Ichabod, The Glory Is Departed

Groveling for Money

2012-01-27T14:08:00.000-08:00

How do you spell hypocrisy? We spell it G-r-e-g J-a-c-k-s-o-n. Dr. Gregory L. Jackson on his blog Ichabod the Glory Has Departed now has a PayPal contribution button. This is from the man who criticizes incessantly the requests for funds from legitimate ministries. For someone who attacks others for asking for funds, it's laughable, if not absurd, for this fake pastor and his fake church to be asking for handouts via the web.

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, PhD, and Sexual Predators

2011-12-04T13:27:00.000-08:00

It seems Greg Jackson has a thing about sexual predators. That's all he has been blogging about recently. He has had blog entries about Joel Hochmuth, Jerry Sandusky and others, to the point where it seems Gregory Jackson likes to roll around in such muck.

A lot of criticism how the WELS handled the Hochmuth affair has been posted on Jackson's blog. If there is any criticism, it would be that WELS synod officials spoke too soon in their official capacity before they knew what was actually happening with Mr. Hochmuth. WELS got it right when it fired Hochmuth and sent the following e-mail to its called workers:

On Thurs., Nov. 17, we informed you that WELS Director of Communications Mr. Joel Hochmuth had been arrested for possession of child pornography. He was immediately suspended until the facts of the situation could be determined. On Nov. 18, after more information became available and some of the facts were established, his employment with the synod was terminated.

We continue to cooperate fully with the authorities as this matter moves through the legal process. Initial information from authorities indicates these allegations focus solely on Mr. Hochmuth and no one else connected with our synod. Since Mr. Hochmuth was not a pastor or teacher and served in an administrative position at the synod’s headquarters, his work did not bring him into contact with children in anything other than public settings.

We have reassigned the communication duties to other members of our staff. We will be evaluating how these duties can best be carried out in the future. We are thankful for the support, understanding, and prayers of our synod’s members as we move beyond this difficult time.

We continue to be saddened by these events. We urge all to pray for the innocent children who are victimized by those who produce, distribute, and use these kinds of materials. We also ask that you would continue to keep the Hochmuth family in your prayers as well. It is an understatement to say that they are going through a difficult time. Ask God to give them strength, comfort, and guidance through his powerful Word.

Christians are not immune to Satan’s temptations. David, Paul, and Peter all knew from personal experience that believers can and do commit terrible and unspeakable sin. But they also knew and experienced the restoring power of God’s grace. Joel Hochmuth knows this as well. Joel is receiving pastoral care from his pastors and others. We are confident that the powerful working of the Holy Spirit in God’s Word has brought him to recognize and repent of his sin, and we also know that he has sought and received the comfort of forgiveness in the redeeming sacrifice of our Savior. Please pray that Joel will continue to be assured of forgiveness at the foot of the cross and that God’s grace will restore him, renew him, and strengthen his faith.

Serving in Christ,
Rev. Mark Schroeder, WELS President

Jackson and his ilk will try all they want to discredit the WELS in connection with Joel Hochmuth's arrest. But WELS has handled the situation well. We pray for all the child victims of such pornography. We also pray for Mr. Hochmuth, that he specifically come to repentance over his sins.

And one other thing. Greg Jackson, get your head out of the gutter.

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson Promotes Universal Objective Justification

2011-11-14T11:15:00.000-08:00

In his most recent blog post, Dr. Gregory L. Jackson is proclaiming the gospel of universal objective justification by quoting Luther:

"Gospel means nothing but a preaching and proclaiming of the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ, merited and won by his death. And, historically and etymologically speaking, it is really not that which is contained in books and is put together in letters, but rather an oral proclamation, a living word, and a voice which resounds through the entire world and is publicly proclaimed so that it may be heard everywhere." - Martin Luther, in his exposition of 1 Peter. "What Luther Says" Vol. 2 p. 562.

Sticks and Stones...

2011-11-10T12:52:00.001-08:00

It's interesting to us how Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, PhD, claims that Real Ichabod is guilty of "criminal impersonation" and that the supposed fake post by Brett Meyer is now a "legal matter."

Who's calling the kettle black? There are innumerable people who could take Dr. Jackson to court and sue him for slander and libel if they so chose; and they would probably win any court case hands down. There are enough people Dr. Jackson has slandered and libeled that they could probably file a class-action suit against this fake pastor. Dr. Jackson's site is filled with lies and untruthful innuendo. Jackson calls it satire. What it is is sin, a breaking of the Eighth Commandment.

Wake up, followers of Dr. Jackson!

A Good Laugh, but a Sad Laugh

2011-11-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

We haven't commented on Real Ichabod in the past several months because we've stated all we can about Dr. Gregory L. Jackson and his false doctrine. Our blog posts are out there on the Internet and people are definitely reading what we have to say. Real Ichabod is a steady witness against the drivel of Greg Jackson.

It saddens us greatly when we witness well-intentioned lay people being led astray by the likes of Rev. Jackson, such as Joe Krohn down in Texas. Another sad follower of Jackson is a man by the name of Brett Meyer. Meyer has revealed his ignorance many times in comments sent in to Real Ichabod. But what he recently sent us as a comment caused a good laugh, but a sad laugh:

"Dr. Jackson is the greatest theologian living in America today, yet all you can do his destroy his reputation. I believe that the ELS, WELS, ELCA, and LCMS are all in a conspiracy to silence Dr. Jackson and his rejection of the false gospel of UOJ."

Conspiracy? I think not. Brett Meyer, we sincerely pray that finally you wake up to Dr. Jackson's deceptions. You, too, Joe Krohn.

A Great Comment from One of Our Readers

2011-06-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

We recently received the following comment from one of our readers--

Real Ichabod- Congrats on getting Jackson to be somewhat honest about his view of election. He put up a rambling statement by that LPC guy yesterday about how he has no data from the Bible about whether God foreknew his faith ("those he foreknew, he predestined, those he predestined he called" (Rom) "We have been elected from the very foundation of the world in Christ Jesus" (Eph). He also claimed that predestination would be salvation apart from the means of grace.

First, it apparently never occurs to any of them that Luther discussed and endorsed the doctrine of predestination, as does the Formula of Concord.

Secondly, LPC should recognize that the Lutheran doctrine of predestination differs from the Calvinist because 1.) it is singular, and not double 2.) It does not deny the universality of grace. 3.) Contrary to LPC's claim, God enacts his decree of election through the means of grace. Receiving the means of grace, I know that I am elect and justified.

This is not some sort "red herring" either, as Jackson claims. If salvation does not come by election, then it is by our works and sola gratia is denied. If the Word is effective (as he rightly claims), then God's electing power must be working through it. The laity need to know this so that they do not trust in their own faith or works, but in God's act of grace.

Apparently we in the WELS have done a bad job conveying this. One WELS layman wrote on Jackson's website the other day "Are some in the WELS now teaching election and therefore becoming Calvinists?" We're always taught election, because the Bible, Luther, and the Book of Concord teach election! This information needs to come out!

Thanks again for setting up this website so that laypeople can become educated about the errors that are being put on the internet by Jackson.

The Essence of the Election Controversy

2011-06-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson on his blog, Ichabod the Glory Has Departed, has thrown his lot in with Schmid, Allwardt, Schmidt and Stellhorn when it comes to the 19th Century election controversy in the Synodical Conference. Jackson can spout all he wants about justification by faith, but when he sides with the intuitu fidei crowd, he negates everything the Confessions say about faith. The “in view of faith” group that left the Synodical Conference and pulled the Ohio Synod away and caused the Norwegians to depart for a time essentially denied sola gratia—by grace alone.

There are two ways to view our election or predestination in Christ and its relationship to faith:

1. The intuitu fidei group taught that God chose his elect when he could look ahead into the future and see who would have faith. This teaching would tell us that our faith in time is the cause of our election in eternity. The essential reason for our salvation is then found within ourselves, and not in Christ and his atoning work. This is the synergism Lenski was guilty of, since he was a follower of the Ohio Synod train of thought.

2. The Synodical Conference, with its theologians Walther, Hoenecke, Stoeckhardt, Pieper and others, taught on the basis of Holy Scripture that our election in Christ in eternity is the cause of our faith. Let’s put that another way: Our faith in time is the result of our election in eternity. Sola Gratia!

The spiritual descendants of those who taught intuitu fidei are now found in the ELCA. We don’t believe it is a coincidence.

Dr. Jackson, do you believe that our faith here in time is the cause of our election in eternity, or the result?

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson Finally Shows His Hand

2011-06-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

Dr. Gregory Jackson on his blog, Ichabod the Glory Has Departed, has finally revealed what he's all about. On his site he is resurrecting the old intuitu fidei heresy by promoting the names and works of men such as F.W. Stellhorn and F. A. Schmidt. If our readers are unfamiliar with this controversy that plagued American confessional Lutheranism in the late 1800's, we invite you to read this very thorough and informative paper in the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Essay File--

http://www.wlsessays.net/files/RardinElection.pdf

Response to Tom Wyeth and Others

2011-06-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

Tom Wyeth recently asked a couple questions. When someone writes a comment to a blog, it is not a personal e-mail, but a public comment. He seemed rather impatient for our responses. Sorry, Tom, for the delay, but we don’t have time to sit in front of the computer all day answering blog questions. We hope you understand.

Here are Tom’s questions:

If all are declared innocent as UOJ teaches, for what reason are some damned to hell?

People are damned to hell because of unbelief.

Mark 16:16 “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

John 3:18 “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of god’s one and only Son.”

If righteousness is not the key to entering heaven, since all are declared righteousness, what IS the key to entering heaven? IS it the faith, or is it the righteousness that is draped over the faithful?

You have been reading too much of Dr. Gregory L. Jackson’s and Brett Meyer’s drivel. The passages that teach universal objective justification are plain to see:

Romans 5:18,19 “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.”

There are many more.

The Bible teaches UOJ. But, unlike what Dr. Jackson would have you think, UOJ is never taught in a vacuum. The Holy Spirit always presents it as being received through faith, which is personal subjective justification. For example, in Romans 5, the chapter begins by speaking of being “justified through faith.” Faith in what? Faith in the objective fact that Christ died for the ungodly and that “the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.”

A simple example of UOJ and PSJ is found in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” – UOJ.

“that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – PSJ.

What does a Christian look at when he faces trouble or even death? We look to Christ and his life, death and resurrection for the certainty of our justification before God. We do not look to our personal trust, because it is weak and frail. Personal trust, or faith, is there, but it does not look to itself. It looks to Christ.

So to answer your question, in faith, created in our hearts by the Spirit and not by our own thinking and choosing, we trust that Jesus has draped over us his righteousness.

Edward Koehler explained the relationship between UOJ and PSJ this way in his volume, A Summary of Christian Doctrine, page 149- “Universal justification does not benefit anyone unless it is followed by personal justification, and that personal justification is possible only because of the preceding universal justification. In other words, the fact that God has forgiven all sins to all men does not help anyone unless he accepts it by faith; on the other hand, he cannot appropriate forgiveness to himself if the sins are not yet forgiven. Illustration: Bread will not nourish us, unless we eat it; but we cannot eat it unless it is there.”

Dr. Jackson and Brett Meyer will most likely plaster Ichabod the Glory Has Departed with many quotes from the Confessions regarding justification by faith. We certainly agree with those quotes from the Confessions. The people Dr. Jackson has attacked do not teach the error of Universalism. This is a straw man argument he has set up in order to make himself look good and gain a following. Lutherans with a Synodical Conference background do not deny justification by faith alone.

