EXPOSING THE ELCA
  • Home
  • ELCA Exposed News
    • on The Bible
    • on Homosexuality & Sex
    • on Universalism & Hell
    • on Goddess/Mother God/Gender Neutral Lang.
    • on Israel
    • on Abortion
    • on Social Media (ELCA Wolves Blog)
    • on Radical Hospitality and Prophecy
    • on Transgenders and Drag Queens
    • on Social Justice & DEIA
    • on Gospel Reductionism / Antinomianism
    • on Called to Common Mission & "Christian Nationalism"
    • on Other Critical Issues
  • Responses to ELCA
    • The Bible vs. ELCA
    • Churches Respond
    • Pastors Respond
    • Exposed Quotes
    • People Respond
    • More Responses
    • ELCA Finances
    • Alternatives to the ELCA
  • Exposed Blog
  • Share
  • Support
  • More
    • About & Contact
    • Help and Advice on Leaving ELCA
    • Important Information
    • Church Produced Info
    • ELCA Vault
    • Readers' Comments
    • ELCA Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber
    • ELCA Colleges
    • ELCA Seminaries
    • Want to Know Jesus?
    • Exposing the ELCA Newsletters & Important Websites
    • Submit Tips

At an ELCA Church today: Universalism, de-sexing God, and Yertle the Turtle

8/29/2016

5 Comments

 
(The following was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org.  You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)
 
I am at a South Dakota church camp today and attended the closest church, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the liberal branch of Lutheranism). About 8 years ago I attended here one Sunday, during which the pastor had the congregation sing the hymn from the ELCA hymnal "Mothering God, you gave me birth." He then preached that he didn't know why people are so upset about referring to God as "Mother", must be 2000 years of sexism. He also said "Feel free to talk to me about this after the service." I did. I said "I think the reason Christians are not comfortable referring to God as 'Mother' is that Jesus taught us to pray 'Our Father who art in heaven.'" I could tell by the pained expression on his face that he didn't want to talk about it. I later googled him and discovered that his lesbian daughter was touring the county on the Soulforce bus trying to get churches to be open to homosexuality. He now serves a pro-gay church in another state.
 
Today a woman pastor preached. The service began with a wonderful hymn from the ELCA hymnal which was sadly changed to eliminate masculine references for God, making it difficult to worship. During her sermon she told the Dr. Seuss story of Yertle the Turtle, making the point that all are equal in Christ. "All people are children of God, whether you believe it or not, whether you know it or not, you and all people are God's children, all are welcome at God's table." Inwardly I was shaking my head. We are indeed all God's creatures, but we are not all God's children. In fact, the Bible teaches we all start out "by nature children of wrath, as the rest of mankind" (Ephesians 2:3). We only become "children of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26). The universalism heresy, the teaching all people are saved regardless of faith in Christ, appeared to be where she was coming from (later I noticed she had a "Co-exist" bumper sticker on her car.) Then came the Nicene Creed, which was also altered. Instead of "Jesus became incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man" we recited Jesus "became truly human." Many in ELCA leadership believe it is sexist to only refer to God in masculine terms which is why the ELCA hymnal de-sexes hymns and has de-sexed all the masculine God language from the Psalms.
 
Other than those issues, it was a good service. But that is like saying "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"

Sincerely in Christ,
 
Pastor Tom Brock
pastorsstudy.org
​
5 Comments

Imaginary Hell

6/6/2016

6 Comments

 
Jesus talked about hell, more than anyone in Scripture, but many ELCA leaders are so enamored with their own "enlightened" views that they have decided and teach that hell is not real and everyone goes to heaven. They believe they are more attuned to truth then the Son of God, I guess. This is ELCA pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber’s teaching. She has already revealed that she is a universalist (see here) and in a recent sermon Nadia tells us that hell is "imaginary." Here is her direct quote, 
“One of the more interesting things folks will say to me is: ‘I’m not religious or anything, I just hope that being a good person is enough.’ To which I always want to say… ‘enough for what?’ … avoiding the punishment of burning in the eternal fires of some kind of imaginary hell?” (see here)
 
As I’ve already mentioned, “hell deniers” must be deceived or in a state of denial because  Jesus continually warned people about hell and being eternally separated from God.  In Matthew 25, Jesus talks about people being separated like sheep and goats and He says the goats "will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Elsewhere He says, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
 
Hell is real. Telling people that it is not, is a lie from Satan, and it can lead people to think that faith in Christ is not necessary, that one can believe what ever they want and still go to heaven. People will end up in hell because of this lie.
 
