Signs of the Times

Hate fuels America today.

Erick Erickson is Possessed by the spirit of Antichrist

Only pure evil would or could say such a profoundly demonic thing.

Erickson is as much a Christian as Satan is.

Signs of the Times

The lies we believe…

Signs of the Times

I think it’s funny….   don’t judge me…

The Anniversary of Julius Wellhausen’s Birth

There’s no question at all that Julius Wellhausen has been far more influential in the field of Old Testament studies than most others.    I mention him now because it was on the 17th of May in 1844 that he was born.  Today is the anniversary of his birth.

Wellhausen was born in the northern German city of Hameln on May 17, 1844. His father was a Lutheran minister; Julius was to follow in the same vocation. Wellhausen was sent to Gottingen during the period 1862-65 to study under Heinrich Ewald, a Hebraist and Old Testament scholar. However, Wellhausen and Ewald had a gradual falling out during the years 1866-70. The two quarreled over the proper interpretation of the Old Testament and about Prussian politics. Wellhausen received his Ph.D. in theology in 1870 and then taught for two years at Gottingen. In 1872, Wellhausen received a professorship at Greifswald, located on the Baltic Sea. He resigned in 1882 because he believed that his teachings were having a dire effect on theological students destined for the ministry, and because he had become a figure of controversy over his published views on the Old Testament.

There’s more here.  Of course it isn’t at all surprising that he was so influential- his initials were, after all, J.W.  Happy Wellhausen Day!

Ein Gott, der Liebe ist: Die Botschaft der Bibel und die Frage nach Gott

Wer ist Gott? Diese Frage wird auch heute noch von vielen Menschen gestellt. Die Antwort wird auf unterschiedlichen Feldern menschlicher Erfahrung gesucht. Sie in der Bibel zu suchen scheint eher aus der Mode gekommen zu sein. Es gibt viele Vorurteile, insbesondere im Blick auf die Gottesvorstellungen im Alten Testament. Aufgrund seiner Jahrzehnte langen Beschäftigung mit der biblischen Botschaft zeigt Walter Klaiber in seinem neuen Buch die grundlegende Einheit der Gottesverkündigung in allen Teilen der Bibel auf. Es gibt unterschiedliche Akzente in den unterschiedlichen Schriften, aber im Grunde spricht die Bibel von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite von dem einen Gott, der Liebe ist. Es ist eine Liebe, die auch Nein sagen kann, die sich für geliebte Menschen und gegen Ungerechtigkeit ereifern kann, aber sie ist grundsätzlich getragen und erfüllt von dem Ja Gottes zu seiner Schöpfung und den Menschen, die er als sein verantwortliches Gegenüber geschaffen hat.

Rezeption und Memoria der Reformation im östlichen Europa

Der Band präsentiert Beiträge von Forscherinnen und Forschern aus Ungarn, der Slowakei, Tschechien, Polen und Deutschland. Sie thematisieren Phänomene und Prozesse der Erinnerungskultur der Reformation vom 16. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert im östlichen Mitteleuropa in Konzentration auf markante Beispiele: Themen wie Geschichtsschreibung, Bildende Kunst, Literatur und Architektur werden ebenso behandelt wie Ausprägungen der Fest- und Memorialkultur und deren Wechselwirkungen mit den jeweiligen politischen und religiösen Gegebenheiten. Geographisch schlägt der Band den Bogen von Siebenbürgen über Ungarn, die Slowakei, Böhmen, Schlesien, Pommern, Polen, Preußen bis ins Baltikum und nach St. Petersburg. Die Vielzahl der Fragestellungen bietet dabei zahlreiche Übertragungsmöglichkeiten. Der Band formuliert nicht eine bilanzierende Zusammenfassung, sondern will neue Anregungen zur Beschäftigung mit der Rezeption der Reformation in Ostmitteleuropa vermitteln.

Quote of the Day

“A balanced media . . . would challenge those who have produced a contemporary clan so confused about good and evil that they consider such distinctions to be merely statements about our personal feelings, . . .” — Carl F. H. Henry

How Studying History Really Works

Via Diarmaid MacCulloch-

How to Destroy Christian Nationslism With one Verse of Scripture

Ben and his ilk of ‘christian’ nationalist Molech worshippers are destroyed by one little verse- ‘My kingdom is not of this world’- Jesus

Every legislature, courtroom, and executive mansion in our land must be brought into submission to the risen and ascended Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords.– Ben Zeisloft

He doesn’t know Jesus.

Seems Timely, Yet AGAIN…..

Quote of the Day

Even as in the blessed in heaven there will be most perfect charity, so in the damned in hell there will be the most perfect hate. – Aquinas

Harrison Butker is Not an Intelligent Man

@buttkicker7 is telling people he likes racism, segregation, and women barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen fixing him some good vittels.