We received a number of other comments, but they were anonymous and were similar to what you wrote, Tom. We would suggest that you read again the essays

http://www.wlsessays.net/files/ReimHistory.pdf

http://www.wlsessays.net/files/BeckerJustification.PDF

http://www.wlsessays.net/files/KuskeOutreach.pdf

http://www.wlsessays.net/files/RhyneSubjective.pdf

http://www.wlsessays.net/files/ValleskeyJustification.pdf

http://www.wlsessays.net/files/SchallerRedemption.pdf

This Is a Response?

2011-06-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson responded to our last two posts the way he usually does. He does not offer sound theological exegesis to debate our points. Nor does he respond as an individual with a PhD from Notre Dame. Instead, this is what he has to offer:

Two months of hissy fits from the UOJ crowd has me in a merry mood. Tim Glende has another post, where he "reveals" the WELS Church Lady while trying to conceal his own.

He asks, "Why do you call me Tim Glende?" But he never addresses the question.

We have many data points indicating Tim Glende as the anonymous bully.

He blogs from Appleton on a Mac, but stopped sending comments here when I identified him.

He responds with great fury about Appleton and The CORE.

He was a bully in high school and college.

He is a mean-spirited and vindictive bully in his parish. The evidence is his treatment of a member, Rick Techlin, excommunicating him for asking questions about plagiarizing Groeschel and other foul, dishonest deeds.

He had the Doctrinal Pussycat replace the Circuit Pussycat for daring to address his plagiarism. Incidentally, he lied about copying Groeschel.

He grew up in a non-WELS, Masonic Church Growth congregation, where a pastor kicked out of Missouri for adultery was allowed to run the WELS circuit and promote false doctrine.

He became Facebook friends with Kudu Don Patterson in May.

All co-inky-dinks, I am sure.

The quotation in the headline is from the Smalcald Articles (Luther). I knew the Sausage Factory grads would never recognize it. The statement made me laugh as I thought about the LutherQueasies and Tim Glende.

Together they fume, excommunicate, and name-call to perfection. They clearly hate justification by faith and denounce anyone who follows the Scriptures and Luther on the essential content of the Gospel.

Jackson cannot respond with sound theological arguments because he doesn't know how to. Exegesis? How could he, since he was trained at Yale and Notre Dame? All he does is repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat his same old and tired accusations that he made when Herman Otten still allowed him to write for Christian News. In the meantime, he hasn't answered our questions yet regarding the synergism and the intuitu fidei doctrine of the Ohioans. He hasn't answered because he knows he's a synergist, and he can't respond to the intuitu fidei charge because if he was honest in his theology, he would reveal that he really doesn't believe in salvation by grace through faith.

WELS Church Lady Revealed

2011-06-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

Real Ichabod recently received the following comment from the "WELS Church Lady". She has commented on a number of blogs. She's finally revealed herself as "Rebecca Quam". We wonder, though, if even that is her real name.

This is what she wrote us:

Brother Glende, Studium Excitare has some fine essays expressing Confessional Lutheran doctrine. Here are a few that would be of some interest to your(and all peoples) spiritual life:

http://www.studiumexcitare.com/content/61 Where Faith Comes From by Johannes Brenz

http://www.studiumexcitare.com/content/155 The Third Sermon: On Preparation for Receiving the Lord's Supper by Johannes Brenz

Faith through Mark Jeske and preparation for John Parlow may not be working in the best interest of Brother Glende's spiritual life. Unionism only leads into the Unification Church. Unfortunately, these churches are on the road to universalism. God does not get all the glory in those settings because many beliefs are included.

Speak with a neighboring pastor. "Knock and the door will be opened." Use your pastoral gifts to promote confessional unity within the WELS. Say "NO" to the church growth disciples over the age of fifty. Jeske and his close associates are involved with the government. Don't get me wrong; a member in good standing is free to serve in public office. However, government infiltration within the ranks of the church is a different albeit serious matter.

I almost forgot, if you need some Sunday clothes(elbs, suits, dress shoes) contact the ladies from the LWMS. If you need some confessional teaching materials, I'm sure the area churches would be happy to provide. Christ heals. We must seek his kingdom.

In Christ,
Rebecca(rebecca.quam@yahoo.com)

Why do you call me "Brother Glende"? Just because Dr. Gregory L. Jackson of Martin Chemnitz Press claims I'm Tim Glende? If he's deceived you with my identity, what else has he deceived you about? What was that Jesus said? "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." Sounds like you're already half-way down his gullet.

We appreciate your references to the Brenz articles. We'll be sure to read them.

I have plenty of suits and dress shoes. I wear a robe with a liturgical stole every Sunday. Thanks for the offer.

Jackson's Training Comes Back to Haunt Him

2011-06-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson boasts that he studied at Yale Divinity School and Notre Dame. These are very liberal, God-denying and Bible-denying institutions of higher learning. Never did he receive a thorough, confessional Lutheran theological training.

Jackson's kind of training can be seen in his numerous posts regarding universal objective justification, a comforting Bible truth guaranteed by Jesus' resurrection (Romans 4:25). The "pastor" without a call writes as if people who don't agree with him are universalists, and that Luther and the Confessions never taught UOJ (as he and his friends refer to universal objective justification).

But sometimes the truth does come out on Jackson's blog, Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed. Several days ago he quoted a portion of the Formula of Concord which teaches both UOJ and personal subjective justification. Someone wrote in to "Pastor" Jackson and quoted:

FC SD, III, 57: "But, since it is the obedience as above mentioned [not only of one nature, but] of the entire person, it is a complete satisfaction and expiation for the human race, by which the eternal, immutable righteousness of God, revealed in the Law, has been satisfied, and is thus our righteousness, which avails before God and is revealed in the Gospel, and upon which faith relies before God, which God imputes to faith, as it is written, Rom. 5:19: For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous; and 1 John 1:7: The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth us from all sin. Likewise: The just shall live by his faith, Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17."

Chemnitz and the signers of the Formula teach clearly the wonderful, comforting and saving truth of universal objective justification when they write that Christ's obedience "is a complete satisfaction and expiation for the human race, by which the eternal, immutable righteousness of God, revealed in the Law, has been satisfied, and is thus our righteousness, which avails before God and is revealed in the Gospel.." This is universal objective justification! But UOJ never stands by itself! The Formula then follows with personal subjective justification: "...which avails before God and is revealed in the Gospel, and upon which faith relies before God, which God imputes to faith..."

It's sad to see then, that Jackson quotes his cronies who deny not only what the Formula says, but also what the Bible teaches. This is simply because of his liberal, Bible-denying background and education. He and his friends are denying clear Bible truth because it does not make sense to their reason. UOJ and PSJ stand hand in hand. One cannot exist without the other. But Jackson and his friends write as if the LCMS, WELS, ELS, CLC, CoLC and others teach nothing about PSJ.

Jackson will likely respond to this post by offering up reams and reams of quotes from Luther and the Confessions that say we are saved by faith. No one is denying that wonderful truth which contrasts salvation by works vs. salvation by grace. Every real confessional Lutheran pastor teaches we are saved by faith, faith in the objective truth that Christ atoned for the sins of the world.

A Taste of His Own Medicine

2011-06-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

Rev. Paul McCain of Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis has written some scathing remarks about Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, PhD on Luther Quest, a discussion forum of mostly LCMS pastors. McCain has referred to Jackson as a cult leader, who celebrates Communion through his Internet worship services by having his listeners partake of bread and wine after he has said the Words of Institution online. With McCain's comments, Jackson is getting a taste of his own medicine.

We have long thought Jackson was a wolf in sheep's clothing, especially with his denial of universal objective justification. McCain has it right, that Jackson cannot understand this comforting Biblical doctrine because of his non-Lutheran and liberal-Lutheran theological education.

Followers of Greg Jackson, we have mentioned on Ichabod how you need to beware of this deceiver. Maybe you will finally realize who you're following when he wants you to all move to Guyana with him, and the favorite beverage is Kool-Aid.

Rev. Gregory Jackson and the General Council - Originally Posted January 24, 2010

2011-04-10T17:05:00.001-07:00

In one of his earlier posts Dr. Greg Jackson on his blog, “Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed,” expressed that he was in agreement with the 19th Century General Council.

By expressing his agreement with General Council theology, Dr. Jackson is revealing himself as a false teacher.

The General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America was formed shortly after the Civil War under the theological leadership of Charles Porterfield Krauth. The Minnesota Synod, Michigan Synod and Wisconsin Synod were participants in the General Council. The Wisconsin Synod was part of the General Council for a short time. It left in 1869 over the so-called Four Points. The Minnesota Synod left in 1871 and the Michigan Synod left in 1887. These three synods eventually merged to become ultimately the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS).

In 1867 the Ohio Synod asked the General Council to declare its stand on Four Points: 1) chiliasm or millennialism; 2) mixed communion (like the open communion of today); 3) sharing pulpits with non-Lutherans; and 4) secret societies (like the Masonic Lodge and others).

The General Council’s response was weak, and what its members confessed wasn’t what they actually practiced. Millennialism was still being taught, members were still allowed to belong to the lodge, pulpits were still being shared with Calvinists and other heterodox church groups, and communion was still open for Calvinists and others.

A paper was presented in the early 1870’s at a preliminary Synodical Conference meeting entitled “Memorandum containing a detailed explanation of the reasons why the synods that are uniting into the Synodical Conference of the Ev. Lutheran Church of North America were unable to join one of the already existing so-called Lutheran associations of synods in our country.” It was expressed in this “Memorandum”—

"By virtue of our conscience bound by the Word of God we cannot agree to carry on church fellowship with obviously false teachers and un-Lutheran spirits for the sake of outward church union or to pull on one synodical yoke with such with whom we have no true unity of spirit."

The followers of Dr. Gregory L. Jackson should ask themselves the question: Why am I following and supporting someone who agrees with the theology of the General Council? Either Rev. Jackson doesn’t really know the history, or he actually endorses the false doctrine of the General Council: millennialism, lodge membership, open communion and the sharing of pulpits with the heterodox.

The Bible Clearly Teaches Universal Objective Justification - Originally Posted January 4, 2010

2011-04-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

Pertinent quotes from “Justification Expounded by Scripture,” by Jon D. Buchholz, presented at the 58th Biennial Convention of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod assembled at Martin Luther College New Ulm, Minnesota, July 26, 2005:

Both the Apology to the Augsburg Confession and the Formula of Concord explicitly equate the terms justification and forgiveness. “To attain the remission of sins is to be justified, according to Psalm 32:1: ‘Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit’” (AC:IV, 76).

Justification is an objective reality

We call justification objective, because the reality of God’s verdict takes place completely in the realm of God, entirely apart from man’s involvement. Man has nothing to do with it, and man’s subjective perception or opinion does not change it.

What causes justification to take place? Lutheran theologians have always maintained that there are two causes for man’s salvation: (1) the grace of God and (2) the merits of Jesus Christ. Neither of these two causes has anything to do with the participation of sinful human beings. Both causes exist completely in God’s sphere.

