Dear Friends and Readers of Intrepid Lutherans,
It
is with great personal distress that we inform you, earlier this week
Rev. Paul Rydecki was suspended from WELS on the charge of teaching the
“false doctrine” of Justification by Faith Alone. This drama has been
drawn out over the past few months, issues surrounding which even leaked
into our blog posts, as some had discerned from topics we treated
during July in The Theological Disciplines, and the nature of theological discourse in WELS from a layman's perspective and Theological Discourse in the post-Modern Era. It is an understatement to say that we are not only disappointed by the process we witnessed, but shocked by its conclusion.
The
position of Intrepid Lutherans regarding the doctrines of Scripture
remains clear, and has not changed since we put them in writing on our What We Believe
page at the time of our inception two-and-a-half years ago: we believe
that the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, and we fully
and unreservedly subscribe to the Book of Concord of 1580 as a faithful
confession of Scripture's teachings. These are the only two norms of
doctrine and practice among us Lutherans. There are no other norms.
It is our opinion that it would be most fruitful for those parties who
dispute the Scriptural or Confessional integrity of doctrinal positions,
whether those positions are merely stated or written in documents outside Scripture or the Book of Concord, if
they would begin by engaging in good faith debate over the points at
issue, rather than remain intractable. While Rev. Rydecki's situation
remains his, this dispute is not over. It is just beginning.
Nevertheless, our What We Believe
page has not changed, and will not change; the issues we stand for
remain those stated there, as Rev. Rydecki himself promised our
subscribers when they were informed of his situation a month ago,
stating:
“Let me be very clear, your subscription to the What We Believe statements remains just that, a subscription to those specific What We Believe
statements, nothing more and nothing less. Your subscription does not
mean that you either agree or disagree with me about everything I say or
write, or that you personally question the WELS on its teaching of
justification, and we will point that out again on the blog before any
discussion of this begins.”
Rev. Rydecki remains both an editor and an officer of Intrepid
Lutherans, Inc., although his contributions will, understandably, remain
infrequent over the next several weeks as he focuses on more pressing
local issues. However, in order to protect Rev. Rydecki from any slander
that would result – from gossip or other “private discussion”
that gets passed around by people who have had no direct involvement – he will
supply a brief description of the issues along with a brief defense of
his position. That post will be published by the middle of next week.*
Later this month, a series of posts will be published which will provide
much greater detail regarding this affair.
As in all situations, the Lord is in control, and He knows what He is doing.
Editors of Intrepid Lutherans, on behalf of Rev. Rydecki
Rev. Steven Spencer
Rev. Paul Lidtke
Mr. Douglas Lindee
Mr. Brian Heyer
* NOTE – Rev. Rydecki's brief description of the issues and defense of his position has been published: Suspended from the WELS - Why?
For
those who may be unduly distressed, we submit the following words of
encouragement offered by Dr. Martin Luther, from his commentary on the
Old Testament Book of Genesis, Chapter 7, verse 1.
"For I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation."
Genesis 7:1
Genesis 7:1
This
is in truth an awful picture of the ancient and original world, as
Peter calls it (II Pe. 2:5); by this designation he appears to
attribute something extraordinary to that age in comparison with people
in our age. What more awful statement can be made than what we hear in
this passage, that Noah alone was righteous before the Lord? A similar
picture of the world occurs in Ps. 14:2-3, where it is stated that the
Lord looked down from heaven to see whether there was anyone with
understanding or seeking God. "But," He says, "all have turned aside;
they have been found useless, and there was none who did good, not even
one."
Moreover,
this verdict about the world is in agreement with Christ's statement;
for because the last times will be similar to the times of Noah, Christ
correctly declares (Lu. 18:8): "When the Son of Man comes, will He find
faith?" It is dreadful to live in such an evil and ungodly world. Since
we have the light of the Word, this present time, by the grace of God,
is still a golden age. The sacraments are properly administered in our
churches, and godly clergymen disseminate the Word in its purity.
Although the government is weak, wickedness is not yet beyond hope.
Christ's
prophecy reveals that there will be very distressing times when the Day
of the Lord is at hand, and there will be no sound teachers anywhere
while the church is being suppressed by the ungodly. The counsels of our
adversaries are threatening to bring about this very situation. The
pope and ungodly princes are intent with all their might on destroying
the ministry of the Word, so that when all true pastors have been either
suppressed or corrupted, everyone may believe what he pleases.
The
situation requires fervent prayer and great concern, that a purer
doctrine may be handed down to posterity. If at Noah's time there had
been more godly teachers, a larger number of righteous people might also
have been expected. Since the righteous have been reduced to such a
small number that Noah alone is declared righteous, it is now
sufficiently clear that the godly teachers either had been killed or had
been turned to heresies and idolatry, so that there was left only Noah,
the one "herald of righteousness," as Peter (II Pe. 2:5) calls him.
