leaders

supported Pietism and revivalism, suppressing confessional

Lutheranism. Thus was born the Augustana Synod, Augustana

College and Seminary, and also the General Council.

The Augustana Synod had a history much like Wisconsin's,

combining Pietism with orthodoxy, the orthodoxy coming from

traumatic experiences with Enthusiasm. Augustana leaders

were unionistic until they ran into American Enthusiasm:

The crudest extravagances of revivalism (Methodism,

Pentecostalism, Holy Rollerism) have their root in this

specifically Reformed doctrine of the immediate working of

the Holy Spirit. 1

A favorite textbook of old ALC pastors stated:

The Lutheran theologians, in general, had reason to

illustrate very particularly the doctrine of the operation

of the Word of God, in order to oppose the Enthusiasts and

Mystics, who held that the Holy Spirit operated rather

irrespectively of the Word than through it; and to oppose

also the Calvinists, who, led by their doctrine of

predestination, would not grant that the Word possessed

this power per se, but only in such cases where God

chose.... 2

One Augustana leader of orthodoxy, Eric Norelius, was trained

in Columbus and had an enormous influence, due to the sound

doctrine he learned at Capital. However, Enthusiasm won out

in the 1930's and Augustana Seminary began teaching,

overnight, the historical-critical method and the Social

Gospel, both examples of Enthusiasm. One pious young pastor

began his career at a pietistic Lutheran Bible Institute and

now serves as presiding bishop of ELCA: Rev. Herb Chilstrom.

It is often held against me that my history is tied to this

history, that I have experienced it first-hand instead of

reading about it in Christian News, that I was trained in

the historical-critical method. If this disqualifies me for

writing about orthodox Christianity, then I must offer other

examples who appreciated the truth better for having wallowed

in falsehood: Paul, Augustine, Luther, Chemnitz, Krauth,

Walther, and Hoenecke. In WELS today, they would be judged

by their bloodlines and not by their confession of faith.

Much of what is condemned in this paper was once appealing to

me. In many cases, some of the methods and techniques and

attitudes were offered - word for word - in the Lutheran

Church in America. More importantly, this battle has always

been waged in Lutheranism, because Enthusiasm attaches itself

to our work the way mercury attaches itself to gold and

silver. Once we are poisoned by Enthusiasm, orthodox

Lutheranism becomes our worst enemy and her advocates turn

into monsters of rigidity, legalism, and lovelessness.

Looking back a few years, we recall Wisconsin Synod leaders

who earned the respect of all Lutherans. Their scholarly

books are still praised today and used outside our small

circles: John Schaller, Adolph Hoenecke, August Pieper, and

J. P. Koehler. We should remember our leaders who have

spoken the Word of God to us, considering how their lives

ended. We should imitate their faith and not be carried away

with different kinds of strange teachings. (Hebrews 13:7-9a)

R. C. H. Lenski wrote about this passage:

They were true leaders indeed. All our church leaders may

well look closely at this characterization: speaking the

Word, the whole Word, and nothing but the Word (Acts 20:26-

27), and doing this with true personal faith; hence never

once misleading the Church. God, ever give us such

leaders! All followers may well look at these words. 3

II. Enthusiasm

The battle between the forces of Enthusiasm and the forces of

confessional Lutheranism have been contending for many

centuries, so this topic is current as well as historic.

Lutheranism fell apart months after Luther's death in 1546,

making the Book of Concord an absolute necessity. The

crypto-Calvinists perjured themselves in claiming to be real

Lutherans while slithering to the Reformed position on the

Lord's Supper. Lutheran anniversaries, as Prof. Fredrich

wrote, have been occasions for outbursts of apostasy, such as

the Prussian Union of 1817/1830 and the Preusian Union of

the 1980's. 4

Enthusiasm is such an inclusive topic that it bears a careful

definition. We are all by nature Enthusiasts, since it is

part of our fallen state.

In short, enthusiasm clings to Adam and his descendants

from the beginning to the end of the world. It is a poison

implanted and inoculated in man by the old dragon, and it

is the source, strength, and power of all heresy, including

that of the papacy and Mohammedanism. Accordingly, we

should and must constantly maintain that God will not deal

with us except through his external Word and sacrament.