Stop listening to people who teach contrary to God’s Word and warn others about them. They are false teachers.


6 Comments

More ELCA prayers to save the planet, not the lost

1/24/2016

0 Comments

 
(The following two articles were written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org.  You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)

Still waiting for one ELCA prayer for the lost

 
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's weekly "Prayers of the Church" printed in the bulletin are less than evangelistic. Prayers are regularly made for the environment, but I am still waiting for one prayer asking God to "save the lost" or "bring unbelievers to Christ". Instead, this Sunday we prayed:
 
"... For coastlands and mountains, rivers and deserts, prairies and valleys; for wilderness and cities, lakes and oceans; for farmlands and pastures, forests and rangelands; and for orchards, vineyards, and gardens. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer."
 
There was a prayer for the Church, pastors, bishops, teachers and missionaries, but that is as close as we get to pleading for God to bring people to Christ. Wouldn't a prayer like the following be great?
 
"Lord, bring Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, atheists and all kinds of people to saving faith in the Lord Jesus, and use our missionaries to save the lost."
 
But we never hear an ELCA prayer like this. Instead, we often pray for plants. I fear part of the reason is that many in the ELCA hold to the heresy of universalism, namely, that all people will be saved, regardless of whether they believe in Christ. The number of missionaries the ELCA sends out has gone done dramatically since its founding in 1988. Head bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the ELCA was quoted to say "The work of the Church is not so much saving souls, that's God's work." It is God's work, but it is a work that Jesus has given into the hands of the Church in His last words (Matthew 28:19-20). Until the ELCA realizes that Jesus' main command is to "go ye therefore", I am afraid there will be more prayers for "lakes and oceans, vineyards and gardens."
 
Sincerely in Christ,
 
Pastor Tom Brock
pastorsstudy.org
 
(And)
 

More ELCA prayers to save the planet, not the lost
 
Again, today's prayers from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Augsburg/Fortress Press that are used in ELCA worship services had no mention of praying for the lost to be saved. Instead we asked the Lord to "preserve the whole creation so that animals, plants, and land flourish. Protect endangered species and renew polluted waterways....Lord, hear our prayer."
 
"Endangered" grabbed my attention. Do we care that human souls are endangered with a Christ-less eternity? Or do we care more about "endangered species and polluted waterways"? Years ago, when I was still in the ELCA, some conservative pastors and I offered a resolution reaffirming the Bible's teaching that Jesus is the only way of salvation (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). It lost. But a statement warning church coffee drinkers about the dangers of the non-biodegradable styrofoam cup was received warmly. I got to the microphone and pointed out that if we cared half as much about the dangers of Hell as we do about the dangers of styrofoam cup, there might be hope for the ELCA. That was years ago. The number of ELCA missionaries has gone down dramatically since.
 

In Christ,
 
Pastor Tom Brock
pastorsstudy.org

0 Comments

'Angry White People,' Universalism, Hindu Prayer and MOre

11/24/2015

5 Comments

 
Could this ELCA synod be talking about conservative and/or Bible-believing Christians?  

Percentage of people of color in the #ELCA has increased not b/c we've attracted more POC but b/c the angry white people left #ntnlife #elca

— NT-NL Mission (ELCA) (@NTNLMission) October 28, 2015
They don't like you, but I would bet they will still gladly take your money. 

​-----

The belief in universalism is strong in the ELCA, as you know if you frequent this website. Here is another example - 
 
“I believe God is big enough to have many ways to be reached; although I confess Christianity, I also believe there are many other paths to God.” – The Rev. Patt Kauffman on ELCA clergy Uncensored Facebook group. The link goes to the Closed group, which only those in the group may view. (here) 
 
-----

An ELCA news story about the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut does not mention the Islamic faith of the terrorists. (see here) I wonder why the ELCA is so free to condemn Israel (falsely, I might add) but they can not state the facts and motivation behind the terrorists actions we are seeing worldwide. 
 
