Christian News, October 4, 2010
Ed Hinnefeld Called to His Eternal Home
Who will now be the “Watch Dog?”
Some 50 years ago Dr. William Oesch, one of the world’s leading Lutheran theologians said that the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod needed a “theological watchdog” at the LCMS’s Lutheran Building in St. Louis. It would be the “watch dog’s” responsibility to read all the theological publications in the LCMS, publications of the LCMS colleges and seminaries, the many newspapers being published in the LCMS at the time (most have now ceased publication) books written by those on the LCMS clergy roster, the leading theological journals and the most important theological books being published throughout the world. Each day the “watch dog” would then present a summary to the LCMS officials to keep them informed about what was going on theologically in the world and particularly the LCMS.
Most church officials in the various denominational bureaucracies are rather theologically uninformed about what is really going on in the theological world.
When Oesch was a young pastor in England he began the short lived Crucible. Later when he went to Germany he became the editor of the scholarly Lutherischer Rundblick, which he recognized few in the U.S. were reading. The congregation of his nephew Gene Oesch in Houston, Texas, helped finance this fine publication which was even recognized at the Vatican. Oesch insisted on receiving Christian News via airmail.
When Christian News began and regularly kept readers informed about what was going on in the church world, reviewing numerous publications and hundreds of books, some said that the LCMS now had a watch dog the LCMS did not have to pay a salary.
Lutheran Hour speaker, Walter Maier, who died in 1950, recognized that the LCMS also needed a financial watch dog. He urged his good friend and supporter Fred Rutz to study the LCMS’s finances. Some years later Rutz invited the CN editor to visit him in his home near Cleveland to show CN what he had found out about the LCMS’s finances. CN then helped him promote his pamphlet “A Business Man Looks At His Church.” The LCMS bureaucrats were not too happy with Rutz. He exposed the tremendous growth of the LCMS bureaucracy and how little of the money LCMS members contributed for missions was actually going for missions. Walter Maier Still Speaks-Missouri and the World Should Listen has a section on Fred Rutz.
After Rutz, Ed Hinnefeld, whose long record of seeking open financial disclosure in the LCMS is in this issue, became the LCMS’s much needed financial watchdog. He exposed the ever increasing growth of the LCMS’s bureaucracy while the LCMS was shrinking and mission work was being cut. There were millions to build costly district offices and a huge synodical office building, pay bureaucrats at the International Center and CPH several times more than the average pastor, pay youth leaders like Rich Bimler undeserved honorariums for doing very little, etc. Hinnefeld did not back down even when the LCMS’s Board of Directors unanimously opposed him. The LCMS Board of Directors voted to pay Ralph Bohlmann his full high presidential salary plus benefits for more than a year until Bohlmann was eligible for his huge pension. The BOD gave him a great “Golden Parachute”. When A.L. Barry defeated him he should have taken a call from one of the many vacant LCMS parishes rather than remaining in St. Louis and causing trouble for Barry, eventually serving as a “ghost writer” for Kieschnick and being a leader of the “40 of 2010” which called for the re-election of Jesus First candidate Kieschnick and defeat of Harrison.
The Schwan Foundation poured millions into the LCMS and CPH, financed many worthy causes, but did not help serve as a financial watchdog. Far too often money from the Schwan Foundation simply enabled the bureaucrats to live higher on the hog. Several who worked on LCMS and CPH projects financed by the Schwan Foundation told CN how money seemed to be no object even when it came to ordering fancy meals and using the most expensive equipment and paper. When Pastor Jack Cascione’s Reclaim News reported that tax records of the Schwan Foundation showed that the two top executives of the Foundation were receiving, besides their pensions as retired pastors, around 300 thousand and 480 thousand a year, CN asked the Schwan Foundation to inform CN if Cascione’s report was not correct. CN noted that when someone leaves CN a large sum of money it is used for publishing CN, the AAT and other books, not to pay anyone a high salary. CN discussed this with Hinnefeld.
Now that Ed Hinnefeld has been called to his eternal home, the LCMS needs another watchdog to follow Fred Rutz and Ed Hinnefeld. “Curb the Bureaucracy,” an overture the editor’s congregation submitted to the 2010 LCMS convention documented the tremendous growth of the LCMS bureaucracy and the liberal theological position taken by the LCMS’s Council of Presidents majority which defended the theological position of Seminex and even voted to place and outspoken evolutionist on the LCMS’s CTCR. The overpaid bureaucrats saw to it that the overture did not come up at the convention. Who will be the watchdog who will continue calling for full disclosure of the LCMS’s finances, call for the returning of all bureaucrats, including district presidents to the parish ministry, cutting down on costly meetings and travel, paying bureaucrats little more then the salary of the average pastor, etc.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
CN Pleads With LCMS Leaders - DROP THE LAWSUIT
September 27, 2010 Christian News - www.christiannewsmo.com
CN Pleads With LCMS Leaders - DROP THE LAWSUIT
The time has come for leaders and the attorney of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to drop the costly lawsuit against four women in Oakland, California. CN sent the following letter plea to LCMS Attorney Sherri Strand, LCMS President Matthew Harrison, the LCMS’s Commission on constitutional Matters, LCMS Secretary Raymond Hartwig, LCMS Board of Directors Chairman Robert Kuhn, and California – Nevada – Hawaii, LCMS District president on September 16:
Dear Esteemed Leaders and Attorney of the LCMS:
This is an urgent plea to drop the lawsuit vs. four California women. Christian News has published many articles about the case during the past 12 months. What a great tragedy that the church of C.F.W. Walther is arguing that the LCMS is some sort of hierarchical church body and is opposing a well informed judge who recognizes that the LCMS, according to its constitution, is congregational, four women who support Walther’s defense of the rights of laymen and congregations, and a brilliant attorney whose investigations have shown him that the LCMS is officially congregational in nature.
LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick told CN a year ago that the LCMS was in no way involved, he knew nothing about the case, and was certainly opposed to the use of any mission funds to file a lawsuit against anyone. When CN called LCMS attorney Sherri Strand to find out if she had told Kieschnick anything about the case, a secretary said Strand would return the call. She never did.