Whatever is attributed to the Spirit apart from such Word

and sacrament is of the devil. 5

Enthusiasm is opposed to the Means of Grace, so we find

Enthusiasm both in the Protestant constellation of sects and

in Roman Catholicism.

In these matters, which concern the external, spoken Word,

we must hold firmly to the conviction that God gives no one

his Spirit or grace except through or with the external

Word which comes before. Thus we shall be protected from

the enthusiasts--that is, from the spiritualists who boast

that they possess the Spirit without and before the Word

and who therefore judge, interpret, and twist the

Scriptures or spoken Word according to their pleasure...The

papacy, too, is nothing but enthusiasm, for the pope boasts

that 'all laws are in the shrine of the heart,' [Corpus

juris canonici, Book VI, I, 2, c.1.] and he claims that

whatever he decides and commands in his churches is spirit

and law, even when it is above and contrary to the

Scriptures or spoken Word. All this is the old devil and

the old serpent who made enthusiasts of Adam and Eve. 6

Protestantism and Roman Catholicism alternate between

rationalism and Pentecostalism, sometimes mixing both

together. Against this is the doctrine of the Means of

Grace, which is the only antidote to Enthusiasm, and the

"peculiar glory of the Lutheran Church."

The doctrine of the means of grace is a peculiar glory of

Lutheran theology. To this central teaching it owes its

sanity and strong appeal, its freedom from sectarian

tendencies and morbid fanaticism, its coherence and

practicalness, and its adaptation to men of every race and

every degree of culture. The Lutheran Confessions bring

out with great clearness the thought of the Reformers upon

this subject. 7

For Roman Catholics, assurance of salvation comes from the

visible unity of the Roman church and the infallible

authority of the pope and those who teach infallibly in

concert with him. They use the term "Means of Grace" for the

seven sacraments, but they mean something else:

Therefore the media gratiae in the papistic sense are not

means through which God offers to faith the complete

forgiveness of sins and the salvation merited by Christ,

and through that offer also works faith in man or

strengthens the faith already present, but they are means

to incite and aid him to such virtuous endeavors, under

Roman direction, as can gradually and in constantly

increasing measure (Trent, Session VI, chapter 16, canon

32) win God's grace for him. 8

For Protestants, assurance of salvation comes from knowing

the moment of conversion, whether as an adult "born-again"

experience or, on a higher or deeper plane, the experience of

the Holy Spirit's baptism. However, both confessions

introduce a monster of uncertainty, which robs the believer

of certainty by placing certain demands of the Law upon him,

in both cases adding works to faith. Many of us have

experienced the testimony of Pentecostals, who invest their

dreams and visions with authority above and beyond the

Scriptures, a state which makes them despise the

Means of Grace and those who minister the Means. Therefore,

the Book of Concord states:

It is good to extol the ministry of the Word with every

possible kind of praise in opposition to the fanatics who

dream that the Holy Spirit does not come through the Word

but because of their own preparations. They sit in a dark

corner doing and saying nothing, but only waiting for

illumination, as the enthusiasts taught formerly and the

Anabaptists teach now. 9

Schmidt warned:

We are not, then, in any way to represent to ourselves the

relation of the Word and the Spirit as though the Word were

merely the lifeless instrument which the Holy Ghost

employed, or as thought the Spirit, when he wished to

operate through the Word, must always first unite himself

with it, as if he were ordinarily separated from it. 10

Lutheran pastors seem to have forgotten that Protestants and

Roman Catholics must deny huge portions of Scripture to

maintain their dogmatic statements. Simply put, as Hoenecke

stated:

Aus dem allen folgt die Verwerflichkeit des

schwarmgeistlichen Grundsatzes, dass der Geist wirke ohne

die Schrift. Geist nicht ohne Schrift, Schrift nicht ohne

Geist, das is gesunde Lehre. (From this follows the

repudiation of Enthusiastic principles, that the Spirit

works without the Scriptures. Spirit not without the

Scripture, Scripture not without the Spirit - that is sound

doctrine.) 11

Although we are often subjected to the sanctimonious

testimonies of Enthusiasts, who dominate the airwaves, the

Book of Concord points out how they destroy sanctification

while posing as defenders of holiness. That is why Jim and

Tammie Bakker still attract media coverage.

