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Messages from the Sysop

2024-07-23 1357 hours

Thoughts on a Quote From Joseph Campbell

Scrolling through Facebook recently, I saw the following passage, a quotation attributed to Joseph Campbell:

"The problem in middle life, when the body has reached its climax of power and begins to decline, is to identify yourself, not with the body, which is falling away, but with the consciousness of which it is a vehicle. This is something I learned from myths. What am I? Am I the bulb that carries the light? Or am I the light of which the bulb is a vehicle? One of the psychological problems in growing old is the fear of death. But this body is a vehicle of consciousness, and if you can identify with the consciousness, you can watch this body go like an old car. There goes the fender, there goes the tire, one thing after another - but it's predictable. And then, gradually, the whole thing drops off, and consciousness, rejoins consciousness. It is no longer in this particular environment." (Attributed to Joseph Campbell, "The Power of Myth.")

I see these types of things on Facebook all the time. I know nothing about Joseph Campbell, or the page where it was posted (called "Philo Thoughts"). It just struck me that I should organize some of the many thoughts that came flooding into my head when I read it, particularly after I saw who had posted it...To continue reading, click here.

2024-07-21 1253 hours

Bulletin Board Update

My apologies for all the confusion. 

Over at my personal blog (scoopsblog.com), I have created...you guessed it, another bulletin board. This one, however, I like a ton more than the one connected to The Hodgkins Lutheran Blog. So, I have connected this page to that bulletin board. Please check it out. If you were registered here, you will have to register again. Sorry, I'm still not good at this LOL.

Here is the direct link to the board. 

I think I have all the links changed so you wind up in the intended location. - THL ###

2024-07-19 1615 hours

Calvin sounds like he confesses the Real Presence, but he does not. His Christology won't allow him to. That's because, to Calvin, since Christ is locally present with the Father in heaven, it is impossible for Jesus to be in the Supper on many altars simultaneously. According to Calvin, the communicant participates in Christ's body and blood with their faith, not their mouth (Stephenson, 2003). This is in direct contradiction to what St. Paul says to the Corinthians, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? (1 Cor. 10:16). The word translated communion here is κοινωνία

Stephenson, John R. 2003. "The Lord's Supper Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics,
vol. XII, pp.58-60." Northville: The Luther Academy.
 

2024-07-16 1634 hours

True Apostolic Succession

The Church is apostolic, but not because there is a physical line of succession from the Apostles to the pastors and teachers of today. The true apostolic succession is in the teaching. Pieper writes that all those who faithfully profess and teach the Gospel, the word of the Apostles, are heirs of the Apostles. Just as scripture tells us that the true children of Abraham are those who share Abraham's faith, so the true successors of the Apostles are those who hold fast to the Apostles' doctrine (Pieper, Francis, 1953).

Pieper, Francis. 1953. "Christian Dogmatics," vol. 3. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

2024-07-16 1611 hours

Church Membership Does Not Save

The Church has been described throughout the New Testament scriptures and throughout its history as individual believers with Christ as their Head. Pieper writes that this dissuades sinful man from imagining that his mere membership in a church organization or denomination is what guarantees his salvation. Christ's kingdom is not of this world; it is righteousness of heart and is a gift of the Holy Spirit (Pieper, Francis, 1953).

Pieper, Francis. 1953. "Christian Dogmatics," vol. 3. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 

2024-07-13 1938 hours

Look mercifully, O Lord, we beseech Thee, on the affliction of Thy people, and let not our sin destroy us, but let Thine almighty mercy save us; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen. 

2024-07-12 1110 hours

St. Ambrose on Baptism

Ambrose says that what happens in baptism is like Christ's healing of the blind man in John 9:1-7. Baptism opens the blind eyes of a man's heart so that he can see the things of God. The confessing of one's sins was as though Christ smeared the eyes of one's heart with the mud made with Christ's spit. Christ thereby commands you to go to the pool, that is, the baptismal font. There, He will wash you clean from your sin, and your heart's eyes will see those mysteries to which they were previously blind, namely the sacraments themselves.

Deferrari, Roy J., PhD., tr.. 2016. "St. Ambrose: Theological and Dogmatic Works." The Sacraments, Book III, Chapter 2, 8-15." Ex Fontibus Co.