-----
​
​Wartburg College, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) school, shared a video of their “Weekday Interfaith Chapel” (Sept. 30, 2015) in which a Hindu prayer was offered by the guest speaker. (see video here. View the video dated Sept. 30, 3015) 

5 Comments

On Reformation Sunday, ELCA prays for 'New life for plants' 

10/25/2015

1 Comment

 
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org.  You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)

Today is Reformation Sunday, the day Protestants praise God for Martin Luther's rediscovery of the Bible's teaching that we are saved by grace alone through faith in Christ alone. Sadly, many in liberal, mainline Protestant denominations no longer believe we are saved by faith in Christ alone. Many pastors and seminary professors have embraced the heresy of universalism which teaches that all people, whether they believe in Jesus or not, will go to heaven. The problem with universalism is that Jesus taught the opposite. Jesus frequently preached about Hell, more than anyone else in the Bible. Jesus insisted He is the only way to the Father (John 14:6), and those who reject Him are condemned (John 3:18). This was also the preaching of the Apostles (Acts 4:12).

But universalism has zapped the missionary zeal of the Church. The number of missionaries sent out by liberal denominations has fallen dramatically in recent decades.

Back to the prayers from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Augsburg/Fortress Press. Today in church we prayed:
Reinvigorate those places that have become desolate through human 
intervention or natural disaster. Breathe new life into
plants, animals and watersheds, Lord in your mercy, hear our
prayer.

Nothing is wrong with praying for the environment, but when we pray regularly for the salvation of the planet and rarely or never for the salvation of unbelievers, something is wrong. I am waiting for one prayer from the ELCA that goes something like this:
Lord, we pray for the missionaries to bring the Good News to the
lost, that Jesus is the only Savior who can bring salvation
from Hell, forgiveness of sins and eternal life for all who believe.

I have yet to hear the words "only Savior", "lost", or "Hell" in ELCA prayers.

In Jesus, the only Savior,

Pastor Tom Brock

pastorsstudy.org
​
1 Comment

ELCA'S "The Lutheran Magazine": Literalists bad, liberals have "open heart and mind"

8/14/2015

1 Comment

 
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org.  You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)



Frederic and Mary Anne Brussat write a monthly column for the national magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is a United Church of Christ pastor and she is an interfaith minister, ordained by the One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. If that sounds kind of New Age and "all religions are fine", that's the way their website looks. Through the years the Brussats regularly commend liberal books and media to their readers. Here is how their July 2015 article begins as they recommend a book by liberal theologian Harvey Cox:

"Many mainline Protestant congregations have been split apart by biblical literalists who say there is only one way to read the Bible. Harvey Cox, who has taught at Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass., since 1965, can be counted on to help read and study the Bible with an open heart and mind."

So there it is, if you have a conservative view of Scripture, you split churches apart. If you're liberal, you have an open heart and mind.

The truth is that the liberal view of Scripture has caused division in ELCA churches where some ELCA pastors promote universalism, abortion rights, and homosexual behavior. Some ELCA seminary professors deny various miracles in the Bible like the Virgin Birth of Christ, some teach we should worship "God the Mother", and a number teach that all people will go to heaven, whether they believe in Jesus or not.

So who is "splitting apart" the Church? Not those who believe in traditional Christian doctrine, but those who deny it. It is the reason that liberal, mainline denominations have shrunk in the last 40 years.

In Jesus our Savior,

Pastor Tom Brock


1 Comment

Nadia Bolz-Weber Says She is a Universalist

8/9/2015

1 Comment

 
Exposing the ELCA has written extensively about the dangerous and non-Biblical belief and acceptance of the teaching of universalism ("a theological doctrine that all human beings will eventually be saved") within in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Just last week well known ELCA pastor/author and highly sought after speaker, Nadia Bolz-Weber revealed that she believes all people will be saved. 

