The Lamb on the Altar

just linked this article on my facebook account. i...

2012-05-25T03:24:00.615-04:00

just linked this article on my facebook account. it’s a very interesting article for all...

York

Just checking back for any new posts you may have ...

2012-04-19T11:05:34.269-04:00

Just checking back for any new posts you may have put up.
The invitation to follow my blog still open.

As a former Baptist, the first part of your postin...

2012-04-12T22:34:21.371-04:00

As a former Baptist, the first part of your posting is very accurate. I never heard a Baptist pastor give a sermon on Mark 16:16.

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."

That is a very troubling verse for them. They would use other verses that talk about "believe and you will be saved" to explain it away.

Unfortunately, the last part of your post would not have any sway with Baptists. They do not believe that Lutherans or anyone else who believes that they were saved in their baptism are even Christians. To them, you are just as pagan and bound for hell as any atheist!

Infant baptism is not a baptism to them. You are just getting your child wet!

Very sad! Baptists say they believe the Bible literally, but they really don't.

Lynnie: I think it's just a matter of what yo...

2012-03-23T10:20:17.572-04:00

Lynnie:

I think it's just a matter of what you put your trust in. If you put your trust in the crucifix then you are engagin in idolatry. The Scriptures say that the heavens declare the glory of God. If you start worshipping the sun or the stars then you are engaging in idolatry but if they remind of what God has done then they are helpful in directing us toward God. I put my trust in lots of things that I shouldn't like my job or my family. But I think I'm being honest with myself when I say that I don't put my trust in my crucifix.

thank you, charles. i think i'm going to brea...

2012-03-22T19:46:30.688-04:00

thank you, charles. i think i'm going to break out the paints right now.

i would love to hear more of your thoughts on how images helps us turn our minds and hearts toward God, and how that is different from worshipping the images themselves. :o)

~lynnie ha

This post was a very thorough and needed reminder ...

2012-03-22T15:50:19.990-04:00

This post was a very thorough and needed reminder that a biblical and historical understanding of the Trinity is needed today.

Thank you for insights on displaying Jesus on the ...

2012-03-22T15:47:07.991-04:00

Thank you for insights on displaying Jesus on the cross. You mentioned some things that I had not considered before.

Thanks for this post on apologetics!

2012-03-20T23:42:24.272-04:00

Thanks for this post on apologetics!

Reposting with the correct link: Thanks for this ...

2012-03-15T14:15:23.944-04:00

Reposting with the correct link:

Thanks for this post, especially for the part about the Cross, which is quite beautiful as we move through lent.

You can get a nice hardcopy without the OCR errors here: Amazon.

Thanks for this post, especially for the part abou...

2012-03-15T14:09:29.757-04:00

Thanks for this post, especially for the part about the Cross, which is quite beautiful as we move through lent.

You can get a nice hardcopy without the OCR errors here: Amazon.

I have had the book re edited. It is much better n...

2012-03-08T18:53:31.307-05:00

I have had the book re edited. It is much better now.
Bror Erickson

Firs: I wrote my post after reading a book by an ...

2012-02-24T14:16:57.099-05:00

Firs:

I wrote my post after reading a book by an Eastern Orthodox writer put out by a major publisher that made the claim that Luther removed books from the Bible. I've heard Roman Catholic apologists say the same thing on the radio. I've seen people make that claim all over the internet. I'm glad that you are aware that he did not remove books from his translation but many are not aware of this.

Just do an internet search. You can find Roman Catholic apologists all over the place who make the claim that because the church fathers say that the bread and wine are the body and blood of Christ the church fathers are teachings transubstantiation. But Lutherans would say the exact same thing that these church fathers say and do not teach transubstantiation. Transubstantiation was a theory that developed in the middle ages and was the popular position at the time of Luther. Just because there is light in the room doesn't mean that the sun is shining in the room. It could mean there's a light bulb. The early church fathers did not engage in speculations about essential and accidental properties in the Lord's Supper as later theologians did. Lutherans, with the early church fathers, refuse to impose an Aristotelian system on to the Lord's Supper.

