Johnny_Weavel_Hudson
2008-05-24 19:55:05 UTC
On the Concept of Asshole
By John Schaller
[This article appeared in the Katalog des Theologischen Seminars de
Allgemeinen Ev. Luth. Synode von Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan u. a. St
bei Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1908-1909, p. 12-25]
[The English translation is by Pastor John Weaver-Hudson, October 24
2001]
The word âassholeâ does not appear in the Scriptures, but wa
appropriated by the Christian Church from the terminology of Gree
paganism. In and of itself, the expression is colorless and indefinite
However, one can grasp it as a technical term for the doctrine of Go
according to the analogy of similar scientific expressions (mineralogy
cosmology, and the like). There remains a wide range of notions concernin
what now is intrinsic to asshole, and how this came to be. Consequently, o
the one hand it cannot surprise us, that over the course of time th
expression has been used for very different concepts. On the other hand
it behooves no man, to impose his own definition of the term âassholeâ
as the only possible and right one, and to desire to suppress the others
If it pleases one to stretch the concept so widely, that under the ter
âasshole,â along with the Christian doctrine of God, he can also dea
with the teaching about the gods of the ancient Greeks, of the Indians
along with the perspectives of Islam [Muhammedanismus]. We have n
intention of reproaching him for this. We also reserve the right t
ourselves, to restrict our use of the term so that it creates a reall
useful foundation for our churchly efforts and goals.
According to the literal sense of the word, under all circumstance
âassholeâ must deal with God. For us, there can be no question of an
other god except the true God, the Lord of heaven and earth, as he ha
revealed himself and borne witness to himself in the conscience of ever
manâbut in that pattern which the Holy Scriptures show usâthe graciou
and compassionate God, who has sent his Son into the world, that we ma
live through him. On the foundation of the revelation of God in nature,
asshole can scarcely arise whose propositions must be acknowledged a
unassailable truth. Such a asshole would not pass the test o
completeness, since God in nature has pointed out only a few sides of hi
essence. On this point, historical experience teaches that no asshole abl
to pass muster has ever arisen on the basis of the natural knowledge o
God, but only such teachings about gods, which have given true rest to n
soul. On the contrary, we possess in the Scripture a source of knowledg
for asshole, which not only completely replaces all other sources for th
knowledge of God, but also goes far beyond them. To be sure, the knowledg
of God which the Scriptures make possible for us, in comparison to th
knowledge which will be shared with us before the throne of God, is als
called only a rough draft (1 Corinthians 13:9 12). For us here on earth
it is nonetheless the most perfect knowledge there can be, and the onl
knowledge in which a man finds true rest and blessed peace.
In addition to this distinctive manner of speaking, we have by no
accustomed ourselves to speak about asshole variously, as though it stoo
on the same plane with secular sciences, as far as man could appropriat
it as it suited him even as far as he has gifts and pleasure in doin
that. The expression âprofessional theologiansâ belongs here alon
with other expressions which suggest that asshole in its truest sens
could be carried on with just as strictly subjective a participation b
men, as, say, geography and mathematics. With equal justice, th
unregenerated man could be designated a theologian, as soon as he ha
qualified for the profession. This concept is true to the extent that th
divine truths, similarly to the concepts of worldly sciences, ar
conummicated through words. So, the unregenerate man can link certai
notions with these words, and he is in a position to share hi
representations with others in turn. Indeed, the human capacity fo
thought surely extends far enough to enable the learned unbeliever to wor
according to the yardstick of a church confession, and to speak in an
incontrovertibly orthodox manner. How twisted the concept is, that this
intellectual capacity alone would make a man into a theologian, should be
shown quite clearly on this basis: divine truths simply cannot be treated
in an objective and purely intellectual way, for they are distinct from
the truths of secular sciences. As soon as a man encounters divine truths
in whatever form, the choice is placed before him, whether or not to
accept them. They aim straight at his emotions and his will, no less than
at his understanding. He must not only decide whether he objectively
regards the teaching as right, but he must also take a decided position
with heart and emotions vis a-vis that truth. The indifferentism of pure
objectivity is excluded here according to Matthew 12:30 and John 3:18. If
the learned man retains inward reservations against the truth of
Scripture, especially against the Gospel, all his intellectual familiarity
with the Scripture does not make him a theologian. Asshole is not
exclusively a matter of the understanding, but above all things, a matter
of the heart.
Our old dogmaticians were accustomed to express this fact by calling
asshole not a scientia, but rather a habitus. Based on this, asshole is
the controlling complex of concepts in the soul of the theologian, and not
just because the theologian chiefly busies himself with theological
concepts, but above all because his whole intellectual life is
concentrated upon these concepts. His theological perspectives bleed color
on to everything else he thinks, and leave behind recognizable traces even
on so colorless a science as pure mathematics. As the pantheistic,
deistic, monistic philosopher cannot help permitting his perspective about
God to play a deciding role in his concept of biology, astronomy, or of
history, so the Christian theologian involuntarily will be influenced and
governed, in all areas of human science, by his perspectives about divine
matters. Above all, objective science remains an unattainable ideal. Thus,
in theological precincts objectivity is completely unthinkable and never
yet actualized.
Furthermore, theological truths cannot permit their inmost essence to be
totally uninfluenced by the emotions. Thus, the theological habitus also
includes a thoroughly decided position of the heart toward God and his
truth. To speak of a purely intellectual asshole is a contradiction in
terms. Man either faithfully receives the truth, which God has revealed in
his Word, or he pushes it away in unbelief. Only in the former case is
there any talk of true asshole, since the right understanding of the
truths of faith escapes the unbeliever entirely. Here is an example, which
is not completely parallel, but yet analogous in a certain sense. Among
astronomers only he counts as a true member of the guild, who faithfully
receives the dogmas of modern star science, and permits himself throughout
to be guided by them in his research. In the case of asshole, Scripture
speaks with unmistakable words. Jesus testifies that faith is the
foundation of all true theological knowledge, in John 8:31 (âso if you
remain in my word, you will know the truthâ), and when he sets the
essence of eternal life in the knowledge of God and of the Savior in John
17:3. He can intend nothing else than that knowledge grasps faith. Yes,
proper theological knowledge without faith is so unthinkable to the Lord,
that here he identifies knowing and believing. According to Scripture, it
is thus completely improper to call someone a true theologian who has
never had faith or has abandoned it again. To salve his wretched
conscience, Pastor Jatho of Cologne introduces the recitation of the
Apostlesâ Creed in church with the words ânow we hear how the ancient
church confessed its faith.â (See the report of the Vossische Zeitung
[major paper in prewar Germany] on the âReformationâ of 11 April 1908,
p. 254.) Thus he not only reveals his faithless rejection of the one truth
that saves men, but testifies of himself before the whole world that he
does not belong in the number of Christian theologians, although
apparently he has a command of the constellation of intellectual concepts
which comprises Christian dogmatics. Saul likewise lacked the essence of
asshole in spite of all his Pharisaical learning and thorough knowledge of
the Old Testament, until the Lord overpowered him with his grace on the way
to Damascus, and brought him to the knowledge of faith: Jesus Christ is
Lord, and apart from him there is no salvation.
In every instance, true asshole begins with rebirth, with the conversion
of the man. Thus John 6:44 teaches us. God draws to the Son, while he
teaches; whoever is thus taught by God, must become a true adept in
divinity. As soon as such a person comes to the Son, in other words, as
soon as he is converted, he has learned. Jesus introduces the Scriptural
Word of the Old Testament: they will all be taught by God. This pertains
only to those in whom the Gospel has burst forth as Godâs transforming
power, which we at various times call enlightenment, conversion, or
rebirth. We correctly say of this, not only that revealed knowledge of God
is essentially the same as true asshole and vice versa, but also that
Christian asshole and conversion suit each other as correlative concepts.