Both enthusiasts and Epicureans have in an unchristian

fashion misused he doctrine of the impotence and the

wickedness of our natural free will, as well as the

doctrine that our conversion and regeneration are

exclusively the work of God and not of our own powers. As a

result of their statements many people have become

dissolute and disorderly, lazy and indifferent to such

Christian exercises as prayer, reading, and Christian

meditation. 12

But we are told by the current leaders of Lutheranism (ELCA,

LCMS, and WELS; 99% of Lutherans in America) that the

Enthusiasts have something to teach us about evangelism,

worship, and the Church. However, the Formula of Concord

expresses no tolerance whatsoever:

6. On the other hand, we must condemn with all seriousness

and zeal, and in no wise tolerate in the church of God, the

enthusiasts who imagine that without means, without hearing

of the divine Word and without the use of the holy

sacraments, God draws man to himself, illuminates,

justifies, and saves him. 13

We are given a hundred reasons why the Enthusiasts of today

are wiser than the orthodox fathers of the last generation,

but the Book of Concord made a point of emphasizing Luther's

last words on the subject. As Edmund Schlink has noted, it

is one thing to write a theological book or opinion, but

quite another to have the Church endorse that statement and

to have men sign their names confessing that point. 14

Luther wrote an enormous amount of excellent material, but

this was selected by the Concordists as part of the remedy

for the collapse of Lutheranism, a debacle which is being

repeated today:

Dr. Luther, who understood the true intention of the

Augsburg Confession better than any one else, remained by

it steadfastly and defended it constantly until he died.

Shortly before his death, in his last confession, he

repeated his faith in this article with great fervor and

wrote as follows: 'I reckon them all as belonging together

(that is, as Sacramentarians and enthusiasts), for that is

what they are who will not believe that the Lord's bread in

the Supper is his true, natural body, which the godless or

Judas receive orally as well as St. Peter and all the

saints. Whoever, I say, will not believe this, will please

let me alone and expect no fellowship from me. This is

final. 15

III. Gray Areas of Scripture

A few years ago, we began reading that Ralph Bohlmann

considered the role of man and woman a gray area of

Scripture. Recently, this same claim has appeared in our

synod as well. A layman recently said, "I'm glad WELS is

clear on most doctrinal issues." If it is true that we are

going to make progress by arguing for the shortness,

incompleteness, insufficiency, ambiguity, and obscurity of

the canonical Scriptures, then we are adopting Roman Catholic

exegetical methods, which will certainly destroy Lutheranism.

Note what Martin Chemnitz said about how this line of attack

developed among the papalists:

The method of debate on the part of the papalists is far

different now than it was at the time of Eck, Emser, and

others like them. These men did not refuse to fight with

us with the weapons of the Scripture. Pighius, however,

has perceived that this arrangement has done the papal

kingdom more harm than good. Therefore he has shown a

different and shorter way by which, provided they stuck to

it, they could obtain practically anything without trouble.

It consists in this that they bring together every

oratorical device and then declaim loudly about the

shortness, the incompleteness, the insufficiency,

ambiguity, and obscurity of the Scripture and strenuously

fight for the necessity, authority, perfection, certainty,

and clarity of the unwritten traditions. 16

If anything, the Book of Concord is a tribute to the

completeness, sufficiency, and clarity of the Scriptures.

The following statements indicate no confusion by the

Confessors about the meaning of Holy Writ:

...far from having disproved our contentions from the

Scriptures, they have condemned several articles in

opposition to the clear Scripture of the Holy Spirit. 17

This is plain and clear, the faithful can grasp it, and it

has the testimony of the church. Nowhere can our opponents

say how the Holy Spirit is given. 18

It is surely amazing that our opponents are unmoved by the

many passages in the Scriptures that clearly attribute

justification to faith and specifically deny it to works.