The Sacrament of the Altar where we receive Christ's true body and blood was certainly at the center of the worship of the early church just as it is in Lutheran churches. But transubstantiation was a later development. You're assumption is that because the woman went to the hairdresser every day for the last forty years she must have a beehive hairdo.

I wasn't making any switch at all. The early church fathers taught that the bread is the body of Christ and the wine is the blood of Christ and that's what the Lutherans teach too.

As demonstrated by Chemnitz in his Examination of the Council of Trent, the faith of the Lutheran church is the same as what is found in the early church fathers. The Lutheran church is the true continuation of the Western church. The Roman Church is the result of medieval theological fads.

You ignore the major point. That Luther considere...

2012-02-24T11:19:46.801-05:00

You ignore the major point. That Luther considered this books Apocryphal. No takes issue as to when the Protestant bible was printed without the 7 books listed as Apocryphal by Luther. The issue was as to why those 7 books were considered Apocryphal by Luther in the first. The way you can twist the issue makes your explanation suspect at best.

Also the following statement contains logical fallacies: " then when a person reads the church fathers it is going to look like the church fathers all support transubstantiation." But you give no clear evidence of as to why the appearance of support for transubstantiation was not true or valid. You do not cite any facts, research, or historical data to lend credibility as to why the church fathers support of transubstantiation is only superficial. The logic you use is the equivalent of saying, "It may appear there is sun shining in the room but that's not the case." Then giving no proof if sun lamps, or special lighting was being used.

Your attempted explanation is also of false logic, "The problem is that transubstantiation was not really a dogma of the Roman Catholic church until the middle ages". So you are in effect saying that Communion was no "dogma" until the middle ages, in spite of the fact that Catholic Mass has always centered around Holy Communion, even prior to the Middle Ages. However, the fact that it was practiced as the center for Mass for centuries to you does not show relevance to the Church? This assertion requires an explanation that you do not provide. The logic you use is the same as saying that say a woman has spent every Saturday at the hairdressers for 40 years, but that her hair is not truly the center of her grooming.

This next statement I find especially slanted, "The church fathers taught the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the Eucharist just like the Lutherans do." Now here you use the words "church fathers" again. However, in the previous statement the words "church fathers" referred to the Catholic Church since they were the only Christian Church in Western Civilization during the middle ages. But her you seem to use church fathers as referring to those church fathers of the Protestant faith. Yet, you do not inform your reader that you have made this shift. I say it refers to church fathers of the Protestant faith because it refers to finding "the real presence of body and blood". Unless of course you are unaware that the church fathers of the Catholic faith believed that the Eucharist and wine ARE the body and blood of Christ, not just contain it.

Yet even if you in fact do mean that these church fathers are from the Catholic Church then you misrepresent historical order of facts. "The church fathers taught the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the Eucharist just like the Lutherans do." Here you imply that it was the Catholic who followed the practice of the Lutherans which cannot be true. Because the Lutheran religion did not appear until the 16th century and the Catholic Church had already been practicing transubstantiation for centuries.

In sum, Mr Wiese, I have attempted to read your statement hoping to gain knowledge. But what I find is skewed and flawed logic, historical misrepresentations, and even attempts to mislead the reader. This tells me that you are insecure of the origins of your religion and not above slight of hand to convince your readers to believe in fictions.
Firs

well, I'm just thrilled that I really do know ...

2012-02-03T21:27:45.696-05:00

well, I'm just thrilled that I really do know all of these characters!! so that makes this far too much fun!! :P

One meta-point: worship should be an image (really...

2012-01-14T14:55:39.552-05:00

One meta-point: worship should be an image (really a union) of heaven - Hebrews, Isaiah, Revelation, Daniel etc is where this is revealed (the Temple of course being a pattern or shadow). While icons play an important theological/dogmatic role - and their centrality is a safeguard against heresy - they are of course only a reminder of the heavenly reality in which we participate. I think it is very dangerous and ill advised to remove them, but, yes, they are not necessary strictly speaking. Not sure I agree about incense, however - that I need to think about.

I was the original anonymous poster - this certain...

