28 February 2022
Patristic Quote of the Day
Our faith is the same as theirs [that is, of the OT saints], since they believed that this would be, while we believe that it has come to pass.—St. Augustine, Letter 190
Catechesis: Third Use of the Law
We believe, teach, and confess that the preaching of the Law is to be encouraged diligently. This applies not only for the unbelieving and impenitent, but also for true believers, who are truly converted, regenerate, and justified through faith.—FC Ep VI:3
25 February 2022
Happy birthday to our dear Felicity!
Can she really be five already?!! I think of all our grandchildren, Felicity lives the most “in her own head” as it were. And she plays there with mermaids and unicorns!
Patristic Quote of the Day
Further, if any one ponders over the prophetic sayings with all the attention and reverence they deserve, it is certain that in the very act of reading and diligently studying them his mind and feelings will be touched by a divine breath. He will recognize that the words he is reading are not human utterances, but the language of God.—Origin, On First Principles
Luther
God’s wrath is never greater than when He is silent and does not speak to us, but leaves us to follow our own mind and will, and do as we please.—Table-Talk
Catechesis: Righteousness
We believe, teach, and confess that many weaknesses and defects cling to the true believers and truly regenerate, even up to the day they are buried. Still, they must not on that account doubt either their righteousness, which has been credited to them through faith, or the salvation of their souls. They must regard it as certain that for Christ’s sake, according to the promise and immoveable Word of the Holy Gospel, they have a gracious God…
Yet one is not to imagine a kind of faith that can exist and abide with, and alongside of, a wicked intention to sin and to act against the conscience.—FC Ep III:9, 11
24 February 2022
Patristic Quote of the Day
It is not the Old Testament that is done away with in Christ but the concealing veil, so that it may be understood through Christ. That is, as it were, laid bare, which without Christ is hidden and obscure.—St. Augustine, The Usefulness of Belief 3.9
Luther
For God can work all things for good, however often we may stumble, only if we abide by the pure, true Word of God, which says: this is right and this wrong… Once faith is torn away, no man can of himself resist the devil. He inevitably falls into all kinds of vice.—Exposition of Genesis iii
Catechesis: Free Will
On the other hand, it is correctly said that in conversion God—through the drawing power of the Holy Spirit—makes willing people out of stubborn and unwilling ones. And after such conversion, in the daily exercise of repentance, the regenerate will of a person is not idle, but cooperates in all the works of the Holy Spirit, which He performs through us.—FC Ep II:17
23 February 2022
Catechesis: Free Will
It is God’s will that His Word should be heard and that a person’s ears should not be closed. With this Word the Holy Spirit is present and opens hearts, so that people (like Lydia in Acts 16:14) pay attention to it and are converted only through the Holy Spirit’s grace and power, who alone does the work of converting a person.—FC Ep II:5
Luther
Therefore let go your own thoughts and feelings and esteem this book as the best and purest treasure, as a mine full of great wealth, which can never be exhausted or sufficiently excavated. Thus you will find the divine wisdom which God presents in the Bible in a manner so simple that it damps the pride of clever people and brings it to nought. In this book you find the swaddling clothes and the manger in which Christ lies, and to which the angel directs the shepherds. Those swaddling clothes are shabby and poor, yet precious is the treasure wrapped in them, for it is Christ.—Table-talk
Patristic Quote of the Day
Paul is saying that there is no need for us to cover ourselves as Moses did, for we are able to look at the glory with which we are encircled, even though it is far brighter than the other one.—St. John Chrysostom, 2 Cor. 3:13
22 February 2022
Patristic Quote of the Day
Paul will not imitate the false apostles, who claim rewards for themselves. For corruption occurs when one sells for money what one ought to give freely.—St. John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Cor. 2:17.
Luther
Therefore, lock up your reason, tread your wisdom under foot, and do not let them grope about, or feel, or think, in matters that concern your salvation, but simply and solely listen to what the Son of God says, to what is His Word, and stop there.—Sermons on John vi-viii
Catechesis: Original Sin
Original sin is born in us because of the sinful seed and is a source of all other actual sins, such as wicked thoughts, words, and works, as it is written in Matthew 15:19 “out of the heart come evil thoughts.”—FC Ep I:21
21 February 2022
You signed up yet???
