We Are God's Frozen Chosen - Scientifically Confirmed!

Greetings,

Lutherans have often been tagged as 'God's Frozen Chosen' because of our staid German & Scandinavian ways, our highly formalized liturgy and our slow, reverent hymns. A recent scientific study reported on Fox News' website confirms this:

— People of the Jewish faith and agnostics are 20 percent more sexually active than Christians. On the average, Protestants are less sexually active than Catholics. Presbyterians and Lutherans report less sex than Baptists.

and if that isn't bad enough -

Is your sex life a bit busier than most? If you’re a “25-year-old, high school-educated, married, Catholic jazz fan who earns $10,000 a year and who smokes and drinks regularly,” than you are probably having more sex than a college-educated, non-smoking, non-drinking Protestant.

Brings new meaning to 'cold orthodoxy' doesn't it? As a 42-year-old, college-educated, married, Lutheran who doesn't listen to jazz, makes $_ a year and rarely smokes (cigars two to four times a year) and barely drinks anymore - I plead the 5th.

Full story here

TTFN,

Jim

Nice Observation!

Thoughtful Conservative said,

My “What?” moment for the day

August 27, 2008 — thoughtfulconservative

The Journal Sentinel’s NewsWatch reports,

Joel and Victoria Osteen, pastors of the largest church in America, will hold a worship event at the Bradley Center on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m.

“A Night of Hope” is an outreach of Joel Osteen Ministries. Also scheduled to appear are Dove Award winner Cindy Cruse Ratcliff and the Lakewood Band and Ensemble.

More than 45,000 members strong, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, is the largest and most diverse congregation in America. According to Nielsen Media Research, Joel Osteen is the most watched minister in America and reaches 95% of all U.S. television households.

Tickets went on sale Saturday through www.ticketmaster.com, all
Ticketmaster locations and the Bradley Center Box Office. Tickets are $17 plus applicable fees.

Tickets? $17.50? Methinks Pastor Osteen should recheck his New Testament.

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COMMENTARY:

Reminds me of when pop icon Bono of U2 said his God is never out of cash in response to the 1980s televangelist scandals. It also reminds me of an early Church father (Irenaeus or Ignatius?) who cautioned about false prophets who ask for money 'while in the spirit'.

Peace in Christ,

Jim

Revelation Commentary Reading Update

7 Headed Beast by Albrecht Durer

Greetings,

Maybe I feel this way because I'm not a lettered clergyman, maybe I am getting dumber as I get older but I just shoveled my way through another chapter. I always end with the Lenski commentary because it is the most challenging. I used to read it and think 'scholarly' and now I am getting to think 'pedantic'.

It would be sufficient for him to have said that a certain word or words is nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, aorist, participle, etc - but he has a tendency to use terminology like 'punctilliar aorist' and so on which is fine if you are a scholar of language but a bit heavy handed if you are not. I find I generally agree with his theological conclusions thus far but feel a bit like the soldier who is dragged over barbed wire by a comrade on his way to the field medic.

When my purse affords it, I am hoping the new Revelation commentary recently published by the LCMS bridges the gap between the People's Bible commentary with it's entry level simplicity and Lenski's with its overdetailed treatment. Lenski (IMHO) does great when he waxes more devotional and theological but gets mired in the details when he handles the Greek.

TTFN,

Jim

Reading Through Revelation - The Lutheran Way - Part 1

Greetings and salutations,

Over the last few months I have been methodically (and admittedly sporadically) reading through Revelation (also called the Apocalypse of Saint John the Divine) and unlocking it verse by verse or passage by passage depending upon the commentator.

I have employed several Bibles:

• Concordia Self Study NIV (Of Course!)
• The Lamsa Bible (an English translation of the Aramaic Peshitta)
• The King James Version
• The Webster Bible (A very respectful re-edit of the KJV that sheds archaic English words)
• A KJV/Greek Interlinear (w/Strongs NT Dictionary in the back)
• The Archaeological Study Bible NIV

I highly recommend the Archaeological Study Bible, it is the most non-denominational study Bible on the market as far as new Bibles go. Most study Bibles today are from some Reformed point of view - be it Arminian or Calvinist. This Bible is not, it sticks to the facts of archaeology but without caving in to so-called 'higher critical' thinking. Matter of fact, it does not pick any doctrinally controversial bones. Not on Baptism, the Creation, Communion, the Millennium or any pet topics of either conservative or liberal preachers. It sticks to the historical context as we know it through the archaeology of the Holy Land. Very refreshing indeed!