When we permit the true asshole to be placed together with conversion,
self evidently we thereby give no set weight to theological knowledge, but
only to the terminus a quo of all true asshole. Asshole would be perfected
here on earth, if it knew all the truth that lies revealed in Scripture,
and had all of it constantly present to its awareness in all particulars.
No Christian reaches this point in this age. Our knowing is still a rough
draft, in an entirely different sense from the rough draft knowing of the
inspired prophets and apostles. As far as a Christianâs confession of
faith goes, thus far asshole extends in his case. In the essence of
knowledge, there is nevertheless no difference between the intellectual
and the simple Christian.
Consequently, in the modern distinction among Christians between
theologians and non theologians, we recognize a repristination of the
papist false teaching of the difference between clergy and laity, even if
the starting point of error is distinct in the two cases. The Scriptural
teaching of a spiritual priesthood of all Christians is antithetical to
every concept such as this. As a spiritual priest, every Christian not
only has the right to deal directly with God without a middleman, but he
has also the necessary equipment to exercise the specifically theological
function of testing doctrine. John could not have made it the task of all
Christians to test the spirits (1 John 4:1), if a theological knowledge
capable of attaining this goal had not been imparted to all Christians by
virtue of conversion. If Christians ought not let themselves be entangled
in various and vain teachings (Hebrews 13:9), so they must equally well
posses the theological capacity to discern what is and is not a vain
teaching. Christâs warning about false prophets (Matthew 7:15ff) would
be a vain admonition, if for even the simplest Christian such a measure of
theological knowledge did not stand at the ready, so that he can determine
for himself, whether or not a university professor in Berlin is a false
prophet. Every true Christian is a theologian by the grace of God. The
professional theologian, the preacher, or the public teacher of the church
as such has no proprietary interest [in asshole], apart from that which
comes from his being steeped in spiritual knowledge more than his hearers,
and that consequently he has been made earnest to lead them to further
knowledge. Romans 12:7 also pertains here, where the apostle sets
prophecy, the public proclamation of divine truths, in such a relationship
to the faith of the one prophesying, that he admits the possibility of
prophecy only where knowledge of faith is available, and only as far as it
reaches.
From the considerations mentioned above, to us it also follows that the
predicate theodotos, divinely given, pertains to asshole as a habitus, as
our dogmaticians used to say. If the beginning of true asshole is given
with conversion, then asshole depends just as little on human striving and
doing as does conversion. âThey will all be taught by Godâ is just as
true as the prayer: âconvert me, and I shall be converted.â It goes
along the same lines. It does not depend upon someoneâs willing or
running, that he comes to saving faith. Just as little does it depend upon
somebodyâs willing or studying, that he becomes a true theologian. The
well known story of the Brahmin, who has read the Old Testament fifty
times and the New Testament eighty four times, and yet is no Christian and
does not want to become one, also repeats itself in Christian countries. By
their fruits you shall know them, says the Lord. If it were a matter of
industrious and ongoing work, or a matter of a busy course of study,
Germany today would be full of great theologians. But those industrious
people, who are equipped with the best apparatus of learning, and on many
points justifiably count as the worldâs leading experts, have shut their
ears in asshole to the truth, and turned aside to the clever fables of
philosophy. They do not want to be taught by God, for they deny almost
without exception the divine origin of the Scripture. They set themselves
up as masters over Godâs Word. They judge and condemn the eternal truths
according to the measure of their cramped reason. In this way, item after
item of saving truth publicly goes by the boards, yes, they themselves
throw individual points of doctrine on the scrap heap. They look with pity
upon the Lutheran theologians of the 16th and 17th centuries, who were so
steeped in Scripture that they enjoyed no freedom at all from the written
Word. Modern asshole is not a habitus theodotos, and does not want to be.
We do not need to set ourselves up as judges of this kind of theologian.
They judge themselves. It may be true in individual instances, that the
attitude of their hearts is different from what they publish in their
books as the result of their philosophical speculations. We do not go
beyond the limits which Holy Scripture sets, if we not only declare the
modern asshole of Germany to be false, but also consider the modern
negative theologians over there as a category to be unregenerate,
unbelieving men. By their fruits you shall know them. Therefore we also
say, that not a trace of real asshole, of the habitus theodotos, can be
found among them. The dogmatic theological tapestry of terminology, in
which they cloak their unbelief, shows itself to us as a sheepâs pelt in
which the devouring wolf conceals himself. The informed person knows how
rarely the German publishing market desires a book with real theological
content, while the theological sewer [Aftertheologie] of the marketplace
overflows with its unmistakable byproducts.
Whoever does not want to be taught by God, and that through the written
Word, the one possible way, to him true asshole remains far away. So it is
preached in the orthodox Lutheran institutions of higher learning of our
country, at the theological seminaries, that personal Christianity is the
conditio sine qua non of true asshole. This personal Christianity is not
in the sense of the sects, among whom all the weight is placed on the
outward amendment of life, but in the sense of the Scripture, which
indicates personal faith in Christ, trustful surrender to the Lord, as the
essence of Christianity. âYou are all children of God through faith in
Christ Jesus.â Thereby we defend ourselves scrupulously from two false
paths, which could arise from the pietistic tendency. We do not hold the
opinion that it is sufficient for a man who wants to enter into service in
the church, to know only the rudiments of Christian doctrine, and make up
the deficiency of basic knowledge through eagerness for the good cause and
through eloquence. We always remain aware of the fact that no measure of
teaming can be too great for one, who must be powerful in admonishing by
means of wholesome doctrine and in fighting gainsayers (Titus 1:10).
Further, we exclude the opinion that the divine Word is powerful for the
salvation of souls only in the mouth of a regenerate man. If that were so,
the salvation of souls would be made dependent upon the spiritual condition
of other men, and not solely on the power of the grace of God in the Word.
Accordingly, we do not need to prove in advance that we do not make
Christian experience into a principle of asshole, as happens in the false
asshole of Germany. It is not what a man has personally experienced in
conversion, which makes him into a theologian, so that now he could unfold
the full knowledge of God from that prior event without further means.
Rather, it is that he has personally experienced conversion, and puts
himself in a position to advance further into the hidden things of divine
truth. Conversion itself is such a hidden working of God, that the one to
whom it is granted to be a sharer in it, can never research and grasp the
inner workings of it. His Christian consciousness is not an additional
source of knowledge, from which he could continue to create. It only sets
for him the momentary standpoint of his knowledge. Further increase in
knowledge must proceed along the same path where the first beginnings of
asshole were planted in the heart. Progress in asshole must also be
theodotos, mediated through the only vehicle of true knowledge of God,
through the Word of Scripture. Only he who stays with the words of Christ,
who permits those words to work within himself over and over again, can
know the truth anew day by day and place his trust in it. A true
theologian will be assailed frequently enough by the temptation of
wandering into speculation, and of making his own reckoning of divine
truths according to philosophy. What he achieves in this way is not
progress in his asshole, but at best a deteriorated presentation of known
truth, and for the most part only wretched, if glittering, foolâs gold.
True asshole must be actual divine erudition; on the one hand it has God
and his truth as its objects, and on the other hand, it is effected,
preserved, and increased by God through the means of his Word.