Zwingli Can’t Go to Baden

In 1525 the project of the disputation was revived. The Bishop of Constance chose Baden as the place. Zwingli declared his willingness, if necessary, to go to Schaffhausen or St. Gall, but the city Great Council refused him permission to go out of Zurich. The Diet at Luzern, on January 15, 1526, determined on Baden as the place and May 16, 1526, as the time.

Zwingli’s correspondence of 1526 shows clearly the course of events. After the disputation was determined upon there was uncertainty in regard to the place. Bern favoured Basel. Other cantons wanted Luzern. Œcolampadius naturally preferred Bern. Zwingli did not want to go out of Zurich. Perhaps his physical condition had something to do with it. Œcolampadius, on March 7, 1526, alluded to his having ulcers.

Zwingli himself, writing to Vadianus on Friday, March 30th, tells of an alarming attack of illness which had occurred that day. On April 16, 1526, Zwingli wrote a long letter to the City Council of Bern giving his reasons why he would not go to Baden for the disputation, although anxious to debate in such a presence.

The nine reasons amount to this—that the safe conduct and protection which Bern promised were really valueless under the circumstances because at Baden the Five Forest Cantons, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Luzern, and Zug, devoted to the old teaching, would outvote the other three cantons of Zurich, Bern, and Basel, devoted to the new.

He then proceeds to give his reasons for declining to go to any place where the Five Cantons had control.  

1. Those cantons had condemned him unheard as a heretic and burnt his books.
2. They still persist in doing so.  
3. They have avowedly gotten up the disputation for the purpose of silencing him.  
4. As they have ordered him arrested, contrary to federal law, what value would their safe conduct have?  
5. They are bound by mutual vows to uproot the faith he professed.
6. Their negotiations for the disputation were with Eck and Faber exclusively, not with him, he not being in any way consulted.
7. While Eck’s and Faber’s writings are freely circulated in the Five Cantons, his were suppressed.
8. He had two years before plainly told Eck and company that under no consideration would he go to Baden or Luzern.

Baden was not attended by Zwingli but it was by Oecolampadius, who kept Zwingli informed of all the doings.

Who Loves War?

Who loves war? The military-industrial complex and the politicians, safe at home, who send the young (but not their own) to die.

Who hates war? Grieving moms and dads and all whose children die to further enrich politicians and their military hardware overlords.

Bullies Be Damned

Political bullies, academic bullies, parents who bully, all of them be damned. They are all murderers. And every suicide they provoke is a murder they committed.

Murderers of children have a special place in hell. Damn them.

10-year-old boy takes his own life after getting constantly bullied at school for his glasses and teeth.

Heartbreaking.

Sammy Teusch of Greenfield, Indiana was bullied up until the night he took his own life according to his family.

The parents say they contacted the school 20 times to urge them to do something about the bullying but they were ignored.

Sammy was emotionally bullied but also physically bullied including an incident on a school bus where he was assaulted.

“They were making fun of him for his glasses in the beginning, then on to make fun of his teeth. It went on for a long time,” his father said.

“I held him in my arms. I did the thing no father should ever have to do, and anytime I close my eyes, it’s all I can see.”

Rest in peace, Sammy.

A Lot Has Happened on 16 May Throughout the History of the Church

On May 16, 1522, Huldrych Zwingli published Eine göttliche Vermahnung an die Eidgenossen zu Schwyz [Z1, 155ff].

Heinrich Bullinger preached his First Sermon on that date in 1529. Bullinger was prone to long sermons. Really long. But he was famously adored for them. Which says rather a lot.

Emil Brunner, back in 1925, earned his Doctorate in Theology from the University of Zurich. He was the most important theologian of the 20th century and his influence continues to be significant.

And last but certainly not least, William Peter Stephens was born on 16 May in 1934. Peter was one of the most gifted of historian/ theologians and has written many of the definitive works in English on Zwingli. And he was a great guy too.

Spend a little time today with Zwingli and Bullinger and Brunner and Stephens. There’s scarcely any better way to enjoy an afternoon.

HZ

HB

WPS

What America Has Become

I’m old enough to remember that Jimmy Carter almost lost in 1976 because he admitted having ‘lust in his heart’.

Fast forward to 2016, 2020, and 2024 and look at who the @GOP and maga and ‘evangelicals’ support.

Think about what that says of this country. Just take a few minutes and think about it.

Go ahead.

If You Attend a Church…

And your pastor has to be told that he needs to study the bible, get out.

Today.

Martin Luther’s Confession of Huldrych Zwingli’s Theological Superiority

What follows is a historical reconstruction* by means of figures (they aren’t dolls, stop calling them dolls, I don’t play with dolls)

This happened at Marburg.

_____________
*There is no evidence for this but that’s ok. It’s not like people want historical evidence anymore. Just ask the Ark searchers and their lot.