Go to Issuesetc.org to sign up! 2022 Making the Case Conference, June 24, 25 on the lovely campus of Concordia University Chicago (in suburban River Forest IL):
Patristic Quote of the Day
If anyone is lost, he has only himself to blame.—St. John Chrysostom Homily 5 on 2 Corinthians
Luther
We do know certainly the Word of God does not remain fruitless, but that it always finds some good ground, as He says here, that some of the sower’s seed fell upon good ground. For where the Gospel is, there are Christians: ‘My Word shall not return unto me void.’”—Sermons, 1525
Catechesis: Original Sin
We believe, teach, and confess that the there is a distinction between man’s nature and original sin. This applied not only when he was originally created by God pure and holy and without sin, but it also applies to the way we have that nature now after the fall. In other words, we must distinguish between the nature itself (which even after the fall is and remains God’s creature) and original sin. This distinction is as great as the distinction between God’s work and the devil’s work.—FC Ep I:2
18 February 2022
Patristic Quote of the Day
When the Father gives the Spirit, the Son gives him too, because the Holy Spirit comes from both of them.—Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Paul’s Epistles
Luther
But where there is faith and a pure conscience, there the Holy Spirit certainly dwells. Yet such a trust is not based on our good conscience or worthiness, but on Christ alone.—Questions with Regard to Sin in Believers
Catechesis: Male and Female
Now, neither we nor they have been given the power to make a woman out of a man or a man out of a woman, or to nullify either sex.—SA III, XI, 2
17 February 2022
Patristic Quote of the Day
Paul’s preaching promised many things. He talked about being raised to life again and of being taken up into heaven. He talked about incorruption and those great rewards which awaited them. These promises abide unchanging, unlike Paul’s own promise of coming to them.—St. John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Cor. 1
Luther
You may know from His Word all that concerns His will and your salvation.—Sermons on John xvi-xx
Catechesis: Enthusiasm
Therefore, we must continually maintain this point: God does not want to deal with us in any other way than through the spoken Word and the Sacraments. Whatever is praised as from the Spirit—without the Word and Sacraments—is the devil himself.—SA III, VIII, 10
16 February 2022
Patristic Quote of the Day
The carnal man, who is riveted to the present world and completely caught up in it, is outside the sphere of the Spirit’s influence and has the power to go everywhere, doing whatever he likes. But the servant of the Spirit is led by the Spirit. He cannot just do what he likes.—St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on 2 Corinthians 1:17
Luther
But the Gospel says ‘ye have not chosen Me.’ That is, you are My friends not because of what you do, but because of what I do.—Exposition of John xv
Catechesis: Eucharist
Of the Sacrament of the Altar, we hold that the bread and wine in the Supper are Christ’s true body and blood. They are given and received not only by the godly, but also by wicked Christians.—SA III, VI, 1
15 February 2022
Patristic Quote of the Day
God alone is holy and good, sanctifying other and making them good. He alone is blessed, because he gives blessing and does not receive it from someone else. Likewise, he is the Father of mercies by nature, because he is the source of all mercy and not because he has acquired this from anyone else.—Didymus the Blind, Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church
Luther
God may give to a great saint small faith and to a small saint great faith, in order that the one shall always esteem the other higher than himself.—Sermons, 1525
Catechesis: Repentance
The Holy Spirit does not permit sin to have dominion, to gain the upper hand so that it can be carried out, but represses and restrains it from doing what it wants. If sin does what it wants, the Holy Spirit and faith are not present. For St. John says, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning…and he cannot keep on sinning.” And yet it is also true when St. John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”—SA III, III, 44, 45.
I am absolutely loving…
…this beautiful crucifix which was a gift from our dear friend, Matt Bowers. I hope it will be on my desk till I die. He had given me one like it as a pectoral cross, but it went missing some time ago at the International Center. 
Patristic Quote of the Day
But what does it mean to say that the kingdom of God is within us? What else than the gladness which comes from on high to souls through the Spirit? For this is like an image and a deposit and a pattern of everlasting grace which the souls of the saints enjoy in the time which is to come.—St. Gregory of Nyssa, On the Christian Code of Life.
Luther
In that He says, ‘the first shall be last’, He takes away all your pride… But in that He says, ‘the last shall be first’, He takes from you all despair…—Sermons, 1525
Catechesis: Repentance
Yet the confidence was placed in our work of satisfaction. If the satisfaction could be perfect, confidence would be placed in it entirely. Neither faith nor Christ would be necessary. But such confidence was impossible. Even though someone had done penance that way for a hundred years, he would still not know whether he had finished his penance. That meant doing penance forever and never coming to repentance.—SA III, III, 23
11 February 2022
A Premature Anniversary Celebration
Many more pics later, but Cindi and I just returned from Mexico where we’ve been since Jan. 30th. We took the extra time because this was our 40th anniversary year, and, well, Mexico in June is not nearly as wonderful as Mexico in January and February. So we cheated and celebrated a tad early. Nice to be home, though!
