Be Strong in the Grace: Infant Baptism

I've been perusing an excellent blog. Chris Rosebrough keeps the blog, Extreme Theology. He snuck under my radar last spring and summer, but I've found it and am enjoying it. He's even spoken on my favorite radio program, Issues Etc. Last June, Mr. Rosebrough posted a pastoral paper on infant baptism which I am compelled (always a good reason for stealing, right?) to post here because good Lutheran blogs seem to come and go too frequently. Despite the fact that I was given the gift of infant baptism, I withheld it from my own children. At the urging of an old-school Lutheran pastor, I finally relented and allowed them to be baptized. At the end of my evangelical journey, I began adult catechism classes and was immediately drawn to deep repentance over keeping my children from God's gift of baptism.

Chris writes:

I am reproducing this paper in its entirety for discussion purposes. This paper was written by Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller of Hope Lutheran Church of Aurora, Colorado. I think it provides an excellent Biblical look at this topic. Please read it with an open mind to what the scriptures are teaching. If you disagree with his conclusions, then spend the time in the scriptures searching what the scriptures teach.

I would also recommend listening to Pastor Wolfmueller's recent interview on the Issues Etc. radio program. Click here to listen.

Infant Faith a List of Scriptures

"Will you have your baby baptized?" I asked a friend who is also a pastor of a non-denominational church in town.

"No, Bryan," he responded, "You know we believe in believer's baptism."

Such was the conversation that provoked this short essay, for suddenly, and with profound clarity, did the connection between rejecting infant baptism and rejecting infant faith become apparent. The thinking is this, "If we only baptize believers, then of course we don't baptize babies, because babies do not and can not believe."1 Baptizing an infant is understood to be an "unbelievers baptism." It is this thought which I propose to contradict with the Holy Scriptures by showing not only the possibility but also the reality of infant faith.

Infant Faith, Old Testament and New

Do babies have faith? While we might be tempted to answer this question with reason or by experience, there is only one trustworthy place to find the answer: the Holy Scriptures. What, then, does the Bible say?

Psalm 71:5-6 (NKJV)

5 For You are my hope, O Lord GOD;
You are my trust from my youth.
6 By You I have been upheld from my birth;
You are He who took me out of my mother's womb.
My praise shall be continually of You.

Note, first of all, that the word 'youth' is expansive in Hebrew, used as a word for infants even unto young men and women2. The context of this word indicates what the Psalmist (presumably King David) means by 'youth', adding to the text 'birth' and coming out of the womb. This is as young as young can be, and to this young youth the Lord is his 'trust', his faith, his Confidence.

In verse 6 we would perhaps prefer a more literal translation. The word translated "have been upheld" by the New King James Version is reflexive, to 'support' or 'brace oneself'.3 Here are a few different versions:

New International Version: "From birth I have relied on you."
Revised Standard Version: "Upon thee have I leaned from my birth."
An American Translation: "I have depended on you from birth."

These phrases, 'relied upon, leaned upon, depended on', certainly imply faith. This verse, as the one before it, extols the faith and trust of the child "from birth." This text tells of the trust and reliance of an infant in the true God, and this text is not alone in the Scriptures.

As we turn to the pages of the New Testament we find a number of passages discussing the possibility and the reality of infant faith. There are a number of Greek words for 'child', and a quick survey of these words will help set the stage for our review of these passages.4

paidion- This is the most common word used of a very young child, infant, child, both boys and girls.

brephos- This word can be used of unborn babies in the womb [St Luke 1:41,44] or of nursing babies and infants [St Luke 2:12,16].

mikron- Literally, "small one," this word can be used to describe one's stature [St Luke 19:3], one's age [St Matthew 18:6,10,14], or in esteem, influence and power.
napion- [nhpiwn] This word can be used of an infant, often nursing [Hebrews 5:13], or, in the legal sense, of a minor. [Galatians 4:1].

thalazonton - One who is nursing [St Matthew 21:16].
teknon- [teknon] Child, with special reference to the relationship with the parents, used even for unborn babies in the womb.

Jesus Blesses the Children
St Luke 18:15-17 [And parallels in St Matthew 19:13-15 and St Mark 10:13-16] (NKJV)
"15 Then they also brought infants (brephos) to Him that He might touch them; but when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to Him and said, 'Let the little children (paidion) come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child (paidion) will by no means enter it.'"
Jesus would have the children come to Him, and would have no one forbid them. Why? Because "of such is the kingdom of God." The children who possess the kingdom are the infants, the nursing babies being carried in their mother's arms. (Infant and children are used interchangeably in this passage, the infants [brephos] that are being brought are the same children [paidios] that Jesus receives.) And their possessing of the kingdom is not accidental; as if Jesus says, "Because they have not attained the age of accountability I will overlook the necessity of faith and give these babies the kingdom because the are innocent" or some other such thing. No, theirs is the kingdom of heaven in such a sense that the children are the very picture of faith. The children are such a picture of faith that even adults must be like them in order to attain the kingdom of heaven. This same teaching is heard in the following text, where Jesus again talks of the necessity of becoming as a child to have the gift of the heavenly kingdom.

True Greatness
St Matthew 18:1-5 [And parallels in St Mark 9:33-37 and St Luke 9:46-48] (NKJV)
"1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, 'Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' 2 Then Jesus called a little child (paidion) to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children (paidion), you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child (paidion) is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives one little child (paidion) like this in My name receives Me.'"

Here Jesus sets a child before His disciples to teach them who the greatest in the kingdom of heaven is, and, what's more, says that unless we, too, become as children, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. There are not two ways to obtain the kingdom of heaven, one for adults (faith) and another for children (apparently just being children). Possessing the kingdom of heaven is the sole result of faith (faith alone). According to Jesus the children are the possessors of the kingdom and, therefore, the very picture of humility and faith. This is said plainly in the next verse.

The Little One Who Believe in Me
St Matthew 18:6 [And parallels in St Mark 9:42-43 and St Luke 17:2, see also 18:10 and 14] (NKJV)
"6 But whoever causes on of these little ones (mikron) who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
The little ones of verse six is the little child of the previous passage whom Jesus sets before His disciples. These "little ones" are explicitly described as the ones "who believe in" Jesus. The clarity of the text needs no comment.

Later in the text these little ones are described as the possessors of angels who "behold the face of the Father" [18:10] and as those whom the "Father desires that they do not perish" [18:14].

Jesus Gives Thanks to the Father
St Matthew 11:25-27 [And parallel in St Luke 10:21-22] (NKJV)
"25 At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes (napion). 26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."

It is, Jesus teaches us, the Father's will to reveal 'these things' to babies. What are "these things' which the babes have? They are not offended by Christ, but trust that He is the Coming One, sent from God. [St Matthew 11:3-6] It is the wise and the prudent that have so much trouble with the works of Christ, but not the babes. These are the ones to whom the kingdom is revealed.

While it might be a mystery to us, it is becoming clear that in the mind of Jesus and the context of the Scriptures it is not strange thing to think of babes, infants and children as those who believe in Christ. It might not seem good to us to ascribe to infants faith and trust in Christ, but it does seem good in the Father's sight [11:26].

Out of the Mouths of Babes and Nursing Infants
St Matthew 21:15-16 (NKJV)
"15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children (paidion) crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant 16 and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"
And Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read,
' Out of the mouth of babes (napion) and nursing infants (thalazonton)
You have perfected praise'?"

Jesus here quotes Psalm 8:2 to support the accolades that the children are offering Him as He makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The Lord enlists children, babies, and nursing infants to sing His praises and announce His coming. While it is possible for the Lord to call forth His praises even from stones [St Luke 19:40], it is His good pleasure to perfect (or complete) His praise with the confession and singing of babes and nursing infants. This praise is certainly a fruit of faith.

John the Baptist
St Luke 1:15,41
"15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mther's womb."
"41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit."

The circumstances of John the Baptists conception and birth are certainly unique, and we should, therefore not presume too much from it. What is clear is that it is certainly possible for the Holy Spirit to fill a child even in the womb, and that this child even responds with joy at the presence of His Lord (who is also in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary).

From Childhood You have Know the Scriptures
2 Timothy 3:14,15
"14 But as for you, continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood (brephos) you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."

The word 'childhood' would lead us to think of this as a young person, studying and leaning from a teacher, but the Greek word 'brephos' pushes us back further, to infancy. (NIV: "how from infancy you have know the holy Scriptures.") Again, the Scriptures do not think it a strange thing for an infant to trust, believe, know, and praise the Lord.