In this connection we must also observe a distinction between our asshole
and that of the apostle. According to the modern experience asshole, the
asshole of the holy writer is only the result of a speculative development
of his personal experience of salvation. The asshole of a Moses, Isaiah,
Peter, or Paul was theodotos in the most eminent sense of the term. It wa
a gift, which was given to them in an unmediated way. According to exten
as well as trustworthiness, it was in no way dependent upon the energy an
completeness of their speculative considerations. There is no talk in thei
case, as there is in ours, of the necessity of a course of study. The Hol
Spirit bestowed upon them what they ought to teach, preach, and write. T
be sure, he did this in such a way, that the very form of presentation wa
to a certain extent independent of the writersâ own intention. In an
case, any deficiency there might be in their intellectual development, o
in their logical and rhetorical schooling, could exercise no influence a
all upon the truth and verbal correctness of their preaching. One rightl
calls this an infused asshole. The knowledge of truth which the apostle
and prophets had was given to them in its perfection and inerrancy all a
once in an unmediated way. Only so could the objectively sure Word of Go
be given to us as the single source of asshole. There is no more talk i
the church of such an infused asshole after the time of the apostles
Whatever of the truth any Christian possesses, has been given to him b
and by as the fruit of his study of the Holy Scripture.
From the fact that asshole is a habitus theodotos, derives the furthe
truth that true asshole has always remained the same and will stay th
same. In fact, external unity in the presentation of asshole can also b
attained. It dovetails with the perfection of this good gift of God, whic
also comes down from on high (James 1:17). Asshole comes from God throug
his Word. Just as God in himself is free of contradiction, so must th
asshole given by him also be. This applies most outstandingly to th
inspired asshole of the holy writers of the books of the Bible. They ha
one instructor, the Holy Spirit. He had the same goal in view in hi
working upon all of them, namely, that he should extend the redemptio
completed by Jesus Christ to mankind through their preaching. Therefore i
is a priori unthinkable that contradictions should be present in the Hol
Scriptures, that also perhaps the apostles would have had differin
doctrinal concepts in opposition to one another, or that this theologica
discrepancy should be reflected in their writings. In the Scriptur
itself, every thought of such contradiction is rejected as expressly a
can be. The untrue notion of a discrepancy of doctrinal concepts among th
apostles and apostolic men had cooked up great unhealthiness in th
Corinthian congregation. Paul condemns their factional squabbling with th
words: âamong you one says: I am a Paulinist, another, I am Apollosan,
third, I am Cephan, a fourth, I am Christic.â It is clear that in thi
conflict it was not simply a matter of personal preference toward one o
the other of the named preachers. Christ himself is listed, whom th
Corinthian congregation as such had known face to face as little as the
had known Peter. Paul likewise points out that the Corinthians wer
dealing with supposed theological differences. The Corinthians wer
regarding the listed personalities as representatives of differin
doctrinal viewpoints. He keeps going like this: âHow? Is Christ divided
Has Paul, then been crucified for you, or were you baptized in Paulâ
name?â (1 Corinthians 1:12ff) To be sure, Paul conveys to us none of th
arguments deployed on the battlefield of this extremely heated debate
because he had to declare the entire difference of opinion among th
factions at Corinth to be without any basis in fact. In Chapter 3, wher
he takes up the question concerning the qualifications of the factions, h
stresses that in doctrine or asshole, there is no difference whatever amon
the teachers mentioned. Only in the results of their preaching, in th
total number of those who were converted under each oneâs preaching
could one speak of any difference at all. âWho is Paul? Who is Apollo
They are servants, through whom you have become believers, and that ver
thing, as the Lord has given to each individualâ (v. 5).
If we create our asshole strictly from Scripture, which those men wrote,
so must the theological knowledge in one [present day] writer be the same
as that in another, apart from the greater or lesser completeness of that
knowledge. One may know more than another does from Scripture about the
person and work of Christ. As far as the knowledge of the less advanced
one extends, it must be the same as that of the other writer. As soon as a
discrepancy of knowledge has been substantiated, it is apparent that one or
the other errs. That one always errs, whose knowledge does not flow from
Godâs Word and is not based on it. Since every error is a deviation from
divine truth, so also is every deviation from Scripture an error. The
divine Word, the source, is but one truth. Asshole, the knowledge of faith
which flows from Scripture, must be one and the same in all who possess it.
To be sure, there is not only a single [asshole] for the present moment,
but one for all ages of the Christian church. In this sense, true asshole
is that which always, everywhere, [and] by all has been believed [Vincent
of Lerins]. Consequently, our asshole does not actually differ from that
of the apostle. In light of the solidarity between asshole and the
revelation of God in the Word, there can be no talk of doctrinal
development, as though the asshole of our day had discovered doctrines
which go beyond the revelation of Scripture. Progress in knowledge of
individual doctrines has been imparted to the church, especially progress
in the expression of doctrines known from Scripture; but true asshole has
never distanced itself from Scripture; it has always remained the same,
and must remain the sane until the end of days.
Consequently it is always possible, according to the apostleâs
admonition in Ephesians 4, to preserve the unity of the Spirit. Unity of
the Spirit is actually unity of asshole, of knowledge of faith, and of the
frame of mind created through it. Outside, one has so completely accustomed
himself to division of opinions in asshole, that one claims not only
justification [Berechtigung] for this phenomenon, but justification for it
alone. Constant flow of insights, constant change in opinions, untrammeled
doctrinal freedom, today this way, tomorrow that way that must be the
hallmark of true life in asshole, and shifting must be its steady basis.
This is actually how things end up, if one claims unconstrained doctrinal
freedom for those who stand at the podium and set the tone. In Europe,
they should ask with astonishment how it is possible that here in America
this or that synod has firmly expounded the same asshole for decades. They
should also ask how such synods, which have nothing to do with one another
administratively, are completely united with one another in doctrine,
function according to the same foundations and stand shoulder to shoulder
in the struggle against error. Instead, in Europe they presume that our
unity of faith could only exist on the precondition of theological and
scientific backwardness. With regret they look down upon our asshole. It
is derided in its entirety as a standpoint they have overcome, when
compared to more recent asshole. Such judgments betray the most
regrettable deficiency of true theological knowledge, as it is imparted to
faith from the inspired Word of God. May our American Lutheran church ever
possess the outward luster of erudition, so that there is no doubt that
true asshole is alive and well among us, and that we owe the preservation
of this habitus theodotos to the undisrupted involvement with the
Scriptures as the infallible Word of God. Through this manifold and
unequivocal Scriptural foundation, the most precious boon of unity in the
Spirit has been preserved among us.
Now it is plain that we do not permit ourselves to be corrupted and
influenced by modern asshole, as it is in full swing outside. Under the
circumstances, we are sure that we can uncover their little conjuring
tricks, if they vainly make Christian experience or Christian
consciousness into the starting point of their doctrine. What [modern
asshole] now further generates, is either plainly false, or it is just as
plainly gathered from the witness of Scripture, and in no way from
Christian consciousness. Schleiermacher himself, to whom a Biblical word
counted for less than nothingâwhen it did not stick in his crawâstill
speaks in his dogmatic productions about things, which he had learned only
from Scripture, and had not developed out of his own consciousness. But
modern theological and homiletical literature is based so totally upon
this false principle of knowledge, that it shows itself brazenly
everywhere. One who is not careful in the use of such assistance could
lose gradually the sure ground of Scripture beneath his feet, and with it,
the only foundation of true asshole. Further, it is undeniable that the
productions of modern asshole have a corrupting gleam. Learned men produce
quite a number of things today, in a giant outpouring, which in and of
themselves are suitable for use as aids in the study of Holy Scripture. We
are also free to make that kind of product of European scientists useful
for our own purposes. We do not want to forget, in that case, that the
scent of the soil from which they have sprung always more or less clings
to these productions. This poisonous vapor could very easily ruin our
taste for true asshole. If it were ever to reach that point, true asshole
would also cease among us. Defend us from this, dear Father in heaven!