This week Christian News received in the case before the Superior Court of the State of California where the California-Nevada-Hawaii District, LCMS, is listed as a plaintiff and LCMS Attorney Sherri Strand and others are listed as attorneys for the plaintiff, the following documents which I hope you all have read:
1. Declaration of Rev. Dr. Raymond Hartwig In Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for
Reconsideration.
2. Declaration of Clayton L. Thompson In Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for
Reconsideration.
3. Plaintiffs’ Memorandum Of Plaintiff And Authorities In Support of Their Motion for
Reconsideration.
4. CCM Responding to Newton’s Questions “Ecclesiastical Supervisors Responsibilities of
District President (10-2581).
5. (Proposed) Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration.
Enclosed are pages 1, 6 and 16 of the September 20, 2010 Christian News and p. 16 of the September 13, 2010 Christian News.
Please note “Desperate LCMS Asks Judge to Reconsider in Suit Against 4 CA Women,” Becoming an Episcopal Hierarchy – Is This The Real LCMS” and “Wake Up Torpedo Hits Missouri – Judge Throws LCMS-CNHD Out of Court – Justice For Oakland 4.” This last article includes the judge’s entire ruling vs. the CNH-LCMS which the LCMS is not accepting while it argues, contrary to fact that, the LCMS is in some way hierarchical and not congregational. The judge’s ruling is the kind of ruling the pro-Loehe, anti-Walther Romanizers in the LCMS despise. In no way should leaders of the LCMS support those who claim the LCMS is a hierarchy.
Some 50 years ago the editor’s congregation won a tremendous victory for congregationalism in the LCMS when it was reinstated in the LCMS by the LCMS’s highest judicial court after those who opposed congregationalism and Walther’s scriptural position had been able to get the congregation suspended and then expelled from the LCMS. Kurt Marquart was among those who brilliantly defended the editor’s case and that of his congregation.
Church bureaucrats often say they know nothing about the case vs. four California women. Christian News is sent to all LCMS congregations except those who refuse it. You are all members of LCMS congregations. Here are some of the articles which have appeared in Christian News about this important case:
1. “LCMS Sues ‘Oakland Four’ For Church Property,” CN, September 14, 2009.
2. “Depositions Show LCMS Mission Funds Paying for Suit Against ‘Oakland Four’”, CN,
November 23, 2009.
3. “LCMS Copies ELCA In Seizing Church Property,” CN, December 21, 2009.
4. “Kieschnick Has the LCMS in Hot Water on ‘Oakland Four’ Suit”, CN, January 18, 2010.
5. “LCMS 2007 Resolution 8-02A at Heart of the ‘Oakland Four’ Suit” CN, January 18, 2010.
6. “Ducking Ground Hog Day Deposition?” CN, January 25,2010.
7. “LCMS District Sues Four Women for Jesus: Kieschnick to Take Deposition on Ground
Hog Day”, CN, January 25, 2010.
8. “Will Kieschnick Appear at Ground Hog Day Deposition?” LCMS Letter Denies Synod Is
Suing Four CA Women before Kieschnick Deposition.” “Latest Information on Deposition and Trial,” CN, February 1, 2010.
9. “Kieschnick Deposition Rescheduled for Ash Wednesday,” CN, February 15, 2010.
10. “How to Fund Church Bureaucrats? Who Owns Church Property?” “Lawsuit Against Our
Redeemer.” “May 7 Hearing Set for LCMS Suit Against CA Women”, CN, March 22,
2010.
11. “Dr. Ben Chavis & Carey Blakely – ‘Crazy Like a Fox’”. “LCMS Desperate to Push
Lawsuit Against Four CA Women Past Convention,” CN, April 5, 2010.
12. “Lay People Misled by LCMS about Suit Against CA Women,” CN, April 19, 2010.
13. “Confesses Apostles Creed – Crazy for LCMS to Threaten Ben Chavis,” CN, April 26,
2010.
14. “LCMS News Blackout On Lawsuit Against CA Women Signals Kieschnick Re-election,”
CN, May 3, 2010.
15. “LCMS Puts Founder’s Teaching On Congregational Autonomy on Trial in Oakland CA”,
CN, May 3, 2010.
16. “Judge Holds Hearing on CNHD-LCMS vs. Four Oakland CA Women,” CN, June
14,2010.
17. “Leadership Crisis in LCMS Exposed by Suit Against 4 CA Women,” CN, June 14, 2010.
18. “Opposition to False Doctrine: The LCMS Mark of Cain,” CN, July 5, 2010.
19. “Harrison Elected New President of LCMS,” CN, July 19, 2010.
20. “Judge to Rule on CNHD-LCMS vs. 4 CA Women on September 10, 2010,” CN August
30, 2010.
21. “Wake Up Torpedo Hits Missouri In Big Lawsuit,” CN, September 6, 2010.
22. “Judge Throws LCMS-CNHD Out of Court: Justice for Oakland 4”, CN, September 6,
2010.
Pastor Cascione, who has traveled to California several times to get a first hand report of the case, in “Desperate LCMS Asks Judge to Reconsider in Suit Against 4 Women” in the enclosed page from the September 20, 2010 CN, reports: “After the defendants have already spent $569,000, the LCMS continues to throw money at financing the suit. At this point the LCMS has spent approximately $1,100,000 suing these four ladies.” CN has been unable to find out from the LCMS’s Attorney, Sherri Strand, just how much this case has cost. Christian News will be glad to publish a statement from any of you giving the exact cost of the case and how much of the cost has come from funds originally designated for missions or some disaster. CN will publish a statement from any LCMS official showing where Pastor Jack Cascione or Christian News has not reported the truth about this case.
“DROP THE LAWSUIT. THE LCMS IS NOT A HIERARCHY. It cannot take property from congregations. Follow what the LCMS’s constitution says. Return the LCMS to Walther’s scriptural principles not Loehe’s hierarchy.” CN, September 20, 2010, p. 3.