Because You Have Known the Father
1 John 2:12,13
"12 I write to you, little children (teknon),
Because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake...
13 I write to you, little children (paidion),
Because you have known the Father."

St John, here, addresses the little children much as our Lord did, as those who believe. In the first instance (verse twelve), this could be seen as a familiar address, as John does in 2:1 (My little children, teknia) and other places. But that John changes the word in verse thirteen is striking, and leads us to interpret the little children referred to as actual youths, babies, etc. This is certainly not out of the ordinary in the Word of the Scriptures.

We see from the testimony of the Scriptures that infants can and do have faith. What this means is that infant baptism is believer's baptism. So to the original conversation concerning infant faith,

"Will you have your baby baptized?" I asked.

"No, Bryan, You know we believe in believer's baptism."

"Well," and here comes the answer, "so do I."5 While the faith does not give validity to the baptism, when we baptize an infant we are not just splashing water on a rock. This child can and does, by the power of God's Word, have faith in Christ Jesus, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. What has now become apparent is that there are two different understandings of faith at work. On one hand, faith is seen as a gift of God, on the other, faith is the response of man to the offer of salvation. These two different understandings of faith we now take up as we consider faith as gift.

Faith as Gift

To get a handle on the Baptist/Evangelical conception of faith, we turn to a classic tract that has been used as a 'witnessing tool' for years: The Four Spiritual Laws. The Four Spiritual Laws are:

God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.

Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life.

Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life.

We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.

Notice that the Gospel, as expressed in the third law, is potential. "Through [Christ] you can know and experience God's love." It is possible to know God's love, but there is a necessary first step for the potential Christian, there must be a response to God's love and plan. Faith, then, is the "must" of the fourth law, "we must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord." In The Four Spiritual Laws, this "receiving" takes the form of the "sinner's prayer", asking Jesus into our heart. There are any number of ways that this "receiving" occurs in different churches, but all are a response to the offer of salvation. Faith, then, is a "response," an act of man to whom the Gospel is offered.

If this is how faith is understood, it is understandable that infants would be excluded. Infants have trouble praying the sinners prayer and walking forward for the altar call; infants have trouble talking and walking at all. So the inability to respond is equated with the inability to believe.

The Bible, on the other hand, is careful to show how faith is a gift of God. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." [Ephesians 2:8] The gift of God is precisely the faith through which salvation comes. "For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake." [Philippians 1:29] "You were raised with Him through faith in the working of God." [Colossians 2:12]

Faith, then, is a gift, created by God's Word. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." [Romans 10:17] Of course, God does not do the believing for us. It is we, infants and adults, who believe, just as it is we who live, and yet just as God gives and sustains our life, so God gives and sustains our faith. Though infants cannot speak, they certainly can hear. Though infants cannot respond, they can receive gifts. As we saw in the survey of Biblical texts, the trust and dependence and receptiveness of infants is very picture of faith.

It might offend our reason and sensibilities, but the Scriptures are clear that infants and children can and do have faith. May God grant to all of His people, both young and old, the faith of a child in order that ours would be the kingdom of heaven.

INJ
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Oculi, Lent III, 2006


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NOTES

1It is interesting to note that most (if not all) of the official statements of the Baptist church do not explicitly make the connection between believer's baptism and the lack of infant baptism; it is, I suppose, assumed. I could find no official, "Therefore we do not baptize babies." Here are a few examples:

The Baptist Confession of 1688, Of Baptism

"1. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized a sign of his fellowship with him in his death and resurrection; of his being engrafted into him; of remission of sins; and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life.

2. Those who do actually profess repentance toward God, faith in and obedience to our Lord Jesus, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance." (Shaff, Philip. The Creeds of Christendom, III.741)

The New Hampshire Baptist Confession, 1833

"We believe that Christian Baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, into the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost; to show forth, in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is a prerequisite to the privileges of a Church relation." (Shaff, Philip. The Creeds of Christendom, III.747)

The Baptist Faith and Message, Revised 2000

"Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper." (From www.sbc.net/bfm)

On the other hand, the connection is explicit in the very first article of the Anabaptist Schleitheim Confession of 1527. (Written two years before Luther's Catechisms.)

"I. Observe concerning baptism: Baptism shall be given to all those who have learned repentance and amendment of life, and who believe truly that their sins are taken away by Christ, and to all those who walk in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and wish to be buried with Him in death, so that they may be resurrected with Him and to all those who with this significance request it (baptism) of us and demand it for themselves. This excludes all infant baptism, the highest and chief abomination of the Pope. In this you have the foundation and testimony of the apostles. Matt. 28, Mark 16, Acts 2, 8, 16, 19. This we wish to hold simply, yet firmly and with assurance." ( www.anabaptists.org/history/schleith.html) This Confession is quoted on the Southern Baptist website in an article explaining the Baptist understanding of baptism. ( www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=14103)

2R[n "'Boy, lad, youth' a. of infant [Exodus 2:6], to be born [Judges 13:5,7,8,12], just born [1 Samuel 4:21], not weaned [1 Samuel 1:24; also Isaiah 8:4, cf. 7:16+]. b. of lad just weaned [1 Samuel 1:24,25,27], etc. c. youth: of youth Ishmael [Genesis 21:12f], Isaac [Genesis 22:5,12]... d. with special stress on youthfulness [Judges 8:20; 1 Samuel 17:33,42]... e. of marriageable age [Genesis 34:19], warrior Absalom, [2 Samuel 18:5,12]" The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Hendrickson Publishers: Peabody, MA. 1906, Sixth Printing, 2001, p. 654-655).

3Jm's; is in the Niphal, as in Isaiah 48:2. See BDB, p. 701-702.

4Definitions are taken from A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Walter Bauer, William Arndt and Wilbur Gingrich (The University of Chicago Press. Chicago, IL. 1979)

5That Lutheran baptism assumes faith in the infant being baptized can be seen in the Lutheran baptismal liturgy. Before the child is baptized they are asked:

"N., do you renounce the devil?"

Answer: "Yes."

"And all his works?"

Answer: "Yes."

"And all his ways?"

Answer: "Yes."

Then he shall ask:

"Do you believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?"

Answer: "Yes."

"Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord, who was born and suffered?"

Answer: "Yes."

"Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, one holy Christian church, the community of saints, forgiveness of sins, resurrection of the body, and after death an eternal life?"

Answer: "Yes."

"Do you want to be baptized?"

Answer: "Yes."

This liturgy is taken from Luther's baptismal book, published in 1523 and republished in 1526 (on which this text is taken). This translation is taken for the Book of Concord, ed. Kolb and Wengert (Augsburg Fortress. Minneapolis, MN, 2000. p. 374-375).

The rubric calls for the sponsors to answer the questions in the place of the child, but never-the-less, it is the child who is asked the question, and so it is the child who says, "Yes, I renounce the devil. Yes, I believe in God the Father. Yes, I believe in God the Son. Yes, I believe in God the Holy Spirit. Yes, I want to be baptized." This assumes that the child has faith before they are baptized. So Lutherans, following the Lutheran liturgy, baptize believers.

6The Four Spiritual Laws were written in 1965 by Bill Bright, the founder of "Campus Crusade for Christ." Approximately 1.5 billion copies of this tract have been printed according to the evangelical website of Campus Crusade: www.greatcom.org.laws.

Fundamentalism contains few fundamentals

I read something this morning that reminded me of something one of my pastors said a few years back about church bodies accepting changes in culture within 5-7 years. Jim Bakker's son and emergent church preacher, Jay Bakker, has announced that God has told him that homosexuality is not a sin.

Jay Bakker shows off his tattoos

At first, he was skeptical. When his friend Donnie Earl initially talked to him about grace, he thought he was just being a fair-weather Christian, that he was "giving himself a license to sin." He found proof, ultimately, in scripture. He saw it enacted in the non-judgmental support of his grace-touting friend who would pick him up after drunken benders without question or comment.

Alcohol lost its grip on Jay, and he began to reevaluate the more judgmental aspects of the faith he grew up with, particularly its condemnation of homosexuality. "The more I follow grace, the more I'm drawn to him [God], the more I'm willing to stand up for people being persecuted," says Jay today. "This sounds so churchy, but I felt like God spoke to my heart and said '[homosexuality] is not a sin.'"

The decision to make Revolution a gay-affirming church, however, wasn't an easy one. It cost him $50,000 in support from an anonymous donor—the bulk of Revolution's budget. Invitations to speak at the big emergent Christian festivals also dried up. Even his father warned that it may turn people off to his message. "It's a very lonely place to be, people telling you you're a heretic," says Jay.