Do they suppose that this is repeated so often for no

reason? 19

Yet there are clear passage of divine Scripture which

forbid the establishment of such regulations for the

purpose of earning God's grace or as if they were necessary

for salvation. 20

Those who would like to find in the Book of Concord a debate

about the normative force of Scripture or the inerrancy of

Scripture will be disappointed. This did not become a major

Lutheran conflict until Enthusiasm brought the historical-

critical method into American Lutheranism in the name of

scholarship. Then the Scriptures could be bent and shaped

like a wax nose, expressing everything except their clear,

plain message. The Book of Concord clearly supports the

Scriptures as the ruling norm of faith, infallible in all

respects. "Because we know that God does not lie. My

neighbor and I--in short, all men--may err and deceive, but

God's Word cannot err." 21

...Firmly Founded on the Word of God as the Only Norm 22

...we have in what follows purposed to commit ourselves

exclusively and only, in accordance with the pure,

infallible, and unalterable Word of God, to that Augsburg

Confession which was submitted to Emperor Charles V at the

great imperial assembly in Augsburg in the year 1530... 23

Norm is a word seldom found in the Book of Concord, since the

battle lines were drawn around that article of faith, but two

more citations are worth studying.

1. We believe, teach, and confess that the prophetic and

apostolic writings of the Old and New Testaments are the

only rule and norm according to which all doctrines and

teachers alike must be appraised and judged, as it is

written in Ps. 119:105, "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and

a light to my path. 24

Other writings of ancient and modern teachers, whatever

their names, should not be put on a par with Holy

Scripture. Every single one of them should be subordinated

to the Scriptures and should be received in no other way

and no further than as witnesses to the fashion in which

the doctrine of the prophets and apostles was preserved in

post-apostolic times. 25

Not only is this the best approach to doctrinal matters, but

this is the method which we have confessed as Lutheran

pastors, affirming our loyalty to the Book of Concord,

because (quia) it is a proper interpretation of Scripture.

In studying the Book of Concord, however, we do not find an

anti-intellectual, anti-historical attitude of "nothing

outside of the Bible." The Confessors clearly saw the value

of knowing the patristic fathers and using their testimony to

show that this is indeed the orthodox Christian faith and not

a new denomination. When we study the orthodox contributions

of our fathers and imitate their faith, we are not abandoning

the Scriptures but upholding the Word of God as confessed by

faithful warriors who now rest from their labors. Selnecker,

a Concordist, (who wrote "Ach, bleib bei uns") was bitterly

attacked, severely persecuted by the Reformed, deposed when

Augustus died, reduced to poverty, and not allowed to remain

in Leipzig as a private citizen. 26 If they had not stood

their ground and paid the price--jail, exile, humiliation,

execution--we would be the SWELS today, Schwaermer

Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

IV. Efficacy of the Means of Grace

The weakest area of Lutheranism today concerns the efficacy

of the Means of Grace, once the glory of Lutheranism and now

fading quickly into obscurity.

For Christ wants to assure us, as was necessary, that the

Word is efficacious when it is delivered by men and that we

should not look for another word from heaven. 27

In his Word he has revealed to us as much as we need to

know in this life, and wherever the Scriptures in this case

give us clear, certain testimony, we shall simply believe

it and not argue that the human nature in Christ is not

capable of it. 28

For the Word through which we are called is a ministry of

the Spirit--"which gives the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:8) and a

"power of God" to save (Rom. 1:16). And because the Holy

Spirit wills to be efficacious through the Word, to

strengthen us, and to give us power and ability, it is

God's will that we should accept the Word, believe and obey

it. 29

Every poor sinner must therefore attend on it, hear it with

diligence, and in no way doubt the drawing of the Father

because the Holy Spirit wills to be present in the Word and

to be efficacious with his power through it. And this is

the drawing of the Father. 30

The reason for such contempt of the Word is not God's

foreknowledge but man's own perverse will, which rejects or

perverts the means and instrument of the Holy Spirit which

God offers to him through the call and resists the Holy

Spirit who wills to be efficaciously active through the

Word, as Christ says, "How often would I have gathered you

together and you would not!" (Matt. 23:37) 31

Anyone who has tried to carry out mission work in an area

dominated by groups which despise Lutheran orthodoxy may well

succumb to the temptation of looking for guaranteed results

delivered for a specific cost. The Book of Concord, echoing

the Bible, reminds us again and again to trust in the Word

and remain faithful to the Word. Only the external Word,

preached and taught, and the visible Word, administered in

the Sacraments, will bring about justification and salvation.