God’s blessings,
Herman Otten, editor
Christian News
CN Pleads With LCMS Leaders - DROP THE LAWSUIT
The time has come for leaders and the attorney of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to drop the costly lawsuit against four women in Oakland, California. CN sent the following letter plea to LCMS Attorney Sherri Strand, LCMS President Matthew Harrison, the LCMS’s Commission on constitutional Matters, LCMS Secretary Raymond Hartwig, LCMS Board of Directors Chairman Robert Kuhn, and California – Nevada – Hawaii, LCMS District president on September 16:
Dear Esteemed Leaders and Attorney of the LCMS:
This is an urgent plea to drop the lawsuit vs. four California women. Christian News has published many articles about the case during the past 12 months. What a great tragedy that the church of C.F.W. Walther is arguing that the LCMS is some sort of hierarchical church body and is opposing a well informed judge who recognizes that the LCMS, according to its constitution, is congregational, four women who support Walther’s defense of the rights of laymen and congregations, and a brilliant attorney whose investigations have shown him that the LCMS is officially congregational in nature.
LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick told CN a year ago that the LCMS was in no way involved, he knew nothing about the case, and was certainly opposed to the use of any mission funds to file a lawsuit against anyone. When CN called LCMS attorney Sherri Strand to find out if she had told Kieschnick anything about the case, a secretary said Strand would return the call. She never did.
This week Christian News received in the case before the Superior Court of the State of California where the California-Nevada-Hawaii District, LCMS, is listed as a plaintiff and LCMS Attorney Sherri Strand and others are listed as attorneys for the plaintiff, the following documents which I hope you all have read:
1. Declaration of Rev. Dr. Raymond Hartwig In Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for
Reconsideration.
2. Declaration of Clayton L. Thompson In Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for
Reconsideration.
3. Plaintiffs’ Memorandum Of Plaintiff And Authorities In Support of Their Motion for
Reconsideration.
4. CCM Responding to Newton’s Questions “Ecclesiastical Supervisors Responsibilities of
District President (10-2581).
5. (Proposed) Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration.
Enclosed are pages 1, 6 and 16 of the September 20, 2010 Christian News and p. 16 of the September 13, 2010 Christian News.
Please note “Desperate LCMS Asks Judge to Reconsider in Suit Against 4 CA Women,” Becoming an Episcopal Hierarchy – Is This The Real LCMS” and “Wake Up Torpedo Hits Missouri – Judge Throws LCMS-CNHD Out of Court – Justice For Oakland 4.” This last article includes the judge’s entire ruling vs. the CNH-LCMS which the LCMS is not accepting while it argues, contrary to fact that, the LCMS is in some way hierarchical and not congregational. The judge’s ruling is the kind of ruling the pro-Loehe, anti-Walther Romanizers in the LCMS despise. In no way should leaders of the LCMS support those who claim the LCMS is a hierarchy.
Some 50 years ago the editor’s congregation won a tremendous victory for congregationalism in the LCMS when it was reinstated in the LCMS by the LCMS’s highest judicial court after those who opposed congregationalism and Walther’s scriptural position had been able to get the congregation suspended and then expelled from the LCMS. Kurt Marquart was among those who brilliantly defended the editor’s case and that of his congregation.
Church bureaucrats often say they know nothing about the case vs. four California women. Christian News is sent to all LCMS congregations except those who refuse it. You are all members of LCMS congregations. Here are some of the articles which have appeared in Christian News about this important case:
1. “LCMS Sues ‘Oakland Four’ For Church Property,” CN, September 14, 2009.
2. “Depositions Show LCMS Mission Funds Paying for Suit Against ‘Oakland Four’”, CN,
November 23, 2009.
3. “LCMS Copies ELCA In Seizing Church Property,” CN, December 21, 2009.
4. “Kieschnick Has the LCMS in Hot Water on ‘Oakland Four’ Suit”, CN, January 18, 2010.
5. “LCMS 2007 Resolution 8-02A at Heart of the ‘Oakland Four’ Suit” CN, January 18, 2010.
6. “Ducking Ground Hog Day Deposition?” CN, January 25,2010.
7. “LCMS District Sues Four Women for Jesus: Kieschnick to Take Deposition on Ground
Hog Day”, CN, January 25, 2010.
8. “Will Kieschnick Appear at Ground Hog Day Deposition?” LCMS Letter Denies Synod Is
Suing Four CA Women before Kieschnick Deposition.” “Latest Information on Deposition and Trial,” CN, February 1, 2010.
9. “Kieschnick Deposition Rescheduled for Ash Wednesday,” CN, February 15, 2010.
10. “How to Fund Church Bureaucrats? Who Owns Church Property?” “Lawsuit Against Our
Redeemer.” “May 7 Hearing Set for LCMS Suit Against CA Women”, CN, March 22,
2010.
11. “Dr. Ben Chavis & Carey Blakely – ‘Crazy Like a Fox’”. “LCMS Desperate to Push
Lawsuit Against Four CA Women Past Convention,” CN, April 5, 2010.
12. “Lay People Misled by LCMS about Suit Against CA Women,” CN, April 19, 2010.
13. “Confesses Apostles Creed – Crazy for LCMS to Threaten Ben Chavis,” CN, April 26,
2010.
14. “LCMS News Blackout On Lawsuit Against CA Women Signals Kieschnick Re-election,”
CN, May 3, 2010.
15. “LCMS Puts Founder’s Teaching On Congregational Autonomy on Trial in Oakland CA”,
CN, May 3, 2010.
16. “Judge Holds Hearing on CNHD-LCMS vs. Four Oakland CA Women,” CN, June
14,2010.
17. “Leadership Crisis in LCMS Exposed by Suit Against 4 CA Women,” CN, June 14, 2010.
18. “Opposition to False Doctrine: The LCMS Mark of Cain,” CN, July 5, 2010.
19. “Harrison Elected New President of LCMS,” CN, July 19, 2010.
20. “Judge to Rule on CNHD-LCMS vs. 4 CA Women on September 10, 2010,” CN August
30, 2010.
21. “Wake Up Torpedo Hits Missouri In Big Lawsuit,” CN, September 6, 2010.