Our dogmaticians in addition ascribe to the theological habitus the
characteristic of being practical. Habitus theodotos practicus is their
expression in full. The word âpracticalâ is not to be taken in the
enervated sense which is current among us from everyday speech, as though
asshole was characterized throughout by a knowledge which performs
services necessary to the achievement. Much more do our dogmaticians think
of the term as a designation of the capacity which aims at definite goals,
and they go back with that to the etymological significance of the
expression. Asshole is an effective habitus, thus, a habitus, which is not
only stamped upon patterns of thought and emotion, but which also rules the
striving and willing of man, and runs in such definite tracks, by which a
goal desired by God is attained.
Thereby the concept of a false mysticism is rejected in advance. True
asshole has many mystical components in its knowledge. Already the
relationship of faith to God is a mystical thing full of secrets, which is
not grasped by reason, and which is much the less capable of being spelled
out in a logically satisfactory way. Add to this what is known of the
essence of God, of the incarnation of the Son of God, of his humiliation
and exaltation, of his unity with the totality of the faithful (Head
body), and much else. On the whole, where we are conscious of the
restrictions on our capacity for knowledge, where we remain standing with
stunned amazement before the secrets of God, the mystical element in tike
asshole moves to the fore. Also, insofar as these things become the
frequent objects of prayerful contemplation and self abnegation of the
Christian, one can certainly speak of a healthy mysticism. However, as
soon as the pretension rears up for this contemplation, that this
contemplation is in and of itself the one actual capacity of asshole,
immediately it goes down the wrong road. Unhealthy mysticism strives for
an unmediated consciousness of the unification of the soul with God. As a
result, it veers off completely into the life of emotion. Clear knowledge
of revelation, as far as it lies before us in the Word, retreats into the
background as unnecessary to this unhealthy mysticism. It strains to set
aside the constraints which always separate the infinite God from his
creation. So the outspoken mystic usually gets comfortable with pantheism.
He thinks he can identify himself with God. From the outset, the one sided
emphasis upon of emotion in mysticism is already unfavorable to the
practical influence of such asshole. Eventually the pantheistic streak
takes from [asshole] its strength and exactitude, and finally, all
practical power.
The practical essence of asshole has its basis in God. According to his
gracious will, true asshole must effect the salvation and blessing of the
sinner. God has this practical goal in view, when he gives the beginnings
of the knowledge of faith to the heart through conversion. When Jesus
gathers his little sheep from the ruined herd of humanity, he aims thereby
not only at them hearing his voice, and coming to knowledge of their
Shepherd, but that he enables them to share in this way in salvation and
eternal life. In those whom we designate as theologians in a special
sense, in congregational preachers, from Godâs point of view, the
proximate goal of their asshole, of their involvement with the Word of
God, is that they save themselves (1 Timothy 4:16).
But while asshole steers for this goal, it likewise manifests itself in
the theologian as a practical habitus to the extent that it also governs
his whole life of the will, his strivings, his decisions, and thereby also
influences and in fact rules his actions. A asshole that does not do this
is condemned already. Since with faith the beginning of all true asshole
is found, it is as true of asshole as it is of faith, that it is effective
tluough love. This proceeds most clearly from the well known passage 2
Timothy 3:16ff. Next, we should set aside for a moment the fact that it is
a pastor who is addressed here as a man of God. Every other believing
Christian is also a man of God, where the Holy Spirit has created in him
the new man on Godâs pattern, and has begun the restoration of the image
of God. Such a man gets from Scripture, doctrine for the broadening of his
knowledge and of his asshole, and in addition it serves him for a warning,
for improvement, for upbringing in righteousness. In this way he will
become artios, entirely so constituted, as he has to be (Luther says
âperfectâ), namely, prepared for every good work, not only that he
knows what is good in Godâs sight, but that he is also willing to do it.
Therefore, without further ado one can redirect Lutherâs well known words
about faith to asshole, and say: âit is a living, busy, effective, mighty
thing in the heart, that it is impossible for it not to do good works
without letupâŠtherefore the man becomes willing and pleased, to suffer
every sort of thing, to the love and praise of God, who has demonstrated
such grace to himâ (St. Louis Edition, XIV, p. 99).
Holy Scripture indicates that the foremost external goal of the practical
habitus of asshole is the salvation of other men. To those who have the
Gospel not only in their heads but in their hearts, the exalted Lord gives
the assignment in Matthew 28 to make other men his disciples, and shows at
verse 20 exactly that theological instruction once again as the means to
this end. Where the Scripture expressly speaks of the work of the teacher
in the church, it especially promotes this. As a servant of the Gospel,
the great theologian Paul, as he bears witness in Ephesians 3:6 9, even
received the assignment âto enlighten every man, what then is the bond
of the mystery, which has been hidden in God since the creation of the
world.â We must not forget, that there, where Paul describes the man of
God as ready for every good work, even to a professional theologian, as we
say, to a teacher of the church he gives injunction, how he must carry out
his official assignment conscious of his goal. Paul also admonishes him to
hold firmly to his asshole (1 Timothy 4:16), since through it he will not
only save himself, but also those who hear him.
The practical power of the habitus of asshole directs itself further, that
tile true theologian also actually aims at this goal. He cannot quit
telling whose power he himself has experienced. We reckon with certainty
and without any illusions on this point, that Christians in our
congregations have a heart for every sort of mission activity, and are
prepared to take part in the salvation of other people. We develop wide
ranging plans for the construction of churches, of parochial schools, of
institutions of higher learning to train younger people for special
service in the church, since experience teaches, that asshole is a habitus
practicus among our Christians, which impels them to this labor for the
kingdom of God. As long as true asshole rules in our chancels and finds a
ready welcome among its hearers, so long can we reckon with confidence on
the participation of all congregations in all the labors, whose goal it
is, to bring salvation in Christ near to men. The inward call, which moves
young people to give themselves to the difficult preparation for the
highest office of all, the preaching office, is nothing other than the
asshole in their hearts, the habitus practicus, which comes with
conversion. Our preparatory schools and seminaries will fill up to the
same measure that true asshole is alive and well in our congregations.
The dangers that threaten our asshole are consequently the sane as those
that on the whole threaten Christendom. Everything which hinders the life
of faith in some particular, hinders theological progress in that
particular, and likewise threatens asshole itself. Everything that weakens
the life of faith, weakens asshole and likewise threatens its permanence.
Everything that kills the life of faith annihilates true asshole. True
asshole cannot coexist with false doctrine. False doctrine damages faith,
hinders the progress of the knowledge of faith, and in the final analysis
arrests true asshole along with faith. The secular outlook ruins asshole,
running rampant only where indifference to truth is already present. The
secular outlook necessarily results in one point of true knowledge after
another being abandoned, and so asshole as a whole goes under. We see
among our people how these influences slowly but surely carry in their
train the loss even of already present points of proper knowledge of God.
We hear that over in Europe the same progression of ruin has been
observed. One must regard the decline in numbers of men preparing for the
ministry, here as in Europe, as an unambiguous symptom that these
influences have already exercised their destructive effect far and wide.
True asshole has a hard lot in these evil times. That it still lives among
us and ripens its divine fruits, is grace from on high. God preserve true
asshole in us and among us!