The commentaries have been these:

• Revelation: The People's Bible Commentary by Rev. Wayne D. Mueller
• The Revelation To John: A Commentary by Martin H. Franzmann
• Revelation: New Testament Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture edited by William C. Weinrich
  
• The interpretation of St. John's Revelation by R. C. H. Lenski
• Revelation: The last book in the Bible by Luther Poellot

I have finished Mueller's and Poellot's commentaries and found Mueller's easy to follow but not very deep. Mueller occasionally starts to rhapsodize and get off track - as if he got a little excited and began to write a sermon and then got back to the task of writing a commentary - but that is OK. It would be a good introduction for a layperson who feels overpowered by quotes in Latin, Greek or German, Mueller keeps his work down to earth. Poellot's was in depth but was a bit dry to read. Revelation is supposed to be at turns fRiGhTeNiNg and comforting and when Poellot did show any excitement in the text it was a rare surprise.

I am currently reading Franzmann, Lenski and the ACCS (Ancient Christian Commentary Series) edition which is edited by William Weinrich, a conservative Lutheran Patristics scholar. Franzmann is hard to put down. Franzmann as a hymn writer and a recognized poet writes well and while he does refer to Latin and German occasionally, he does not bog you down with it. He clearly grasps the excitement of the text while explaining the doctrinal content.

Lenski covers all bases, he gets into technical aspects of the Greek grammar and how that brings you to certain doctrinal conclusions (rather than reading Revelation through the newspaper as millenialists do!) and he also captures the historical, devotional and prophetic / apocalyptic aspects of the text. So far I like Weinrich's the best of the ones I am currently reading. He quotes and summarizes both Eastern and Western Church Fathers and commentators from the 2nd through 6th centuries.All of it is translated into English so anyone willing to take the time to read it can do so. This is a good text for a Pastor, professor or even a curious layman. It is all very straight up and non-technical and there are historical diagrams and biographical sketches of all the people quoted throughout the work.

The ACCS volume would also be enjoyed by any serious Roman Catholic or Anglican / Episcopalian - this is not a strictly Lutheran commentary at all, it was just edited by one who is a patristics scholar. The person who would not enjoy it is someone who is looking to justify a liberal or higher critical theory of interpretation or is interested in a book like this because of the fictional writings of Dan Brown, Henry Lincoln, et al. No proof for secret societies or conspiracy theories here. What you will find is a well rounded representation of the various schools of thought held by the early Church about the book of Revelation. You will also see the growth of Tradition. I have ran across quotes about the ever-virginity of Mary and how there is no salvation outside the Church, etc. The book also contains an indirect history of heresy and some fathers and commentators often read Revelation through the lens of whatever heresy the Church was facing at that moment in time.

Thats all for now.

Peace,

Jim

WELS Going Pietist?

Greetings and salutations,

Pushing the envelope of adiaphora - I have a hard time imagining the 'old German corner' of the Wisconsin Synod likes this much. I know it would probably be 'too pietist' for my own LC-MS congregation that insists on 'contemporary worship' (= smile and shake hands), but as Dick Clark would say, "It has a beat you can dance to".



What is more shocking than the style is the substance of the song. On it's face there is nothing objectionable but what few may realize is that the song was a plea for ecumenism by a pentecostal CCM artist which is certainly out of step from the WELS I knew when I was a WELS member and any unionism great or small was strictly verboten.

Later,

Jim

NIV - Satanic Bible (Another KJV Controversy!)

OK, here's one I did not see coming. I was doing some searching online, doing research about differences in Bible translations and I came across a website by some folks in the "KJV-only" movement and they asserted the NIV was a Satanic translation. OK, ok, I've heard this sort of stuff before but they further asserted that the NIV (New International Version) and the Satanic Bible were published by the same company. Now this I HAD TO SEE! Yeah, right!

Well...

So Zondervan's parent company is Harper-Collins...

Harper-Collins prints the Satanic Bible, they even say, "We'd love you to buy this book" !!!

Zondervan (Owned by Harper-Collins) also owns the copyright to the NIV

I'll allow you to draw your own conclusions but I bet that has to make some of the folks who work for Zondervan really, really happy! (NOT!)

Peace,

Jim