This goes against the Enthusiasm of Old Adam and the venom of

the Old Serpent, but it is consistent with God's promises

throughout His Word. His Word never returns fruitless but

always accomplishes His will. (Is. 55) One may plant and one

may water, but God alone provides the growth. The seed falls

everywhere, so our task is not to judge the soil, but

to sow with reckless abandon, following the example of the

inept sower (Mark 4).

Unfortunately, we have in our midst a group of pastors who

have adopted the Reformed perspective on the Word. They

try to Lutheranize what they have learned from the

Enthusiasts of Pasadena, but their published writings reveal

their lack of trust in the efficacy of the Means of Grace.

This is also reflected in the Board of Home Missions (BoRaM,

1991) wondering in print what to do about "ineffective"

pastors. The use of effective and ineffective is prima

facie evidence of Reformed doctrine. We find it quite often

in WELS materials and Fuller Seminary materials.

Those who promote Enthusiasm in our midst claim that it is a

sin to disagree about doctrine, calling it slander and a

violation of the 8th Commandment. They also object to naming

names. They seem to forget that St. Paul confronted Peter in

public (Gal. 2:14) for Peter's public undermining of the

Gospel, that St. Paul named names in his apostolic letters,

(2 Tim. 2:17), that the Book of Concord identified people

with false doctrines--denouncing those doctrines, and Prof.

J. P. Meyer in Our Great Heritage, vol. I, supports dealing

with the doctrine itself:

We must bear in mind that we are not dealing with the

person of these errorists. We are not called to

investigate their personal character...We are dealing with

their confession, with the doctrine which they publicly

proclaimed before the whole church, for which they stood,

which they defended. 32

On the other hand, those of us who have tried to deal

directly with doctrinal matters, going through channels, have

met with personal attacks, puerile name calling, and attempts

to meddle in our congregations and remove us (in violation of

Scripture) from our calls. It appears that some attempts

have been successful.

Nonsense

"While only the Word is efficacious, the methods we use to

minister to people with that Word may vary in their

effectiveness."

Pastor Lawrence O. Olson, Peace, Love's Park, Ill.,

"See How It Grows: Perspectives on Growth and the Church,"

EVANGELISM, February, 1991, p. 2. Olson is a Parish

Consultant for the WELS Board of Parish Services and his

district's Coordinator of Evangelism. [Emphasis added.]

"We cannot add anything to the Word, but we may be able to

remove the human barriers which might be in the way of the

Word."

Pastor Lawrence O. Olson, ibid., p. 3. [Emphasis added]

"What do people mean when they talk about effective church

growth principles? Do we make God's kingdom come? 'God's

kingdom certainly comes by itself,' Luther wrote. Ours is to

sow the seed. We hamper the kingdom if we sow carelessly or

if we do not sow at all. But we do not make it grow."

Mark Braun, "The Growing Seed, What Do People Mean When They

Talk about Effective Church Growth Principles?" The

Norwestern Lutheran, September 1, 1991, p. 300. [Emphasis

added]

"We can't do a thing to make his Word more effective. But

surely we can detract from its effectiveness by careless

errors and poor judgment. It just makes good sense to

utilize all of our God-given talents, to scour the field for

appropriate ideas, concepts, and material, to implement

programs, methods, and techniques so that we do not detract

from the effectiveness of the gospel we proclaim. Church

growth articles, books, seminars, and conferences can offer

such ideas and programs."

Pastor James Huebner, Spiritual Renewal Consultant,

Notebook, School of Outreach IV, p. 178. [Emphasis added]

"THE CHURCH ORGANIZED FOR ACTION.