Above is an excerpt from Radar, an online magazine. It is a personal interview with Jay Bakker by Martin Edlund. The full article, Empire of the son, is online.

Also, I found two interesting commentaries on the article:

Dr. Ray Pritchard at CrossWalk - Jay Bakker's Strange Religion

..he and a friend lead a church that preaches "God's grace to a flock of young, downtrodden and disillusioned parishioners most any other church would turn away." At first glance, that would appear to be a noble effort, but this is not your typical evangelical twentysomething "emerging church." At the Revolution, they have gone a step beyond. They are a "gay-affirming" church. Jay Bakker told Larry King he would allow gay couples to get married in his church if it becomes legal (which he evidently hopes will happen soon). When Larry asked him why most evangelicals oppose homosexuality, Bakker offers this answer:

Well, I mean, I know the arguments. I know the scriptures. And the scriptures are very -- you could argue on them all day. I believe they've been taken out of context, and I don't believe that, you know, we've researched enough of the background on those scriptures.

But there's more to it than simple confusion about what the Bible teaches...

Chris Rosebrough, a Lutheran layman, at Extreme Theology - Did God Really Tell Him That?

...Forget your disgust and disdain for Jim and Tammy for a minute. Don’t judge Jay based upon his tattoos and his completely screwed up childhood. In fact, let’s pretend for a few minutes that Jay Bakker is not the one who is claiming that God told him that homosexuality is not a sin. Let’s pretend that it is Billy Graham making this claim. Even better, let’s pretend that the Angel Gabriel has appeared from heaven and is being interviewed on CNN. During his interview the Angel Gabriel tells the world that God wants us to know that homosexuality is not a sin.

To prove his credentials the Angel Gabriel causes it to snow in Bagdad on the forth of July and he raises Gerald Ford from the dead on live television....

Beyond the obvious, the statement of Jay Bakker reminds me of the confusing world of fundamentalism and evangelicalism that was my home for too many years. Far from being a base of fundamentals of Christianity, fundamentalism and it's sister, evangelicalism, are worlds in which nothing is solid...nothing is absolute. Since God can speak to modern people, including me, the Bible becomes a secondary guide to Christian living. Worship becomes a confusing, yet mandated, time. You enter the doors of the sanctuary hoping to be refreshed and leave with your head spinning.

Jay Bakker, like most kids, spends too much time claiming he is different from his father and from his father's church, but this description from the Radar article proves otherwise to me,

Jay's preaching style is anti-theatrical, but in its own way it is as mesmerizing as his father's. "He's like an old school preacher man," Jay says of his dad. "I don't know if I'm new school, I just get up here and talk." Typically, he picks a topic—on a recent week, why Ted Haggard, the outed president of the National Association of Evangelicals, deserves our compassion—and begins thumbing through his sticker-covered Bible for relevant scripture. If he really wants to dig into something and challenge pat assumptions, he might resort to the original Greek. He sighs loudly whenever he loses his train of thought, and salts his sermons with funny, self-deprecating remarks and confessional asides about his family.

He picks a topic and then looks for relevant scripture. That might explain the necessity of God "revealing" to him that homosexuality is not a sin. Because scripture doesn't say that!

Leviticus 20:13 says, “‘If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

Romans 1:26-27 says, “ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”

I've said before that finding my new church home, King of Grace, saved my life. I am not exaggerating. I also know that it saved the life of my teenagers, because the emotion-based worship of evangelicalism and fundamentalism with it's lack of scriptural foundation surely would have destroyed whatever faith had survived in them from me being their mother up to that point.

Disclaimer of sorts - I don't write often about homosexuality. It is one of many sins that afflict mankind. I never have and never will bash someone for homosexuality. My own sins are enough for me to focus on. I can't deny that God has declared it a sin in scripture and I won't deny that God's grace, through Jesus Christ, covers all sin. God loves all sinners the same; in fact, He loves us so much that He gave His only Son to die for our sins. This blog post of mine is not really about homosexuality; its about the slippery slope of believing that God is still speaking to people APART from scripture. Jay Bakker could have announced that God told him that stealing is not a sin and I would have written this same post. I'm sorry I have to write a disclaimer, but I've keeping a blog long enough to know that people often aren't very careful readers.

Lutheran Carnival XXXIII

September

a poem by Longfellow, thanks to Norman Teigen

I bear the Scales, where hang in equipoise

The night and day; and when unto my lips

I put my trumpet, with its stress and noise

Fly the white clouds like tattered sails of ships;

The tree-top lash the air with sounding whips;

Southward the clamorous sea-fowl wing their flight;

The hedges are all red with haws and hips.

The Hunter's Moon reigns empress of the night.

September has always been my favorite month. It is the month of my birthday, which mostly likely caused me to rejoice when I was younger. Nowadays, I cringe at the actual number of my birthdays, but I still love September. Why? Falling leaves, the start of school, cool nights and shortening days, the first chance to put on a sweater since spring, chrysanthemums, my big red sugar maple tree, squirrels busily burying their nuts. What isn't there to like about September? Of course, I haven't asked any 9/11 survivors if they love September. Nor my dear sister-in-law who just lost her mother on 9/11, just nine days after her own birthday. Nor the family who just lost their ten year old daughter in the Rogers tornado. But for now, I love September. And I love blogs!

One of my favorite ELS blogger, Norman Teigen, wrapped up his series on his take of the history of the ELS. His thoughts are his own, of course, but he has experienced life in the ELS from a unique viewpoint - both by family ties and by the events of his generation. See parts I, II, III, IV, V, VI. Norman Teigen is one of my favorite people. Not only is he a fellow church member, but he's also an interesting person. I love his blog! He takes the vocation of blog-keeping even more seriously than I do (at least he posts every day). He and my hubby talk after church until my kids have to pull dad away, out of the building and toward the car. Norman and Rob ususally talk about sports: Iowa v. Minnesota, the Vikings, the Twins. Talking to people after church is one of my favorite things about church and Norman is a good person to talk to.

Onto the rest of the bloggers that I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting in person. Everyone's favorite aardvark has a blog, Aardvark Alley . The ol' Aard playfully invoked the noted author's greatest work in providing a title for Dante Alighieri: Classic Comedian. His commemorative post touches upon Dante's importance both in the Church and for Western liturature and summarizes most of his important works, including the three volumes of the Divine Comedy. Cyprian of Carthage, Bishop and Martyr, is certainly a lesser-known hero of the early Christian Church. Because of that, Aardvark Alley tries to show his influence on Christian theology and practice as well as noting some areas where Saint Cyprian's teachings were not followed by the majority of orthodox Christendom.

A dear friend of the Aardvark, Pastor Snyder, of Ask the Pastor , gets a wide variety of questions but this was a first. A man wanted to know, Can a Christian Be a Comic Book Author? Pastor Snyder responds by talking about truth revealed in fiction as he leads his readers to examine how they could live out the Faith in this and other vocations. A serious topic that Christians often ignore rather than face is the Imprecatory Psalms. Ask the Pastor confronts these harsh songs of the Old Testament through Praying Evil upon Our Enemies. Pastor Snyder says that there are proper times, ways, and attitudes for Christians to join voices in these requests for divine vengeance. However, he also reminds us that the full harshness of God's curse fell squarely upon His Son in order to save sinful, accursed mankind.

GHP's recent Luther Library review of Caitlin Flanagan's To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife touches upon several of the book's strengths and shortcomings. While sincerely recommending this work, he also comments on some of the weaknesses he perceives and also gently inserts a bit of his own thinking without letting it get in the way of encouraging others to read it for themselves.

After a very blessed experience at the Image of God Conference, the Rebellious Pastor's Wife contemplates a topic not addressed there in her post, One Thing Missing. Another blogging pastor's wife, Kelly of Kelly's Blog, contributes two related posts, Youth - not a "tribe apart" , a contemplation of being a youth leader, her own experiences with youth group hopping and where strong cetechesis fits into the picture, and More Youth Thoughts While Cruising the Cemetery, thoughts on the nature of youth groups spurred by a wander through the town cemetery.

Ritewinger at Theocon discusses, in Seeds of the Sower, the lack of Law in the "Sinner's Prayer" and in crusade conversion.