From the cross Jesus cried triumphantly, “It is finished” (John 19:30). What is finished is his life of active obedience, his passion and suffering—all his work of bearing and atoning for the sin of the world. This truth of Jesus’ completed work stands as an objective truth, whether a human being believes it or not. There is nothing that any human being can do to change what happened outside Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago. No doubt or disbelief can change the fact that the lifeless Lord Jesus Christ came back to life on Easter Sunday and left behind an empty tomb. Jesus’ triumphal cry from the cross, “It is finished,” stands forever as the objective declaration that Christ’s work of salvation is complete.3

Justification is complete for all

The term objective justification is often used in our circles to describe the truth that God’s justification is complete for the entire world. Properly speaking, the term for this is universal justification or general justification. I prefer to maintain the distinction between objective (referring to the truth that justification takes place completely in the sphere of God, apart from man’s subjective involvement) and universal (indicating the all-embracing object of God’s objective verdict, namely the entire world). Since the term objective justification is found neither in Scripture nor in the Lutheran confessions, we can understand the term correctly as referring to the justification of the entire world. The distinction between objective and universal is useful, however, and, in some cases, significant.4

In the 1500s, while the Lutheran theologians in Germany were rediscovering and expounding the biblical doctrine of justification, John Calvin (1509-1564) was working in Geneva to bring about a reformation in Switzerland. Unfortunately, Calvin’s doctrine of justification differed from the biblical truth correctly expounded by the Lutherans. Calvin wrestled with the question of why some are saved and not others. His inability to submit his human reason to Scripture and his stubborn insistence that the things of God had to make sense led him to a logical but erroneous conclusion. Calvin taught that God had decided in eternity who would be saved and who would be damned, and nothing could change this predetermined, sovereign decision of God. Calvin reasoned that the blood of Christ would not be wasted on those who were going to be condemned anyway, so he taught limited atonement. He did not believe that Jesus died for the sin of the whole world, but only for the sin of believers who had been elected by God to salvation.

Of course, Scripture teaches that Jesus died for all. No sinner was missed; no sin was left unpaid. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (John 3:16). Jesus is the atoning sacrifice, not only for our sins, but for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting men’s sins against them (2 Corinthians 5:15). Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away [Greek: “bears”] the sin of the world (John 1:29). Scripture goes beyond saying that God has reconciled the world to himself and paid for the sin of the world in Christ. The Bible reveals the wonderful truth that through the life, death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ, God has justified the world. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:23).5 The term “justification” is applied universally when St. Paul writes, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for [Greek: “because of”] our justification” (Romans 4:25).

The words atonement, reconciliation, forgiveness and justification are not always interchangeable. Each has a distinct and particular meaning. However, each of these terms is bound to the once-for-all events that took place at Calvary and the empty tomb, and each of these terms can be applied properly in the universal sense.

Scripture teaches universal grace: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16). The gospel reveals God’s love in Christ, which extends to every single human being of all time.

Scripture teaches universal atonement: “[Jesus Christ, the Righteous One] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). Atonement is often defined in Sunday school and catechism class as “at-one-ment.” This is, more precisely, the result of Christ’s atonement, that we end up reconciled and at one with God. Atonement is payment to make up for guilt. Synonyms for atonement are satisfaction and expiation.

Scripture teaches universal reconciliation: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Jesus is the universal peacemaker. His sacrifice on the cross has removed thebarrier of guilt and sin that separated humanity from God. Where the barrier of hostility has been removed, there is peace. In Christ and through Christ the status between God and the human race has changed from one of hostility to peace. We sing at Christmas, “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”

Scripture teaches universal forgiveness: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Forgiveness is the non-imputation of sin, so that sin and guilt are no longer charged to a person’s account (Psalm 32:1, Romans 4:7,8). The sin of the world has been charged to Christ, laid upon his shoulders, and nailed with him to the cross. It is no longer charged to us.

Scripture teaches universal justification: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified [Greek: “being justified”] freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23, 24). “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for [Greek: “because of”] our justification” (Romans 4:25). “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification6 that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18,19). In Romans 5 the Apostle Paul details the complete contrast between the first Adam and the second Adam (Christ). The former brought death; the latter brought life. The sin of the former resulted in universal condemnation; the obedience and sacrifice of the latter brought universal justification.7

Justification is by faith

The completed, objective reality of God’s “not-guilty” verdict in Christ is received, or appropriated, only through faith. This grasping of the reality of Christ’s completed work through faith we call subjective justification or personal justification. God’s verdict of “not-guilty” stands vis-à-vis the entire world regardless of human knowledge or belief, nevertheless this truth must be appropriated or personalized for each individual sinner to receive the benefit of God’s verdict. For a person to go to heaven, he must be brought by the Holy Spirit to repentance and trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of his sins.

But what is faith? It’s important to understand what faith is—and what faith isn’t.

Faith is not mere knowledge of facts. It is implicit trust in the promises and actions of God. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed” (Isaiah 28:16).

Faith is preceded by true contrition, genuine sorrow over sin. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).

Faith lays hold of the completed work of Christ for comfort and the certainty of salvation. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned” (John 3:18a). “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).

Faith is not the product of human reason, intellect or will. Faith is a gift from our gracious God: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8,9). Yet, while faith does not originate in man’s will, faith engages and involves a believer’s mind, assent and will.

Faith is worked by the Holy Spirit, without synergy or cooperation on the part of man. “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” (Romans 9:16).

Faith is produced in human hearts by the Spirit working through his instrument or means of grace. This tool of the Spirit is the gospel, coming to us verbally in the spoken and written word of God and both verbally and tangibly in the sacraments. “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

Lutheran theologian Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586) describes faith thus:

“Faith” in the article of justification must be understood not only as knowledge and general assent, stating in a general way that the promise of the Gospel is true, but that at the same time it includes the activities of the will and the heart; that is, it is a desire and a trust which, in the struggle with sin and the wrath of God, applies the promise of grace to each individual, so that each person includes himself in the general promise given to believers. In this way he raises himself up so that he determines without hesitation that the promise of the Gospel is firm for him also. From this he gains comfort and life in time of temptation.8

We must understand that faith doesn’t create anything new. Faith doesn’t bring anything into existence that doesn’t already exist. Faith doesn’t cause something to happen. Faith simply grasps—trusts—something that already is in place. Faith grasps the objective reality of God’s completed salvation in Christ. Faith appropriates the universal truth and takes personal ownership of God’s forgiveness found only in the Savior.9 Remember the causes of our salvation, according to Scripture: (1) the grace of God and (2) the merits of Christ. There is nothing inside man, including faith, which is a cause of salvation.

We must also understand, as stated above, that faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is not something that a human being can come to on his own. A few years after John Calvin, a teacher by the name of Jacob Arminius (1560-1609) taught—partly as a reaction to John Calvin’s doctrine of double-predestination—that the determination of whether a person will be saved or lost rests within the will of man. Arminius taught that man has a free will and must make the choice to accept Jesus in faith or reject him. Faith, according to Arminius, is an act of the will, the result of man’s rational decision. Like Calvin, Arminius set his own reason above Scripture, and he came up with another reasonable but unbiblical understanding of salvation.10 Luther recognized that unbelieving man does not have a free will, but that his will is entirely bound up and enslaved in sin. He confessed in his explanation to the Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed, “I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him.” Faith must come from God, because in the bondage of our will we cannot come to faith on our own.

Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we are personally justified, as we are given the gift of faith. Faith lays hold of Christ. Faith grasps Jesus’ completed work of redemption. Faith trusts that reconciliation between God and mankind has been accomplished by the Savior. Spirit-worked faith brings God’s universal verdict of “not-guilty,” lays hold of the righteousness of Christ, and appropriates it for our own.

This is justification by faith and through faith. Scripture speaks abundantly of the sinner’s personal justification through faith which appropriates the righteousness of Christ. “A righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:21, 22). “’Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:3-5). “This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’ The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Romans 4:22-24). Why is a sinner found righteous before God through faith? Only because of the object that Christian faith clings to. We don’t have faith in works, we don’t have faith in feelings, and we don’t have faith in faith. Christian faith holds onto Christ. Chemnitz wrote, “Faith is the unique means and instrument through which we lay hold on the righteousness of Christ, receive it, and apply it to ourselves.”11

The truth that a person must be individually justified through faith does not undermine the general, once-for-all justification accomplished on Calvary. Some have wrongly supposed that Christ’s justifying work on Calvary was incomplete, and that faith is required to make justification complete. This is not a biblical understanding of justification. It nullifies Jesus’ declaration from the cross, “It is finished,” by saying that the justification of the world really isn’t finished, or that when Jesus said, “It is finished,” he meant something other than the justification of the world. It inserts an additional cause for man’s salvation beyond the grace of God and merits of Christ and includes faith as a cause of salvation. It redefines faith as something that brings about an effect and causes forgiveness and justification to take place.

The world’s redemption was complete at Calvary. The general justification accomplished in God’s great exchange at the cross provides the object for justifying faith which personally grasps the objective truth.
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3 A German Lutheran proverb says, “Jesus Christus starb für mich, fühl’ Ich oder fühl’ Ich nicht” (“Jesus Christ died for me, whether I feel it or not”).

4 Objective and subjective are the terms most commonly used in our fellowship. Since faith is the work of God, without man’s participation or cooperation, we can legitimately say that the gift of faith is the result of the objective will and working of God. In place of the terms objective and subjective justification, we might prefer to use the older terms general (allgemeine) justification and personal (persönliche) justification. The term subjective justification might be misinterpreted to mean an experiential awakening based upon feeling or emotion; this would not be a meaning intended by Lutherans. The term universal justification may be confused with universalism, the teaching that all people will be saved.
In this essay, I will use the terms objective, universal and general justification interchangeably, and subjective and personal justification interchangeably.

5 The subject of both phrases of the Scripture passage is the word “all.” All have sinned, all being justified freely through Jesus’ redemption.

6 Greek has two words for justification: dikaiwma and dikaiwsij. Dikaiwma means “justification” in the sense of a verdict that is rendered, a declaration of “not-guilty.” Dikaiwsij brings out more the sense of the action of declaring righteous or the state of being declared righteous (in English it’s difficult to capture exactly the nuance of the two Greek nouns). The word used in Romans 4:25 and 5:18 is dikaiwsij. In Romans 5:16 Paul uses dikaiwma.

7 Dr. R. C. H. Lenski, 20th-century Lutheran theologian and author of an excellent series of commentaries on the books of the New Testament, had no trouble with “universal atonement” and “universal reconciliation,” but denied “universal justification,” saying, “One may call God’s raising up of Christ God’s declaration to this effect, and, because it is such a declaration, one may call it ‘the universal justification of the whole world.’ Yet to use the word ‘justification’ in this way is not a gain, for it is liable to confuse the ordinary man; we are fully satisfied with the Scriptural word ‘reconciliation’” (Lenski, 84).

Early Lutheran dogmaticians Philip Melanchthon and Martin Chemnitz both equated justification with reconciliation (Chemnitz, 43, 72), and in Romans 4:25 it is clear that the term “justification” is also applied universally: Jesus was delivered over to death for our [the world’s] sins and was raised to life for our [the world’s] justification. If we ask the question, “For whom did Jesus die?” the answer must be: for the world. If we ask, “For whom was Jesus raised?” the answer must also be: for the world. It is untenable to understand the passage as, “He was delivered over to death for our [only believers’] sins and was raised to life for our [only believers’] justification.” That would be limited atonement, as Calvin wrongly taught. Likewise it is untenable to understand, “He was delivered over to death for our [everyone’s] sins and was raised to life for our [only believers’] justification.” That would mean that Jesus died for everyone, but he rose again on Easter only for believers.