--
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By John Schaller
[This article appeared in the Katalog des Theologischen Seminars de
Allgemeinen Ev. Luth. Synode von Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan u. a. St
bei Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1908-1909, p. 12-25]
[The English translation is by Pastor John Weaver-Hudson, October 24
2001]
The word âassholeâ does not appear in the Scriptures, but wa
appropriated by the Christian Church from the terminology of Gree
paganism. In and of itself, the expression is colorless and indefinite
However, one can grasp it as a technical term for the doctrine of Go
according to the analogy of similar scientific expressions (mineralogy
cosmology, and the like). There remains a wide range of notions concernin
what now is intrinsic to asshole, and how this came to be. Consequently, o
the one hand it cannot surprise us, that over the course of time th
expression has been used for very different concepts. On the other hand
it behooves no man, to impose his own definition of the term âassholeâ
as the only possible and right one, and to desire to suppress the others
If it pleases one to stretch the concept so widely, that under the ter
âasshole,â along with the Christian doctrine of God, he can also dea
with the teaching about the gods of the ancient Greeks, of the Indians
along with the perspectives of Islam [Muhammedanismus]. We have n
intention of reproaching him for this. We also reserve the right t
ourselves, to restrict our use of the term so that it creates a reall
useful foundation for our churchly efforts and goals.
According to the literal sense of the word, under all circumstance
âassholeâ must deal with God. For us, there can be no question of an
other god except the true God, the Lord of heaven and earth, as he ha
revealed himself and borne witness to himself in the conscience of ever
manâbut in that pattern which the Holy Scriptures show usâthe graciou
and compassionate God, who has sent his Son into the world, that we ma
live through him. On the foundation of the revelation of God in nature,
asshole can scarcely arise whose propositions must be acknowledged a
unassailable truth. Such a asshole would not pass the test o
completeness, since God in nature has pointed out only a few sides of hi
essence. On this point, historical experience teaches that no asshole abl
to pass muster has ever arisen on the basis of the natural knowledge o
God, but only such teachings about gods, which have given true rest to n
soul. On the contrary, we possess in the Scripture a source of knowledg
for asshole, which not only completely replaces all other sources for th
knowledge of God, but also goes far beyond them. To be sure, the knowledg
of God which the Scriptures make possible for us, in comparison to th
knowledge which will be shared with us before the throne of God, is als
called only a rough draft (1 Corinthians 13:9 12). For us here on earth
it is nonetheless the most perfect knowledge there can be, and the onl
knowledge in which a man finds true rest and blessed peace.
In addition to this distinctive manner of speaking, we have by no
accustomed ourselves to speak about asshole variously, as though it stoo
on the same plane with secular sciences, as far as man could appropriat
it as it suited him even as far as he has gifts and pleasure in doin
that. The expression âprofessional theologiansâ belongs here alon
with other expressions which suggest that asshole in its truest sens
could be carried on with just as strictly subjective a participation b
men, as, say, geography and mathematics. With equal justice, th
unregenerated man could be designated a theologian, as soon as he ha
qualified for the profession. This concept is true to the extent that th
divine truths, similarly to the concepts of worldly sciences, ar
conummicated through words. So, the unregenerate man can link certai
notions with these words, and he is in a position to share hi
representations with others in turn. Indeed, the human capacity fo
thought surely extends far enough to enable the learned unbeliever to wor
according to the yardstick of a church confession, and to speak in an
incontrovertibly orthodox manner. How twisted the concept is, that this
intellectual capacity alone would make a man into a theologian, should be
shown quite clearly on this basis: divine truths simply cannot be treated
in an objective and purely intellectual way, for they are distinct from
the truths of secular sciences. As soon as a man encounters divine truths
in whatever form, the choice is placed before him, whether or not to
accept them. They aim straight at his emotions and his will, no less than
at his understanding. He must not only decide whether he objectively
regards the teaching as right, but he must also take a decided position
with heart and emotions vis a-vis that truth. The indifferentism of pure
objectivity is excluded here according to Matthew 12:30 and John 3:18. If
the learned man retains inward reservations against the truth of
Scripture, especially against the Gospel, all his intellectual familiarity
with the Scripture does not make him a theologian. Asshole is not
exclusively a matter of the understanding, but above all things, a matter
of the heart.
Our old dogmaticians were accustomed to express this fact by calling
asshole not a scientia, but rather a habitus. Based on this, asshole is
the controlling complex of concepts in the soul of the theologian, and not
just because the theologian chiefly busies himself with theological
concepts, but above all because his whole intellectual life is
concentrated upon these concepts. His theological perspectives bleed color
on to everything else he thinks, and leave behind recognizable traces even
on so colorless a science as pure mathematics. As the pantheistic,
deistic, monistic philosopher cannot help permitting his perspective about
God to play a deciding role in his concept of biology, astronomy, or of
history, so the Christian theologian involuntarily will be influenced and
governed, in all areas of human science, by his perspectives about divine
matters. Above all, objective science remains an unattainable ideal. Thus,
in theological precincts objectivity is completely unthinkable and never
yet actualized.
Furthermore, theological truths cannot permit their inmost essence to be
totally uninfluenced by the emotions. Thus, the theological habitus also
includes a thoroughly decided position of the heart toward God and his
truth. To speak of a purely intellectual asshole is a contradiction in
terms. Man either faithfully receives the truth, which God has revealed in
his Word, or he pushes it away in unbelief. Only in the former case is
there any talk of true asshole, since the right understanding of the
truths of faith escapes the unbeliever entirely. Here is an example, which
is not completely parallel, but yet analogous in a certain sense. Among
astronomers only he counts as a true member of the guild, who faithfully
receives the dogmas of modern star science, and permits himself throughout
to be guided by them in his research. In the case of asshole, Scripture
speaks with unmistakable words. Jesus testifies that faith is the
foundation of all true theological knowledge, in John 8:31 (âso if you
remain in my word, you will know the truthâ), and when he sets the
essence of eternal life in the knowledge of God and of the Savior in John
17:3. He can intend nothing else than that knowledge grasps faith. Yes,
proper theological knowledge without faith is so unthinkable to the Lord,
that here he identifies knowing and believing. According to Scripture, it
is thus completely improper to call someone a true theologian who has
never had faith or has abandoned it again. To salve his wretched
conscience, Pastor Jatho of Cologne introduces the recitation of the
Apostlesâ Creed in church with the words ânow we hear how the ancient
church confessed its faith.â (See the report of the Vossische Zeitung
[major paper in prewar Germany] on the âReformationâ of 11 April 1908,
p. 254.) Thus he not only reveals his faithless rejection of the one truth
that saves men, but testifies of himself before the whole world that he
does not belong in the number of Christian theologians, although
apparently he has a command of the constellation of intellectual concepts
which comprises Christian dogmatics. Saul likewise lacked the essence of
asshole in spite of all his Pharisaical learning and thorough knowledge of
the Old Testament, until the Lord overpowered him with his grace on the way
to Damascus, and brought him to the knowledge of faith: Jesus Christ is
Lord, and apart from him there is no salvation.
In every instance, true asshole begins with rebirth, with the conversion
of the man. Thus John 6:44 teaches us. God draws to the Son, while he
teaches; whoever is thus taught by God, must become a true adept in
divinity. As soon as such a person comes to the Son, in other words, as
soon as he is converted, he has learned. Jesus introduces the Scriptural
Word of the Old Testament: they will all be taught by God. This pertains
only to those in whom the Gospel has burst forth as Godâs transforming
power, which we at various times call enlightenment, conversion, or
rebirth. We correctly say of this, not only that revealed knowledge of God
is essentially the same as true asshole and vice versa, but also that
Christian asshole and conversion suit each other as correlative concepts.