2012-01-14T14:48:40.602-05:00

I was the original anonymous poster - this certainly does not represent the latest scholarly consensus on the topic of images which has been reshaped by archaeological evidence over several decades (nor frankly does the excerpt do justice to the early Christian writings on the topic that affirm the very early use of icons). I suggest Bigham's recent Early Christian Attitudes Toward Images for both a review of the allegations of iconophobia in the early Church as well as a general overview of the topic of Jewish practice.

In any case, the main point stands: icons affirm the Incarnation and declare the Gospel - all out practices and beliefs are centered on Christ.

No, I don't record myself.

2011-11-29T10:19:52.016-05:00

No, I don't record myself.

Is there audio or video version of thist?

2011-11-28T21:49:30.846-05:00

Is there audio or video version of thist?

Fr. John Whiteford: Thank you for the information....

2011-11-13T19:51:24.265-05:00

Fr. John Whiteford:
Thank you for the information.

With regard to John MacArthur's argument that ...

2011-11-13T07:11:18.567-05:00

With regard to John MacArthur's argument that baptism means to immerse, and so therefore infant baptism is impossible, in the Orthodox Church we baptize infants by triple immersion. The only time we do not immerse is when you have a child that is sickly or in danger of death, and then we baptize by effusion.

Infinity: There was no ecumenical council that de...

2011-11-07T21:41:53.454-05:00

Infinity:

There was no ecumenical council that determined the canon of Scripture. Various books were debated from the beginning. Lutherans follow the older tradition of recognizing that there are disputed and undisputed books as found in Eusebius. Lots of prominent church fathers held different opinions on different disputed books of the Bible. Jerome opposed the inclusion of the OT Apocrypha.

Ignatius was writing at a time when the bishops were actually teaching what the Apostles were teaching.

Let's say that National Right to Life started supporting Planned Parenthood and the person in charge of the organization claimed to be able to trace themselves back through succession of leadership back to the founder of National Right to Life. Then somebody stands up and says that they don't believe the current administration is being faithful to the tradition that was handed down to them and they are shown the door. They start their organization based upon the original principles of the founders but this also results in some splinter groups. Is the person who was kicked out the true successor or is the leader that now supports abortion the true successor?

Martin Luther did not cause all the splinter groups we see today. The Pope caused all the splinters we see today by excommunicating Martin Luther and in so doing excommunicated the Gospel and ultimately excommunicated himself. There were all kinds of people teaching all kinds of things in Luther's day, some in the universities even denied the virgin birth. But they didn't go after these people. They went after Luther because Luther attacked indulgences. It was about money as even some Roman Catholic historians acknowledge.

I take tradition to seriously to convert to Rome. The early church fathers understood the importance of Apostolic tradition in interpreting the Scriptures. In Luther's day there was some who were teaching that tradition provided another source of authority and that's what Trent decided contrary to the early church fathers. With the gradual development of all the doctrines concerning the Pope, he has become the single source of authority for the papists.

There is a great deal of disagreement among the church fathers on a great many issues but when they taught the Scriptures they found Jesus everywhere. When I read the Roman Catholic apologists on the internet, all they find in the Bible is the Pope. When I listen to the new agey Roman Catholic priest on TV all I hear about is moral lessons. I can get moral lessons at any random evangelical church.

I need Jesus. I need Jesus in the liturgy, Jesus in the preaching, and Jesus in my mouth. I'm a real sinner who needs the forgiveness of sins. I don't need a pope. I need Jesus.

Man is rootless once he "frees" himself ...

2011-11-07T14:39:13.640-05:00

Man is rootless once he "frees" himself from the authority of the Catholic Church. Protestantism convinces man that Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ did not found a visible, hierarchical society to teach, to govern and to sanctify all men on the face of this earth until He comes in glory on the Last Day to judge the living and the dead. Each man, therefore, is his own "pope" or "popessa," free to interpret Sacred Scripture, which is seen as the only source of Divine Revelation (Apostolic or Sacred Tradition being thus rejected as it needs the authority of a visible hierarchy to pronounce and explicate), leading quite inevitably to mutually contradictory conclusions as to the meaning of various passages, which is why there are today over 33,000 different Protestant sects, most of them right here in the United States of America. One who believes this framework of lies will come to believe that he is "saved' by making his "profession of faith" in the Name of the Lord or that the fact of his predestination to Heaven is proved by his worldly success. The Lutheran strain of Protestantism is founded on the sin of Presumption; the Calvinist strain is founded on the belief that material success is a sign of divine election. Both lead to the ruin of men and their societies.