8 Chemnitz, 92.

9 This very important truth—that faith is appropriative and not causative—can be illustrated thus: A sports fan may say, “I believe that my team will win the World Series this year.” Such faith does not bring about the desired outcome. The person’s belief doesn’t cause anything to happen. In this case, the “faith” expressed is merely a hope or a wish that something will happen. Likewise, if a team wins, and a jaded, cynical fan refuses to believe it, that fan’s erroneous belief doesn’t change the reality of what happened.

Faith is simply trust. Faith must have an object, something that it holds onto. That object may or may not be real or true, but faith doesn’t make it real or true. Faith that holds onto something untrue is misplaced—no matter how sincere it may be. Christian faith appropriates and holds onto the reality of God’s justification completed in Christ. It does not cause justification or forgiveness to take place. It simply grasps God’s justification that is already a reality.

10 Jacob Arminius is the father of “decision theology,” a theological system that is widely adopted by many Protestant church bodies today. In this system, faith is an act of human reason. Babies cannot have faith, because they cannot render a decision for Jesus. An important aim of worship is to create an environment where a person can more readily make a decision for Christ. This system strikes at the heart of justification by God’s grace alone and ultimately makes salvation depend upon whether or not man makes the right decision.

11 Chemnitz, 86.

A Screw Is Loose Somewhere - Originally Posted January 6, 2010

2011-04-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

We find it extremely enlightening that Gregory Jackson boasts about his past relationships with liberal scholars who deny the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture, justification by faith alone and even the virgin birth and physical resurrection of Christ. His list of liberal, faith-destroying and Bible denying theological friends and acquaintances is mind-numbing—

Nils Dahl
Tjaard Hommes
John Howard Yoder
Paul L. Holmer
Roland Bainton
Sydney Ahlstrom
Jaroslav Pelikan
Henri Nouwen
Krister Stendahl
Conrad Bergendoff
Stanley Hauerwas
Martin Marty
Elisabeth and Francis Schuesller-Fiorenza
George Lindbeck
Abraham Malherbe
Robert Wilson
Stanley Olson

Rev. Gregory Jackson remembers such notable liberals with fondness, but then he viciously attacks a confessional and evangelical retired pastor and professor like David Valleskey.

All you followers of Greg Jackson: WAKE UP!

Dr. Greg Jackson's Doctrinal Errors - Originally Posted 1/10/2010

2011-04-03T19:54:00.000-07:00

On his blog www.thegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com, Rev. Gregory Jackson wants everyone to download a copy of Heinrich Schmid’s Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Dr. Jackson promotes this volume as a faithful presentation of Biblical and Lutheran doctrine. But Schmid’s Doctrinal Theology is filled with errors, especially the errors of synergism and intuitu fidei, which were dealt with by confessional Lutherans in the 19th Century.

It has been said that those who don’t learn from the mistakes of history are bound to repeat them. Greg Jackson is too smart not to remember the obvious doctrinal errors of the past. But we still wonder about his intelligence when we view the pictures he posts on his site and the obvious lies and half-truths he continues to repeat.

Here is just a sampling of some of the doctrinal errors in Schmid’s book, a book Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D. promotes as a wonderful example of sound Lutheran teaching. It should make you wonder where Gregory Jackson really stands when it comes to doctrine.

Heinrich Schmid, Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1899, Reprint Edition.

Page 271, “II. The Special Will of God. — Thus this same will [11] of God, in reference to the salvation of men is designated, when we view it in connection with the divinely foreseen conduct of men towards the offered grace, as the condition upon which they are to be saved.”

Page 271, “…it already follows from the above distinction, according to which the general will of God is not absolute, but ordinate and conditioned, that the accomplishment of this gracious will is conditioned by the conduct of man towards the offered grace.”

Page 272, “…it refers not to all men, but only to those of whom God foreknows that they will properly treat the offered grace.”

Page 272, “…to save through the merits of Christ the definite number of those whose right treatment of the offered grace God had foreseen.”

Page 273, “…by virtue of His foreknowledge, He recognizes in advance those who will lay hold upon the merit of Christ, and only to these does His purpose refer…”

Page 273, “As God foreknows those who will perseveringly believe in Christ; and as, in view of this, He forms His purpose to save these…”

Martin Luther’s Reformation was based on the foundation of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), Sola Gratia (Grace Alone) and Sola Fide (Faith Alone). Those who teach and promote the synergism of Schmid like Gregory Jackson does totally negate Sola Gratia (Grace Alone). If we are not saved totally by God’s grace alone and if we contribute anything to our own personal salvation, then justification by faith means absolutely nothing. Even Greg Jackson should be smart enough to figure that out.

Our guess is that Greg will respond to this entry on our blog by posting more pictures with stupid captions or by listing tons and tons of irrelevant quotes. We dare Dr. Jackson to have a substantive debate on this subject. We dare him to prove to his readers he is not a synergist. But from what we have seen on his blog, and in spite of the degrees he boasts of from such illustrious liberal and Roman Catholic institutions as Yale and Notre Dame, we doubt he has the capacity to do that.

Here He Goes Again and Again and Again and Again

2011-04-03T19:38:00.001-07:00

Dr. Greg Jackson in his blog, Ichabod The Glory Has Departed, continues to attack, mock and deny the comforting Biblical truth of universal objective justification. Since he's got so much time on his hands, Dr. Jackson can spew his garbage a hundred different ways on a daily basis. We don't have the time or the inclination to react to everything he writes. We will, however, repost some of our earlier blog posts. Jackson's Ichabod is like a soap opera: you can leave it for a year, come back to it, and he's still saying the same thing. Our responses to Jackson are just as valid as when we first posted them.

WELS Pastor Fired after the Worship Service? Really?

2011-03-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

In a post today that accompanies a picture of the pope, Dr. Gregory L. Jackson writes on his blog, Ichabod the Glory Has Departed,

"An elder walked up to the pastor after the service and said, 'You're fired.'

Look at the list of Church and Changers getting calls and promotions, the newly graduating Sausages needing a call."

This is journalism and blogging at its best, folks! No name, no date, no place. We're just to accept this bit of GOSSIP because Dr. Jackson says so.

Is it any wonder most readers don't take this "pastor-without-a-call" seriously?

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, the Charlie Sheen of Lutheranism

2011-03-09T04:33:00.000-08:00

The postings on Dr. Gregory L. Jackson's blog are getting more ridiculous. Below is a fine example of the "pastor" without a call's visual rantings. He's reminding us of Charlie Sheen, the self-destructive actor who got canned from his job on a TV show and is now making a fool of himself on web videos and TV talk shows. Dr. Jackson got canned from several positions he has held, and now he has nothing better to do than ruin the reputations of others with ridiculous pictures and off-colored commentary. For someone with an earned doctorate, we would expect better. Dr. Jackson brags about all the visitors to his blog, "Ichabod the Glory Has Departed", but he has less than a handful who take him seriously. That number is getting less and less, as his readers come to the enlightenment that this guy really doesn't know how to tell the truth.

What Gregory L. Jackson Really Thinks of Himself

2010-12-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

We haven't commented on this blog for some time because Greg Jackson continues to spew the same old slander on "Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed." If you dig deep enough through the garbage, you can find a gem of truth every now and then. For example, this "independent Lutheran pastor," who really is not a pastor at all because he has no call, reveals what he really thinks of himself by posting this picture of St. Gregory of Arkansas.

Former MLS Pres. Aaron Frey Writes on Facebook about Greg Jackson

2010-09-22T11:42:00.001-07:00

Aaron Fry wrote the following on Facebook Sept. 21, 2010. It is obvious he is writing about Dr. Gregory Jackson and his Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed blog--

Like a fool still holding out hope for a man I used to respect long ago, I did check a very inflammatory anti-WELS blog just before sharing this. I know the issue of which he speaks, we've already addressed it in class and leaving for that ...reason would not be for the good of MLS. It would be lying. I only comment on it for the sake of the students who might be hurt by his unhelpful and injurious blogging habits. If he was correct, I would have had to resign for cause of heresy. It's hard to believe even now that he is so quick to believe a rumor just so that he can have a more sensational accusation, but now that he has attacked me directly without any knowledge and without a word to me, I don't know how else to take it.

The Purpose of This Blog

2010-09-22T06:50:00.001-07:00

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson wonders why "fake-o-bod" doesn't comment on the news stories he considers so important and shares on his site, "Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed." For one, much of what Jackson places on his blog is half-truth, and many times he simply spouts real, honest-to-goodness lies. We have learned to read everything he writes with a suspecting eye.

Second, it is not the purpose of this blog to comment on everything happening in the WELS. We need to remind our readers of what we posted in December of last year:

Real Ichabod has been watching Rev. Gregory Jackson’s blog regularly since we stopped posting earlier this year. It became evident today that we need to start posting again, since Rev. Jackson’s deceptive journalistic practice raised its ugly head in his entry entitled “Keep Studying Women’s Ordination Until WELS Realizes the Synod Already Has a Bevy of Women Pastors.”

Immediately under the title of his blog entry Rev. Jackson posted a picture of Paula White who is a non-Lutheran TV evangelist. Jackson then proceeds with an article about Paula White and her ministry. Right after that article Rev. Jackson lists the member of the WELS’ Women’s Ministry Committee, along with several WELS articles about the Committee and its upcoming National WELS Women’s Leadership Conference in July 2010. He ends the post by writing:

"GJ - Which women were consecrating Holy Communion? WELS/ELS will never tell. That would be informative and edifying. The outlines given above show this is another outgrowth of Church and Change."

I hope our readers can think for themselves and see how Rev. Jackson’s blog is full of deception. He gives the impression with his title and the article of Paula White that Ms. White is a WELS member. Or at least the uninformed would get that impression. Then he plasters the names of the participants of the WELS Women’s Ministry Committee all over the web. If he knew these people personally, he would realize they were solid confessional Lutherans who know what Scripture clearly teaches regarding the roles of men and women. Nowhere in the National WELS Women’s Leadership Conference agenda that he lists is there anything said about women consecrating Holy Communion or serving as pastors; but the agenda is perfectly in agreement with what the Bible teaches about women’s roles in the church, the family and in society.

Rev. Jackson loves to make insinuations. He loves to make unsubstantiated accusations. He thinks he’s the conscience of the WELS. Those who swallow everything he writes as truth (like Freddy, Brett, etc.) will be in for a rude awakening when they finally realize what kind of man Rev. Jackson really is. You would think they would get a hint with his record as a pastor.

Dr. Gregory Jackson's Report about MLS Pres. Frey

2010-09-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

Friday it was announced that Pres. Aaron Frey of Michigan Lutheran Seminary, the WELS high school in Saginaw, Michigan, resigned "for the good of the ministry." MLS provided an official letter on its website from Dr. William Zeiger.

Dr. Jackson couldn't wait to report the news on his gossip blog, Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed. Unfortunately, he had to add his own personal comments based on some secret source of his in Michigan. This is what Dr. Jackson wrote, "I have an official source saying that Aaron Frey could not take the strain of trying to keep the school going during such dire financial straits." Dr. Jackson criticizes others for not quoting their sources, but he does the same thing!

Today, Saturday, September 18, Greg Jackson wrote on his blog, "Please do not try to fool an information maven. The official story is not true. WELS is so used to lying that the officials think they can fool an entire synod." He then proceeded to report the so-called "real" reason for Pres. Frey's resignation.

There was no "official" reason publicly given for Pres. Frey's resignation. Jackson simply stated that a source of his reported Frey resigned because of burnout. The next thing Jackson does is accuse the WELS of lying. No official report or news release was made by the WELS, MLS or anyone else. Dr. Jackson, from what we can tell, made up what his original source said, and then he turned around and accused the WELS of lying.