Rev. Bolz-Weber was interviewed by the online journal Religion & Politics:


“R&P: Would you consider yourself a universalist? Does everyone get saved in the end? 

NB: I confess that I am a Christo-centric universalist. What that means to me is that, whatever God was accomplishing, especially on the cross, that Christological event, was for the restoration and redemption and reconciliation of all things and all people and all Creation – everyone. Whatever God was getting done there, that is for everyone. How God manages to play that out through other religions, other symbol systems, I will never understand. I have to allow for the idea that God is actually nimble enough and powerful enough and creative enough to do that.” – (See here) 


Universalism is a dangerous teaching. (Read here) But once again we see a leader in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America professing it. (not to mention ELCA websites and publications that do the same)

Check out what ELCA pastor Bolz-Weber then says when asked “Do you think the future of the Church involves synthesis with other faiths?” 


“Syncretism has always been part of Christianity. There’s a reason why the Virgin of Guadalupe is huge in Mexico, and it has to do with the goddess religion that existed before that. I don’t think it’s something to fear. I think it’s the way that Christianity has survived. It lends itself in a sense towards it. And that’s why it can exist in so many different places in so many different forms.” 

Adhering to other religions (which are false) or mixing other religions with Christianity is not a problem to people like Bolz-Weber because their understanding is that everyone will go to heaven anyway, according to their universalistic belief. 

All this being said, (and all that we have reported on Nadia Bolz-Weber in the past – see here and scrolled down)  Rev. Bolz-Weber still calls herself “orthodox.” From this article, Rev. Bolz-Weber says “I’m this really orthodox Lutheran theologian.” Oxforddictionaries.com defines “orthodox” as “Following or conforming to the traditional or generally accepted rules or beliefs of a religion, philosophy, or practice.” I, for one, wouldn’t call Nadia Bolz-Weber orthodox.



1 Comment

More “Everyone Is Saved” Heresy From the ELCA

5/15/2015

9 Comments

 
The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org.  You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook (here) and twitter (here.)

The ELCA's official website has an "Ask the Pastor" blog where people can ask ELCA pastors a question. The most recent is called "Eternal Life for Everyone?" The question is whether the ELCA will line up with the heresy of universalism (that everyone is saved, whether one believes in Christ or not). 

 In part, here is how Pastor Monica answered:

...there are many who seek to bring salvation to people by way of threatening eternal damnation. It’s a fear tactic. ...God does not destroy the earth while saving a select few. This is not the God who sent his only Son not to condemn but to save. Again not just a few – but the whole world! ...Will we be judged? Yes. Where will we spend eternity? I trust the God of love who first loved us in Christ Jesus. 

So, catch that, the whole world goes to heaven according to her. 

Here in part is Pastor's David's response to the same question: 

...The question is whether only the righteous will be resurrected, or will both the righteous and the wicked be resurrected at Christ’s return? And on that question, many very intelligent and faithful people (much smarter than I) have written at length and disagreed....At the end of the day, the answer resides in God’s control and not in mine. My trust is in God’s grace, and my hope is in the resurrected Jesus Christ. I will let myself be satisfied with the mystery, and know that all will be clear when God makes it so. 

So, one pastor says all will be saved, the other says says it is a mystery. The Bible teaches differently. There will definitely be a resurrection of the just and unjust. The Old Testament teaches this (Daniel 12:2) as does Jesus Himself (John 5:29). And the verses where Jesus talks about the reality of Hell are numerous (see, for instance, Matthew 25:46 where Jesus talks about eternal punishment). And, yes, faith is Christ is necessary for salvation (Acts 16:31, Romans 3:26). 

Is it any wonder that the number of missionaries in the ELCA has gone down since its founding in 1988? If everyone is saved, lets bring the missionaries home.

In Jesus our Savior, 

Pastor Tom Brock

9 Comments

Evangelical Lutherans Pushing Universalism

4/7/2015

9 Comments

 
The evidence accumulating against the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America teaching universalism (that all people are saved) is overwhelming (see here and scroll down here). Sadly, there are many ELCA members who are in denial, ignorant of this fact or do not know that the teaching is non-biblical. That is why I continue to compile evidence in hopes that God will open the eyes of these members so that they will see the dangerous false teaching coming from their denomination.