Everyone's favorite British blog-keeper, John H. of Confessing Evangelical cites, in Run away! Run away!, a superb post by Internet Monk, Michael Spencer, as well as a stirring quotation from CH Spurgeon, each reinforcing the message that adultery is a Really Bad Idea - one which should be obvious, but which, sadly, bears frequent repetition. John H. also offers, A Dangerous Element. Continuing John H's tendency to post non-Lutherans saying very Lutheran-sounding things, here is a glorious quotation from Martyn Lloyd-Jones on how true Gospel preaching will always be accused of antinomianism.

Resident referree of the Confessional Lutheran blogosphere, Dan at Necessary Roughness points us to his developing series on the Divine Service. He's got seven posts in the series already! One of my favorite blog-keeping Lutheran moms, Mutti Beck of Beckfest, has begun a series entitled Hymn I Love. She has begun with Salvation Has Come Unto Us.

It has been a pleasure to edit this 33rd issue of the Lutheran Carnival. Thanks to all those who submitted posts or allowed me to borrow posts. If you weren't in this issue, please consider joining in next time.

Craig Parton to be guest on KKMS 980AM this Saturday!

Fantastic news!!! Attorney Craig Parton and Christian apologist extraordinaire is going to appear as a guest on Minneapolis station KKMS 980 AM this Saturday morning (09/9/06) from 11:30am to 1pm. He will answer questoins while promoting the 2006 Confessional Worldview Seminar being held at King of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Golden Valley, October 19 - 21, 2006.
KKMS 980AM has online streaming. The call-in number is: 651-289-4499

KKMS is also the local home for Pastor Todd Wilken's outstanding program, Issues, Etc , heard Sunday nights at 9pm locally.

Please spread this exciting news!

Who's Craig Parton? Mr. Craig Parton, Esq. is a trial lawyer and managing partner of the oldest law firm in the Western United States--Price, Postel and Parma of Santa Barbara, California. Upon graduation from college, he spent seven years on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ, the last four of which were spent as national lecturer for Crusade. Mr. Parton traveled to over 100 universities and colleges across the country defending the Christian faith through lectures and debates. He received his Master’s degree in Christian Apologetics under Dr. John Warwick Montgomery at the Simon Greenleaf School of Law, an institution devoted to the integration of Christian faith and legal reasoning. Craig Parton is also the United States Director of the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights in Strasbourg, France (www.apologeticsacademy.eu). His latest book is entitled “The Defense Never Rests: A Lawyer’s Quest for the Gospel.” He has published articles in both law reviews and in theological journals, including Modern Reformation, Logia–A Journal of Lutheran Theology, and the Global Journal of Classical Theology.

Check out these great links:

* Coming Home: An Interview with Craig Parton

* Luther Lite and Reformation Schmooze By Craig Parton

* The Defense Never Rests: A Lawyer's Quest for the Gospel by Craig A. Parton

* From Arrowhead to Augsburg: Bill Bright in the Light of the Lutheran Confessions by Craig A. Parton

The Masks of God

The other day I picked up a photo on my pastor's desk. It was of his first son, Hugh, taken just hours before he died last August. Although Hugh's skin tone and the tubes attached to his little body indicated a sick child, the sparkle in his eyes and the smile on his face were full of life and expressed delight and joy.

I was struck by the contrast in the photo: dying child full of life. How could that be? I know if it had been a photo of me as I lay dying, I would have made sure to look sick in the photo! Hugh hadn't learned that trick yet. He was still reveling in the joy of life...of a life soon to change.

I think there is a lesson in that photo. I need to find some scripture to go along with it. God put life into the child and gave him a soul. Baptism brought his soul into faith in Christ. Disease, born of a sinful earth, robbed Hugh of his earthly body, but not the life God gave him.

In honor of the one-year anniversary of Hugh Brooks' arrival at heaven's gate, I am posting something I wrote after attending his funeral. Up to that point in my life, I had never been to the funeral of a pastor's children nor had ever been to the funeral of a child. Here are my reflections of that day...

Masks of God

orginally posted in August of 2005

All our work in the field, in the garden, in the city, in the home, in struggle, in government--to what does it all amount before God except child's play, by means of which God is pleased to give his gifts in the field, at home, and everywhere? These are the masks of our Lord God, behind which he wants to be hidden and to do all things. --Martin Luther, "Exposition of Psalm 147" from Masks of God blog

Our pastor and his wife recently buried their young son. During his four short months on this earth, struggling to overcome a heart defect, his parents kept on online journal. One entry, made on a more hopeful day, struck me deeply:

We are so thankful to see God working and to see Him hiding Himself behind the vocations of cardiologist, neurologist, anesthetologist, surgeon and nurse. Doctor is one of the masks God wears.

This young pastor also wears a mask of God, and his wife as well. Even in their deep and utter grief, though they were both emotionally and physically near exhaustion from the death of their sweet firstborn son, God's love could be seen beaming through in their eyes, their smiles and their touch. They were not spiritually exhausted; they were reaching out to all of us, hugging everyone and reminding us of the joy of salvation that sweet Hugh has now obtained through Jesus' death on the cross.

I had never seen a pastor at the funeral of one of his own. I had never been at the funeral of a baby nor a child. Now, I don't base my faith on what my eyes have seen and I can't believe in God just because of how my pastor and his wife gave clear account for the joy that is in their hearts; but seeing them doing so confirmed what I already knew to be true through the witness of the Holy Spirit. God has provided a clear and joyous salvation from this fallen creation - where little boys are born with heart defects- through the atoning sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. He has prepared a place for all who believe this is true. As if that wern't good enough, God has also sent his Holy Spirit to plant the seed of faith in the hearts of all who are washed in the waters of Holy Baptism and to grow and strengthen the faith of all who hear His Word preached and partake of Holy Communion. My pastor taught me this and he didn't run from it when his own little son died. Pastor and wife are one of the masks God wears.


During this last week, I have struggled fruitlessly on my own to defeat the evil plot of a computer programmer who has used his God-given talents for understanding numbers and computer programming to trick people, steal their money and corrupt minds and souls. He or she is faceless and nameless to me, but not to God. He is wasting his talent and rejecting God's urging to come to Him.

Just when I was ready to give up, I was led by my ISP provider to a young man who also has great God-given talents for understanding the same things as his evil counterpart. He uses those talents to continually learn more about viruses and trojans and hackers. He freely gives his time for no pay to companies in exchange for learning more.

To date, he has spent three hours straight on his phone dime, doing the work of a entry-level computer support person while also searching for an elusive hidden trojan virus. Sure, he is compensated in others ways and hopes to one day invent a little device to clean your machine in five minutes! But, he's got a long way to go and on his way he has helped countless numbers of people rid their machines of trouble and get back to work. Computer programmer,"geek", forensic network specialist are also masks God wears.

Pastor Snyder recently posted about the new Lutheran Carnival and the confessional Lutheran blogosphere: Ask the Pastor: Lutheran Carnival III and Beyond. He wrote:

"Lutherans are among those rare few who realize that even when we talk of “ships and sails and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings,” we also are talking theology. While I’m pretty sure that there will be plenty of theologizing from blogging pastors I’d be interested not only in lay theological perspectives about jobs, careers, marriage, and other vocational areas, but also reading some of the “daily grind.” Many of the bloggers I read, including Love and Blunder, Kiihnworld, and Pastor Steve Billings let me see much of their hearts and their theology through windows opened into the “ordinary” in their lives."

Yes, Pastor Snyder mentioned me in his last sentence and it really touched my heart, but that is NOT why I am mentioning his post. Blogs have been taking a bad rap lately, especially among our own. That deeply saddens me because blog-keeper is also a very honorable vocation. I began writing not thinking that anyone would ever read. I wrote to make sense of my life and faith.

About two months after starting my blog, I did a random search for confessional lutheran blog, thinking I would find nothing. With great surprise and delight I clicked on The Random Thoughts of a Confessional Lutheran and my world changed. From that blog, I discovered so many others, Confessing Evangelical and Bunnie Diehl were among the firsts and are still my favorites, although I've met so many more fellow saints since then. For the first time in months I realized that I wasn't alone in coming to the Lutheran confessions. Now how else would I have found other confessional Lutherans to strengthen my faith - mutual consolation of the saints, as the wise Wildboar once wrote.

Writing about my very ordinary life through the lens of my faith in God has helped me to be able to be able to more easily give account for the joy that God placed in my heart. And I'm not talking about blogging, I'm talking about my everyday REAL life. Writing about my faith is helping me to be open about my faith to others. I used to save my "Christian comments" for fellow Christians; now I can more easily leave God in His rightful and natural place in the world and include Him in my conversations with people. I attribute my ability to account for the joy to God; His Holy Spirit has planted it in my heart. I do believe that He also expects me to find and know good preaching, so that I learn more and practice saying and writing it down.