It should be obvious to anyone with half a brain that the WELS is not the entity that lied here. Dr. Jackson is telling lies, and then he blames someone else for his personal untruthfulness. But that's nothing new for Dr. Jackson, is it?

A Welcome New Blog

2010-08-31T07:51:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen it yet, we would encourage our readers to visit the new Intrepid Lutherans website. We would especially invite you to read the following posting:

http://www.intrepidlutherans.com/2010/08/pietism-and-ministry-in-wels-brief.html

Unlike Dr. Gregory Jackson's blog, "Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed," IntrepidLutherans.com offers scholarly insightful articles on the church growth movement, pietism and other issues affecting confessional Lutheranism in our day.

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson Should Read This Article

2010-08-24T22:03:00.000-07:00

Greg Jackson should read this article and take it to heart. It's only a matter of time before someone takes him to court over his libel and slander.
__________________

Blogger beware: Postings can lead to lawsuits
A false sense of Internet security can mean legal quagmires for critics who are careless about facts.
August 23, 2010|By David G. Savage, Tribune Washington BureauReporting from Washington —

The Internet has allowed tens of millions of Americans to be published writers. But it also has led to a surge in lawsuits from those who say they were hurt, defamed or threatened by what they read, according to groups that track media lawsuits. "It was probably inevitable, but we have seen a steady growth in litigation over content on the Internet," said Sandra Baron, executive director of the Media Law Resource Center in New York.

Although bloggers may have a free-speech right to say what they want online, courts have found that they are not protected from being sued for their comments, even if they are posted anonymously.

Some postings have even led to criminal charges.

Hal Turner, a right-wing blogger from New Jersey, faces up to 10 years in prison for posting a comment that three Chicago judges "deserve to be killed" for having rejected a 2nd Amendment challenge to the city's handgun ban in 2009. Turner, who also ran his own Web-based radio show, thought it "was political trash talk," his lawyer said. But this month a jury in Brooklyn, N.Y., convicted him of threatening the lives of the judges on the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In western Pennsylvania, a judge recently ruled a community website must identify the Internet address of individuals who posted comments calling a township official a "jerk" who put money from the taxpayers in "his pocket." The official also owned a used car dealership, and one commenter called his cars "junk." The official sued for defamation, saying the comments were false and damaged his reputation.

In April, a North Carolina county official won a similar ruling after some anonymous bloggers on a local website called him a slumlord.

"Most people have no idea of the liability they face when they publish something online," said Eric Goldman, who teaches Internet law at Santa Clara University. "A whole new generation can publish now, but they don't understand the legal dangers they could face. People are shocked to learn they can be sued for posting something that says, 'My dentist stinks.' "

Under federal law, websites generally are not liable for comments posted by outsiders. They can, however, be forced to reveal the poster's identity if the post includes false information presented as fact.

Calling someone a "jerk" and a "buffoon" may be safe from a lawsuit because it states an opinion. Saying he wrongly "pocketed" public money could lead to a defamation claim because it asserts something as a fact.

"A lot of people don't know how easy it is to track them down" once a lawsuit is filed, said Sara J. Rose, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer in Pittsburgh.

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson Goes Too Far

2010-08-24T14:23:00.001-07:00

This is a picture Greg Jackson recently posted on his blog, "Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed." It is inexcusable that Dr. Jackson would use photos of people who are obviously handicapped in order to attack others he does not agree with.

Followers of Dr. Jackson, how can you continue to support this man who will stoop to the lowest depths in order to mock those he has issues with? If Dr. Jackson was really moved to lead the people he writes about to repentance, he wouldn't post such pictures or write such cutting commentary.

It is because of pictures such as this and his blatant lies and half-truths that no one can take him seriously.

Greg Jackson's Sermons

2010-08-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

Every weekend Dr. Gregory L. Jackson posts one of his so-called "sermons" on his blog, "Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed."

There is really no teaching taking place on Jackson's "Ichabod". What he seems to be doing is trying to get even with all the people who have apparently crossed him throughout life. He is not really admonishing anyone, either. He has no intention of teaching, admonishing, or sharing the Gospel.

A case in point is his latest sermon. It's simply a rehash of what he's been writing on a daily basis. There is no love for his readers. There is no concern expressed for the spiritual welfare of his followers. This man with a Ph.D. can't even preach the Gospel! He talks about justification by faith. He talks ABOUT the Gospel, but he doesn't preach THE Gospel.

P.S.- Another typical example of Dr. Gregory Jackson's sermonizing is what he posted for August 22, 2010. No real theme. No substantial parts. Just a regurgitation of his daily articles. No real law. No real Gospel. No application to the lives of his readers. Did he ever take a homiletics class? Most of his sermon is copying from the KJV and Lenski. Yes, he quotes his sources. But Jackson offers no real original work.

The Re-Branding of Dr. Gregory L. Jackson

2010-07-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson is now trying to tell those who read his blog that he is involved in polemics. Polemics is defending the faith. Once in a great while Dr. Jackson may have a brief blip or two in which he defends orthodox, historical, and confessional Lutheranism, but it's rare. He mostly spends his time ruining the reputations of men and women against whom he holds a personal grudge (Like Ski and David Valleskey).

Is this polemics, the defense of the faith?

It has been proved beyond a doubt by Real Ichabod that Greg Jackson is a farce. He is a persistent errorist when it comes to the doctrine of universal, objective justification. By promoting Lenski and Schmid he reveals he holds to the false teachings of synergism and intuitu fidei. By promoting Reu he shows he is a closet millennialist. He is a hypocrite when he condemns those who attended Fuller, while he brags about his own attendance at Notre Dame and Yale.

Wake up, people! It's about time Greg Jackson's followers understand who they are following and supporting. Dr. Jackson certainly is not a confessional Lutheran. Greg Jackson is certainly not a polemicist for confessional Lutheranism.

Preaching and Teaching without a Call--Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.

2010-07-06T04:54:00.001-07:00

For years Gregory Jackson has been condemning and criticizing others for attending and earning advanced degrees from sectarian institutions of learning as Fuller Theology Seminary. Nevermind that he earned his PhD at Notre Dame, a bastion of Roman Catholicism. Nevermind that he attended Yale Divinity School, a fortress of Bible denying liberal theological mishmash. Oh, the hypocrisy!

Recently Greg Jackson posted a blog entry entitled, "Preaching and Teaching without a Call--McCain and Kilcrease." Who doesn't have a call, Rev. Jackson? You call yourself a pastor, but you have no call to any one or any group, except maybe your wife.

Dr. Gregory Jackson condemning others who preach and teach without a call. This is hypocrisy at its finest!

Greg Jackson's Inability to Defend His Errors

2010-07-02T08:05:00.000-07:00

On our site we have raise substantive issues about Dr. Gregory L. Jackson and the authors and positions he supports:

By promoting Reu without any caveats, Jackson reveals he's a millennialist.

By idolizing Lenski, Greg Jackson confesses that he believes in the false doctrines of intuitu fidei and synergism.

By marketing Schmid without qualification, GJ proves he not only is a promoter of intuitu fidei, but he also shows himself to be a synergist.

We would hope Dr. Jackson would debate us on these subjects on the basis of Holy Scripture. He does not because he cannot. We doubt if he even knows the historical background of the intuitu fidei controversy. He does not deny he is a synergist. He cannot confess to his readers, "I am not a millennialist!"

Watch how Dr. Gregory L. Jackson responds to our posts from this week. He will not offer substantive arguments on the basis of Scripture. He may spew tons of quotes from his database from Luther and the Confessions, which really prove nothing, since Luther and the Confessors were writing about subjective, personal justification. How he will respond is with more stupid pictures and more slander and libel.

Will Gregory L. Jackson respond with Scripture and confessional Lutheran exegetical arguments? We doubt it, because he is incapable of it.

Jackson Has No Interest in Admonition

2010-07-01T11:06:00.001-07:00

Greg Jackson in his blog, Ichabod the Glory Has Departed, has no real interest in admonishing and bringing those to repentance whom he believes have fallen into the error of Church Growth. All he wants to do is smear the good name and reputation of those who have given their lives to proclaiming God's Word and sharing his sacraments.

R. L. Schultz, WELS Church Lady, Brett Meyer, J. F. Schmidt, Norm Teigen, Freddy Finklestein, Bruce Church, Mild Colonial Boy, and others, by your support and agreement with Greg Jackson you not only show your agreement with his doctrinal errors, but you also hold responsibility for his blanket character assassination that occurs daily on his blog. Most of you Greg Jackson followers and supporters use pseudonyms, so if Greg would ever turn on you, no one knows your real name. You're showing how afraid you are of him, too. But when Greg Jackson goes on the attack, he uses real names and real pictures. By supporting Jackson, you will also be held accountable for his slander and libel.

Protect Your Reputation

2010-06-29T17:42:00.001-07:00

Listening to the car radio this afternoon, I heard an advertisement for ReputationDefender.com. This software allows people to react and respond online to those who would post slanderous and libelous statements about them.

For those who names and reputations have been dragged through the gutter by Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D. on his Ichabod the Glory Has Departed blog, you may want to check out ReputationDefender.com.

https://www.reputationdefender.com/index.php

Why No New Postings

2010-06-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

Someone recently asked why Real Ichabod has not been posting anything new.

We think that we have responded sufficiently to all of the doctrinal errors Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, Ph. D., has promoted on his blog, Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed. Because of the doctrinal positions and persistent errorists he supports and encourages his readers to digest, Dr. Jackson has shown himself to be--

--a supporter of the false teaching that Christ will establish a thousand year reign on earth at the end of time.

--a denier of the biblical doctrine of objective, universal justification.

--a defender of the false doctrine of intuitu fidei, which was proved by Walther, Hoenecke and others in the 19th Century to be a subversive error that subverts the grace of God in Christ.

--a slanderer, who uses God's Word and the Lutheran Confessions, along with his stupid pictures, to mock others.

--a hypocrite, who boasts about his own advanced degrees from liberal, Bible-denying institutions as Yale and Notre Dame, while at the same time condemns those who have pursued advanced degrees from other non-WELS/ELS institutions.

How many times does one have to point these things out? Once should be enough. Although he posts on an almost daily basis, Dr. Jackson's subject matter hasn't changed an iota since Ichabod first appeared on the Internet.

We will continue to keep this blog on the web, so that those who search for Greg Jackson's name and website will hear another voice and hopefully realize what this guy is really all about.

By the way, Dr. Jackson's readers must be tiring of his subject matter, too. Although his readership remains high, fewer and fewer people are commenting on his blog.

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson Is a Millennialist!

2010-04-09T05:52:00.000-07:00

Johann Michael Reu

1869-1943

Wartburg Theological Seminary

In his blog that he's entitled "Ichabod the Glory Has Departed," Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, Ph. D., has offered a blanket endorsement and has promoted the writings and the theology of Johann Michael Reu (1869-1943), who taught at the Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. Wartburg was founded by Wilhelm Loehe and was originally an Iowa Synod institution. It's now a seminary of the ELCA.

