It seems every day there is something else in the LCMS that gives cause for sadness. Ironic that tomorrow is the anniversary of Luther willing to die for his conviction: here I stand, I can do no other. From Luther to hey, don't be so specific, you might hurt someone's feelings.
Does anyone know if there has been any official action taken against this professor? He needs to be removed immediately. I'd be more than happy to affix my name to the charge. I am scandalized by this.
A timely Gospel reading (3-year) for this Sunday: John 14:1-14. But then if:
"It would be best simply to avoid the term [Son of God] in our preaching and guide our people also to avoid it in their witnessing"
and if using the name of Jesus in a service feeds Muslim misconceptions, then proclaiming this reading from the gospel according to St. John would be "unhelpful" if not downright inflammatory!
And people keep making this argument that Christian parents should only send their kids to Christian colleges, to prevent their kids' faith from being corrupted!
This is interesting to me because it is a wake up call. This sort of thing is not that different from many of the approaches used by people in our culture in the attempt to be relevant and "incarnational."
Is this another attempt to appeal to a "broader audience"?
We're not called to camouflage our confession and appeal to the lowest common denominator; at least not in a worship setting. It's one thing to use arguments that appeal to Greeks in the Areopagus, but something entirely different to rewrite our confession to make it Islamic-neutral.
Doesn't the host of Law and Gospel on KFUO, Pastor Tom Baker, say that theology is the art of drawing distinctions? The differences between Islam and Christianity must be clear and distinct. How can we witness to non-Christians when we blur the lines between confessions?
I'm sorry, but kumbaya theology is an offense to the Gospel and an enemy of evangelism.
Do you not remember Yankee Stadium? Do you not remember the same District President saying that Christians and Muslims worship the same God? Do you not remember that our Synodical President did not correct these things?
This is simply a logical outgrowth of such seed. It is nothing new.
Very distressing, absolutely. New and shocking, not really.
It beggars the imagination. What education must one recieve, what journey must one travel to reach this level of obfuscate thinking?
Re write the Creeds so that they don't offend Muslims?
Change the wording of our prayers so they don't offend Muslims?
Substitute the elements of the Sacraments so they don't offend Muslims?
Remove images, crucifixes etc. so that they don't offend Muslims?
I lived in Saudi Arabia for six months, and I can tell you that they would not move so much as a prayer rug to accomodate a Christian should he dare step into a Mosque.
If we have no respect for our creeds, doctrines, sacraments, traditions or furnishings, why should the Muslims have any respect for us or what we believe? What this sort of rolling over implies is that Islam is superior to Christianity because the Christian is more worried about offending men than he is about offending his God.
Each paragraph of this article is worse than the last, but the worst is that it was written in September of 2007, and this torpid ignoramus didn't get fired as soon as his muddled words saw the light of day.
Yes... it is interesting that he did not explicitly touch the Athanasian creed...
Then again, that may have been by design... because he would not be able to "modify" or "edit" the Athansian creed to minimize mentions of Jesus, or "the Son" etc...that creed is replete with explicit references to Jesus, His Divinity etc...
What I would dearly love to hear is a dialog between the author of that paper and Dr. Adam Francisco! I wonder if he's commented on it anywhere? He addresses the matter of witnessing to Muslims, but from quite a different standpoint.
C'mon. I couldn't have been the only one who saw that coming. That's why I saved a copy. I posted a PDF at my blog http://oldparson.blogspot.com.
If someone publishes something publicly on the website of a synodical university, he needs to own up to it. The only way we will resolve the tensions in synod is by open and frank discussion. Simply making it disappear and pretending it wasn't there won't cut it.
It's interesting that he pulled it. Either he felt a sense of shame about such notoriety, or someone called him and said, "HEY, you're making us look bad!" That recognition is a plus in itself.
How many students transferred how of his classes when they read that? It would be like one of my old chemistry profs saying let's call chlorine helium, and it won't be harmful.
