Sunday, January 17, 2021

Arriving - Walther, The American Calvin - at Many Doorsteps

Walther, The American Calvin - print and Kindle.

The preliminary orders are starting to arrive. South Carolina won the race. I have a photo of it delivered. That happens in other places, too, but SC was first.

The print copy is full color but reasonable - only $10 retail. I have made all books non-profit. The Kindle is only 99 cents, but CPH (Conrcordia Publishes Heretics) is charging $40 per Kindle. 

Compare and contrast - the Chief Article of Christianity versus the Calvinist Objective Justification of the Pietists, justified before birth!




Every time you click on a Walther link, an angel gets his wings.
Every time you review a book from Martin Chemnitz Press, the senior editor of the Book of Concord gets a cheer.

"Thanks for remembering me, folks."


Friday, January 15, 2021

Now Available - Walther, The American Calvin:
A Synod Built on Felonies

Click here for the print and Kindle version of
Walther, The American Calvin: A Synod Built on Felonies

The early copies of Walther, The American Calvin, have gone out. I have not seen the printed copy yet.

The free PDF will be posted soon.


You can just offer a couple of sentences for a review, such as the need for a more honest view of Missouri's history. Bad reviews are welcome, too. 



Gratuitous kitten photo



"Whatever you do, mein brethren, forget the early years of the Missouri Synod."

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Plans for a Book on Biblical Texts and Translations



I am doing more research on the Biblical project, and I expect to write Biblical books from now on. For example, the I AM sermons in John would be a good topic that many could use.

The original text is neglected almost universally. One reason is the lack of Biblical languages in college and seminary. Augustana College provided two years of Greek in the 1960s, for those planning to attend seminary. Years later, when we stopped at their book store, they no longer sold Greek New Testaments. When I told the dean at Waterloo Seminary, Ontario, that I was taking Hebrew, he said, "Why? You won't get academic credit." I said, "To read the Old Testament in its original language." He was obsessed with counselling. Now that school is a separate university where the pastoral track is the least populated. 

Yale Divinity had endless opportunities for Hebrew and Greek Biblical studies. I took Genes in Hebrew for a semester, Thessalonians in Greek, and NT Christology where the languages were assumed. Notre Dame was fairly limited, as one might expect.

All seminaries have weakened the Biblical language requirements, whittling them down to a "summer Greek class" at best. 

Like most, I have never touched an ancient manuscript - unless my college transcript counts. People can buy photographed manuscripts, but they are rare and expensive. A Greek New Testament has notes to indicate what was allowed or omitted, but that is pretty limiting and rarely used.

I am saying - it is easy to fool a clergy population with "little Latin, and less Greek" and no Hebrew. (That is an old jab at the actor Shakespeare, somewhat expanded, because he was the frontman for the Earl of Oxford.)

I am not sure the clergy really care to learn about manuscripts and translations, even though the information is fascinating - and definitely central for understanding the Bible.

The book will consist of three parts:
  1. Introducing books on manuscripts and translations.
  2. Showing how the "rules" can be used to water down the text and reverse meanings.
  3. The issues concerning the Greek New Testament, replacing a good text with a horrible one - the 1880 swindle.
  4. Deceitful translations building upon the freedom to butcher the original text.
This will be written largely for the laity. I am going to use a little Greek, but not much.

The fish symbol spells out the titles of Jesus, which helped early Christians connect when meeting strangers. One would make the arch in the sand or soil. The second would scratch the other half of the fish, if he was a Christian. Otherwise, the first mark really meant nothing by itself.




Saturday, November 21, 2020

Apology of the Augsburg Confession - Audio Gutenberg

Melanchthon and Luther are on YouTube.



Apology of the Augsburg Confession, I-IV (God, Original Sin, Christ, Justification) - Audio Gutenberg blog

Apology, I-IV, YouTube


I.   Europe considered Melanchthon a genius. He could have gone many places to be Number 1 there.

II.  Luther thought of Melanchthon as an ideal partner in their religious work together. 

III. When Luther died, Melanchthon preached the sermon.

Those are three reasons people should have the highest regard for Melanchthon, the key person writing the Augsburg Confession and the author of its defense - The Apology of the Augsburg Confession. We should use the old-fashioned and perfectly good words - like Apology - so we do not end up like Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot, and Puff - endlessly repeating short words to make up for a lack of study.

Audio Gutenberg - Launched by the Internet


The Internet has proven to be the greatest achievement in communication since a wine press was turned into a printing press. Every book became available at a low price, and illustrated lessons, like the Small Catechism, could be printed by the thousands. Radio and TV were intermediate steps but both require plenty of money for an individual to launch. Having a computer and broadband is cheaper now than owning a used car.

Listening to something worthwhile has grown as a hobby, even a necessity, for many people. If it is easy to access and free, time spent watching scripted celebrities can be converted to enjoying the treasures of the Gospel. 

