"Came across your blog... interesting stuff", a criticism

     I received a private message from a correspondent a couple of days ago:

"Just came across your blog, lots of interesting stuff."

Hmmm... another spam comment...  I'll just mark him as "spam" and be rid of him..... oh, wait, he goes on and says:

"I liked the material on Old Missouri and geocentrism."

Oh, this is definitely not a spam message...  I wonder who this is, he mentions "Old Missouri" and "geocentrism".  Could it be a Lutheran who is perhaps strengthened by the pure Christian teaching of Luther, Walther and/or Pieper?  Could it be?  He goes on:

"I enclose an English translation of a piece by Lindemann against modern astronomy.  My German isn't great, but I had a member of the congregation translate it for me."

OK, sir.  You have an interest in the topic of "geocentrism".  I also do and the article you sent me is an English translation of J.C.W. Lindemann's booklet that C.F.W. Walther commented on.  Actually, I'm not so interested in Lindemann's booklet, but what Walther's comments were.  Why?  Because I am absolutely certain that what Walther says is truly Christian.  Lindemann, although he upholds the Biblical teaching of geocentrism, may be weak on the true Gospel.  It was Walther who kept his brothers, including Lindemann, strong in the true Christian faith because he taught the pure Doctrine of Justification.

     But then the correspondent said this:

"Only one criticism.  It is unworthy of a Christian to post under a pseudo-name.  Always be brave enough to use your own name."

Ouch!  This statement touched me...  I'm not proud of using a pseudo-name instead of my real name.  Amazon praises its reviewers when it puts "Real Name" next to a reviewer's name.

     Then the correspondent identified himself – he is a pastor of a Lutheran congregation and he identified the name and city of his congregation.  However, he did not identify what synod he was from ...  hmmm, a bit odd to me, since he just told me I should be brave and identify myself.

     So in today's world of instantaneous, ubiquitous knowledge, I searched the Internet for his congregation and, Oh! ... my correspondent is a member of the ELCA, or the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.  What?  He says my blog has "interesting stuff", but did he read Pieper's comment on the forebearer of his ELCA synod, the Ohio Synod, which taught that the old Missouri Synod taught heresy?  Did he read in my Timeline of the Downfall of the LC-MS how a member of the ALC committee (Buehring) on June 26, 1946 complained of the LC-MS forcing the Brief Statement on ALC men, like a "potato stomper"?

     Does my correspondent not see that my blog is not about "interesting stuff" but rather about spiritual life and death?  Does the correspondent not see what Pieper saw when he said that the forebearers of ELCA, the Ohio/Iowa/ALC synods, were "reaching for our souls" during discussions on fellowship?

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     You just called me a Christian... but what Christian?  Pieper said the following when writing of Walther's teaching on the Doctrine of Justification:

"All praise of Christ, of grace, and of the means of grace, without the right doctrine of justification, is nothing."

Nothing.  Nothing?? What Doctrine of Justification?  Universal, Objective Justification (the Gospel). 

Dear ELCA pastor ==>> Do you preach this Gospel, that even before the hearers believe, there is salvation, that they are already justified, God is already reconciled to them,... even before they believe?  As Walther says:

"Yes, there are not a few Lutherans who think that doctrine should be treated very lightly lest the hearers become too secure."

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     He called me a Christian.  He would probably call Martin Luther a Christian, but why?  His synod and the LC-MS condemn Luther, yet they probably make at least some use of Luther's Small Catechism in some instructional classes for its youth.  What are your youth supposed to think:  "You teachers condemn Luther, and yet you want us to learn from him spiritually?"

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     And so, dear ELCA pastor, to you I'm just pseudo-name BackToLuther... from the old (German) Missouri Synod.  I cannot accept your admonishment because I have to question your motive.  If I am to be admonished by someone, it will be especially by a Lutheran pastor or teacher who admonishes me from an unquestionable motive, who teaches the true Gospel as Walther and Pieper taught, and that Jesus commands his followers:

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.  Matthew 10:32 

     No, this blog is not for those who would collect old writings as "interesting stuff", but rather for the sake of their soul.  I have over 30 feet of book shelf space of old Lutheran writings, over 40 megabytes of scanned, OCR'd and translated materials from old (and not so old) Lutheran material.  I had accumulated perhaps the greatest library of true Lutheranism in the world – in my basement.  And then it finally hit me... I don't have to do this anymore.  I have the truth of Christianity in my lap... it is enough.  I have Pieper's Christian Dogmatics, and Walther's Proper Distinction of Law and Gospel, and most of Luther's writings.

     Who will speak for Christianity, not just Lutheranism, today? 

·        Franz Pieper, the 20th Century Luther. 

·        C.F.W. Walther, the American Luther. 

·        Martin Chemnitz, the Second Martin. 

And...

Martin Luther,

the one whom nearly all "Lutherans" in the world today, including your ELCA, condemn.

Who Am I? To you, dear ELCA pastor, I'm just BackToLuther.