Thesis #3: Biblical Justice is “Traditional Justice” – not “Cosmic Justice”

One of the final straws for me was the 2009 ELCA youth gathering in New Orleans. The theme was “Jesus. Justice. Jazz." On the surface, that seems fairly harmless. Who isn’t for justice? However, it’s the type of justice being considered that’s questionable.

In his book, “The Quest for Cosmic Justice,” economist Thomas Sowell spells out two often-conflicting view of justice: Traditional Justice vs. Cosmic Justice.

Traditional Justice deals with innocent vs. guilt and right vs. wrong. Justice is served when the guilty are punished and innocent are set free. Under traditional justice, everyone is BORN equal; all laws apply equally to everyone, regardless of class, race, gender, etc.

Cosmic Justice deals with poor vs. rich. Justice is served when everyone has equal outcomes. Under cosmic justice, everyone is to END UP equal; everyone is entitled to the same lot in life, regardless of their talents, skills, abilities or how hard they’ve worked. A huge empahsis is placed on economic outcomes.

(Note: One of the widely used synonyms for cosmic justice is “Social Justice,” however as Thomas Sowell points out, “There is no such thing as ‘non-social justice.’ Someone alone on a deserted island isn’t concerned about being treated justly.”)

While many Christians hold the Biblical model of justice to the traditional standard, the ELCA has gone the cosmic route.

Along with this follow all the usual myths: economic inequalities alone cause poverty; poverty causes crime; Economics is a zero-sum game; Capitalism oppresses the poor; wealthy Americans become wealthy by exploiting the poor; government is a worthy agent of creating wealth and ending poverty, etc., etc. I don’t have the space or time to write about all these, but they have all been debunked by modern economists.

The exact opposite of all the above are true: the breakdown of the family and a crisis of values cause crime; Economics is predicated on win-win scenarios; Capitalism uplifts the poor; wealthy Americans became wealthy by serving their fellow man with products/services they want; the government perpetuates poverty and squanders resources.

The ELCA (especially many of their clergy and most of the professors at their colleges) have bought into the cosmic justice myth. While many have not explicitly upheld socialism or communism as the ideal, socialism and communism are the logical conclusions of cosmic justice.

Don't fall for it; socialism doesn't work. Capitalism does.

Thesis #2: Universal Salvation is a Lie

If there is one idea that is more dangerous than any other, it has to be "Universal Salvation" -- the belief that everyone goes to Heaven. While not everyone in the ELCA believes this, it is a growing idea in many pastoral circles and should be refuted at every opportunity.

Universal Salvation can encompass one of two ideas. They are:
1. Hell does not exist, or
2. Hell exists, but it is impossible to go there.

Both are scripturally untrue (Mark 9:43-49 and Matthew 7:23, respectively, deal with these issues.). Universal Salvation is another product of wishful, self-therapeutic thinking, ("I believe in a loving God, and my concept of a loving God is one that would never condemn someone to Hell.").

The problem with this is that, if you everyone goes to Heaven, why do you need a Savior? Why do you need to Repent? Why do you need to change your life and strive to become like Christ? Why even go to Church?

I believe that nearly all of the other problems in the ELCA stem from the first two of my theses (See #1 here) . Without scriptural authority and the need for a Savior, your entire moral and intellectual foundation will crumble. More theses to follow...

Thesis #1: The Bible (and not your "bound conscience") is the ultimate source of Truth

In 1517, Martin Luther wrote down 95 grievences (or "Theses") against the Catholic Church, and he hammered them to the cathedral doors at Wittenberg Castle. It started what we now know as the Lutheran Reformation.

Fast forward nearly 500 years, and this time, it is the ELCA Lutheran Church that needs Reforming. In the spirit of Luther, I've come up with a dozen or so theses of my own, and I will hammer them to my blog. Enjoy..
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#1: The Bible (and not your "bound conscience") is the ultimate source of Truth--

At the heart of the ELCA's position regarding gay clergy is the non-biblical concept of a "bound conscience." Apparently, more and more people's consciences are bound to the idea that homosexuality is not immoral. The ELCA has responded by saying it's OK for some congregations to have gay pastors, even if other another congregation's "bound conscience" is geared towards the Biblical standard of sexuality (i.e. One Man + One Woman in a marrage)

This is really an intellectually elite way of allowing moral relativism ("What's a sin for you may not be a sin for moe, because morality is relative to my feelings/thoughts/conscience.")

If I were the Devil, I would LOVE the idea of a "bound conscience." That's just the foothold I'd be looking for. Now that the immovable Bible has been supplanted by peoples' shifting feelings, there's no telling what havoc Satan can use.

Leaving the ELCA

For the first 24 years of my life, I attended and worshipped at an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) church. I went to an ELCA church, sang songs at an ELCA Bible camp and attended an ELCA college. However, certain things have happened in my own life and within the hierarchies of the ELCA that have caused me to distance myself from the organization.

Things officially came to a head this past Summer when the ELCA bishops voted to allow churches to ordain openly gay ministers. As a result, my parents have decided to leave their church home of nearly 30 years and seek out a new place to worship.

And it's made me take a very close look at what I believe and what has lead me to where I am now. I know for a lot of folks, the decision to include homosexual clergy was a shock and a surprise, but for me, it was the straw-that-broke-the-camels-back on a long list of things that have led me to cut ties with the ELCA.

I'll write more about this in later posts, because there are so many things that bother me about the whole situation. But on a brighter note, this whole ordeal has renewed within me a drive to study the Word (i.e. the actual Bible). So this hasn't been totally a bad thing.

Bo Pelini Bingo -- "BingBo"

Reporters covering Spring Practice for the Nebraska Football team have been bored with the lack of "big" news surrounding the program. To combat their boredom, they've created a form of Bingo using words that head coach Bo Pelini uses during press conferences:

BingBo - Big Red Network

Chocolate Festival

Yesterday, we went to Lewisburg for the 2010 Chocolate Fest. Lots of good eats, plus they did a reading of "Curious George," which prompted Noah to dress up!!

Pray for the Miners

I came into work today and noticed that our student counselors were all gone. Here's why:

Update on WVSOM Response to Mine Disaster

Several members of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine community will be in Montcoal, W.Va. today to provide mental health services to those affected by the Upper Big Branch mine explosion.

In collaboration with Greenbrier Valley chapter of the American Red Cross, WVSOM staff members Gretchen Lovett, Ph.D., Professor/Clinical Psychologist, Donna Tolbert, M.A., LPC, student counselor, and Adrienne Biesemeyer, M.A., LPC, student counselor, are on site in Montcoal.

Dr. Lovett, Tolbert and Biesemeyer will provide grief counseling services to family members, co-workers, first responders and people in the community.

Meg McKeon, Ed. D., LICSW, assistant vice president for Student Development, will serve as the institutional contact person for this initiative. Dr. McKeon and Biesemeyer are certified American Red Cross Emergency Responders.

The official notifications from Massey Energy of those miners killed and those still missing will come today, so the need for qualified counselors is expected to be high. WVSOM personnel will provide services for the remainder of this week and next week as needed.

We will continue to update you on WVSOM’s involvement over the coming days.

Richard Rafes, J.D., Ph.D.
President

Truly a trying time for everyone involved.

Nephew in the News

Our nephew, Dylan, made it into the paper. He was at home for Spring Break from the US Military Academy in West Point, NY when the local rotary club asked him to come speak.