22. “Judge Throws LCMS-CNHD Out of Court: Justice for Oakland 4”, CN, September 6,
2010.
Pastor Cascione, who has traveled to California several times to get a first hand report of the case, in “Desperate LCMS Asks Judge to Reconsider in Suit Against 4 Women” in the enclosed page from the September 20, 2010 CN, reports: “After the defendants have already spent $569,000, the LCMS continues to throw money at financing the suit. At this point the LCMS has spent approximately $1,100,000 suing these four ladies.” CN has been unable to find out from the LCMS’s Attorney, Sherri Strand, just how much this case has cost. Christian News will be glad to publish a statement from any of you giving the exact cost of the case and how much of the cost has come from funds originally designated for missions or some disaster. CN will publish a statement from any LCMS official showing where Pastor Jack Cascione or Christian News has not reported the truth about this case.
“DROP THE LAWSUIT. THE LCMS IS NOT A HIERARCHY. It cannot take property from congregations. Follow what the LCMS’s constitution says. Return the LCMS to Walther’s scriptural principles not Loehe’s hierarchy.” CN, September 20, 2010, p. 3.
God’s blessings,
Herman Otten, editor
Christian News
Thursday, September 16, 2010
“CONSERVATIVE LUTHERANS” MISLED BY LIBERAL THEOLOGIANS
CN, September 20, 2010, Vol. 48, No. 37,
www.christiannewsmo.com
OPEN LETTER TO NORTH
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH
“CONSERVATIVE LUTHERANS” MISLED BY LIBERAL THEOLOGIANS
This issue of Christian News is being sent to the congregations which have joined the new North American Lutheran Church. Hopefully, CN will be able to get the names and addresses of most of them. Pastor Tim Rossow, editor of Brothers of John the Steadfast, just sent out this notice: “The North American Lutheran Church has been born. The constitution was just adopted by a resounding voice vote of the 1100+ in attendance at the meeting in Columbus, OH.”
“Braaten, Jenson Et Al Calling North American Lutheranism Back to Word of God” on page one quotes from a September 8 post of Christianity Today titled “Facing Lutheranism’s Crisis of Authority” and “Seven Theologians Call North American Lutheranism Back to the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions.” The editor in chief of Christianity Today reported that some “800 conservative Lutherans” met in Columbus, Ohio and listened to seven leading theologians who were hailed as conservatives opposing theological liberalism. During its early years no editor of Christianity Today would have considered such liberals as Carl Braaten and Robert Jenson conservatives.
Conservative Lutherans who follow these theologians are being misled. They should read “What’s Going On Among Lutherans” featured on page one. This book shows that some of those hailed as conservatives actually denied the virgin birth and the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Just recently Northwestern Publishing House, which published What’s Going On Among the Lutherans? published another book quoted in this issue which shows that some of the speakers who spoke at the gathering of the North American Lutheran Church denied fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith.
“Christian News Gives ELCA Professors and Officials Opportunity To Respond to What’s Going on Among the Lutherans?” on page 12 and 13 is taken from Volume V of the Christian News Encyclopedia. The introduction to this 1,000 page 11”x17” volume of the CNE is reproduced below. Christian News will send a complimentary copy of Volume V to any NALC congregation or pastor who sends CN five dollars to pay for the shipping of this large book.
Dr. Gregory Jackson, the author of the introduction, was formerly the pastor of a congregation in the Lutheran Church in America. The LCA became part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Jackson earned his S.T.M. at Yale University and Ph.D. at Notre Dame University. He is the author of several books available from Christian News, including Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure for $8.99 and Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant for $22.00 plus s/h.
Here is what Northwestern’s What’s Going on Among the Lutherans? says about the first four volumes of the Christian News Encyclopedia: “We recommend these volumes as an unparalleled source of information about American Christianity.” If The Christian News Encyclopedia is really what Dr. Jackson and What’s Going On Among Lutherans? says it is, then why isn’t it and any other publication of Christian News, including An American Translation of the Bible, ever mentioned by ELCA’s Fortress Press or the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s Concordia Publishing House? An American Translation of the Bible is the most accurate translation of the Bible in good modern English available today, yet the bureaucrats give it the silent treatment. The editor of Christian News and the AAT is simply not part of the bureaucracy. For decades he has said the church bureaucrats should also be serving as pastors of congregations. They do not like to hear that.
Christian News began in 1962 as a small mimeographed sheet. $1.00 for a six month subscription. This is now Issue No. 2,238 of Christian News. Each Wednesday the editor presents a 10 minute summary on CN’s “Twenty-First Century Reformation Hour” on Youtube (www.youtube. com/christiannewsmo).
CN’s Statement of Policy is in the masthead on this page. CN invites members of the North American Lutheran Church to subscribe to Christian News and ask for a copy of Volume V of the Christian News Encyclopedia.
When the CN editor was invited to speak at gatherings of conservatives in the ALC and LCA now in ELCA they appreciated that the editor documented the liberal views of some of those who are now misleading the North American Lutheran Church. These liberals go along with the higher criticism, evolution and universalism now promoted in ELCA’s new 2112 page Lutheran Study Bible. This new ELCA study Bible should have been vigorously opposed at the NALC gathering in Columbus. Its views are far more destructive that the promotion of the sins of homosexuality and abortion in ELCA.
www.christiannewsmo.com
OPEN LETTER TO NORTH
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH
“CONSERVATIVE LUTHERANS” MISLED BY LIBERAL THEOLOGIANS
This issue of Christian News is being sent to the congregations which have joined the new North American Lutheran Church. Hopefully, CN will be able to get the names and addresses of most of them. Pastor Tim Rossow, editor of Brothers of John the Steadfast, just sent out this notice: “The North American Lutheran Church has been born. The constitution was just adopted by a resounding voice vote of the 1100+ in attendance at the meeting in Columbus, OH.”