To you, dear reader, and to all the established, burgeoning or just-learning writers who decide to keep a blog, I thank you. Blog-keepers also wear a mask of God. I can't possibly begin to name those of you that have blessed my faith and my life, but I will try: Pastor Snyder, Rob and Devona, John, Bunnie, Scottius Maximus, Daniel, Elle, Dan, Glen, Bob, David, Jason, Floyd, Mutti, Brian and Matt, Pastor Steigemeyer, Chris W., Prof. Chris, Terrie, Vicar Lehmann, Michael and Timotheos, Pastor Brandos, Pastor McCain, Rev. Klages, Ron and Erica, Twylah, Josh S., Wildboar (wherever you are), Suzi and Tim, Monergon and Theophorus, Worthy Woman, Rick, Michael S., Rev. Chryst, Minister2B, Maria, Webcritter and Mr. Critter, and the many others that I've probably missed (probably because you don't have an RSS feed. If your name isn't here, email me and I'll ADD it! I've thanked you before and I'll thank you again for sharing your life and vocation through your blogs. It is a blessing to me. God be with you today and always!
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Contempory Praise and Worship Music: A call to arms or a chance to teach?

My Drama:

An ugly shadow has reared its head outside the door of my castle...of my refuge and the place I hope to live out my days on this fallen earth. The knights of the roundtable of my castle are merely discussing whether or not to let the shadow in the door, but I know that harm has already come if such a thing is being discussed.

The shadow is a chameleon known to convince Christians that it is really an innocuous and pleasant diversion...a "modern" version of the same. The shadow disguises itself as light and calls to people. It tricks them into thinking that more people will come if it is used. It has been described as the smell of sulphur by one respected man. It has also been called the "stick of dynamite in the deconstruction of evangelicalism" by another. Yet another voice urges,

"...rather than spring into the usual defensive posture, what we really ought to do is become leaders in the area of sanctification. We need to take the initiative- not just showing the truth of Lutheran teaching, but also its great practicality, to say nothing of its evangelical heart! Out of love for our Lord and his church, it's high time we put our rich heritage into action."

I know I've irritated some by claiming this would never happen in my refuge. Those of you who were irritated may now rejoice that I was wrong. Or you can help. Pray for my castle. Submit links to aid in the educational opportunity. Or just consider this a fun guessing game and take a stab at my riddle. What is the shadow whispering at the door of my refuge and my castle?

An Explanation

This is fun! I can't remember the last time I had several comments. Of course, now that I've confused my own fellow church member, Norman, I probably should explain.

As a post-evangelical, I admit I have an adverse reaction to Contemporary Praise and Worship music. My faith once depended on it, or so I thought, as part of an overall Christian lifestyle. When my foundation of sand began to quickly fall apart a few short years ago, I started to notice the lack of doctrinal soundness in many of the P&W choruses. Yet it's influence on me was so great that the very first thing I asked my pastor-to-be on my first visit to him was borderline insane:

"If I become a confessional Lutheran, can I still listen to the local Christian radio station?

To this day, I don't know how he didn't burst into laughter. Instead he replied that I would find the station on in his home from time to time. With that major concern out of the way, I was able to go on with the minor matter of adult catechism. During that wonderful summer of learning, I was able to leave behind my dependence on contemporary praise and worship music. I learned that faith is given to me by God and sustained by God alone through His Word.

The first time I worshiped as a prospective member at my new church, I was underwhelmed by the music offered to me. My thought went something like, "How will I be able to tolerate this for the rest of my life?" No wonder I thought that, considering that I was used to clapping, drums, singers raising their hands and waving, etc. Over the course of a few weeks, the rich scripturally based liturgy and the timelessly-true hymns of praise and worship taught me and my family. I soon fell in love with the rich heritage of worship and song that confessional Lutherans have passed on from generation to generation dating back to ancient days. Not surprisingly, I am one of the more enthusiastic defenders of traditional liturgical worship.

So, when the idea of a modern modern liturgy or a few contemporary praise songs harmlessly added to a weeknight service gets brought up by a few very well-meaning members, I hit the panic button. Don't they understand the harm that music can bring? Or is it just me? Am I just being unreasonable based on my own past mistakes of how faith is created and sustained? Will my objections cause harm to the faith of those who ask the question of why not? How do I communicate my concerns without insulting or offending? These are my questions.

Holiness and sinfulness, coexisting together, though not peacefully

I love it when I read a post about total depravity and a post about holiness and see total harmony. For confessional Lutherans, any blog post on holiness will draw attacks reminding the blogger of our sinful nature and vice versa. I had to laugh when John at Confessing Evangelical added this disclaimer to the bottom of his recent post on holines, A Chappo's Guide to Holiness:

Note: For anyone tempted to make rude comments about a Lutheran blog posting on holiness (shock! horror!), do please go away first and read Article 6 of the Augsburg Confession (though also do read Articles 4 and 5 - especially Article 5 for any Sydney Anglicans that might read this. Craig excepted - he already knows this stuff.

For anyone tempted to make rude comments about this Lutheran daring to post on the subject of holiness: fair point.

Just last week I was tempted to write about Theology Geek's post, Where Theology meets Life, on sinful nature and actually decided not to write it because I didn't feel like combatting reminders of commands of holiness. Jason writes, "Calvinists and Lutherans have a basic doctrine that I don't believe is held by any other major world religion. That doctrine is total depravity. The "total" doesn't mean that humanity is as evil as it can be at all times like some silly comic book villain. It means that we are corrupted from head to toe. Though we can do good deeds for each other, they are generally for our own self-interest. It also means that we are born this way. We aren't born perfect with a morally clean slate and are turned bad through our environments, instead we are born corrupt with a natural tendancy towards selfishness. " Read on...

ELS Convention update: Pastor John Moldstad has been re-elected!

Note: In the middle row of this photo the man with the white hair and beard is Pastor Kincaid Smith, author of "What's Going On Among the Lutherans", and his son-in-law(and our newest pastor), Pastor Rodney Flohrs, is sitting to his right.

Photos are from the Mankato Free Press website.
Click here to read a general article about the convention.

In honor of the re-election of Pastor John Moldstad, Jr. as President of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, I am re-posting the service and sermon highlights from his visit to the 25th Anniversary of King of Grace School in Golden Valley, Minnesota. It was also the the 17th Sunday after Pentecost. The opening hymn was My Soul, Now Praise Your Maker (paraphrase of Psalm 103).

It was a very special service to me; using a children's choir for the service gave testament to why the school exists. To hear their voices sing out the scritural truths they are taught each day was very moving. It was then that I realized why we teach things, even difficult concepts, to our children: they CAN learn them and they are able to repeat it back to us.

Pastor Moldstad's sermon was based on Timothy 2. It was upon hearing this sermon that I decided to create a blog to keep my religion posts and that very day I named it Be Strong in the Grace. I will write to Pastor Moldstad and see if he kept his sermon notes from that day. It would be great to post it here!

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.
If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

Rest of the service...

Versicles:
Pastor: O Lord, open my lips.
Congregation: (sung) And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
Pastor: Make haste, O God, to deliver me.
Congregation: (sung) Make haste to help me, O Lord. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was is the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: forevermore. Amen. Alleluia!

Invitatory:
Pastor: O come, let us worship the Lord.

Hymn of Praise: Sing Joyful Praise! (based on Psalm 117)

The Epistle: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Anthem: The First Song of Isaiah (Isaiah 12:2-6)

The Gospel: Luke 15:1-10

Hymn: I Pray Thee, Dear Lord Jesus

Sermon:
Theme: Be Strong in the Grace
Text: 2 Timothy 2:1
By: Reverend John Moldstad, Jr.
President of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod

Offering: On Eagle's Wings

Offeratory Prayer: On My Heart Imprint Thine Image (sung)
On my heart imprint thine image
Blessed Jesus, King of grace
That life's riches, care and pleasures,
Have no pow'r Thee to efface.
This the superscription be:
Jesus, crucified for me,
Is my life, my hope's foundation,
And my glory and salvation. Amen.

Canticle: Te Deum Laudamus

Pastor: You are God; we praise You. You are the Lord; we acclaim You. You are the eternal Father; all creation worships You.

Congregation: (sung)
From all that dwell below the skies
Let the Creator's praise arise;
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let the Redeemer's name be sung
Through ev'ry land, by ev'ry tongue.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Pastor: To you all angels, all the powers of heaven, cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might; heaven and earth are full of Your glory.