Today I'd like to share with you three more instances of the ELCA teaching universalism. The first is from the self-promoting ELCA preacher/author/speaker Nadia Bolz-Weber. During a sermon given October 2014, the stench of universalism filled the sanctuary when Bolz-Weber preached, “So I believe with all my being that those who leave this world, even by their own hand, are held in the same pure love of God from which they were born. If they could not feel the truth of God’s love in life, they are surrounded by it in the life everlasting.” (see here)

The second comes from Rev. Scot D. Ruffatto of Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Mukwonago, WI (ELCA) who writes:

“Just a thought, if there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus does that also include God’s apparent favoritism in the Bible? Or even the condition of having to believe?” (see here)

And lastly, from Matthew Frost, a Ph.D student at the ELCA's Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago:

“I make no secret of the fact that I am a universalist, and a very particular one. I believe that the whole creation is in fact redeemed in Christ, without concern for moral change, ontological change, or 'regeneration.'" (see here)


9 Comments

ELCA: Saving Souls or the Planet?

4/3/2015

5 Comments

 
The following is by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org.  Follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.


The April issue of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's official magazine, The Lutheran, has on its cover "Helping Save the Earth". The articles inside are about saving the planet. Yes, we should be good stewards of the environment, but I got to thinking: When is the last time The Lutheran had a cover article "Saving lost human souls through the Gospel of Christ"? I have never seen such a cover. Maybe because the ELCA doesn't know if it believes people are really lost without Christ. The Lutheran has printed a number of articles espousing universalism, the heresy that faith in Christ is not necessary for salvation (ultimately everyone universally will be saved, Christian or not). Where in the ELCA is the zeal for saving lost human souls? Tragically, I believe it has been replaced with concern for saving the planet, changing immigration laws, Middle East politics, gay advocacy, etc. etc. Just go to ELCA.org and look at its "News releases". Its mainly liberal politics. Perhaps the reason the number of ELCA missionaries has dropped dramatically since the ELCA's founding in 1988 is because many in ELCA leadership do not believe in Hell anymore. And in the ELCA's hymnal, the line in the Apostle's Creed that Jesus "descended into hell" has been left out.

Years ago when I was still in the ELCA, some conservative pastors and I went to our Minneapolis Area Synod conventions every year and raised questions like: Why does the ELCA pay for abortion with offering dollars in its healthcare plan? Why is the ELCA promoting homosexuality? Why are we changing the Biblical "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" language for feminine images of God? One year we even had a resolution reaffirming the Bible's teaching that Jesus is the only way of salvation (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). It lost.

What did pass one year was a resolution that we go back to our churches and encourage that we drink coffee out of ceramic cups because styrofoam cups are dangerous to the environment. I could take it no more and got to the microphone: "If we cared half as much about the dangers of hell as we do about the dangers of the styrofoam cup, there might be hope for this synod."

Well, in three days we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, when He triumphed over sin, death and Hell for us. And yes, according to the Bible and Jesus Christ Himself, Hell really does exists.

In the love of our Risen Savior,

Pastor Tom Brock
pastorsstudy.org



5 Comments

A Liberal Lutheran Pastor For Whom Jesus is Not the Only Way

3/31/2015

5 Comments

 
(The following is by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org.  Follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)

How do liberal pastors get around the Bible's clear teaching that Jesus is the only way of salvation (John 14:6, Acts 4:12)? Below is a tragic example of a pastor trying to do just that. You will notice the tortured hermeneutics he uses to get around the plain meaning of John 14:6. It is sad because once Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, a huge ELCA congregation, was known for being more evangelical. It looks like ...those days are gone.

Pastor Tom Brock

From Prince of Peace's website:


One Way
March 16, 2015 by Jeff Marian
Recently a friend confided that he was troubled by John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

Like many others, my friend was troubled by the way that this verse is often interpreted. The interpretation goes something like this: “God will only accept, and give entrance into heaven, those who believe certain doctrines about Jesus, like his virgin birth, his divine/human nature, his substitutionary atonement. Everyone else will be rejected and condemned.”