The fact that Greg Jackson is unequivocally promoting an Iowa Synod theologian, whose denomination taught falsely when it came to the doctrine of election, should be enough to disturb even Jackson's staunchest suppporters. But Reu was also known for his millennialism. In his 1999 paper for the Bethany Reformation Lectures at Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato, Minnesota, "American Lutheran Views on Eschatology and How They Related to the American Protestants," Prof. John M. Brenner of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary wrote:

The most notable Iowa Synod premillennialist was J. Michael Reu (1869-1943). Reu taught at Wartburg Seminary and is best known for his scholarly work on the Augsburg Confession, homiletics, and catechetics. He also taught Lutheran dogmatics. His unpublished lectures include the following theses under the heading “The Preliminary Perfection of the Kingdom of God.”

1. Before the kingdom of God will be consummated, the gospel must be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all nations.

2. The proclamation of the gospel among all nations is followed by the conversion of Israel.

3. Other events which according to the Scriptures shall take place during the final period are the general apostasy within Christendom and the appearance of the Antichrist.

4. Antichrist will be vanquished by Christ who will also cause the first resurrection.

5. The overthrow of Antichrist and the first resurrection are followed by the preliminary consummation of the kingdom of God, the millennial reign of the saints with Christ.

6. The millennium is followed by the final crisis, through which the church passes to actual perfection.

Prof. Brenner also footnoted this section with these references:

Reu’s Lutheran Dogmatics was printed in two volumes for classroom use at Wartburg Seminary. His lectures on The Preliminary Perfection of the Kingdom of God were printed in The Confessional Lutheran, vol. III, #11 (November 1942) p. 113-120.

We have no doubt that Dr. Greg Jackson will counteract this revelation about Reu by mocking Prof. Brenner. But Prof. Brenner's scholarship is irrefutable. Reu was a blatant millennialist. By promoting the writings and the theology of M. Reu of Wartburg Seminary without reservation, Greg Jackson is also revealing himself to be a millennialist.

The Deceit of Gregory L. Jackson

2010-01-31T18:24:00.000-08:00

de-ceit
–noun
1. the act or practice of deceiving; concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating: Once she exposed their deceit, no one ever trusted them again.
2. an act or device intended to deceive; trick; stratagem.
3. the quality of being deceitful; duplicity; falseness: a man full of deceit.

In the sidebar of his blog, Dr. Jackson includes the following picture--

Immediately below the picture is this comment--

"Click pic for WELS Women Pastors"

There are no WELS women pastors. There have never been any WELS women pastors.

This is nothing but DECEIT.

Gregory L. Jackson Mocks God's Word and the Lutheran Confessions

2010-01-25T12:39:00.000-08:00

In his blog, "Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed", Dr. Gregory L. Jackson mocks the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions by posting stupid pictures. He claims he's a satirist (which he's really not), but in reality he's simply using Scripture and the Confessions to mock and ridicule people he doesn't like.

Holy Scripture gives us an example of public admonition in Galatians 2:11-21. Paul admonishes Peter for his hypocrisy in his dealings with Jewish and Gentile Christians. Paul purpose in admonishing Peter in public was so the others who were swayed by Peter would also learn a very important lesson.

In his Large Catechism, Dr. Martin Luther wrote concerning public admonition,

284] "All this has been said regarding secret sins. But where the sin is quite public so that the judge and everybody know it, you can without any sin avoid him and let him go, because he has brought himself into disgrace, and you may also publicly testify concerning him. For when a matter is public in the light of day, there can be no slandering or false judging or testifying; as, when we now reprove the Pope with his doctrine, which is publicly set forth in books and proclaimed in all the world. For where the sin is public, the reproof also must be public, that every one may learn to guard against it."

Public admonition is for "reproof." It is intended to lead impenitent sinners to repentance. It is also meant to bring those who have strayed from God's Word back to the truth of the Scriptures.

It's obvious this is not Gregory L. Jackson's intent. He simply wants to mock and ridicule. Where is the reproof in posting pictures such as these? There is none!

Rev. Gregory Jackson and the General Council

2010-01-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

In one of his earlier posts Dr. Greg Jackson on his blog, “Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed,” expressed that he was in agreement with the 19th Century General Council.

By expressing his agreement with General Council theology, Dr. Jackson is revealing himself as a false teacher.

The General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America was formed shortly after the Civil War under the theological leadership of Charles Porterfield Krauth. The Minnesota Synod, Michigan Synod and Wisconsin Synod were participants in the General Council. The Wisconsin Synod was part of the General Council for a short time. It left in 1869 over the so-called Four Points. The Minnesota Synod left in 1871 and the Michigan Synod left in 1887. These three synods eventually merged to become ultimately the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS).

In 1867 the Ohio Synod asked the General Council to declare its stand on Four Points: 1) chiliasm or millennialism; 2) mixed communion (like the open communion of today); 3) sharing pulpits with non-Lutherans; and 4) secret societies (like the Masonic Lodge and others).

The General Council’s response was weak, and what its members confessed wasn’t what they actually practiced. Millennialism was still being taught, members were still allowed to belong to the lodge, pulpits were still being shared with Calvinists and other heterodox church groups, and communion was still open for Calvinists and others.

A paper was presented in the early 1870’s at a preliminary Synodical Conference meeting entitled “Memorandum containing a detailed explanation of the reasons why the synods that are uniting into the Synodical Conference of the Ev. Lutheran Church of North America were unable to join one of the already existing so-called Lutheran associations of synods in our country.” It was expressed in this “Memorandum”—

"By virtue of our conscience bound by the Word of God we cannot agree to carry on church fellowship with obviously false teachers and un-Lutheran spirits for the sake of outward church union or to pull on one synodical yoke with such with whom we have no true unity of spirit."

The followers of Dr. Gregory L. Jackson should ask themselves the question: Why am I following and supporting someone who agrees with the theology of the General Council? Either Rev. Jackson doesn’t really know the history, or he actually endorses the false doctrine of the General Council: millennialism, lodge membership, open communion and the sharing of pulpits with the heterodox.

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, Slander and the Eighth Commandment

2010-01-20T17:31:00.000-08:00

Dr. Greg Jackson and his friends like to mock those who think he is breaking the Eighth Commandment in his blog, Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed. He justifies himself by quoting what Martin Luther wrote in the Large Catechism regarding public sins. This is what Luther wrote:

284] All this has been said regarding secret sins. But where the sin is quite public so that the judge and everybody know it, you can without any sin avoid him and let him go, because he has brought himself into disgrace, and you may also publicly testify concerning him. For when a matter is public in the light of day, there can be no slandering or false judging or testifying; as, when we now reprove the Pope with his doctrine, which is publicly set forth in books and proclaimed in all the world. For where the sin is public, the reproof also must be public, that every one may learn to guard against it.

The Reformer is not telling us that it's proper to mock, ridicule and slander those whose sins are public, but that a Christian can REPROVE a sinner in public when the sin is public. We always learned that reproof was intended to bring the sinner to repentance and back to God's Word. The Bible and the Lutheran confessions never said that a public sinner is fair-game to make fun of in public.

The Rev. Gregory Jackson needs to read the entire Eighth Commandment section of the Large Catechism. Maybe then he will realize that he is a slanderer and needs to repent of his sin. Dr. Jackson isn't out to reprove anybody. He simply wants to slander, libel, mock and ridicule those he has a grudge against.

267] Those, then, are called slanderers who are not content with knowing a thing, but proceed to assume jurisdiction, and when they know a slight offense of another, carry it into every corner, and are delighted and tickled that they can stir up another's displeasure [baseness], as swine roll themselves in the dirt and root in it with the snout. 268] This is nothing else than meddling with the judgment and office of God, and pronouncing sentence and punishment with the most severe verdict. For no judge can punish to a higher degree nor go farther than to say: "He is a thief, a murderer, a traitor," etc. Therefore, whoever presumes to say the same of his neighbor goes just as far as the emperor and all governments. For although you do not wield the sword, you employ your poisonous tongue to the shame and hurt of your neighbor.

271] False witness, then, is everything which cannot be properly proved. 272] Therefore, what is not manifest upon sufficient evidence no one shall make public or declare for truth; and, in short, whatever is secret should be allowed to remain secret, or, at any rate, should be secretly reproved, as we shall hear. 273] Therefore, if you encounter an idle tongue which betrays and slanders some one, contradict such a one promptly to his face, that he may blush; thus many a one will hold his tongue who else would bring some poor man into bad repute, from which he would not easily extricate himself. For honor and a good name are easily taken away, but not easily restored.

276] But the true way in this matter would be to observe the order according to the Gospel, Matt. 18:15, where Christ says: If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. Here you have a precious and excellent teaching for governing well the tongue, which is to be carefully observed against this detestable misuse. Let this, then, be your rule, that you do not too readily spread evil concerning your neighbor and slander him to others, but admonish him privately that he may amend [his life]. Likewise, also, if some one report to you what this or that one has done, teach him, too, to go and admonish him personally, if he have seen it himself; but if not, that he hold his tongue.

Dr. Gregory Jackson and R.C.H. Lenski

2010-01-15T06:02:00.000-08:00

In one of his recent blog entries, Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D., writes approvingly of the General Council of the 19th Century and of R. C. H. Lenski. Lenski wrote a series of commentaries on the New Testament and several other volumes.

Real Ichabod has often mentioned that Lenski taught falsely in the areas of election, objective justification, and conversion. In 2006 Prof. Stephen Geiger of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary presented a paper at the Reformation Lectures of Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minneosta. Prof. Geiger entitled his paper "Richard Charles Henry Lenski: The Exegetical Task."

There are many things we could share on Real Ichabod from this paper, to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Lenski taught the false doctrine of intuitu fidei, that he was a synergist, and that he denied the clear biblical teaching of universal objective justification. Because of the space it would take to share all this information, we will instead share the entire paper with you. By unconditionally accepting everything Lenski taught, Dr. Gregory L. Jackson also proves himself a false teacher when it comes to election, justification, and conversion.

More on the General Council later.

http://www.wlsessays.net/files/GeigerLenski.pdf

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson Ph.D. Denies Justification By Grace through Faith Alone

2010-01-12T11:00:00.000-08:00

We recently shared with our readers evidence that by promoting Heinrich Schmid’s book without reservation, The Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Rev. Jackson was revealing himself as a synergist. We offered him the opportunity to share with us his position on the doctrine of election, and whether or not he agreed with Schmid that God chose those in eternity whom he could see in time would have faith.

Instead of sharing with us his position Greg Jackson once again has revealed his true nature by posting another one of his stupid pictures along with threats of slander charges and legal action. We almost choked on our latte when we read that! We’re confident that with the public record of all of Dr. Jackson’s slander and lies over the years, there could actually be a class-action suit against him by hundreds of plaintiffs.

Those of you who hang on every word Dr. Jackson writes, such as dk, Brett, Freddy, WELS church lady, rlschultz, and others, you need to ask yourselves where you stand on the doctrine of election.

Do you

1) believe that your faith is the cause of your election or predestination?

Or do you

2) believe that your election is the cause of your faith in Christ?

If your answer is #1, then you agree with Heinrich Schmid and Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, and you really do not believe in justification by grace through faith alone.

If your answer is #2, then you agree with Luther, the Lutheran Confessions, and all true confessional Lutherans, and you really do believe in justification by grace through faith alone in Christ.

Dr. Greg Jackson's Doctrinal Errors

2010-01-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

On his blog www.thegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com, Rev. Gregory Jackson wants everyone to download a copy of Heinrich Schmid’s Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Dr. Jackson promotes this volume as a faithful presentation of Biblical and Lutheran doctrine. But Schmid’s Doctrinal Theology is filled with errors, especially the errors of synergism and intuitu fidei, which were dealt with by confessional Lutherans in the 19th Century.