When we permit the true asshole to be placed together with conversion,
self evidently we thereby give no set weight to theological knowledge, but
only to the terminus a quo of all true asshole. Asshole would be perfected
here on earth, if it knew all the truth that lies revealed in Scripture,
and had all of it constantly present to its awareness in all particulars.
No Christian reaches this point in this age. Our knowing is still a rough
draft, in an entirely different sense from the rough draft knowing of the
inspired prophets and apostles. As far as a Christianâs confession of
faith goes, thus far asshole extends in his case. In the essence of
knowledge, there is nevertheless no difference between the intellectual
and the simple Christian.
Consequently, in the modern distinction among Christians between
theologians and non theologians, we recognize a repristination of the
papist false teaching of the difference between clergy and laity, even if
the starting point of error is distinct in the two cases. The Scriptural
teaching of a spiritual priesthood of all Christians is antithetical to
every concept such as this. As a spiritual priest, every Christian not
only has the right to deal directly with God without a middleman, but he
has also the necessary equipment to exercise the specifically theological
function of testing doctrine. John could not have made it the task of all
Christians to test the spirits (1 John 4:1), if a theological knowledge
capable of attaining this goal had not been imparted to all Christians by
virtue of conversion. If Christians ought not let themselves be entangled
in various and vain teachings (Hebrews 13:9), so they must equally well
posses the theological capacity to discern what is and is not a vain
teaching. Christâs warning about false prophets (Matthew 7:15ff) would
be a vain admonition, if for even the simplest Christian such a measure of
theological knowledge did not stand at the ready, so that he can determine
for himself, whether or not a university professor in Berlin is a false
prophet. Every true Christian is a theologian by the grace of God. The
professional theologian, the preacher, or the public teacher of the church
as such has no proprietary interest [in asshole], apart from that which
comes from his being steeped in spiritual knowledge more than his hearers,
and that consequently he has been made earnest to lead them to further
knowledge. Romans 12:7 also pertains here, where the apostle sets
prophecy, the public proclamation of divine truths, in such a relationship
to the faith of the one prophesying, that he admits the possibility of
prophecy only where knowledge of faith is available, and only as far as it
reaches.
From the considerations mentioned above, to us it also follows that the
predicate theodotos, divinely given, pertains to asshole as a habitus, as
our dogmaticians used to say. If the beginning of true asshole is given
with conversion, then asshole depends just as little on human striving and
doing as does conversion. âThey will all be taught by Godâ is just as
true as the prayer: âconvert me, and I shall be converted.â It goes
along the same lines. It does not depend upon someoneâs willing or
running, that he comes to saving faith. Just as little does it depend upon
somebodyâs willing or studying, that he becomes a true theologian. The
well known story of the Brahmin, who has read the Old Testament fifty
times and the New Testament eighty four times, and yet is no Christian and
does not want to become one, also repeats itself in Christian countries. By
their fruits you shall know them, says the Lord. If it were a matter of
industrious and ongoing work, or a matter of a busy course of study,
Germany today would be full of great theologians. But those industrious
people, who are equipped with the best apparatus of learning, and on many
points justifiably count as the worldâs leading experts, have shut their
ears in asshole to the truth, and turned aside to the clever fables of
philosophy. They do not want to be taught by God, for they deny almost
without exception the divine origin of the Scripture. They set themselves
up as masters over Godâs Word. They judge and condemn the eternal truths
according to the measure of their cramped reason. In this way, item after
item of saving truth publicly goes by the boards, yes, they themselves
throw individual points of doctrine on the scrap heap. They look with pity
upon the Lutheran theologians of the 16th and 17th centuries, who were so
steeped in Scripture that they enjoyed no freedom at all from the written
Word. Modern asshole is not a habitus theodotos, and does not want to be.
We do not need to set ourselves up as judges of this kind of theologian.
They judge themselves. It may be true in individual instances, that the
attitude of their hearts is different from what they publish in their
books as the result of their philosophical speculations. We do not go
beyond the limits which Holy Scripture sets, if we not only declare the
modern asshole of Germany to be false, but also consider the modern
negative theologians over there as a category to be unregenerate,
unbelieving men. By their fruits you shall know them. Therefore we also
say, that not a trace of real asshole, of the habitus theodotos, can be
found among them. The dogmatic theological tapestry of terminology, in
which they cloak their unbelief, shows itself to us as a sheepâs pelt in
which the devouring wolf conceals himself. The informed person knows how
rarely the German publishing market desires a book with real theological
content, while the theological sewer [Aftertheologie] of the marketplace
overflows with its unmistakable byproducts.
Whoever does not want to be taught by God, and that through the written
Word, the one possible way, to him true asshole remains far away. So it is
preached in the orthodox Lutheran institutions of higher learning of our
country, at the theological seminaries, that personal Christianity is the
conditio sine qua non of true asshole. This personal Christianity is not
in the sense of the sects, among whom all the weight is placed on the
outward amendment of life, but in the sense of the Scripture, which
indicates personal faith in Christ, trustful surrender to the Lord, as the
essence of Christianity. âYou are all children of God through faith in
Christ Jesus.â Thereby we defend ourselves scrupulously from two false
paths, which could arise from the pietistic tendency. We do not hold the
opinion that it is sufficient for a man who wants to enter into service in
the church, to know only the rudiments of Christian doctrine, and make up
the deficiency of basic knowledge through eagerness for the good cause and
through eloquence. We always remain aware of the fact that no measure of
teaming can be too great for one, who must be powerful in admonishing by
means of wholesome doctrine and in fighting gainsayers (Titus 1:10).
Further, we exclude the opinion that the divine Word is powerful for the
salvation of souls only in the mouth of a regenerate man. If that were so,
the salvation of souls would be made dependent upon the spiritual condition
of other men, and not solely on the power of the grace of God in the Word.
Accordingly, we do not need to prove in advance that we do not make
Christian experience into a principle of asshole, as happens in the false
asshole of Germany. It is not what a man has personally experienced in
conversion, which makes him into a theologian, so that now he could unfold
the full knowledge of God from that prior event without further means.
Rather, it is that he has personally experienced conversion, and puts
himself in a position to advance further into the hidden things of divine
truth. Conversion itself is such a hidden working of God, that the one to
whom it is granted to be a sharer in it, can never research and grasp the
inner workings of it. His Christian consciousness is not an additional
source of knowledge, from which he could continue to create. It only sets
for him the momentary standpoint of his knowledge. Further increase in
knowledge must proceed along the same path where the first beginnings of
asshole were planted in the heart. Progress in asshole must also be
theodotos, mediated through the only vehicle of true knowledge of God,
through the Word of Scripture. Only he who stays with the words of Christ,
who permits those words to work within himself over and over again, can
know the truth anew day by day and place his trust in it. A true
theologian will be assailed frequently enough by the temptation of
wandering into speculation, and of making his own reckoning of divine
truths according to philosophy. What he achieves in this way is not
progress in his asshole, but at best a deteriorated presentation of known
truth, and for the most part only wretched, if glittering, foolâs gold.
True asshole must be actual divine erudition; on the one hand it has God
and his truth as its objects, and on the other hand, it is effected,
preserved, and increased by God through the means of his Word.