John 14:6 would trouble me, too, if that’s what I thought it meant. But I don’t, if for no other reason than that it runs counter to the profound inclusivity that Jesus modeled throughout his life and ministry.

There are, fortunately, other ways to understand and interpret Jesus’ words...I understand “the way” of Jesus as the pathway of love, forgiveness and self-sacrifice … not the way in to God’s favor, and not the way out of eternal condemnation. The way, the truth and the life are not an end result reserved for people who believe certain religious doctrines. Daily dying to old self-centered ways and daily rising to newness of life is a journey that’s universal and inclusive, and God’s Spirit meets and empowers all who choose to walk that road.

I’ve met far too many who profess all the right doctrine but seem to walk the dead-end road of life-denying anger and judgment. But I’ve never met anyone walking in the way of Jesus – dying to self-centeredness and rising to newness of life – who didn’t radiate life-giving grace, no matter what their doctrine.

So, in light of John 14:6, I think the question is this: Which “way” are you walking?

Jeff Marian is Lead Pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, MN


(See here)

5 Comments

ELCA Leader Says There is No Absolute Inside Track to God

11/20/2014

5 Comments

 
Rev. Stephen Bouman, executive director for congregational and synodical mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) recently attended a meeting designed “to maintain religious dialogue and seek action together for peace” between "Iraqi Sunni, Shiite, Christian, Turkmen and Kurdish religious leaders." The ELCA news service reports that at the gathering Rev. Stephen Bouman said “A second tenant [sic] is that no one gathered has special access to God; there is no absolute inside track to God.” (see here) Maybe Rev. Bouman has never read or doesn't believe what Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”



5 Comments

The ELCA Betrays Christ

9/8/2014

19 Comments

 
"The chief danger of the 20th century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and Heaven without Hell." - William Booth

So it is with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

A recent article by long time ELCA seminary professor, author, speaker and current ELCA president of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), Rev. Dr. David J. Lose, is proof to William Booth's point. Addressing the concept of hell, Rev. Lose tries to dismiss the belief by saying “as you read the rest of the New Testament there are very few references to hell (outside similar parables) and in the Old Testament next to nothing.” (read here)

Truth be told, “hell” is specifically addressed fifty-five times in Scripture (King James Version, see here) and that does not include other references to it or the use of different words and phrases for “hell” like “lake of fire” and “everlasting punishment.”

Hell is a major problem for the liberal leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America because it stands contrary to their belief and teaching that all people will be saved (universalism).

The ELCA seminary president goes on, in his article, to say “For the last few decades at least, you see, 'hell' has stopped being a particularly lively or compelling topic in mainline preaching and conversation. Given it’s relatively scant place in Scripture, that may be a far more faithful treatment of the topic than many on the far right of the religious spectrum would guess. But while many of us have a harder and harder time imagining the God we know in Jesus consigning someone to a place of eternal torment and therefore applaud this development, I have wondered from time to time if we’ve figured out exactly what is a good substitute for hell.

What, that is, is the motivation for our gathering, our giving, our serving and volunteering? At least things were pretty clear when you had heaven as the carrot and hellfire as the stick. But what now? Even heaven seems increasingly difficult to talk about, as we perhaps too narrowly defined it as, well, the opposite of hell. So if we don’t have the mother-of-all reward-and-punishment schemes to fall back on, have we figured out exactly what we’re offering people.”

Rev. Lose then states, “I don’t miss hell...”

The Son of God, Jesus the Christ, spoke of hell more than anyone else in Scripture. So Rev. Lose and the ELCA's attempt to deny the existence of hell is blatantly a satanic lead assault on truth, Scripture and salvation.