It has been said that those who don’t learn from the mistakes of history are bound to repeat them. Greg Jackson is too smart not to remember the obvious doctrinal errors of the past. But we still wonder about his intelligence when we view the pictures he posts on his site and the obvious lies and half-truths he continues to repeat.

Here is just a sampling of some of the doctrinal errors in Schmid’s book, a book Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D. promotes as a wonderful example of sound Lutheran teaching. It should make you wonder where Gregory Jackson really stands when it comes to doctrine.

Heinrich Schmid, Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1899, Reprint Edition.

Page 271, “II. The Special Will of God. — Thus this same will [11] of God, in reference to the salvation of men is designated, when we view it in connection with the divinely foreseen conduct of men towards the offered grace, as the condition upon which they are to be saved.”

Page 271, “…it already follows from the above distinction, according to which the general will of God is not absolute, but ordinate and conditioned, that the accomplishment of this gracious will is conditioned by the conduct of man towards the offered grace.”

Page 272, “…it refers not to all men, but only to those of whom God foreknows that they will properly treat the offered grace.”

Page 272, “…to save through the merits of Christ the definite number of those whose right treatment of the offered grace God had foreseen.”

Page 273, “…by virtue of His foreknowledge, He recognizes in advance those who will lay hold upon the merit of Christ, and only to these does His purpose refer…”

Page 273, “As God foreknows those who will perseveringly believe in Christ; and as, in view of this, He forms His purpose to save these…”

Martin Luther’s Reformation was based on the foundation of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), Sola Gratia (Grace Alone) and Sola Fide (Faith Alone). Those who teach and promote the synergism of Schmid like Gregory Jackson does totally negate Sola Gratia (Grace Alone). If we are not saved totally by God’s grace alone and if we contribute anything to our own personal salvation, then justification by faith means absolutely nothing. Even Greg Jackson should be smart enough to figure that out.

Our guess is that Greg will respond to this entry on our blog by posting more pictures with stupid captions or by listing tons and tons of irrelevant quotes. We dare Dr. Jackson to have a substantive debate on this subject. We dare him to prove to his readers he is not a synergist. But from what we have seen on his blog, and in spite of the degrees he boasts of from such illustrious liberal and Roman Catholic institutions as Yale and Notre Dame, we doubt he has the capacity to do that.

Slinging Mud Anonymously

2010-01-08T16:22:00.000-08:00

Greg Jackson posted a picture today on his site, Ichabod the Glory Has Departed, of a WELS Church and Change flyer. Under the picture he wrote this caption:

Notice "Dr." Steve Witte and in other places "Dr." Larry Olson.
Witte went to Gordon Conwell for a DMin. He was a Chicanery founder.
Olson went to Fuller for a DMin.
Chicaneries advocate false doctrine.

"Dr." Jackson attended Augustana, Waterloo, Yale and Notre Dame. Gregory Jackson promotes the same historic errors as the old Ohio Synod and R.C.H. Lenski. By promoting Schmid's book and denying objective universal justification, Jackson reveals that he is a promoter of the old and well-documented error of intuitu fidei, and that he is a synergist.

Greg Jackson advocates false doctrine. More evidence on his false doctrine later.

A Screw Is Loose Somewhere

2010-01-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

The Death Throes of a Snake

2010-01-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we shared with you two papers from the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary essay file on justification, one from Pr. Jon Buchholz and the other from the late Prof. Sigbert Becker. We even offered extensive quotes from the Buchholz essay that was presented at a recent WELS convention.

Like a snake will twist, turn and do everything possible to escape when someone holds it down with his boot ready to smash its head, we witness the same thing happening over on Dr. Gregory L. Jackson’s site, Ichabod the Glory Has Departed. Dr. Jackson and his puppet Brett Meyer are trying their hardest to refute the clear Biblical doctrine of universal objective justification. Rev. Jackson is trying to do it by throwing up on his site all sorts of quotes from the Confessions and the Lutheran church fathers to prove his point. But he is simply acting like the snake he really is.

Those confessional Lutherans who hold to the biblical teaching of universal objective justification do not and cannot argue against the Lutheran confessions or the fathers, since of what they write is what we refer to as personal subjective justification. A Christian receives the forgiveness, the reconciliation, the justification Christ earned for the world through personal faith that the Holy Spirit creates in his heart through the means of grace.

Obviously Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D., does not understand or comprehend this, nor does his sidekick Brett Meyer.

Our Synodical Conference forefathers had to deal with those who denied universal objective justification well over a century ago. Dr. Jackson and friends are simply trying to resurrect old errors that were refuted on the basis of clear Scripture and the Confessions a long time ago. Solomon was correct when he wrote: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun,” Eccl. 1:9.

Let’s put this simply so even Dr. Jackson and Mr. Meyer can understand it.

Does the Bible teach universal objective justification? Yes it does, in

2 Cor. 5:19, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.”

Rom. 5:18,19, “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”

Does the Bible teach personal subjective justification? Yes it does, in

Rom. 3:21,22, “ But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

Rom. 5:1,2, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”

The Bible Clearly Teaches Universal Obective Justification!

2010-01-04T18:08:00.000-08:00

Pertinent quotes from “Justification Expounded by Scripture,” by Jon D. Buchholz, presented at the 58th Biennial Convention of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod assembled at Martin Luther College New Ulm, Minnesota, July 26, 2005:

Both the Apology to the Augsburg Confession and the Formula of Concord explicitly equate the terms justification and forgiveness. “To attain the remission of sins is to be justified, according to Psalm 32:1: ‘Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit’” (AC:IV, 76).

Justification is an objective reality

We call justification objective, because the reality of God’s verdict takes place completely in the realm of God, entirely apart from man’s involvement. Man has nothing to do with it, and man’s subjective perception or opinion does not change it.

What causes justification to take place? Lutheran theologians have always maintained that there are two causes for man’s salvation: (1) the grace of God and (2) the merits of Jesus Christ. Neither of these two causes has anything to do with the participation of sinful human beings. Both causes exist completely in God’s sphere.

From the cross Jesus cried triumphantly, “It is finished” (John 19:30). What is finished is his life of active obedience, his passion and suffering—all his work of bearing and atoning for the sin of the world. This truth of Jesus’ completed work stands as an objective truth, whether a human being believes it or not. There is nothing that any human being can do to change what happened outside Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago. No doubt or disbelief can change the fact that the lifeless Lord Jesus Christ came back to life on Easter Sunday and left behind an empty tomb. Jesus’ triumphal cry from the cross, “It is finished,” stands forever as the objective declaration that Christ’s work of salvation is complete.3

Justification is complete for all

The term objective justification is often used in our circles to describe the truth that God’s justification is complete for the entire world. Properly speaking, the term for this is universal justification or general justification. I prefer to maintain the distinction between objective (referring to the truth that justification takes place completely in the sphere of God, apart from man’s subjective involvement) and universal (indicating the all-embracing object of God’s objective verdict, namely the entire world). Since the term objective justification is found neither in Scripture nor in the Lutheran confessions, we can understand the term correctly as referring to the justification of the entire world. The distinction between objective and universal is useful, however, and, in some cases, significant.4

In the 1500s, while the Lutheran theologians in Germany were rediscovering and expounding the biblical doctrine of justification, John Calvin (1509-1564) was working in Geneva to bring about a reformation in Switzerland. Unfortunately, Calvin’s doctrine of justification differed from the biblical truth correctly expounded by the Lutherans. Calvin wrestled with the question of why some are saved and not others. His inability to submit his human reason to Scripture and his stubborn insistence that the things of God had to make sense led him to a logical but erroneous conclusion. Calvin taught that God had decided in eternity who would be saved and who would be damned, and nothing could change this predetermined, sovereign decision of God. Calvin reasoned that the blood of Christ would not be wasted on those who were going to be condemned anyway, so he taught limited atonement. He did not believe that Jesus died for the sin of the whole world, but only for the sin of believers who had been elected by God to salvation.

Of course, Scripture teaches that Jesus died for all. No sinner was missed; no sin was left unpaid. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (John 3:16). Jesus is the atoning sacrifice, not only for our sins, but for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting men’s sins against them (2 Corinthians 5:15). Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away [Greek: “bears”] the sin of the world (John 1:29). Scripture goes beyond saying that God has reconciled the world to himself and paid for the sin of the world in Christ. The Bible reveals the wonderful truth that through the life, death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ, God has justified the world. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:23).5 The term “justification” is applied universally when St. Paul writes, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for [Greek: “because of”] our justification” (Romans 4:25).

The words atonement, reconciliation, forgiveness and justification are not always interchangeable. Each has a distinct and particular meaning. However, each of these terms is bound to the once-for-all events that took place at Calvary and the empty tomb, and each of these terms can be applied properly in the universal sense.

Scripture teaches universal grace: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16). The gospel reveals God’s love in Christ, which extends to every single human being of all time.

Scripture teaches universal atonement: “[Jesus Christ, the Righteous One] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). Atonement is often defined in Sunday school and catechism class as “at-one-ment.” This is, more precisely, the result of Christ’s atonement, that we end up reconciled and at one with God. Atonement is payment to make up for guilt. Synonyms for atonement are satisfaction and expiation.

Scripture teaches universal reconciliation: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Jesus is the universal peacemaker. His sacrifice on the cross has removed thebarrier of guilt and sin that separated humanity from God. Where the barrier of hostility has been removed, there is peace. In Christ and through Christ the status between God and the human race has changed from one of hostility to peace. We sing at Christmas, “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”

Scripture teaches universal forgiveness: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Forgiveness is the non-imputation of sin, so that sin and guilt are no longer charged to a person’s account (Psalm 32:1, Romans 4:7,8). The sin of the world has been charged to Christ, laid upon his shoulders, and nailed with him to the cross. It is no longer charged to us.

Scripture teaches universal justification: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified [Greek: “being justified”] freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23, 24). “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for [Greek: “because of”] our justification” (Romans 4:25). “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification6 that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18,19). In Romans 5 the Apostle Paul details the complete contrast between the first Adam and the second Adam (Christ). The former brought death; the latter brought life. The sin of the former resulted in universal condemnation; the obedience and sacrifice of the latter brought universal justification.7

Justification is by faith

The completed, objective reality of God’s “not-guilty” verdict in Christ is received, or appropriated, only through faith. This grasping of the reality of Christ’s completed work through faith we call subjective justification or personal justification. God’s verdict of “not-guilty” stands vis-à-vis the entire world regardless of human knowledge or belief, nevertheless this truth must be appropriated or personalized for each individual sinner to receive the benefit of God’s verdict. For a person to go to heaven, he must be brought by the Holy Spirit to repentance and trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of his sins.

But what is faith? It’s important to understand what faith is—and what faith isn’t.

Faith is not mere knowledge of facts. It is implicit trust in the promises and actions of God. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed” (Isaiah 28:16).

Faith is preceded by true contrition, genuine sorrow over sin. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).

Faith lays hold of the completed work of Christ for comfort and the certainty of salvation. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned” (John 3:18a). “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).

Faith is not the product of human reason, intellect or will. Faith is a gift from our gracious God: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8,9). Yet, while faith does not originate in man’s will, faith engages and involves a believer’s mind, assent and will.

Faith is worked by the Holy Spirit, without synergy or cooperation on the part of man. “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” (Romans 9:16).