Congregation: (sung)

I would like to thank all who keep the Evangelical Lutheran Synod in their prayers. She needs God's blessings, as do all synods and church bodies.

Strange quote of the day: Kirk Cameron

From Laura Ingraham's website...

It was a personal step of faith. 'God, if you're there, show me ... if you did what you did on the cross for me, then make me the man you want me to be, and I'm in.'
-- Actor Kirk Cameron, on his conversion to Evangelical Christianity.

I would like to compile a list of SCRIPTURE verses supporting his point and contradicting his point. Wanna help?

Can God's Word be summarized?

I has an interesting conversation with my 16 year old daughter the other day. She asked me why people always use John 3:16 on signs at stadiums, on bumper stickers, etc. I told her that many think of that verse as a good summary of God's Word. She said, "I know that, but WHY do they do that?" What she was asking was WHY use it? She had seen it on a shopping bag given out by a popular clothing store (I think it was Forever 21).

Her question was a good one and one with a couple of answers. First of all, the owner of any store is free to put any kind of message he wants on his customers' shopping bag. Second, the owner is most likely a Christinan and believes that John 3:16 is a verse that will lead his customers to read God's Word. But what I took away from our conversation is my daughter questioning the purpose of a widely-accepted evangelical practice of stamping John 3:16 on everything.

We didn't end up condemning the use of John 3:16 (the word and numbers, not the actual verse), but since turning to confessional Lutheran practice that verse no longer carries the sole weight that it once did for me as an evangelical. I don't turn to that particular verse to summarize God's Word. To me, a good summary must clearly illustrate the law and the gospel.

John at Confessing Evangelical posts:

In the second of his expository lectures on Romans from 1989 (see previous post), Dick Lucas quotes the Lutheran theologian Anders Nygren on Romans 1:16,17:

The Gospel is not the presentation of an idea, but the operation of a power.

In other words, we need to avoid an intellectualised, "static" view of the Gospel as being nothing more than a set of facts and doctrines that we appraise and then either accept or reject. Instead we need to recognise that, as Nygren continues...

Hat tip to Rob at Love and Blunder

Does revelation continue?

Beefstew-inator posts an excellent review of the book, A Different Jesus: The Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, and gives excellent commentary on an important point. He is not the first to comment on the growing similarities between many evangelicals and Mormons. I agree with his assessment that the belief that God is continuing to give new revelations to people is behind their coming together. While no orthodox Christian would dare to be God's spokesman in saying that there are no prophets and no revelations today, the abuse of the two is very apparent to all. In fact, the abuse was a major factor in my leaving Evangelicalism. He makes this excellent point:

If the ...Pope or almost any Evangelical can say "God told me..." and claim that it was from God and then base their church's formal teaching or personal life on it, why can't the Mormons?

Lutheran Carnival XIX

Lutheran Carnival XIX

I am most privileged to host this nineteenth issue of the Lutheran Carnival. This issue has over 30 posts from Christian blogkeepers who maintain a quia subscription to the Book of Concord. What does that mean? They believe that the Book of Concord is a right and proper exposition of the Word of God. Their posts are written on many topics, as long as they are written from a confessional Lutheran perspective.

For this carnival, I would like to introduce you to a forefather of my beloved Norwegian Synod: Jakob Aall Ottesen. Bethany Lutheran College Professor Erling Teigen stated in his presentation to the 150th gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (formerly the Norwegian Synod) in 2003,

"Of the three fathers (Preus, Koren and Ottesen) who have been shaped into a sort of holy trinity for the Norwegian Synod, the “forgotten” or less visible person of that trinity might be Jakob Aall Ottesen...What is of chief interest to us in this essay is the theological legacy, especially the Reformation, confessional Lutheran legacy Ottesen left on the immigrant church he helped organize. One part of that legacy is fellowship with the Missouri Synod, which led to the formation of the Synodical Conference in 1872."

Jakob Aall Ottesen

Who is Jakob Aall Ottesen? The answer is not short, except there are few short bios on this good man. His name is not on the lips of many Lutherans, but his life was dedicated to our service. The details of his life's work are more suitable to a college course, but I'll attempt a brief summary. My information comes from the Ottesen Museum, located between the campuses of Bethany Lutheran College (BLC) and Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary in Mankato, Minnesota; from a lecture, The Legacy of Jakob Aall Ottesen, given by BLC Professor Erling T. Teigen commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Norwegian Synod and an excellent geneological website by Ms. Dixie Hansen. We'll start with his obituary, since it is the earthly sum of his life:

PASTOR OTTESEN IS DEAD
One of the founders of the Norwegian Synod lays down his pilgrim's staff

A Life of Sacrifice

The old pastor, Jacob Aal Ottesen, one of the pioneers and veterans of the Norwegian Synod, died about 12 o'clock Saturday night, and his death did not come unexpectedly, neither for himself nor for those nearest to him, as he had been in poor health for a long time.

Pastor Ottesen was born in the Fet Parsonage in Norway 11 June, 1825, and he therefore got to be 79 years and 5 months old. His father and grandfather had been ministers in Fet for about half a century. The family belongs to one of the oldest ones in the country, and there have been approximately 50 ministers among Pastor Ottesen's kin.

Following his graduation with distinction from the university, Ottesen for three years was a teacher at Nissens Latin og Realskole (Nissen's Latin and High School) in Kristiania. However, Norway was not where our Lord had decided for him to work, and since many of his compatriots had emigrated to America, he accepted in 1852 the call from a congregation, which had been formed in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. After his ordination by Bishop Arup, he left with his young wife, Katarine Doderlein, a daughter of School Principal Døderlein of Kristiania Katedralskole (Cathedral School) for the unknown America. Ole Bull had just started his disastrous colony, Oleana, in Pennsylvania, and Pastor Ottesen was requested to go and preach the gospel for his compatriots there. His parish in Manitowoc consisted of three organized congregations in and around the town as well as a mission field in the area from Green Bay to Milwaukee. This was truly mission and pioneer work that not only called for a sincere love for the Lord and His work, but also required much bodily strength and perseverance. Most of his time was spent traveling, especially on horseback in all kinds of weather and through thick forests without roads. Pastor Ottesen traveled that way, often 30 to 50 miles a day, and picked up a bad case of rheumatism, which resulted in permanent damage to one of his legs. In 1853 he was one of seven ministers who met in Koshkonong together with 42 representatives from 28 congregations to consider the question of establishing the Norwegian Synod. Its constitution was adopted here, and then later at the Synod Conference in October, 1853, got voted in after having been presented to the congregations.

Pastor Ottesen was the Synod Secretary for many years. The old pioneers had a keen eye for how to succeed with their work. They had to get their pastors educated in this country, and Pastors Ottesen and Brandt were sent in 1857 as delegates to visit the Lutheran schools in St. Louis, Columbus and Buffalo to see what could be done to get the Norwegian ministers educated at one of these schools. Based on the report that the two delegates brought to the Synod, the Seminary of the Germans in St. Louis was chosen, and a professorship was filled by theNorwegians, and a hand of friendship given tying the Norwegian Synod to the Missouri Synod. This has lasted until this day. In 1860 Pastor Ottesen was called to Koshkonong, where he served the three congregations: Eastern and Western Koshkonong as well as Liberty Prairie until 1891.

From 1861 to 68, he and Pastor H. A. Preus edited Kirkelig Maanedstidende (Monthly Periodical for the Church). In 1877 he was appointed Professor of Theology at Luther Seminary, which had just been established, but he declined the appointment. That same year, he was also selected as the first chairman for the Eastern District. The Synod was divided into districts that year. He also turned down this position. He was a member of the Synod's Church Council for many years.

During the tragic church controversy that broke out in the Synod during the 80's, Ottesen and his congregations suffered much, and in 1891 he stepped down as a minister and moved to Decorah, where he has since lived. Last year during the jubilee for the Synod here, as one of the few original ministers, he was present and spoke to the Synod. A short time before the Synod Conference, he and Pastor H. A. Stub received from King Oscar the Order of Knight of St. Olaf for long and honorable service to the church. Pastor Koren was made Commander of the Order of St. Olaf. Pastor Ottesen for more than a generation has carried the burden that goes with a large parish, although he was not strong physically, and this was in addition to all the work that the community had him do. However, he had a good education in the classics, sharp judgment, and was a competent writer, and more than anything else he had an intense love for his Lord and His work and was willing to offer everything for it. Although Pastor Ottesen's work has not attracted the attention of the big world, because it was done quietly among the members of his own congregation, he often did some really heroic deeds. He lived a life of self-denial at all times and that should be known in wide circles. We all owe an invaluable debt to men, who like Ottesen, just lived for one reason, namely to break bread for others and to take the gospel of Our Savior to as many as possible. Bless the memory of them!