Unfortunately standard laymen haven't read enough enough C.S. Lewis to recognize Tashlan when they see it. Lord have mercy, we have work to do. :)
All the more interesting since the quote from Hoefer on that forum had him acting like had done nothing untoward nor intended to deny the Trinity and the incarnation, only proposed some points for discussion.
Speechless because my jaw hit the floor while trying not to cry at the same time.
ReplyDeleteA teacher of the heap that teaches according to the satisfaction of itching ears. He should be removed immediately.
once again I am glad I left that place after one year.
ReplyDeletePretty far down the slippery slope, I'd say.
ReplyDeleteIt's what I hate about that slope.
I need to go wrap my head in duct tape to keep it from exploding!
ReplyDeleteWith everything that has been transpiring over the past month, I have learned to keep a roll handy.
Shaun M
Kyrie Eleison!
ReplyDeleteGood grief. This prof needs to be a STUDENT at the CTSFW Islam conference.
ReplyDeleteIt seems every day there is something else in the LCMS that gives cause for sadness. Ironic that tomorrow is the anniversary of Luther willing to die for his conviction: here I stand, I can do no other. From Luther to hey, don't be so specific, you might hurt someone's feelings.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if there has been any official action taken against this professor? He needs to be removed immediately. I'd be more than happy to affix my name to the charge. I am scandalized by this.
ReplyDeleteJohn
A timely Gospel reading (3-year) for this Sunday: John 14:1-14.
ReplyDeleteBut then if:
"It would be best simply to avoid the term [Son of God] in our preaching and guide our people also to avoid it in their witnessing"
and if using the name of Jesus in a service feeds Muslim misconceptions, then proclaiming this reading from the gospel according to St. John would be "unhelpful" if not downright inflammatory!
Kyrie Eleison indeed!
Having graduated from there, I am not surprised. Saddened, yes, but not surprised. Fortunately, most of the damage has been undone at Seminary.
ReplyDeleteAnd people keep making this argument that Christian parents should only send their kids to Christian colleges, to prevent their kids' faith from being corrupted!
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting to me because it is a wake up call. This sort of thing is not that different from many of the approaches used by people in our culture in the attempt to be relevant and "incarnational."
ReplyDeletePlease tell me that was a joke...
ReplyDeleteIs this another attempt to appeal to a "broader audience"?
ReplyDeleteWe're not called to camouflage our confession and appeal to the lowest common denominator; at least not in a worship setting. It's one thing to use arguments that appeal to Greeks in the Areopagus, but something entirely different to rewrite our confession to make it Islamic-neutral.
Doesn't the host of Law and Gospel on KFUO, Pastor Tom Baker, say that theology is the art of drawing distinctions? The differences between Islam and Christianity must be clear and distinct. How can we witness to non-Christians when we blur the lines between confessions?
I'm sorry, but kumbaya theology is an offense to the Gospel and an enemy of evangelism.
Reading this causes pain in my stomach.
ReplyDelete...this is a joke right?...please?
ReplyDeleteNo joke. This is just a sampling of the kind of garbage that we hear frequently from the CU Portland crowd out here in the Northwest.
ReplyDeleteAnd...you want yet one more "minor detail"?
ReplyDeleteHerb Hoefer works for The LCMS' Board for Mission Services as Area Director for India and Asia!!!
Yup, our man on the mission field.
Read it and weep.
But let's not get too hung up on incessant doctrinal purification, this is not our grandfather's Synod, let charity prevail!
Why is everyone *so* surprised?
ReplyDeleteDo you not remember Yankee Stadium? Do you not remember the same District President saying that Christians and Muslims worship the same God? Do you not remember that our Synodical President did not correct these things?
This is simply a logical outgrowth of such seed. It is nothing new.
Very distressing, absolutely. New and shocking, not really.
Lord, have mercy.
It beggars the imagination. What education must one recieve, what journey must one travel to reach this level of obfuscate thinking?
ReplyDeleteRe write the Creeds so that they don't offend Muslims?
Change the wording of our prayers so they don't offend Muslims?