1. THEOLOGY - The Word of God...unchanging. The Word of God

is efficacious. We are more or less effective

administrators of the Word. Steps 2 through 6 (below)

assure that our theology is put into practice as ministry

in the most effective way possible.

Outline of Pastor Paul Kelm's paper, reprinted in WELS

Mission Counselors' NEWSLETTER, Pastor Jim Radloff, editor,

April, '92, p. 16. [Emphasis added; as mission counselor in

Texas, Pastor Radloff carried around a briefcase of C. Peter

Wagner's, Your Church Can Grow, to give away. Wagner was

required reading for world mission pastors as well.]

The preceding selections from published WELS materials

represent the concept that the Word of God is efficacious,

but... That is the same as claiming that the Word of God

becomes efficacious when we use the proper man-centered

methods. One thing is worth noting: we seldom find the

word "faithful," but we often find the word "effective" in

current WELS materials. The word "effective" is normative

in the publications of Enthusiasts, as noted in the Catalog

of Testimonies at the end of the paper. Lutherans stress

faithfulness, and Enthusiasts emphasize effectiveness,

because Lutherans trust God's activity through the Means of

Grace, while Enthusiasts consider God's Word a dead letter

unless it is made attractive and relevant. note

V. Women's Suffrage, Women in Authority over Men, Women

Teaching Men

The ferment for women taking over spiritual leadership in the

Church has moved from the ALC and LCA to members of the

former Synodical Conference. In recent years we have seen

many new approaches taken: a woman in charge of OWLS, a woman

in charge of lay ministry, and a woman as assistant editor of

The Northwestern Lutheran. Women vote in the Twin Cities and

in Columbus, as well as other areas. Women serve on boards,

in authority over men, and women teach men. When I discussed

women teaching men with a former synodical official, he said,

"What's wrong with that?" I started to quote what St. Paul

said in 1 Timothy 2:12, but he interjected, "What about

Priscilla?" (He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When

Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their

home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

Acts 18:26) I started to answer, but he changed the subject.

Many think that the role of man and woman will be reversed

through the influence of church leaders, the promotion of

suffragette pastors, and the lack of discipline.

WELS is the first Lutheran church body, to the best of my

knowledge, to have a woman write the editorial page for the

national magazine. It was the Reformation issue of The

Northwestern Lutheran, 11-1-91. Therefore, we have passed

ELCA in trendiness. Our new hymnal will bow to the feminist

language demands, which is what the Lutheran Book of Worship

did in 1978. Some think it is being written with Church

Growth Eyes.

The Book of Concord does not deal with these issues,

indicating to us that no one was trying to overturn Biblical

teaching at that time. The upsurge of studies and special

commissions to deal with an issue is an indication of a

change in direction, which we are seeing - in WELS, in the

Ohio Conference, and in the Michigan District. The promotion

of Enthusiast cell groups will complete the feminization of

the WELS. Those of you who want your wives on church boards

and voting at the voters' meeting cannot possibly fathom what

this will mean in another generation. Remember, much of your

required reading at Mequon was from ELCA pioneers.

The feminist pastors should not gloat that the Book of

Concord is silent on these issues and does not deal with

the Biblical texts which are at the center of the current

debate (1 Cor 11:1ff; 1 Tim 2:12f.) The Confessors never

suggested that the Bible had gray areas which left doctrinal

issues open. The false charge of Biblical vagueness was a

claim of the liberal Lutherans in the last century (General

Council and General Synod), who were content to leave as open

questions the issues of altar and pulpit exchange with

Enthusiasts, the Masonic Lodge, and millennialism.

Entertainment

The loss of trust in the Means of Grace is underlined by the

current WELS enthusiasm for imitating the Willow Creek seeker

service, for eliminating the liturgy, and for using "felt

needs" to draw people to church. Those of us who read the

material printed by WELS about Willow Creek are horrified

that Pastor Robert Hartman and Pastor James Huebner would

endorse the seeker service--especially Pastor Dan Kelm's

version of it--on the evangelism training tape. (The last

time I spoke to Bob Hartman, he began quoting Donald McGavran

to me. I pointed out that The Donald should have studied

Isaiah 55.)