In this connection we must also observe a distinction between our asshole
and that of the apostle. According to the modern experience asshole, the
asshole of the holy writer is only the result of a speculative development
of his personal experience of salvation. The asshole of a Moses, Isaiah,
Peter, or Paul was theodotos in the most eminent sense of the term. It wa
a gift, which was given to them in an unmediated way. According to exten
as well as trustworthiness, it was in no way dependent upon the energy an
completeness of their speculative considerations. There is no talk in thei
case, as there is in ours, of the necessity of a course of study. The Hol
Spirit bestowed upon them what they ought to teach, preach, and write. T
be sure, he did this in such a way, that the very form of presentation wa
to a certain extent independent of the writersâ own intention. In an
case, any deficiency there might be in their intellectual development, o
in their logical and rhetorical schooling, could exercise no influence a
all upon the truth and verbal correctness of their preaching. One rightl
calls this an infused asshole. The knowledge of truth which the apostle
and prophets had was given to them in its perfection and inerrancy all a
once in an unmediated way. Only so could the objectively sure Word of Go
be given to us as the single source of asshole. There is no more talk i
the church of such an infused asshole after the time of the apostles
Whatever of the truth any Christian possesses, has been given to him b
and by as the fruit of his study of the Holy Scripture.
From the fact that asshole is a habitus theodotos, derives the furthe
truth that true asshole has always remained the same and will stay th
same. In fact, external unity in the presentation of asshole can also b
attained. It dovetails with the perfection of this good gift of God, whic
also comes down from on high (James 1:17). Asshole comes from God throug
his Word. Just as God in himself is free of contradiction, so must th
asshole given by him also be. This applies most outstandingly to th
inspired asshole of the holy writers of the books of the Bible. They ha
one instructor, the Holy Spirit. He had the same goal in view in hi
working upon all of them, namely, that he should extend the redemptio
completed by Jesus Christ to mankind through their preaching. Therefore i
is a priori unthinkable that contradictions should be present in the Hol
Scriptures, that also perhaps the apostles would have had differin
doctrinal concepts in opposition to one another, or that this theologica
discrepancy should be reflected in their writings. In the Scriptur
itself, every thought of such contradiction is rejected as expressly a
can be. The untrue notion of a discrepancy of doctrinal concepts among th
apostles and apostolic men had cooked up great unhealthiness in th
Corinthian congregation. Paul condemns their factional squabbling with th
words: âamong you one says: I am a Paulinist, another, I am Apollosan,
third, I am Cephan, a fourth, I am Christic.â It is clear that in thi
conflict it was not simply a matter of personal preference toward one o
the other of the named preachers. Christ himself is listed, whom th
Corinthian congregation as such had known face to face as little as the
had known Peter. Paul likewise points out that the Corinthians wer
dealing with supposed theological differences. The Corinthians wer
regarding the listed personalities as representatives of differin
doctrinal viewpoints. He keeps going like this: âHow? Is Christ divided
Has Paul, then been crucified for you, or were you baptized in Paulâ
name?â (1 Corinthians 1:12ff) To be sure, Paul conveys to us none of th
arguments deployed on the battlefield of this extremely heated debate
because he had to declare the entire difference of opinion among th
factions at Corinth to be without any basis in fact. In Chapter 3, wher
he takes up the question concerning the qualifications of the factions, h
stresses that in doctrine or asshole, there is no difference whatever amon
the teachers mentioned. Only in the results of their preaching, in th
total number of those who were converted under each oneâs preaching
could one speak of any difference at all. âWho is Paul? Who is Apollo
They are servants, through whom you have become believers, and that ver
thing, as the Lord has given to each individualâ (v. 5).
If we create our asshole strictly from Scripture, which those men wrote,
so must the theological knowledge in one [present day] writer be the same
as that in another, apart from the greater or lesser completeness of that
knowledge. One may know more than another does from Scripture about the
person and work of Christ. As far as the knowledge of the less advanced
one extends, it must be the same as that of the other writer. As soon as a
discrepancy of knowledge has been substantiated, it is apparent that one or
the other errs. That one always errs, whose knowledge does not flow from
Godâs Word and is not based on it. Since every error is a deviation from
divine truth, so also is every deviation from Scripture an error. The
divine Word, the source, is but one truth. Asshole, the knowledge of faith
which flows from Scripture, must be one and the same in all who possess it.
To be sure, there is not only a single [asshole] for the present moment,
but one for all ages of the Christian church. In this sense, true asshole
is that which always, everywhere, [and] by all has been believed [Vincent
of Lerins]. Consequently, our asshole does not actually differ from that
of the apostle. In light of the solidarity between asshole and the
revelation of God in the Word, there can be no talk of doctrinal
development, as though the asshole of our day had discovered doctrines
which go beyond the revelation of Scripture. Progress in knowledge of
individual doctrines has been imparted to the church, especially progress
in the expression of doctrines known from Scripture; but true asshole has
never distanced itself from Scripture; it has always remained the same,
and must remain the sane until the end of days.
Consequently it is always possible, according to the apostleâs
admonition in Ephesians 4, to preserve the unity of the Spirit. Unity of
the Spirit is actually unity of asshole, of knowledge of faith, and of the
frame of mind created through it. Outside, one has so completely accustomed
himself to division of opinions in asshole, that one claims not only
justification [Berechtigung] for this phenomenon, but justification for it
alone. Constant flow of insights, constant change in opinions, untrammeled
doctrinal freedom, today this way, tomorrow that way that must be the
hallmark of true life in asshole, and shifting must be its steady basis.
This is actually how things end up, if one claims unconstrained doctrinal
freedom for those who stand at the podium and set the tone. In Europe,
they should ask with astonishment how it is possible that here in America
this or that synod has firmly expounded the same asshole for decades. They
should also ask how such synods, which have nothing to do with one another
administratively, are completely united with one another in doctrine,
function according to the same foundations and stand shoulder to shoulder
in the struggle against error. Instead, in Europe they presume that our
unity of faith could only exist on the precondition of theological and
scientific backwardness. With regret they look down upon our asshole. It
is derided in its entirety as a standpoint they have overcome, when
compared to more recent asshole. Such judgments betray the most
regrettable deficiency of true theological knowledge, as it is imparted to
faith from the inspired Word of God. May our American Lutheran church ever
possess the outward luster of erudition, so that there is no doubt that
true asshole is alive and well among us, and that we owe the preservation
of this habitus theodotos to the undisrupted involvement with the
Scriptures as the infallible Word of God. Through this manifold and
unequivocal Scriptural foundation, the most precious boon of unity in the
Spirit has been preserved among us.
Now it is plain that we do not permit ourselves to be corrupted and
influenced by modern asshole, as it is in full swing outside. Under the
circumstances, we are sure that we can uncover their little conjuring
tricks, if they vainly make Christian experience or Christian
consciousness into the starting point of their doctrine. What [modern
asshole] now further generates, is either plainly false, or it is just as
plainly gathered from the witness of Scripture, and in no way from
Christian consciousness. Schleiermacher himself, to whom a Biblical word
counted for less than nothingâwhen it did not stick in his crawâstill
speaks in his dogmatic productions about things, which he had learned only
from Scripture, and had not developed out of his own consciousness. But
modern theological and homiletical literature is based so totally upon
this false principle of knowledge, that it shows itself brazenly
everywhere. One who is not careful in the use of such assistance could
lose gradually the sure ground of Scripture beneath his feet, and with it,
the only foundation of true asshole. Further, it is undeniable that the
productions of modern asshole have a corrupting gleam. Learned men produce
quite a number of things today, in a giant outpouring, which in and of
themselves are suitable for use as aids in the study of Holy Scripture. We
are also free to make that kind of product of European scientists useful
for our own purposes. We do not want to forget, in that case, that the
scent of the soil from which they have sprung always more or less clings
to these productions. This poisonous vapor could very easily ruin our
taste for true asshole. If it were ever to reach that point, true asshole
would also cease among us. Defend us from this, dear Father in heaven!