Substitute the elements of the Sacraments so they don't offend Muslims?
Remove images, crucifixes etc. so that they don't offend Muslims?
I lived in Saudi Arabia for six months, and I can tell you that they would not move so much as a prayer rug to accomodate a Christian should he dare step into a Mosque.
If we have no respect for our creeds, doctrines, sacraments, traditions or furnishings, why should the Muslims have any respect for us or what we believe? What this sort of rolling over implies is that Islam is superior to Christianity because the Christian is more worried about offending men than he is about offending his God.
Each paragraph of this article is worse than the last, but the worst is that it was written in September of 2007, and this torpid ignoramus didn't get fired as soon as his muddled words saw the light of day.
Apparently there is absolutely nothing you cannot say or do in this synod, just so long as you do it in the name of "evangelism" or being "missional."
ReplyDeleteYou can even give up Christianity in order to be "missional."
I think I need to take a "missional" trip to the pub to do some "evangelism" after hearing this nonsense.
This is likely the kind of stuff that gets the answer, "Depart from me..."
Hmm... ok... am I missing something? I have, while being dismayed at the heterodoxy in LCMS, comme to expect it to some extent...
ReplyDeleteI have come to expect some unionism and syncretism...
But.. as I see it, this has gone far beyond either... and is clearly heretical... a heresy...
His words are clearly the words of "anti Christ".
So instead of calling for his dismissal from the position he is in... why is he not excommunicated from the Church?
Is tolerance for heresy the natural outgrowth of tolerance for Unionism, syncretism and seeker sensitive babbling?
This pains me ... but also angers me beyond belief... this goes so far beyond "being sensitive".
The words of the Athanasian Creed come to mind...
"This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved."
Oh... but wait... he is advocating we re write all the creeds... to problem solved.
Matt B.
Matt, interestingly he never went near the Athanasian Creed, probably too much work to 'adapt.' Now I see why Luther appreciated it so much.
ReplyDeletea. bergstrazer...
ReplyDeleteYes... it is interesting that he did not explicitly touch the Athanasian creed...
Then again, that may have been by design... because he would not be able to "modify" or "edit" the Athansian creed to minimize mentions of Jesus, or "the Son" etc...that creed is replete with explicit references to Jesus, His Divinity etc...
Matt B.
What I would dearly love to hear is a dialog between the author of that paper and Dr. Adam Francisco! I wonder if he's commented on it anywhere? He addresses the matter of witnessing to Muslims, but from quite a different standpoint.
ReplyDeleteDid the essay get pulled off the web?
ReplyDeleteHmm. It appears so.
ReplyDeleteDown the memory hole...
ReplyDeleteSame thing used to happen back in Texas; turn on the light and the coaches scurried back under the rug.
ReplyDeleteSorry, that's a little gross, but entirely apropos, I think.
C'mon. I couldn't have been the only one who saw that coming. That's why I saved a copy. I posted a PDF at my blog http://oldparson.blogspot.com.
ReplyDeleteIf someone publishes something publicly on the website of a synodical university, he needs to own up to it. The only way we will resolve the tensions in synod is by open and frank discussion. Simply making it disappear and pretending it wasn't there won't cut it.
It's interesting that he pulled it. Either he felt a sense of shame about such notoriety, or someone called him and said, "HEY, you're making us look bad!" That recognition is a plus in itself.
ReplyDeleteHow many students transferred how of his classes when they read that? It would be like one of my old chemistry profs saying let's call chlorine helium, and it won't be harmful.
Unfortunately standard laymen haven't read enough enough C.S. Lewis to recognize Tashlan when they see it. Lord have mercy, we have work to do. :)
If you click on the link on the ALPB forum, you can still get to the paper. Maybe the roaches own the house now.
ReplyDeleteOh wait, no you can't.
ReplyDeleteAll the more interesting since the quote from Hoefer on that forum had him acting like had done nothing untoward nor intended to deny the Trinity and the incarnation, only proposed some points for discussion.