Travis and Lauren Cartee began Audio Gutenberg, the YouTube series backed by the Audio Gutenberg blog. They have put together Travis reading the first part of the Apology, so an impressive but overlooked expression of the Gospel can be enjoyed on any digital device.

I asked our Philippine Missionary Pastor Jordan Palangyos if those readings would be useful for his congregation. (Looking far ahead, I think they will.) His reply was brilliant - "They will be very good for pastors. It will be helpful for future students."

Of course! If the leaders know and appreciate the Apology, so will their members. Lutherans have gone through many times when the Reformation was little more than a dimly remembered spark. Times of recapturing the witness - the Defense - of the Gospel has always been rewarding for those on the verge of becoming generic atheists.

Picture the classic church library. When I was tied to real estate and buildings, the library was invariably a collection of Reader's Digest Condensed Books that nobody read or wanted.  Our current church library  - on the Internet - has almost 300 classic books as PDFs and is moving toward 100 printed books.

We have over 100 people on Facebook looking for free Lutheran books for world missionaries.


Audio Gutenberg Blog


Friday, November 6, 2020

Lutheran Librarian and the Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry, Alec Satin

Abraham Lincoln address by Watterson

Henry Watterson's address about Lincoln is the latest printed book from the Lutheran Librarian (print books) and also in the Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry (free PDFs). This is only $3.95 printed.


Lutheran Librarian Print Books, Amazon - Author's Page Link

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Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry Website - Searchable

Compendium of Lutheran Theology

Schmauk and Krauth are my favorites in fighting for Luther's Biblical theology in their age of Calvinists pretending to be Lutherans - not only in the Missouri Synod but also in their counterparts from the General Synod split. 

The General Council rejected the revivalism and Calvinism of the General Synod.

Now we have the same thing in the new LCMS-ELS-WELS union, purring and drooling over Objective Justification, which is little different from ELCA's. But they are joined at the wallet anyway, with all their covert work through Thrivent's pro-abortion money machine.


Compendium of Lutheran Theology

Schmauk's work was the swan song of the General Council, a masterpiece before the successful work of his group and seminary led to the loosey goosey United Lutheran Church in America merger of 1918.

Monday, November 2, 2020

Philippine Mission Computer - 60% Funded

Kitten pictures are expected on this blog, so enjoy them.

Pastor Jordan Palangyos has been borrowing Amabel's work computer for his work for the Bethany Lutheran Mission. He has done more with it than most Lutheran pastors in the US of A. 

We are donating toward a laptop for the mission, and we have sent $300 or 60% of the estimated cost ($500 cost).

They just completed the October Rice Mission, which included distributing $1,000 worth of rice.

Pastor Jordan Palangyos and his wife, Dr. Amabel Palangyos.


Every meal in the Philippines includes rice, so the current shortage is a major problem. 


 The chapel started from the ground up, and work remains to be done.
God has blessed the mission with good workers and help from all over.



From the Lutheran Librarian and Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry



Print Copy: The Inspiration and Accuracy of the Holy Scriptures by John Urquhart - “Lutheran Librarian” edition
Download the eBook PDF - [Formatted for Computer Use] EPUB - [Apple, Kobo] MOBI - [Kindle]


If you request an EPUB or MOBI version, you can expect to receive it within a few hours. If you don't hear back by the next day, check your spam or junk mail folder. This is especially true for yahoo mail.

You can also request a copy of this or any Lutheran Library e-book by sending an email to editor@lutheranlibrary.org with the title and format you'd like.

Enjoy the book!

Publication InformationLutheran Library edition first published: 2020Copyright: CC BY 4.0 

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The Inspiration and Accuracy of the Holy Scriptures by John Urquhart “Criticism has reached certain conclusions regarding various Books of Scripture. The older narratives are declared to be mere legends, and the history generally is described as tradition tinctured by the time when it was put into writing. Certain Books of the Old Testament are said to fall below even this low level. They are declared to be fictions, the soothing epithet ‘pious’ being generally added, the representation being that evil was done by the writers that good might come! All ...



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“If ever any man was competent to write on true Christianity, that man was John Arndt. It had become his very life; it entered into the very center of his own experience; it was an essential part of his being, and hence it was only necessary to let the mouth utter that, of which the heart was full. We need not be surprised that this book, at its first appearance, met with undivided approbation and an extensive sale. It was properly regarded as the first book of devotion in the ... 

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Forty Years In The Church of Christ by Charles Chiniquy “There are two things which Rome hates with an implacable hatred. They are the Bible and liberty. At any cost, Rome is bound to fight down these two things, till they are completely destroyed… Thanks to the betrayals of the politicians, and the delusions of the theologians, except God makes a miracle of it, the Bible and liberty are doomed in the United States… “Whenever the Church of Rome has the power to do it she has persecuted the Protestants to her utmost capacity. She has sent them ... 

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