“Braaten, Jenson Et Al Calling North American Lutheranism Back to Word of God” on page one quotes from a September 8 post of Christianity Today titled “Facing Lutheranism’s Crisis of Authority” and “Seven Theologians Call North American Lutheranism Back to the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions.” The editor in chief of Christianity Today reported that some “800 conservative Lutherans” met in Columbus, Ohio and listened to seven leading theologians who were hailed as conservatives opposing theological liberalism. During its early years no editor of Christianity Today would have considered such liberals as Carl Braaten and Robert Jenson conservatives.
Conservative Lutherans who follow these theologians are being misled. They should read “What’s Going On Among Lutherans” featured on page one. This book shows that some of those hailed as conservatives actually denied the virgin birth and the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Just recently Northwestern Publishing House, which published What’s Going On Among the Lutherans? published another book quoted in this issue which shows that some of the speakers who spoke at the gathering of the North American Lutheran Church denied fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith.
“Christian News Gives ELCA Professors and Officials Opportunity To Respond to What’s Going on Among the Lutherans?” on page 12 and 13 is taken from Volume V of the Christian News Encyclopedia. The introduction to this 1,000 page 11”x17” volume of the CNE is reproduced below. Christian News will send a complimentary copy of Volume V to any NALC congregation or pastor who sends CN five dollars to pay for the shipping of this large book.
Dr. Gregory Jackson, the author of the introduction, was formerly the pastor of a congregation in the Lutheran Church in America. The LCA became part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Jackson earned his S.T.M. at Yale University and Ph.D. at Notre Dame University. He is the author of several books available from Christian News, including Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure for $8.99 and Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant for $22.00 plus s/h.
Here is what Northwestern’s What’s Going on Among the Lutherans? says about the first four volumes of the Christian News Encyclopedia: “We recommend these volumes as an unparalleled source of information about American Christianity.” If The Christian News Encyclopedia is really what Dr. Jackson and What’s Going On Among Lutherans? says it is, then why isn’t it and any other publication of Christian News, including An American Translation of the Bible, ever mentioned by ELCA’s Fortress Press or the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s Concordia Publishing House? An American Translation of the Bible is the most accurate translation of the Bible in good modern English available today, yet the bureaucrats give it the silent treatment. The editor of Christian News and the AAT is simply not part of the bureaucracy. For decades he has said the church bureaucrats should also be serving as pastors of congregations. They do not like to hear that.
Christian News began in 1962 as a small mimeographed sheet. $1.00 for a six month subscription. This is now Issue No. 2,238 of Christian News. Each Wednesday the editor presents a 10 minute summary on CN’s “Twenty-First Century Reformation Hour” on Youtube (www.youtube. com/christiannewsmo).
CN’s Statement of Policy is in the masthead on this page. CN invites members of the North American Lutheran Church to subscribe to Christian News and ask for a copy of Volume V of the Christian News Encyclopedia.
When the CN editor was invited to speak at gatherings of conservatives in the ALC and LCA now in ELCA they appreciated that the editor documented the liberal views of some of those who are now misleading the North American Lutheran Church. These liberals go along with the higher criticism, evolution and universalism now promoted in ELCA’s new 2112 page Lutheran Study Bible. This new ELCA study Bible should have been vigorously opposed at the NALC gathering in Columbus. Its views are far more destructive that the promotion of the sins of homosexuality and abortion in ELCA.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
BECKER HAS LONG PROMOTED HIGHER CRITICISM OF THE BIBLE
Christian News September 13, 2010
Praises Leading Liberal Theologians
BECKER HAS LONG PROMOTED HIGHER CRITICISM OF THE BIBLE
When CN filed charges of false doctrine vs. LCMS Professor Matthew Becker, CN limited the quotations in the charges to statements Becker makes in A DayStar Reader CN wanted to keep it simple. A DayStar Reader edited by Becker was sent some 10 months ago to LCMS district presidents and many other LCMS leaders. Here Becker boldly promotes evolution and women pastors. LCMS bureaucrats, who plead ignorance about Becker’s view, refuse to study the evidence. They want to be blind so they have to do nothing.
However, CN also sent some accompanying documents to Becker’s district president and the new LCMS presidium to show that Becker has for years promoted the destructive views of liberal Bible critics, which undermine the entire Christian faith. An LCMS pastor, who went to school with Becker at Concordia University, Portland, Oregon, told CN that Becker first was taught these views at the LCMS school in Portland. One of the documents mentioned what Becker wrote in God Opens Doors quoted in a report on page one of this issue. It was published by the Northwest District. When Becker writes “No issues are totally and completely settled in Christian theology” (CN, August 23, 2010) he is simply reflecting the radical views of the liberal theologians he favorably mentions in God Opens Doors, including his famous teacher at the University of Chicago, David Tracy.
One of the documents CN sent Becker’s district president and the new LCMS Presidium included a letter from two of Becker’s students at the LCMS’s Concordia University, Chicago. After Becker’s attorney, Daniel Lorenz, later appointed by LCMS President Kieschnick to the LCMS’s CCM threatened the CN editor with legal actions, one of Becker’s students wrote:
“It is in our best judgment that Daniel C. Lorenz also remedy his ignorance concerning his client Dr. Matthew Becker. We state this due to the fact that we have spoken to Dr. Becker in the past relating to certain points of LCMS doctrine that he denied to us. In the spring of 1994 at Concordia University (River Forest, Illinois), Dr. Becker taught a theology course on early Christian thought. It was during the many lectures given by Dr. Becker in that course that many students became disturbed by what they heard Dr. Becker teaching and professing. As a result of this, Dr. Becker became the center of much controversy within the theology department at Concordia University.
Here is a sampling of just some of the things Dr. Becker said and taught in the early Christian thought course during the spring of 1994 at Concordia University. “There is no explicit teaching of the doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament” (3/17/94). “Scripture was not the criteria used in clarifying doctrines in the New Testament but rather tradition was more important over Scripture” (3/17/94). “Scripture is not that important because the heretics, such as Arius, quote Scripture all the time” (3/17/94). In reference to Hebrews chapter 6, Dr. Becker stated “There are errors in the Bible” (3/16/94). “Christian theology was dependent upon pagan philosophy , it could not have come about without it” (3/21/94). “The dogma of the Trinity could not come around without pagan Greek philosophy” (3/21/94).