Pastor Ottesen had a happy family life. Ottesen had a sharp and witty mind, and there are many who carry happy and amusing memories from the parsonage at Koshkonong. Pastor and Mrs. Ottesen had six children; three of them died quite young. A daughter, Diderikke, married to Professor Dr. H. G. Stub, left at her death two sons, who now are ministers. The two children who survive him are: his son, Pastor Otto Christian in Rio, Wisconsin, and his daughter Hanna Cathinka, who has stayed with him all the time here and who faithfully and lovingly has cared for him. An adopted son, Olaf Mandt, died young after serving as a minister in Baltimore for a short time.

From 1894 to 1896, Ottesen was the minister for the Synod congregation here in this town after Pastor Hove moved to Mankato and before Prof Stub became the minister here. He has otherwise, except for the last two years, preached off and on. His last task as a minister, as far as we remember, was the ordination of his daughter's son, Jacob Stub, to the holy work as a preacher in the fall of 1902. Ottesen has written and translated much. He wrote Kort Uddrag af Synodens Historie (A Short Excerpt of the Synod's History), which was presented at the World Exhibit in Chicago. At the request of the Synod, he rewrote the Catechism and translated Gynter's Symbolik from German.

Professor Erling Teigen illuminates some personal facts of Ottesen's life. First of all, he was known as having a keen mind, he avoided the spotlight, he worked tirelessly and suffered rheumatism and depression from it, and he raised children who contributed to the faith and to society in future generations.

Ottesen was one of the seven pastors who organized the Norwegian Synod in 1853 (C.L. Clausen, H.A. Stub, A.C. Preus, G.F. Dietrichsen, H.A. Preus, Nils O. Brandt, and Ottesen), having just arrived in 1852. Aside from his long service as a parish pastor, Ottesen’s contributions are in the form of theological writing, particularly polemical articles in the church paper, first called Kirkelig Maanedstidende, but Luthersk Kirketidende after it became necessary to publish semi-monthly and weekly. He served several times in the early years as secretary of the synod, but a most momentous and far-reaching assignment for this young pastor came in 1857 when he was sent by the Synod (the resolution was passed at the 1855 convention) with Pastor Nils Brandt to visit some Lutheran seminaries in the U. S. The mission was to find a place to train pastors for the Norwegian immigrant church. From 1859-1868, he was co-editor with H.A. Preus of the church paper, Maanedstidende, which was the platform for a large part of his writing, much of it doctrinal and polemical. He wrote a brief history of the Norwegian Synod (to be distributed at the Chicago Exposition in 1893), as well as a series of articles entitled “A Look at the Missouri Synod.” He translated Guenther’s Symbolik from German to Norwegian, as well as Walther’s The Evangelical Lutheran Church: God’s True Visible Church on Earth.

Ottesen had one son who entered the ministry, Otto Christian Ottesen, who did not outlive his father by many years, dying in 1917. Two grandsons, Hans Andrews Stub and Jacob Aall Ottesen Stub also became pastors, and had notable service in the merged Norwegian Lutheran Church in America after 1917. Their mother, Diderikke Aall Ottesen, was married to H.G. Stub, who led the Norwegian Synod into the 1917 merger. The young mother died in 1879, soon after the birth of her second son. The first daughter born to the Ottesens was named Hannah, but she died soon after birth, as did another girl. Including Diderikke, the young mother, the Ottesens left three children buried at Koshkonong. (Nils Brandt was married to a Diderikke Ottesen, who apparently was a sister of J. A. Ottesen.) One daughter lived to adulthood, also named Hannah, who lived with the Ottesens until the death of Mrs. Ottesen (Cathinka) in 1899, and Pastor Ottesen in 1904. Ottesen also had a foster son, Olaf Mandt, who lived with the family in Koshkonong for confirmation instruction, and then was sent by Ottesen to Luther College, and Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. After his ordination, he served in Baltimore, where he died after two years in the ministry.

But that was not all the sorrow Ottesen left at Koshkonong. On August 10, 1891, the Ottesens were taken to the depot in Stoughton and took the train to Decorah, Iowa, where they would spend the rest of their lives. Ottesen’s friend Halvor Halvorson notes that in the ensuing 13 years, Ottesen traveled some, coming as close to Koshkonong as Spring Prairie, (where he performed the wedding of his niece Cathinka Hjort to pastor J. Strand), but never visiting there. He was invited by the congregations often, and always sent a greeting for festival occasions, but never visited. It does not seem that this reluctance to return to the place where he had served as pastor for 31 years was rooted in a circumspect pastoral ethic to stay away from places one has previously served.

While serving the three-point parish, West and East Koshkonong, and Liberty (near Deerfield), Ottesen confirmed about 3,000 young people. From that number, one can project an even larger number of baptisms, as well as a great number of marriages, and funerals. And there is a great deal of evidence that Ottesen was a dearly loved pastor among his people. In the late ‘70s, he was permitted to leave for several months to visit Norway, which included the final visit with his father.

But Ottesen had health problems. Early on, there is mention of his being sickly, and not always able to carry the full load of his ministerial duties. Certainly the East and West congregations on Koshkonong Prairie as well as Liberty congregation to the North grew rapidly, and one wonders how one man could keep up with that work.

George Orvick reports what may be the recollection of Julia Reque:

Ottesen traveled a distance of 30-50 miles a day on horseback, in summer heat and winter storm. As a result of these strenuous journeys, Ottesen contracted chronic rheumatism which worked havoc with the nerves of his legs, so that it was difficult for him to talk or stand long. Because of this Ottesen was often forced to sit in the pulpit when delivering his sermons.

This condition may have exacerbated another condition—there is some evidence that Ottesen suffered some depression, which might today be called depression and anxiety. In any case, even before the outbreak of full-scale doctrinal warfare, because of Ottesen’s illnesses, the congregations hired a “kapellan,” a curate or assistant pastor, which would have serious repercussions in the controversial years to follow.
The election controversy which began in 1877 took a toll on his condition. Ottesen wrote in 1885:
But I will add that in the last four to five years, I have been under a great deal pressure from sorrow and distress, both because of physical illness, namely, an often painful nervousness [nervøsitet], and also because of the emergency I saw in the congregation during the bitter controversy, which has gone on here in these years. No one will be surprised that during all this have often been more despondent [modløs] and irresolute [radløs, indecisive] than I would have been otherwise.
What he describes, mentioned also by others, appears to be an already existing condition exacerbated by unusually stressful circumstances.

In reading through the life of Rev. Ottesen, I was struck by the accounts of others of his daughters: Didrikke Aall Ottesen Stub and Hannah Cathinka Ottesen. Didrikke died following a short illness while visiting her parents. Her son (and Ottesen's grandson) Jacob Aall Ottesen Stub, writes:

My mother - Diderikke - I cannot remember. I am told she was a tall and queenly woman. combined with her woman's love of home and dear ones was a keen interest in life in general. She was well educated, loved books and music, but also the out-of-doors. One of her friends, who knew her well, has told me that she was an excellent driver and utterly fearless. In corroboration hereof she showed me a newspaper clipping which tells of her stopping a runaway team, and preventing what would probably have been a serious accident. She did not live to see her two little boys grow beyond babyhood. Blessed be her memory!

His other surviving daughter, Hannah, never married but lived to age 70. She cared for her parents until their deaths and enjoyed learning from her father and the many intellectuals who visited their home. She willed several family heirlooms to the ELS. This Ottesen collection, together with other artifacts, comprises the holdings of the Ottesen Museum. It was the women of the synod who provided the impetus for establishing the Ottesen Museum. As the synod was preparing, at its 1941 annual meeting, to celebrate its 90th anniversary (1943), which also would mark the 25th year of the re-organized synod (1918–1943), a group of women began to discuss the possibility of establishing the Ottesen Museum. Sixteeen women met at Bethany Lutheran College on June 16, 1941, and determined to organize the museum.

On to Lutheran Carnival XIX!!!

That Rev. Ottesen encouraged his daughters in the faith and educated them well reminds me yet again of why I love my Norwegian Synod so! In the few short years that I have been a member of my church, King of Grace, my interest in scriptures has been encouraged and supplemented by our pastors and elders. I had my same interests in the twenty years I spent walking through American Evangelicalism, but instead of getting much of an education I received a series of trends topics and incomplete truths. In the spirit of truly embracing our God-given roles and in the expectation that we all become well-catechized, I am pleased to offer the many good posts by women and men of the confessional Lutheran blogosphere.