2024-07-02 1050 hours

A Spiritual View of the Sacrament

A spiritual view of the Sacrament (i.e., Christ's body and blood are not present with the bread and wine) was a late development in the theology of the Lord's Supper. It was not the view of the ancient church. Herman Sasse explains that Barengar was the first to articulate an entirely spiritual view of the Sacrament in the 11th Century. The Church reacted negatively to his view. Barengar argued, according to Sasse, that the physical body of Christ was in heaven; it would not return until Christ's second coming. In support, Barengar cited St. Augustine, and his statement that the Lord's Supper is only an outward sign; that only believers receive an inward spiritual blessing from the supper (Sasse, 1959).

Sasse, Herman. 1959. "This is My Body: Luther's Contention for the Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Altar." Chapter 1 - The Medieval Background. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress.

2024-06-29 1113 hours

Cultural Marxism

What is Cultural Marxism? Marx admired the philosopher Hegel. Hegel believed that history was a series of conflicts wherein a "thesis" and an "antithesis" collided. As a result of the collision, the thesis and the antithesis morphed into something new, which Hegel called the "synthesis." This new synthesis would be the prevailing paradigm until it collided with an antithesis, and the cycle would play out all over again. Marx adopted Hegel's idea and said that all of history was progressing steadily upward toward communism by this means. Watch Dr. Jordan B. Cooper's video about this HERE (relax; it's only about 11 minutes long).

If that's too long, click HERE to read my summary.

2024-06-24 1319 hours

Thoughts on The Chosen

A dear friend and fellow Christian has been, for some time now, trying to get me to watch the show, "The Chosen." A conversation rarely passes with him in which The Chosen isn't mentioned or where some interesting scene isn't described. My friend maintains that I will be hooked if I just consent to watch it once. Thus far, I have avoided an entire episode, though I promised to watch one of his choosing before the summer is out. After watching a 10-minute talk by Dallas Jenkins on The Chosen app, where he answered some common concerns and myths about the show, I decided to codify my distaste. It boils down to these things: 1) Revivalism, and 2) Gospel Reductionism (that doesn't even deal with the fact that Mr. Jenkins apparently thinks that Christians and Mormons worship the same Jesus)...Read More Here.

2024-06-12 2025 hours

AI Preachers in Germany

This story is from one year ago. Apparently, the Germans are now using AI avatars to preach sermons in church. Watch the video here. There is so much wrong with this, but my initial gut reaction was to the first guy they interviewed. He was described as a Lutheran pastor. Ironically, his critique of the AI-led worship service was that it "lacked emotion." He needs to read Luther on enthusiasm. Read the story here.

2024-06-07 2257 hours

Reflections on American Christianity

Christian churches are retreating from American culture. Churches in every major US city are closing or on the brink of closure. Many of these same groups are spending large amounts of money to figure out how to make their congregations viable. The vast majority of the time, congregations opt for some spurious programs to save them and abandon sound doctrine...to continue reading, click here.

2024-06-05 2041 hours

I added a new article link to the page. Check out "Thoughts on Demographics, Higher Criticism, and the Future of the LCMS." - THL ###

2024-05-24 1133 hours

I made some minor edits to the text of this main page. The bulletin board forum has been up for the last four days and seems to be working properly. Check it out, sign up, and post stuff. - THL ###

2024-05-21 1550 hours:

As you can probably see, I have added a link to the bulletin board at the top of the page. - THL ### 

2024-05-20 1149 hours:

So...forget all that other stuff about the bulletin board. As much as I like retro-computing, I have decided to take it offline. Namecheap offers free software plug-ins, and they have several neat options for bulletin boards and forums. I have chosen "miniBB" to start with. That's where the board is going to be. So go there and post things. The link is also at the bottom of the page. - THL ###

2024-05-20 2217 hours:

The first night of the bulletin board seems to have been successful. Here's hoping that 1) I can maintain, against all previous evidence to the contrary, a schedule, and 2) people post. - THL ###

2024-05-20 1716 hours:

The bulletin board is "up" (sort of). Just scroll to the bottom of the page, and you'll see what I mean. - THL ###

2024-05-20 1404 hours:

The site has a new domain name and web server. It is now "hodgkinslutheranblog.com" and is hosted by Namecheap. I decided this would be the best option if I wanted to host a bulletin board, which is still in the works. - THL ###

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