If you are sickened by the above ignorant statements made by Dr. Becker, who claims he is in accordance with the official position of the LCMS, keep reading further. When Dr. Becker was asked by Richard Falbo about the interpretation of the word death in Genesis 2:1, Dr. Becker replied, “You can only get spiritual death from this verse by interpreting it allegorically” (3/29/94). “Genesis chapters 1-11 are not literal history and Martin Luther also viewed these chapters as allegory” (3/29/94). Knowing that Dr. Becker stated that he believed in the doctrine of original sin, Richard Falbo asked him “How do non-literal people (Adam & Eve) commit literal sin?” How does the foolish Dr. Becker account for the reality of sin if its origin is myth or allegory? If Adam and Eve were not literal persons and therefore literal sinners, then we have no need of a literal Savior to cleanse us and to restore us from any real sin.
We would like to know why Dr. Becker believes that Adam and Eve were allegorical persons, but why he accepts Jesus Christ as a literal, historical, and very real person? According to the apostle Paul, Jesus Christ is the second/last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:44-45). How can Jesus be the last Adam and also be a real historical figure if there never was a literal and historical first Adam? Therefore, intentionally or not, Dr. Becker destroys the very message of the Gospel because he destroys its foundation. If one wants to collapse a structure, all they have to do is pull out its foundation. The book of Genesis is the foundation for the rest of the Bible. We think Dr .Becker should read and think about the words of Psalm 11:3, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
In relation to Matthew chapter 28, Dr. Becker stated that “We do not have the actual words of Jesus because Jesus spoke Aramaic, but the New Testament is in Greek. Therefore we cannot be certain what was said by Jesus” (4/12/94). Oddly enough in an article written by Dr. Becker that appeared in the Lutheran Witness, Dr. Becker made the point that he found great comfort in Matthew chapter 28. . . .
Here are even more quotes by Dr. Becker that any orthodox Lutheran and Christian should cringe at. “The Word of God can be found in the Bible, but the Bible is not the Word of God” (5/11/94). “The Bible contains contradictions” (4/6/94). “Luke did not write the Gospel of Luke, and the Peter that knew the apostle Paul did not write the book of Second Peter” (5/11/94). In reference to a question that Rick Falbo asked Dr. Becker concerning the Bible as the only norm for the church, Dr. Becker responded “There exists many norms” (5/11/94). “The flood of Genesis was a local flood not a global flood” (4/6/94). “The days in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 are not ordinary 24-hour days” (4/5/94). Dr. Becker even went as far as saying that his interpretation of the book of Genesis is “dangerous” (5/11/94). “Scripture has many authors not just God” (4/6/94).
This is the last quote we will give you from Dr. Becker. It is this one in particular that is so revolting. “Jesus Christ was ignorant because He said that the mustard seed was the smallest seed. We know today from science that the mustard seed is not the smallest seed” (4/6/94). Dr. Becker we strongly disagree with you on this sickening statement. It was not Jesus Christ who was ignorant, but rather it was his audience that was ignorant. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ (Colossians 2:3). Jesus merely used the mustard seed as an example of the smallest seed His audience would be familiar with. How could first century persons living in the Middle East be knowledgeable of smaller seed in another part of the world? You Dr. Becker are like the audience that Jesus spoke the parable of the mustard seed to: ignorant!
For those of you who care about the dating of biblical books, Dr. Becker believes that the book of Second Peter was written between 100-120 A.D. He also believes that the synoptic Gospels were completed in their final form between 75-80 A.D. We could go on and on with the satanic and false doctrines and teachings that have spewed forth from the lips of Dr. Becker. But, we believe that the above are more than sufficient to show you that Dr. Becker is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It is truly sad that someone like Dr. Becker is allowed to take a call within the LCMS to be a professor of theology because he doesn’t profess biblical theology, he destroys it. Even more, Dr. Becker said that his theological views are “mainstream LCMS views and not fringe” (5/5/94). We conclude by asking Dr. Becker, how do you know that the Scriptures contain errors? What criteria are you using to judge biblical verses. Whatever it is, you are definitely no longer sola scriptura because you have gone to the opinions of men and their sinful, finite, and darkened scientific methods. We hope and pray that you learn from Christ through the Scriptures that God alone is all-knowing, infinite, and full of truth.
In Christ,
Joseph and Richard Falbo
1 Riverside Road
Suite 3B
Riverside, IL 60546
How much love are LCMS bureaucrats, who take no action vs. Becker ,showing to the students Becker is allowed to mislead? Not all students are as well informed as Joseph and Richard Falbo to refuse to swallow Becker’s promotion of the destructive views of liberal Bible critics.
Praises Leading Liberal Theologians
BECKER HAS LONG PROMOTED HIGHER CRITICISM OF THE BIBLE
When CN filed charges of false doctrine vs. LCMS Professor Matthew Becker, CN limited the quotations in the charges to statements Becker makes in A DayStar Reader CN wanted to keep it simple. A DayStar Reader edited by Becker was sent some 10 months ago to LCMS district presidents and many other LCMS leaders. Here Becker boldly promotes evolution and women pastors. LCMS bureaucrats, who plead ignorance about Becker’s view, refuse to study the evidence. They want to be blind so they have to do nothing.
However, CN also sent some accompanying documents to Becker’s district president and the new LCMS presidium to show that Becker has for years promoted the destructive views of liberal Bible critics, which undermine the entire Christian faith. An LCMS pastor, who went to school with Becker at Concordia University, Portland, Oregon, told CN that Becker first was taught these views at the LCMS school in Portland. One of the documents mentioned what Becker wrote in God Opens Doors quoted in a report on page one of this issue. It was published by the Northwest District. When Becker writes “No issues are totally and completely settled in Christian theology” (CN, August 23, 2010) he is simply reflecting the radical views of the liberal theologians he favorably mentions in God Opens Doors, including his famous teacher at the University of Chicago, David Tracy.