In her paper titled, Women & Scriptures, Sandra Ostopowich, of Higher Things and keeper of the blog, Madre's Missives, does a great job of summarizing how women are valued, educated and held in such high esteem in the confessional Lutheran church. In a humorous account, she describes how she - a Lutheran seminary student- was asked one day: "Why do you want to be a pastor? Women are way too important to God to be pastors!" She was mad and incredulous at that question, but took the challenge of studying scripture for a good response.

Sola Gratia of Living Stones offers a post entitled Crucifixaphobia. It discusses fear of the crucifix among some evangelicals. New Carnival contributor, Lora of The Rebellious Pastor's Wife, posts The Confessional Consumer. And another new Carnival contributor, Rebecca of Musings of a Saint and Sinner, offers two posts. In My Battle with Lent , Rebecca writes, "In my teenage years, I became an obsessive freak, trying in every which way to please God and make myself acceptable to Him. I never felt like I succeeded. When I heard Martin Luther's story, it was like I heard the message of grace for the first time. But my struggle with Lent is that emotionally it feels like going back to those old teenage years." In Ash Wednesday she talks about her strange love of Ash Wednesday, primarily because of its fundamental honesty. "There are few times in life when we are able to get down and gritty and admit these two things: I am a sinner and I am going to die. When we get honest about our brokenness, God hears our confession and moves in to bring healing. Then the Great Exchange happens where Christ takes all of our sin, brokenness, and death and gives us His life, health, resurrection, and righteousness."

In a commentary on Ash Wednesday, Scottius Maximus reviews one of my favorite books, the wonderful daily devotion book, The Lord Will Answer- A Daily Prayer Catechism. I highly recommend Scottius Maximus for a daily dose of humor, baseball and Lutheran commentary!

Ryan of Wretched of the Earth blog, posts A good architect is important. Ryan reflects on the foundation of the Church, even as the foundation of his apartment is about to crumble.

The wise professor, CPA of Three Hierarchies, looks at the "Crunchy Con", finding many valuable lessons in good living, but offering historical perspective and warning against tendencies to merging the two kingdoms, and utopianism. His series of articles are:

• Crunchy Con Anthem
• Who cares what's really conservative?
• Free market, pro-growth, and pro-growth: aren't the same thing
• More Thoughts on the Crunchy Con debate
• The Crunchy Con Debate translated

British Lutheran blogger, John H. of Confessing Evangelical, contributes to the carnival with Lent for Evangelicals. John looks at contrasting attitudes towards Lent among Augsburg and
non-Augsburg evangelicals, and quotes Bo Giertz on what truly distinguishes evangelical Christianity from Roman Catholicism.

Kletos, blogkeeper of Amor et Labor posts Cage Stage Lutheran? Kletos wonders aloud if he is stuck in the 'cage stage' of development in Lutheranism. On the third day, is the post of Richard of dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos.

Married blogkeepers, Mr. and Mrs. Terrible Swede, one of the newlywed sweethearts of the confessional Lutheran blogosphere, find time to post interesting pieces. Mrs. Swede, keeper of Journalistic Jargon blog, offers us "Roe v. Wade for Men" Following a report on ABC Nightly News, Mrs. T. Swede shares her commentary about a controversial move that one man is attempting to make: Asking that Roe v. Wade be revised to include the rights of fathers to "opt out" of fatherhood. Mrs. Swede says that Roe v. Wade should not exist in the first place, and with that said, the issue of men having rights equal to those given in Roe v. Wade is a moot point.

Mr. Swede, affectionately known to us as the Terrible Swede, reminds us of Luther's Disputation on the Divinity and Humanity of Christ that was published in 1540. Of all the theses, the Swede's favorite is "1. This is the catholic faith, that we confess one Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man." He encourages Lutherans to read the preface as well. You can find this post, It's Either Today or Tomorrow, at The Terrible Swede, the "Earthy" Lutheran Blog

Another newlywed blog, Love and Blunder, posts Meditations of Sin and Children. Devona wisely writes, "We believe, as Lutherans, that everyone is guilty of sin. Even the 14 week old fetus I'm currently incubating will go to Hell if not for the grace of God offered in Christ. This is a hard teaching that we do not want to accept."

Another favorite Lutheran Blogosphere married couple, Pastor Alex Klages and his wife, writer and artist Kelly Klages both submit posts to this carnival. Kelly's Blog offers The fun of reading stuff into the ending of The Fellowship of the Ring! She writes, "How does an ending moment in the movie The Fellowship of the Ring relate to the Nunc Dimittis? In what way do the shadows of Elijah and Elisha also lurk in Parth Galen? Only a nutcase LOTR fan and a very geeky Lutheran could have come up with this post. Mea culpa." Kelly's husband, Pastor Klages, turns to one of his favorite pastimes, watching hockey, and unveils his plans for how to make Canada's international hockey chances better. He posts, On Hockey in Canada: A Modest Proposal, at his blog, A Beggar At The Table.

The confessional Lutheran blogosphere's first known cyber sweethearts and founders of this beloved carnival, Random Dan and Intolerant Elle, both take a break from their nightly cyber talks to offers posts. Elle, in The Value of the Law, critiques a woefully inadequate tract left at her door by one of the largest churches in the state of Alaska. Daniel of Random Thoughts of a Confessional Lutheran waxes poetic about "The Good Old Days" there were only 10 Confessional Lutheran bloggers in the world. This post meant much to me because as a new confessional Lutheran I was seeking out kindred souls and his is the first I found on the internet. If he and his friends hadn't begun blogging, I don't know that I would have had any reason to continue blogging about my faith. He also offers Blogging is Hard.

I will wrap up this Carnival with two workhorses of the confessional Lutheran blogosphere: Dan of Necessary Roughness and Pastor Snyder! Dan of Necessary Roughness offers Teaching a Variety of Students in Faraway Places. He offers up a description of his vocation as instructor. He identifies some of the problems involved in teaching computer to people with a wide variety of computer knowledge. In Roman Church vs. State in Los Angeles , Dan comments on a Cardinal in Los Angeles who is ordering his priests to ignore immigration law. Dan points out that this might not be the best way to address immigration from the church's point of view. First Person Life takes aim at the immigration proposal itself in Criminalizing Mercy. In Evidence Speaks for Itself, Dan points out fictional and nonfictional consequences of using scripture to come to conclusions about practice or leaving out biblical evidence so that opinions may be bolstered.

Dan has also scoured the blogosphere and has brought back some great posts. He points us to:

• Pastor Borghardt's great Ash Wednesday sermon preached in Conroe, TX (available in print online and by mp3 file) and his humorous No Video Consecration
  
• Pastor Chryst's Answers to some questions about Lent
• Julie Martinez' The Fireside on The theology of infant baptism by Wade Turner

Over at Aardvark Alley, the Aardvark, self-appointed keeper of the ecclesiastic calendar, provides a pair of posts with background material, readings, and prayers. The first, Ash Wednesday, deals not only with the day itself but also with the observance of the Lenten season. He also introduces Saints Perpetua and Felicitas and their three companions in martyrdom.

This past fortnight saw two new reviews published on Luther Library. The first, a guest submission by Sam Powell of Nerd Heaven , examines Worship, Gottesdienst, Cultus Dei, a study of the theology of worship in light of the Lutheran Confessions. Dan (of Necessary Roughness fame) provides the second review. He looks at Anne Rice's dramatic shift from the blood and evil of vampires to the expression of her new faith in the novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, set during Jesus' seventh year.

Current observations say there are no such things but Pastor Snyder (Ask the Pastor) opines that based upon the testimony of Job 41, Biblical Dragons (whom the Lord called Leviathan) once lived, and likely terrified all who encountered them. He then responds to the question, Should Christians Pray with Non-Christians? Rather than give away the answer, we'll let you read it for yourself.

A new blogger as of this past Monday, Pastor Paul Beisel of One Lutheran ... Ablog! lost no time in providing quality material for our edification. Check out his Catechism on Church Attendance, which he wrote to answer delinquent members' frequent question, "Why do I need to go to church?"

Don't miss this thoughtful study of the expression common to readers of C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. The author rebukes "feminist idolatry" as she shows how the Daughters of Eve live as new creatures in Christ at the Alliance of Evangelical Lutheran Laypeople .