“The friendly preacher who fails to warn of the reality of Hell, betrays the Son of God with a kiss.” - Ray Comfort



19 Comments

Nazis and Hitler are in Heaven, According to ELCA Magazine

8/28/2014

5 Comments

 
Read for yourself what the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America published about salvation. It's from an article written by an ELCA seminary professor:

“Difficult as it is—because I always think of it as unfair—I’ve come to accept God’s universal salvation as the final consequence of Jesus’ resurrection. I think of all the best and worst, the innocent and the guilty, Holocaust victims and the evil perpetrators, those killed in all of our senseless wars and the misguided leaders who send them into battle. Christ will raise us all—and somehow bend us into shape so we become the human beings we were intended to be.” (read the article published in the ELCA's The Lutheran magazine here)
 
Make no mistake, the ELCA magazine does NOT say that faith is required for salvation. They are clear: all people will go to heaven. Hitler, who murdered 6 million Jews, is in heaven according to them -- as are all his Nazi minions. In the same vein, so is ELCA member and late-term abortion doctor George Tiller . . . and Josef Stalin, Osama bin Laden, King Herod, kidnappers, rapists, murderers, terrorists . .  . all people go to heaven, even if they reject Christ, according to the ELCA.
 
Here is another quote from the article advocating universal salvation:
“Because Jesus is risen everything has changed radically. We are set free from serving the powers of death with our lives, fears, policies...This vision also applies to everyone. Paul says 'all' repeatedly, and I take it that he means 'all.' Theologian Robert Farrar Capon taught me years ago that Jesus didn’t come to repair the repairable, correct the correctable, improve the improvable. He came to raise the dead! The only final condition for eternal participation in Christ’s victory is that we be dead, 100 percent, gold-plated dead.”
 
All dead people go to heaven . . . so says the ELCA.
 
That is completely false and hundreds of verses from God's Word make this clear. There is a hell. People will go there. The universal salvation message, that the ELCA is espousing, is deceiving its members and putting their salvation at risk. It is by grace, through faith in Jesus, that anyone may have the assurance of salvation. Who are these leaders who have the audacity to declare anything other than what God's Word declares?

---
See more documentation on the ELCA teaching universalism here.


5 Comments

The Teaching At Luther Seminary

6/10/2014

4 Comments

 
The teaching happening in ELCA seminaries is non-Biblical, dangerous and heretical. The comment below is further confirmation of this -

"why do you think that there are 'still some very good professors' at Luther Seminary? As a student at Luther I would love to see just one. According to more than two-thirds of my professors: Everyone is Saved, Jesus came back as a Ghost, and God is a woman, sadly the future pastors of ELCA agree." (Posted on a closed facebook group page here)



4 Comments
<<Previous
Forward>>
    Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.  
    ​1 Thessalonians 5:21

    Dan Skogen

    Former ELCA seminary student and former ELCA member who is fed up with the ELCA's consistent mockery of God's Word.


    If you have been helped and blessed by Exposing the ELCA's ministry, please help us continue to proclaim the truth of God's Word to ELCA members who need to hear it.

    Give online
    by clicking the "donate" button below:

    Categories

    All
    2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
    Abortion
    Adam And Eve
    Advocacy
    All Paths Lead To God
    Angels
    Anglican Church
    A Pastors Thoughts
    Astrology
    Bds
    Belief
    Berlin Wall
    BIPOC
    Bisexual
    Bishop
    Black-lives-matter
    Blasphemy
    Border Fence
    Camp
    Capitalism
    Christian Nationalism
    Christmas
    Church Leaves Elca
    Church Plant
    Climate Change
    Columbus Day
    Communion
    Community Organizing
    COVID
    Covington-catholic
    Creation
    Cross Dressing
    Cursing
    Deaconness
    Decolonizelutheranism
    DEI
    Divorce
    Drag
    Drag Queen
    Eappi
    Easter
    Elca
    ELCA Churchwide Assembly
    Elca College
    ELCA Conference Of Bishops
    Elca World Hunger
    Environmentalism
    Episcopal
    Equality Act
    Evil
    Evolution
    Exposing The Elca
    Feminism
    Feminist Theology
    Fracking
    Franklin Graham
    Fundamentalists
    Future
    Gay Bar
    Gay Marriage
    Gender
    Gender Neutral Language
    Gnosticism
    God
    Goddess Worship
    Gospel Of Affirmation
    Grace Luth Eau Claire
    Guns
    Halloween
    Heaven-on-earth
    Hell
    Herchurch
    Heresy
    Heterosexism
    Holy Spirit
    Homosexuality
    ICE
    Ilhan Omar
    Illegal Immigration
    Illustration
    Immigration
    Inclusion
    Inerrancy
    Interfaith
    Intersex
    Intolerant
    Israel
    Jesus
    John Dominic Crossan
    Jonah
    Judge Kavanaugh
    Law
    Lcmc
    Lent
    Letter
    Liberal Theology
    Liberation Theology
    Lift
    Living Lutheran
    Lutheran Church Of Hope
    Lutheran Core
    Lutheran Immigration And Refugee Sevice
    Lutheran Social Services
    LWF
    Mainline Protestant
    Mantra
    Marcus Borg
    Martin Luther
    Masterpiece Cake Shop
    Masturbation
    Media 1517
    Membership
    Methodist
    Mike Housholder
    Missionaries
    Money
    Mother God
    Naked And Unashamed
    Nakedness
    Nalc
    National Day Of Mourning
    Noah's Ark
    Non Binary
    Non-Binary
    Operation Christmas Child
    Other Religions
    Overpopulation
    Pam Rocker
    Patriarchy
    Pat Robertson
    PC(USA)
    Police
    Politics
    Polls
    Polyamorous Relationships
    Pornography
    Portico Benefit Services
    Prayer
    Premarital Sex
    Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton
    Presiding Bishop Herbert Chilstrom
    Pronouns
    Purity Rings
    Queer Eye
    Queer Theology
    Race
    Racism
    Rage
    Reform Elca
    Refugees
    Reiki
    Resurrection
    Rev Nadia Bolz Weber
    Right And Wrong
    Rob Bell
    Salvation
    Salvation Army
    Samaritan's Purse
    Sanctuary
    Satan
    Saul Alinsky
    Seminaries
    Sex
    Silencing Free Speech
    Silencing Pastors
    Sin
    Smudging
    Socialism
    Social Justice
    Spirit Guides
    Standing Rock
    Store
    Substitutionary Atonement
    Syncretism
    Synods
    Tarot Cards
    Taxes
    Thanksgiving
    The Bible
    The Finger
    The Gospel
    The Lutheran
    The Tea Party
    Thrivent
    Tolerance
    Transgender
    Trump
    UCC
    Unitarian Universalist
    United Methodist Church
    United Nations
    United States Of America
    Unity
    Universalism
    Universal Salvation
    Vagina
    Video
    Virgin Birth
    Welca
    White
    White Privilege
    White Supremacists
    Wiccan
    Wordalone
    Yoga
    Youth


    Archives

    November 2025
    October 2025
    September 2025
    August 2025
    July 2025
    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009


    RSS Feed


    Exposing the ELCA
    Exposing the ELCA is on Facebook

    Picture
    Follow Exposing the ELCA on Twitter

    ​Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. - Ephesians 5:11

Home

Share

Exposed Blog

HELP

Contact

Exposing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
​Copyright © 2021
Photos from lcm1863, Toolstotal, QuinnDombrowski
  • Home
  • ELCA Exposed News
    • on The Bible
    • on Homosexuality & Sex
    • on Universalism & Hell
    • on Goddess/Mother God/Gender Neutral Lang.
    • on Israel
    • on Abortion
    • on Social Media (ELCA Wolves Blog)
    • on Radical Hospitality and Prophecy
    • on Transgenders and Drag Queens
    • on Social Justice & DEIA
    • on Gospel Reductionism / Antinomianism
    • on Called to Common Mission & "Christian Nationalism"
    • on Other Critical Issues
  • Responses to ELCA
    • The Bible vs. ELCA
    • Churches Respond
    • Pastors Respond
    • Exposed Quotes
    • People Respond
    • More Responses
    • ELCA Finances
    • Alternatives to the ELCA
  • Exposed Blog
  • Share
  • Support
  • More
    • About & Contact
    • Help and Advice on Leaving ELCA
    • Important Information
    • Church Produced Info
    • ELCA Vault
    • Readers' Comments
    • ELCA Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber
    • ELCA Colleges
    • ELCA Seminaries
    • Want to Know Jesus?
    • Exposing the ELCA Newsletters & Important Websites
    • Submit Tips