Mother Hubbard's Cupboard

A look into the mind of one of the most random, crazy people in all the land.

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Location: East Peoria, Illinois, United States

A Lutheran seminarian eagerly awaiting the return of Our Lord. Soli Deo Gloria!

Friday, January 18, 2008

Because Lutheran Was Apparently NOT an Option






What's your theological worldview?
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You scored as Roman Catholic

You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you.


Roman Catholic


86%

Neo orthodox


79%

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan


79%

Fundamentalist


71%

Charismatic/Pentecostal


43%

Reformed Evangelical


36%

Emergent/Postmodern


36%

Classical Liberal


29%

Modern Liberal


14%


Tuesday, January 15, 2008

My High School Students at Church Have WAAAAAY Too Much Free Time

Monday, January 14, 2008

"To Those Who Are Elect...According ot the Foreknowledge of God the Father..."

I thought I had predestination figured out, at least as was humanly possible. It wasn't until I spoke with my Orthodox friend who had issues with how we as Lutherans speak of predestination until I noticed a word that, to the best of my knowledge, Luther skips over in his Lectures on the Catholic Epistles. It is also glossed over and skimped on in exegetical explanation that I have seen very few people mention it.

McG (the Orthodox friend who used to be LCMS) said that the Orthodox concept of predestination is that God predestined in eternity those who would be elect on the basis of foreknowledge of perseverance in faith until the end. I was shocked...for I thought that election was based upon grace and done without foreknowledge....until I was reading both St. Peter and St. Paul on the subject.

St. Paul says in Romans 8:29-30, "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."

St. Peter says in 1 Peter 1:1-2, "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:"

In both passages election is not treated as some divine decree in eternity by a Sovereign God who wants all to be saved, but only elects to save a few. To me that still made our view of God the Calvinist view of God, but without simply saying Limited Atonement and Double Predestination......simply to be nicer.

But these passages brought about several questions: God's election is based upon foreknowledge of individuals (at the least, something about them) as the passages clearly say. Therefore, what is being or why are some foreknown within the context of predestination? The Formula of Concord on this subject simply says that God elects to salvation, that both foreknowledge and predestination are "separate," and that God's foreknowledge is over the lost and the saved.....fair enough, but that doesn't answer my question.

Could the Orthodox position actually be accurate? I have been reading (trying) a paper by Robert Preus on the view of election by Lutheran dogmaticians during the period of Lutheran Orthodoxy, and I must admit I still don't see what our Synod's view on this is. Is it accurate to say that God's election is based upon foreknowledge of perseverance (hence, non-rejection) of the Gospel by man? This still puts the blame of damnation on man and the glory of salvation on God.

I would greatly like some help on this matter as it is bugging me quite a bit. Is God detached from those whom He predestines to salvation as our usually worded answer seems to suggest? Or is God truly a God who elects for Christ's sake and is consistent with His ultimate will in all of man's salvation?

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Seminary is a Go!




I was just approved for Ft. Wayne entrance...I'm looking forward to it.

Way of the Huh? - NYG 2007 Visited by Surveys!


For Friday January 11th,
FRIDAY OF THE OCTAVE OF EPIPHANY:
Festival of St. Hygenius - Martyr (from http://www.lexorandi.org/)
Old Testament - Ezekiel 33:1-20
New Testament - Romans 3:1-18
Psalms - Morning: 51
Evening: 142; 65

I just learned this by scanning the archives at http://www.wayofthemasterradio.org/! Apparently at the 2007 NYG in Orlando, FL which my church attended in force (and yes, they trusted me as an adult...gulp!), there were surveys asked of the youth. For a conservative Lutheran synod...both Todd Friel AND myself were shocked! The whole event is right after the news on hour 2 for January 8th (http://www.wayofthemasterradio.com/podcast/2008/01/10/january-10-2008-hour-2/) for those who wish to hear it.

Apparently only ~39% of the youth could finish the doxology, "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow," which Todd thought is somewhat a surprise since we're so good with liturgy. It wasn't until I realized that it was the synodically approved NYG....so it's not too surprising that most of the kids were unfamiliar with liturgy...precious few of our churches even teach what it means anymore.

The real kicker is that only about 68.5% of the kids thought homosexuality was always wrong....what's going on with that other 31.5%????!!!! This isn't asking the kids to explain the term "hypostatic union," it's simply asking them to say homosexuality is always wrong! This makes me weep inside!