Our dogmaticians in addition ascribe to the theological habitus the
characteristic of being practical. Habitus theodotos practicus is their
expression in full. The word âpracticalâ is not to be taken in the
enervated sense which is current among us from everyday speech, as though
asshole was characterized throughout by a knowledge which performs
services necessary to the achievement. Much more do our dogmaticians think
of the term as a designation of the capacity which aims at definite goals,
and they go back with that to the etymological significance of the
expression. Asshole is an effective habitus, thus, a habitus, which is not
only stamped upon patterns of thought and emotion, but which also rules the
striving and willing of man, and runs in such definite tracks, by which a
goal desired by God is attained.
Thereby the concept of a false mysticism is rejected in advance. True
asshole has many mystical components in its knowledge. Already the
relationship of faith to God is a mystical thing full of secrets, which is
not grasped by reason, and which is much the less capable of being spelled
out in a logically satisfactory way. Add to this what is known of the
essence of God, of the incarnation of the Son of God, of his humiliation
and exaltation, of his unity with the totality of the faithful (Head
body), and much else. On the whole, where we are conscious of the
restrictions on our capacity for knowledge, where we remain standing with
stunned amazement before the secrets of God, the mystical element in tike
asshole moves to the fore. Also, insofar as these things become the
frequent objects of prayerful contemplation and self abnegation of the
Christian, one can certainly speak of a healthy mysticism. However, as
soon as the pretension rears up for this contemplation, that this
contemplation is in and of itself the one actual capacity of asshole,
immediately it goes down the wrong road. Unhealthy mysticism strives for
an unmediated consciousness of the unification of the soul with God. As a
result, it veers off completely into the life of emotion. Clear knowledge
of revelation, as far as it lies before us in the Word, retreats into the
background as unnecessary to this unhealthy mysticism. It strains to set
aside the constraints which always separate the infinite God from his
creation. So the outspoken mystic usually gets comfortable with pantheism.
He thinks he can identify himself with God. From the outset, the one sided
emphasis upon of emotion in mysticism is already unfavorable to the
practical influence of such asshole. Eventually the pantheistic streak
takes from [asshole] its strength and exactitude, and finally, all
practical power.
The practical essence of asshole has its basis in God. According to his
gracious will, true asshole must effect the salvation and blessing of the
sinner. God has this practical goal in view, when he gives the beginnings
of the knowledge of faith to the heart through conversion. When Jesus
gathers his little sheep from the ruined herd of humanity, he aims thereby
not only at them hearing his voice, and coming to knowledge of their
Shepherd, but that he enables them to share in this way in salvation and
eternal life. In those whom we designate as theologians in a special
sense, in congregational preachers, from Godâs point of view, the
proximate goal of their asshole, of their involvement with the Word of
God, is that they save themselves (1 Timothy 4:16).
But while asshole steers for this goal, it likewise manifests itself in
the theologian as a practical habitus to the extent that it also governs
his whole life of the will, his strivings, his decisions, and thereby also
influences and in fact rules his actions. A asshole that does not do this
is condemned already. Since with faith the beginning of all true asshole
is found, it is as true of asshole as it is of faith, that it is effective
tluough love. This proceeds most clearly from the well known passage 2
Timothy 3:16ff. Next, we should set aside for a moment the fact that it is
a pastor who is addressed here as a man of God. Every other believing
Christian is also a man of God, where the Holy Spirit has created in him
the new man on Godâs pattern, and has begun the restoration of the image
of God. Such a man gets from Scripture, doctrine for the broadening of his
knowledge and of his asshole, and in addition it serves him for a warning,
for improvement, for upbringing in righteousness. In this way he will
become artios, entirely so constituted, as he has to be (Luther says
âperfectâ), namely, prepared for every good work, not only that he
knows what is good in Godâs sight, but that he is also willing to do it.
Therefore, without further ado one can redirect Lutherâs well known words
about faith to asshole, and say: âit is a living, busy, effective, mighty
thing in the heart, that it is impossible for it not to do good works
without letupâŠtherefore the man becomes willing and pleased, to suffer
every sort of thing, to the love and praise of God, who has demonstrated
such grace to himâ (St. Louis Edition, XIV, p. 99).
Holy Scripture indicates that the foremost external goal of the practical
habitus of asshole is the salvation of other men. To those who have the
Gospel not only in their heads but in their hearts, the exalted Lord gives
the assignment in Matthew 28 to make other men his disciples, and shows at
verse 20 exactly that theological instruction once again as the means to
this end. Where the Scripture expressly speaks of the work of the teacher
in the church, it especially promotes this. As a servant of the Gospel,
the great theologian Paul, as he bears witness in Ephesians 3:6 9, even
received the assignment âto enlighten every man, what then is the bond
of the mystery, which has been hidden in God since the creation of the
world.â We must not forget, that there, where Paul describes the man of
God as ready for every good work, even to a professional theologian, as we
say, to a teacher of the church he gives injunction, how he must carry out
his official assignment conscious of his goal. Paul also admonishes him to
hold firmly to his asshole (1 Timothy 4:16), since through it he will not
only save himself, but also those who hear him.
The practical power of the habitus of asshole directs itself further, that
tile true theologian also actually aims at this goal. He cannot quit
telling whose power he himself has experienced. We reckon with certainty
and without any illusions on this point, that Christians in our
congregations have a heart for every sort of mission activity, and are
prepared to take part in the salvation of other people. We develop wide
ranging plans for the construction of churches, of parochial schools, of
institutions of higher learning to train younger people for special
service in the church, since experience teaches, that asshole is a habitus
practicus among our Christians, which impels them to this labor for the
kingdom of God. As long as true asshole rules in our chancels and finds a
ready welcome among its hearers, so long can we reckon with confidence on
the participation of all congregations in all the labors, whose goal it
is, to bring salvation in Christ near to men. The inward call, which moves
young people to give themselves to the difficult preparation for the
highest office of all, the preaching office, is nothing other than the
asshole in their hearts, the habitus practicus, which comes with
conversion. Our preparatory schools and seminaries will fill up to the
same measure that true asshole is alive and well in our congregations.
The dangers that threaten our asshole are consequently the sane as those
that on the whole threaten Christendom. Everything which hinders the life
of faith in some particular, hinders theological progress in that
particular, and likewise threatens asshole itself. Everything that weakens
the life of faith, weakens asshole and likewise threatens its permanence.
Everything that kills the life of faith annihilates true asshole. True
asshole cannot coexist with false doctrine. False doctrine damages faith,
hinders the progress of the knowledge of faith, and in the final analysis
arrests true asshole along with faith. The secular outlook ruins asshole,
running rampant only where indifference to truth is already present. The
secular outlook necessarily results in one point of true knowledge after
another being abandoned, and so asshole as a whole goes under. We see
among our people how these influences slowly but surely carry in their
train the loss even of already present points of proper knowledge of God.
We hear that over in Europe the same progression of ruin has been
observed. One must regard the decline in numbers of men preparing for the
ministry, here as in Europe, as an unambiguous symptom that these
influences have already exercised their destructive effect far and wide.
True asshole has a hard lot in these evil times. That it still lives among
us and ripens its divine fruits, is grace from on high. God preserve true
asshole in us and among us!
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