Saturday, October 30, 2010

Mike Baker's Dictum

Mike Baker has a fantastic dictum at his blog. To sum, it is this:

You cannot have charismatic Lutheranism for the same reason that there are no flaming snowballs or air-filled vacuums.

What follows is my response to this wondrous dictum.

Ah, but you could have a flaming snowball, if you were to make a snowball, pack it densely, cover it with a foreign, flamable substance, then light the substance and throw the snowball. For a short time the snowball would survive before the fire melted it.

Of course, this makes the analogy work all the better, I think. People latch on to an idea foreign to Lutheranism and compartmentalize it - oh, yes, yes, saved by Grace, Word and Sacraments, but look at this AWESOME cool thing. For a time, that will work (this is an aspect of Pieper's Felcitious Inconsistency - that happily people don't always think their faith destroying heresies through to their logical conclusions) - but just as the flame will melt the snowball, so to this foreign focus will come to dominate their entire theology, and snuff Lutheranism out.

Once you start down the Charismatic Path, forever will it dominate your destiny!

5 comments:

Mike Baker said...

The fact that I formulated this analogy just goes to prove another--more famous--dictum:

"Occassionaly even a blind hog will find an acorn."

This also reminds me that I need to add Pieper to my reading list.

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

My high school government teacher (who was the football coach) would always say that.

Mike Baker said...

Was your high school government coach from Texas? :P

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

Nebraska.

George said...

As SA 3.8 so "delicately" explains, enthusiasm is the enemy of the Gospel.

This is why enthusiasm in any form is the root of all heresy.

George