FOUNDERS of Christianity, Denominations, Sects and Cults
with the date founded and adherents

Christianity: 33AD: By Jesus Christ, made public in Pentecost - 2.5 billion - Jesus Christ - Pentecost
Catholics: 33AD- By Jesus Christ, made public in Pentecost 1.5 billion
Orthodox: Michael Cerularius - 1054- 219 million
United Brethren (Moravians): 1457- Huss.-
Lutherans: Martin Luther-1517- 75 million.
Anabaptists: Grebel (after Ulrich Zwingli)-1519- 50 million
Church of England: Henry VIII - 1534- 70 million.
Calvinism: John Calvin -1536- 50 million
Presbyterians: J. Knox (Calvin)-1560- 35 million.
Puritans: T. Cartwright:- 1570- 800,000
Congregationalism: R. Brown: 1582- 900,000
Baptists: John Smith (Zwingli): 1605-- 45 million
Episcopalians: S. Seabury (Henry VIII)- 1620-- 3 million
Quakers: Fox- 0.2 million -1654- 2,000
Shakers: Ann Lee1741- 3,000
Methodists: J and C. Wesley - 1744-- 29 million.
Unitarians: T. Lindsay1774-.
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)-1800- 2 million.
Mormons: Joseph Smith - 1830- 8 million.
Adventists: W. Miller - 1846-- 8 million.
Jehovah's Witnesses: C. Russell - 1852- 6 million.
Salvation Army: M. Jones-1865- 1 million.
Christian Science: Mary Baker-1879- 1 million.
Pentecostals: C.F. Parham-1900- 58 million.
Worldwide Church,. of God: Armstrong-1934- 50,0000
Moonies: Sun M. Moon- 1954- 2 million.
United Church of Christ- 1957- 2 million.
Children of God: David "Mo" Berg-1969-.008.

As a "Rule of Thumb":
- If it was founded by God, it is a "Religion".
- If it was founded or started by a "man" or a "woman with a known date, it is a "Sect" or a "Cult"
(These numbers are a little out of date but it gets the point across)

"Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves." Romans 13:1-2

He did remove them in the sense that he removed th...

2011-11-07T14:25:18.282-05:00

He did remove them in the sense that he removed them from what he considered divinely inspired. It was his action that started the landslide of heresies within Christianity (another word for this heresy is protestantism). In the late 300's during the councils of Rome, Carthage, and Hippo the complete cannon of scripture was determined. The funny thing is that by being a protestant your rejecting/protesting the authority of the Catholic Church yet at the same time you are unknowingly accepting the authority of the Catholic Church whenever you accept the authority of the Scriptures. Was the Holy Spirit guiding those men during a single time in that council when they were deciding the cannon and then did it leave? Of course not, the Spirit of Truth has been with the church from the beginning and always will be just as it says in John 14 and 15 and the Church is the pillar and bulwark of truth because of this (because the spirit of truth, the paraclete came upon the Apostles at Pentacost).

"See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." - St. Ignatius of Antioch - Disciple of St. John the Apostle.

Look at the fruit of Luther's work... a divided body of Christ, 40,000 different denominations. Christ prayed for unity, Luther brought separation.

‎"Religion changes man, man does not change religion" - How the Archbishop of Mainz signed all of his correspondance to Martin Luther.

I'm an Orthodox Christian (Greek branch) and l...

2011-10-10T14:32:37.996-04:00

I'm an Orthodox Christian (Greek branch) and love your website. God bless.

George

I have seen this so often before. Pastors who bel...

2011-10-06T11:09:49.997-04:00

I have seen this so often before. Pastors who believe they are excempt from criticism because they have been specially "called" by God. We're all called by God and not only to vocation, but to every moment we live. Anyway, I notice that it's the really lousy pastors who need to resort to this stupidity (i.e. "God called me, so don't you dare critique my sermons) because they don't have the talent or integrity to get good reviews. Man, I've listened to dozens of lousy preachers in my life. May God have mercy on them for wasting our time, as I hope has mercy on all of us for our sins.