One of the documents CN sent Becker’s district president and the new LCMS Presidium included a letter from two of Becker’s students at the LCMS’s Concordia University, Chicago. After Becker’s attorney, Daniel Lorenz, later appointed by LCMS President Kieschnick to the LCMS’s CCM threatened the CN editor with legal actions, one of Becker’s students wrote:
“It is in our best judgment that Daniel C. Lorenz also remedy his ignorance concerning his client Dr. Matthew Becker. We state this due to the fact that we have spoken to Dr. Becker in the past relating to certain points of LCMS doctrine that he denied to us. In the spring of 1994 at Concordia University (River Forest, Illinois), Dr. Becker taught a theology course on early Christian thought. It was during the many lectures given by Dr. Becker in that course that many students became disturbed by what they heard Dr. Becker teaching and professing. As a result of this, Dr. Becker became the center of much controversy within the theology department at Concordia University.
Here is a sampling of just some of the things Dr. Becker said and taught in the early Christian thought course during the spring of 1994 at Concordia University. “There is no explicit teaching of the doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament” (3/17/94). “Scripture was not the criteria used in clarifying doctrines in the New Testament but rather tradition was more important over Scripture” (3/17/94). “Scripture is not that important because the heretics, such as Arius, quote Scripture all the time” (3/17/94). In reference to Hebrews chapter 6, Dr. Becker stated “There are errors in the Bible” (3/16/94). “Christian theology was dependent upon pagan philosophy , it could not have come about without it” (3/21/94). “The dogma of the Trinity could not come around without pagan Greek philosophy” (3/21/94).
If you are sickened by the above ignorant statements made by Dr. Becker, who claims he is in accordance with the official position of the LCMS, keep reading further. When Dr. Becker was asked by Richard Falbo about the interpretation of the word death in Genesis 2:1, Dr. Becker replied, “You can only get spiritual death from this verse by interpreting it allegorically” (3/29/94). “Genesis chapters 1-11 are not literal history and Martin Luther also viewed these chapters as allegory” (3/29/94). Knowing that Dr. Becker stated that he believed in the doctrine of original sin, Richard Falbo asked him “How do non-literal people (Adam & Eve) commit literal sin?” How does the foolish Dr. Becker account for the reality of sin if its origin is myth or allegory? If Adam and Eve were not literal persons and therefore literal sinners, then we have no need of a literal Savior to cleanse us and to restore us from any real sin.
We would like to know why Dr. Becker believes that Adam and Eve were allegorical persons, but why he accepts Jesus Christ as a literal, historical, and very real person? According to the apostle Paul, Jesus Christ is the second/last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:44-45). How can Jesus be the last Adam and also be a real historical figure if there never was a literal and historical first Adam? Therefore, intentionally or not, Dr. Becker destroys the very message of the Gospel because he destroys its foundation. If one wants to collapse a structure, all they have to do is pull out its foundation. The book of Genesis is the foundation for the rest of the Bible. We think Dr .Becker should read and think about the words of Psalm 11:3, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
In relation to Matthew chapter 28, Dr. Becker stated that “We do not have the actual words of Jesus because Jesus spoke Aramaic, but the New Testament is in Greek. Therefore we cannot be certain what was said by Jesus” (4/12/94). Oddly enough in an article written by Dr. Becker that appeared in the Lutheran Witness, Dr. Becker made the point that he found great comfort in Matthew chapter 28. . . .
Here are even more quotes by Dr. Becker that any orthodox Lutheran and Christian should cringe at. “The Word of God can be found in the Bible, but the Bible is not the Word of God” (5/11/94). “The Bible contains contradictions” (4/6/94). “Luke did not write the Gospel of Luke, and the Peter that knew the apostle Paul did not write the book of Second Peter” (5/11/94). In reference to a question that Rick Falbo asked Dr. Becker concerning the Bible as the only norm for the church, Dr. Becker responded “There exists many norms” (5/11/94). “The flood of Genesis was a local flood not a global flood” (4/6/94). “The days in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 are not ordinary 24-hour days” (4/5/94). Dr. Becker even went as far as saying that his interpretation of the book of Genesis is “dangerous” (5/11/94). “Scripture has many authors not just God” (4/6/94).
This is the last quote we will give you from Dr. Becker. It is this one in particular that is so revolting. “Jesus Christ was ignorant because He said that the mustard seed was the smallest seed. We know today from science that the mustard seed is not the smallest seed” (4/6/94). Dr. Becker we strongly disagree with you on this sickening statement. It was not Jesus Christ who was ignorant, but rather it was his audience that was ignorant. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ (Colossians 2:3). Jesus merely used the mustard seed as an example of the smallest seed His audience would be familiar with. How could first century persons living in the Middle East be knowledgeable of smaller seed in another part of the world? You Dr. Becker are like the audience that Jesus spoke the parable of the mustard seed to: ignorant!
For those of you who care about the dating of biblical books, Dr. Becker believes that the book of Second Peter was written between 100-120 A.D. He also believes that the synoptic Gospels were completed in their final form between 75-80 A.D. We could go on and on with the satanic and false doctrines and teachings that have spewed forth from the lips of Dr. Becker. But, we believe that the above are more than sufficient to show you that Dr. Becker is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It is truly sad that someone like Dr. Becker is allowed to take a call within the LCMS to be a professor of theology because he doesn’t profess biblical theology, he destroys it. Even more, Dr. Becker said that his theological views are “mainstream LCMS views and not fringe” (5/5/94). We conclude by asking Dr. Becker, how do you know that the Scriptures contain errors? What criteria are you using to judge biblical verses. Whatever it is, you are definitely no longer sola scriptura because you have gone to the opinions of men and their sinful, finite, and darkened scientific methods. We hope and pray that you learn from Christ through the Scriptures that God alone is all-knowing, infinite, and full of truth.