In their exegesis of 2 Corinthians 4:1ff.(Catalog of

Testimonies), Prof. J. P. Meyer and R. C. H. Lenski have

both pointed out that the use of bait, lures, and

entertainment is equivalent to being ashamed of the Gospel,

adulterating the Word of God, and using devious methods to

achieve a supposedly worthwhile end. We should not be

surprised, then, to learn that the chief theologian for

Fuller Theological Seminary is Karl Barth, an apostate who

moved his girlfriend, Charlotte Kirschbaum, into his house,

against the expressed wishes of Frau Barth, and spent every

summer with Charlotte in a mountain cottage, writing.

Barth's influence upon Fuller theolgians changed the modified

inerrancy stance of Fuller Seminary into a defiant errancy

position, before Donald McGavran moved there. As Lenski

pointed out (see Catalog), those who are not trustworthy with

the Word are not trustworthy with anything else. When we

read The World's 20 Largest Churches, Church Growth

Principles in Action, (written with Church Growth Eyes,

according to C. Peter Wagner), we can count a large number of

notorious anti-Christian teachers and a recently exposed

adulterer and anti-Christian teacher, Jack Hyles. All of the

20 largest churches are centers of Enthusiasm, mostly of the

Pentecostal style. The largest, Paul Y. Cho's, is occultic

and works closely with C. Peter Wagner and Robert Schuller.

In the Book of Concord, in Luther's writings, and in the

study of church history, we can find many examples of

Enthusiasts leading people astray and then falling into the

snare themselves. Luther wrote:

The peacock is an image of heretics and fanatical spirits.

For on the order of the peacock they, too, show themselves

and strut about in their gifts, which never are

outstanding. But if they could see their feet, that is the

foundation of their doctrine, they would be stricken with

terror, lower their crests, and humble themselves. To be

sure, they, too, suffer from jealousy, because they cannot

bear honest and true teachers. They want to be the whole

show and want to put up with no one next to them. And they

are immeasurably envious, as peacocks are. Finally, they

have a raucous and unpleasant voice, that is, their

doctrine is bitter and sad for afflicted and godly minds;

for it casts consciences down more than it lifts them up

and strengthens them. 33

The wonderful unity of false doctrine is concisely

illustrated in Sasse's comment on Karl Barth and the Means of

Grace, showing what a rotten foundation Enthusiasm offers:

The means of grace are thus limited for Barth. The

preacher descending from the pulpit can never quote Luther

and say with joyful assurance that he has preached the Word

of God. Of course, he can hope and pray; but he can never

know whether the Holy Spirit has accompanied the preached

Word, and hence whether his words were the Word of God. To

know this, or even to wish to know it, would be a

presumptuous encroachment of man upon the sovereign freedom

of God. 34

VI. Cell (Affinity, Koinonia, Share, Prayer) Groups

The lust for cell groups, which are the heart and soul of

Enthusiasm, is waxing in our synod. The extensive support of

cell groups in WELS is shown in the Catalog of Testimonies.

Intelligent pastors, bombarded with propaganda about the

effectiveness of cell groups, are starting to explain how

they can Lutheranize this form of denying the Means of Grace.

Some points worth considering:

1. Halle University was very successful as the center of

Lutheran Pietism, which grew through the promotion of

lay-led cell groups. Halle Pietism was unionistic and

therefore denied basic Lutheran doctrines. Spener

rejected the Real Presence and baptismal regeneration. 35

The visible success of Halle and its charitable

institutions is still worthy of note today. In one

generation, Halle became the center of rationalism.

Pieper stated: "Furthermore, it must be admitted that

the Reformed teaching of the means of grace filtered,

particularly through Pietism, also into the Lutheran

Church." 36 Krauth showed how Enthusiasm turned into

pure rationalism: "...it is exceedingly difficult to

prevent this low view from running out into Socinianism,

as, indeed, it actually has run in Calvinistic lands, so

that it became a proverb, often met with in the older

theological writers--'A young Calvinist, an old

Socinian.' This peril is confessed and mourned over by

great Calvinistic divines. New England is an