Faith is produced in human hearts by the Spirit working through his instrument or means of grace. This tool of the Spirit is the gospel, coming to us verbally in the spoken and written word of God and both verbally and tangibly in the sacraments. “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

Lutheran theologian Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586) describes faith thus:

“Faith” in the article of justification must be understood not only as knowledge and general assent, stating in a general way that the promise of the Gospel is true, but that at the same time it includes the activities of the will and the heart; that is, it is a desire and a trust which, in the struggle with sin and the wrath of God, applies the promise of grace to each individual, so that each person includes himself in the general promise given to believers. In this way he raises himself up so that he determines without hesitation that the promise of the Gospel is firm for him also. From this he gains comfort and life in time of temptation.8

We must understand that faith doesn’t create anything new. Faith doesn’t bring anything into existence that doesn’t already exist. Faith doesn’t cause something to happen. Faith simply grasps—trusts—something that already is in place. Faith grasps the objective reality of God’s completed salvation in Christ. Faith appropriates the universal truth and takes personal ownership of God’s forgiveness found only in the Savior.9 Remember the causes of our salvation, according to Scripture: (1) the grace of God and (2) the merits of Christ. There is nothing inside man, including faith, which is a cause of salvation.

We must also understand, as stated above, that faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is not something that a human being can come to on his own. A few years after John Calvin, a teacher by the name of Jacob Arminius (1560-1609) taught—partly as a reaction to John Calvin’s doctrine of double-predestination—that the determination of whether a person will be saved or lost rests within the will of man. Arminius taught that man has a free will and must make the choice to accept Jesus in faith or reject him. Faith, according to Arminius, is an act of the will, the result of man’s rational decision. Like Calvin, Arminius set his own reason above Scripture, and he came up with another reasonable but unbiblical understanding of salvation.10 Luther recognized that unbelieving man does not have a free will, but that his will is entirely bound up and enslaved in sin. He confessed in his explanation to the Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed, “I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him.” Faith must come from God, because in the bondage of our will we cannot come to faith on our own.

Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we are personally justified, as we are given the gift of faith. Faith lays hold of Christ. Faith grasps Jesus’ completed work of redemption. Faith trusts that reconciliation between God and mankind has been accomplished by the Savior. Spirit-worked faith brings God’s universal verdict of “not-guilty,” lays hold of the righteousness of Christ, and appropriates it for our own.

This is justification by faith and through faith. Scripture speaks abundantly of the sinner’s personal justification through faith which appropriates the righteousness of Christ. “A righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:21, 22). “’Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:3-5). “This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’ The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Romans 4:22-24). Why is a sinner found righteous before God through faith? Only because of the object that Christian faith clings to. We don’t have faith in works, we don’t have faith in feelings, and we don’t have faith in faith. Christian faith holds onto Christ. Chemnitz wrote, “Faith is the unique means and instrument through which we lay hold on the righteousness of Christ, receive it, and apply it to ourselves.”11

The truth that a person must be individually justified through faith does not undermine the general, once-for-all justification accomplished on Calvary. Some have wrongly supposed that Christ’s justifying work on Calvary was incomplete, and that faith is required to make justification complete. This is not a biblical understanding of justification. It nullifies Jesus’ declaration from the cross, “It is finished,” by saying that the justification of the world really isn’t finished, or that when Jesus said, “It is finished,” he meant something other than the justification of the world. It inserts an additional cause for man’s salvation beyond the grace of God and merits of Christ and includes faith as a cause of salvation. It redefines faith as something that brings about an effect and causes forgiveness and justification to take place.

The world’s redemption was complete at Calvary. The general justification accomplished in God’s great exchange at the cross provides the object for justifying faith which personally grasps the objective truth.
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3 A German Lutheran proverb says, “Jesus Christus starb für mich, fühl’ Ich oder fühl’ Ich nicht” (“Jesus Christ died for me, whether I feel it or not”).

4 Objective and subjective are the terms most commonly used in our fellowship. Since faith is the work of God, without man’s participation or cooperation, we can legitimately say that the gift of faith is the result of the objective will and working of God. In place of the terms objective and subjective justification, we might prefer to use the older terms general (allgemeine) justification and personal (persönliche) justification. The term subjective justification might be misinterpreted to mean an experiential awakening based upon feeling or emotion; this would not be a meaning intended by Lutherans. The term universal justification may be confused with universalism, the teaching that all people will be saved.
In this essay, I will use the terms objective, universal and general justification interchangeably, and subjective and personal justification interchangeably.

5 The subject of both phrases of the Scripture passage is the word “all.” All have sinned, all being justified freely through Jesus’ redemption.

6 Greek has two words for justification: dikaiwma and dikaiwsij. Dikaiwma means “justification” in the sense of a verdict that is rendered, a declaration of “not-guilty.” Dikaiwsij brings out more the sense of the action of declaring righteous or the state of being declared righteous (in English it’s difficult to capture exactly the nuance of the two Greek nouns). The word used in Romans 4:25 and 5:18 is dikaiwsij. In Romans 5:16 Paul uses dikaiwma.

7 Dr. R. C. H. Lenski, 20th-century Lutheran theologian and author of an excellent series of commentaries on the books of the New Testament, had no trouble with “universal atonement” and “universal reconciliation,” but denied “universal justification,” saying, “One may call God’s raising up of Christ God’s declaration to this effect, and, because it is such a declaration, one may call it ‘the universal justification of the whole world.’ Yet to use the word ‘justification’ in this way is not a gain, for it is liable to confuse the ordinary man; we are fully satisfied with the Scriptural word ‘reconciliation’” (Lenski, 84).

Early Lutheran dogmaticians Philip Melanchthon and Martin Chemnitz both equated justification with reconciliation (Chemnitz, 43, 72), and in Romans 4:25 it is clear that the term “justification” is also applied universally: Jesus was delivered over to death for our [the world’s] sins and was raised to life for our [the world’s] justification. If we ask the question, “For whom did Jesus die?” the answer must be: for the world. If we ask, “For whom was Jesus raised?” the answer must also be: for the world. It is untenable to understand the passage as, “He was delivered over to death for our [only believers’] sins and was raised to life for our [only believers’] justification.” That would be limited atonement, as Calvin wrongly taught. Likewise it is untenable to understand, “He was delivered over to death for our [everyone’s] sins and was raised to life for our [only believers’] justification.” That would mean that Jesus died for everyone, but he rose again on Easter only for believers.

8 Chemnitz, 92.

9 This very important truth—that faith is appropriative and not causative—can be illustrated thus: A sports fan may say, “I believe that my team will win the World Series this year.” Such faith does not bring about the desired outcome. The person’s belief doesn’t cause anything to happen. In this case, the “faith” expressed is merely a hope or a wish that something will happen. Likewise, if a team wins, and a jaded, cynical fan refuses to believe it, that fan’s erroneous belief doesn’t change the reality of what happened.

Faith is simply trust. Faith must have an object, something that it holds onto. That object may or may not be real or true, but faith doesn’t make it real or true. Faith that holds onto something untrue is misplaced—no matter how sincere it may be. Christian faith appropriates and holds onto the reality of God’s justification completed in Christ. It does not cause justification or forgiveness to take place. It simply grasps God’s justification that is already a reality.

10 Jacob Arminius is the father of “decision theology,” a theological system that is widely adopted by many Protestant church bodies today. In this system, faith is an act of human reason. Babies cannot have faith, because they cannot render a decision for Jesus. An important aim of worship is to create an environment where a person can more readily make a decision for Christ. This system strikes at the heart of justification by God’s grace alone and ultimately makes salvation depend upon whether or not man makes the right decision.

11 Chemnitz, 86.

Universal Objective Justification Is a Comforting Teaching of God's Word

2010-01-04T15:02:00.000-08:00

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson is a critic of the Biblical and confessional Lutheran teaching of universal objective justification. Unlike Dr. Jackson who simply likes to make assertions and then condemns anyone who disagrees with him, we offer the serious Bible student two papers which clearly discuss and explain this comforting teaching of Holy Scripture. Please cut and paste into your brower:

http://www.wlsessays.net/files/BuchholzJustification.pdf

http://www.wlsessays.net/files/BeckerJustification.pdf

Hypocrisy of the Highest Order

2010-01-04T07:06:00.000-08:00

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D., has apparently made it his life’s work to sabotage the reputations of people he personally doesn’t like. He plasters all over the Internet half-truths and lies about people he has had disagreements and confrontations with in the past. He appears to focus his sights mostly on people who had contact at one time with his son, Martin. If Dr. Jackson thinks someone is attacking him personally on the web, but he doesn’t know who that person is, he will plaster all kinds of false rumors on his blog about all kinds of people. We call this the “scatter-gun” approach to character assassination. If you are ever on his blog, Ichabod the Glory Has Departed, just look at the list on the left hand side of his page with the names of men and women he has slandered and libeled.

Dr. Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D., loves to brag about his educational pedigree. He boasts about his attendance at and degrees from such notable liberal, Bible-denying and faith-destroying institutions as Augustana College, Waterloo Seminary, Yale Divinity School and the University of Notre Dame. While Dr. Jackson certainly has earned the right to call himself Doctor since he has an earned Ph.D., we believe it is the utmost in hypocrisy for him to then turn around and condemn those who earned degrees at other non-Lutheran educational institutions. Who is calling the kettle black?

Dr. Jackson also has a bad habit of condemning the social acquaintances of others, and he mocks them by posting their pictures on his blog. At the same time, however, he boasts and brags about his past relationships with such notable conservative and confessional Lutheran theologians (we hope you’re thinking for yourself enough to sense the sarcasm) as Roland Bainton, Henry Nouwen and Stanley Hauerwas, just to mention a few. There is only one word to describe what Pastor Jackson has been doing: HYPOCRISY.

The Deception Continues

2009-12-31T07:05:00.000-08:00

Real Ichabod has been watching Rev. Gregory Jackson’s blog regularly since we stopped posting earlier this year. It became evident today that we need to start posting again, since Rev. Jackson’s deceptive journalistic practice raised its ugly head in his entry entitled “Keep Studying Women’s Ordination Until WELS Realizes the Synod Already Has a Bevy of Women Pastors.”

Immediately under the title of his blog entry Rev. Jackson posted a picture of Paula White who is a non-Lutheran TV evangelist. Jackson then proceeds with an article about Paula White and her ministry. Right after that article Rev. Jackson lists the member of the WELS’ Women’s Ministry Committee, along with several WELS articles about the Committee and its upcoming National WELS Women’s Leadership Conference in July 2010. He ends the post by writing:

"GJ - Which women were consecrating Holy Communion? WELS/ELS will never tell. That would be informative and edifying. The outlines given above show this is another outgrowth of Church and Change."

I hope our readers can think for themselves and see how Rev. Jackson’s blog is full of deception. He gives the impression with his title and the article of Paula White that Ms. White is a WELS member. Or at least the uninformed would get that impression. Then he plasters the names of the participants of the WELS Women’s Ministry Committee all over the web. If he knew these people personally, he would realize they were solid confessional Lutherans who know what Scripture clearly teaches regarding the roles of men and women. Nowhere in the National WELS Women’s Leadership Conference agenda that he lists is there anything said about women consecrating Holy Communion or serving as pastors; but the agenda is perfectly in agreement with what the Bible teaches about women’s roles in the church, the family and in society.

Rev. Jackson loves to make insinuations. He loves to make unsubstantiated accusations. He thinks he’s the conscience of the WELS. Those who swallow everything he writes as truth (like Freddy, Brett, etc.) will be in for a rude awakening when they finally realize what kind of man Rev. Jackson really is. You would think they would get a hint with his record as a pastor.