In Christ,
Joseph and Richard Falbo
1 Riverside Road
Suite 3B
Riverside, IL 60546
How much love are LCMS bureaucrats, who take no action vs. Becker ,showing to the students Becker is allowed to mislead? Not all students are as well informed as Joseph and Richard Falbo to refuse to swallow Becker’s promotion of the destructive views of liberal Bible critics.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Wake Up Torpedo Hits Missouri In Big Lawsuit
Christian News 9/6
A Wakeup torpedo hit The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod on August 27 when Marshall Whitley, Judge of the Superior Court of California In and For The County of Alameda in a case involving the property of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Oakland, California. Both sides have spent several hundred thousand dollars in the case. The record shows that hundreds of thousands of dollars of mission funds were used the in the LCMS’s California-Nevada-Hawaii District. The district is the Synod in that place.
Judge Marshall Whitley, who appears to have the intellect of a Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, denied the plaintiffs, which includes the LCMS’s California-Nevada-Hawaii District, motion for Summary Judgment. The ruling is being hailed as a great victory for the rights of congregations and laymen and the scriptural doctrine of the Church and Ministry set forth by C.F.W. Walther, first president and chief theologian of the LCMS.
The ruling says in part:
“The documents specifically provide that the LCMS is not an ‘ecclesiastical government’ but acts only as an ‘an advisory body’ to member congregations. (LCMS Handbook, Const. Art VII,1, Bylaw 1.7.2, Ex. B to Defs.’ Appendix.) Congregations are members of the LCMS, but individual members in the congregations, with exceptions not relevant here, are not. (Id. Art. V; Bylaw 1.2.1.) A congregation’s membership in the LCMS gives the LCMS no interest in the property of the congregation. (Id., Art. VII.2)”
Christian News received the entire ruling just as the editor was completing the layout for this week’s CN and already had to eliminate about eight pages for reasons of space. The entire five page ruling will appear in next week’s issue.
The ruling mentions a deposition taken of LCMS President Jerry Kieschnick. LCMS and California-Hawaii-Nevada District Attorney Sherri Strand traveled several times to California. Kieschnick testified under oath, when he was deposed, that the editor of Christian News has a long history of twisting the truth. When CN reminded Kieschnick that such testimony given under oath is perjury, if he could not show where CN had not told the truth, Kieschnick remained silent. Kieschnick first told CN he knew nothing about the case and was opposed to such legal action. The LCMS’s 2007 convention opposed going to civil court. When CN asked Kieschnick to ask his California-Hawaii-Nevada District, whose president has been one of his chief supporters, to call off the lawsuit, Kieschnick refused.
LCMS publications, the publications and blogs of organized conservatives, and Jesus First and DayStar have been silent about the case even though the record was public.
It has not yet been determined just how much the ruling will now cost the LCMS district and Synod and whether the Defendants will sue the district and Synod for filing a frivolous lawsuit which caused the defendants great expense and anxiety for several years.
Famous California educator Dr. Ben Chavis, author of “Crazy Like a Fox”, a Vice-President of the California congregation was one of those involved in the lawsuit. “Crazy For LCMS To Threaten Ben Chavis” was the lead story in the April 26, 2010 CN. CN reviewed “Crazy Like A Fox.” The ruling could serve as a wake up torpedo if it gets thousands of LCMS pastors and laymen to recognize that if they want to know what is going on in the LCMS they should be reading Christian News.
www.christiannewsmo.com
A Wakeup torpedo hit The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod on August 27 when Marshall Whitley, Judge of the Superior Court of California In and For The County of Alameda in a case involving the property of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Oakland, California. Both sides have spent several hundred thousand dollars in the case. The record shows that hundreds of thousands of dollars of mission funds were used the in the LCMS’s California-Nevada-Hawaii District. The district is the Synod in that place.
Judge Marshall Whitley, who appears to have the intellect of a Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, denied the plaintiffs, which includes the LCMS’s California-Nevada-Hawaii District, motion for Summary Judgment. The ruling is being hailed as a great victory for the rights of congregations and laymen and the scriptural doctrine of the Church and Ministry set forth by C.F.W. Walther, first president and chief theologian of the LCMS.
The ruling says in part:
“The documents specifically provide that the LCMS is not an ‘ecclesiastical government’ but acts only as an ‘an advisory body’ to member congregations. (LCMS Handbook, Const. Art VII,1, Bylaw 1.7.2, Ex. B to Defs.’ Appendix.) Congregations are members of the LCMS, but individual members in the congregations, with exceptions not relevant here, are not. (Id. Art. V; Bylaw 1.2.1.) A congregation’s membership in the LCMS gives the LCMS no interest in the property of the congregation. (Id., Art. VII.2)”
Christian News received the entire ruling just as the editor was completing the layout for this week’s CN and already had to eliminate about eight pages for reasons of space. The entire five page ruling will appear in next week’s issue.
The ruling mentions a deposition taken of LCMS President Jerry Kieschnick. LCMS and California-Hawaii-Nevada District Attorney Sherri Strand traveled several times to California. Kieschnick testified under oath, when he was deposed, that the editor of Christian News has a long history of twisting the truth. When CN reminded Kieschnick that such testimony given under oath is perjury, if he could not show where CN had not told the truth, Kieschnick remained silent. Kieschnick first told CN he knew nothing about the case and was opposed to such legal action. The LCMS’s 2007 convention opposed going to civil court. When CN asked Kieschnick to ask his California-Hawaii-Nevada District, whose president has been one of his chief supporters, to call off the lawsuit, Kieschnick refused.
LCMS publications, the publications and blogs of organized conservatives, and Jesus First and DayStar have been silent about the case even though the record was public.
It has not yet been determined just how much the ruling will now cost the LCMS district and Synod and whether the Defendants will sue the district and Synod for filing a frivolous lawsuit which caused the defendants great expense and anxiety for several years.
Famous California educator Dr. Ben Chavis, author of “Crazy Like a Fox”, a Vice-President of the California congregation was one of those involved in the lawsuit. “Crazy For LCMS To Threaten Ben Chavis” was the lead story in the April 26, 2010 CN. CN reviewed “Crazy Like A Fox.” The ruling could serve as a wake up torpedo if it gets thousands of LCMS pastors and laymen to recognize that if they want to know what is going on in the LCMS they should be reading Christian News.
www.christiannewsmo.com
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