When the government had been turned into tyranny and the household had
been ruined by adultery and fornication, how could the punishment hold
off any longer?
Such
a danger is also in store for us, since, of course, the last times will
be similar to the times of Noah. Truly, the popes and the bishops are
working hard to suppress the Gospel and to destroy the right established
churches. In this way the world is striving with great effort to
achieve an age similar to the age of Noah, in which all men will go
astray in the darkness of ungodliness once the light of the Word has
been put out. When preaching has been done away with, faith, prayer, and
the right use of the sacraments will not be able to exist.
Such,
writes Moses in this text, was the character of the original world at
the time of Noah, even though that was the youth of the world and its
best part, when the finest minds flourished everywhere and, on account
of length of life, had acquired very great ability because of much
experience. What will be in store for us in this insane state of a world
that is growing old? Therefore we must not put aside our concern for
our descendants, but we must diligently pray for them.
Just
as the ancient world was the most corrupt, so it was also subjected to
horrible punishment: not only did the adults perish, who had provoked
God by their evil deeds, but even that innocent age which has no
knowledge whatever and cannot tell right from left. Without a doubt many
had been deceived because of their artlessness. But here God's wrath
makes no difference; it overwhelms and destroys the adults together with
the infants, the cunning together with the artless...
It
is truly an awful picture of the world when God testifies that He saw
that Noah alone was righteous before Him and mentions neither the little
children nor others who were led astray through no fault of their own.
We
must take note of the phrase "before Me"; for it means that Noah was
righteous not only in regard to the Second Table but also in regard to
the First Table, that is, he believed in God, hallowed, preached, and
called upon the name of God, gave thanks to God, condemned ungodly
teachings, etc. To be righteous before God means to believe in God and
to fear Him, not, as they were accustomed to teach in the papacy, to
read Masses, to free souls from purgatory, to become a monk, etc.
This
phrase serves to condemn the ancient world, which, after it had
disregarded the worship of God in the First Table, was also most
perverse in complying with the Second Table. They derided Noah as a fool
and condemned his teaching as heresy. Meanwhile they complacently
continued to drink, eat, and celebrate their feasts. Thus Noah was not
righteous before the world; he was a condemned sinner.
The
Lord... comforts him with this statement in order that he may ignore
the blind and wicked opinions of the world and not worry about what the
world is thinking or saying, but close his eyes and ears and be intent
only on the Word and opinion of God, in the faith that he is righteous
before God, that is, that he is approved by God and is acceptable to
God.
Surely,
great was the faith of Noah that he was able to believe these words of
God. I would certainly not have believed them. I realize how serious a
matter it is if the opinions of all men assail one solitary individual
and condemn him. We are condemned not only by the opinions of the pope
but also by those of the Sacramentarians, the Anabaptists, and a
thousand others. But these things are child's play and a pastime in
comparison with the troubles of righteous Noah, who, apart from his own
children and his godly grandfather, did not find one human being in the
entire world who approved either of his religious views or of his life.
We, by the grace of God, have many churches that are in agreement with
us, and our princes shun no danger in defense of our teaching and
religion. Noah had no such protectors; he saw his opponents leading a
life in leisure and enjoying themselves in perfect peace. If I had been
he, I would surely have said: "Lord, if I am righteous and please Thee,
but they are unrighteous and displease Thee, why dost Thou bless them in
this manner with riches? Why dost Thou heap all kinds of favors upon
them, while I, together with my people, am maltreated in various ways
and have almost no support at all?" In short, I would despair under such
great misfortunes unless the Lord gave me the same spirit that Noah
had.
Noah
is an illustrious and grand example of faith. He withstood the opinions
of the world with heroic steadfastness and was able to believe that he
was righteous, but that all the rest of the world was unrighteous.
Whenever
I think of those saintly men, John Hus and Jerome of Prague, I reflect
with the greatest admiration on their great courage; for these two men
withstood the verdicts of the entire world -- the pope, the emperor, the
bishops, the princes, all the universities and schools throughout the
empire.
It
is profitable to reflect on such examples often. Such conflicts are
fomented by the prince of the world, who with his flaming darts (Ep.
6:16) is trying to create despair in our hearts; and we must be equipped
not to yield to the rage of the enemy but to say with Noah: "I know
that I am righteous before God, even though the entire world forsakes me
and condemns me as a heretic and an unrighteous man." Thus the apostles
forsook Christ and left Him standing alone; but He said (Jo. 16:32):
"I am not alone." False brethren likewise forsook Paul. These perils are
not new or unusual. Therefore we must not despair in them but
courageously hold fast to the sound doctrine, no matter how much the
world condemns and curses it.
