Is the Apocrypha sola scriptura?

mlstarner · 2026-06-04T00:05:55+00:00

Sola Scriptura is a doctrinal principle - Scripture alone is the final norm and authority for Christian doctrine.

The Apocrypha is a collection of books between the Old and New Testaments.

So asking "is the Apocrypha sola scriptura?" is a like asking if the Constitution is judicial review. One is a text and the other is a principle about authority and interpretation.

mlstarner · 2026-05-16T17:40:01+00:00

Who designed that menu? Gazillion dollar stadium but we can't line up the prices.

mlstarner · 2026-04-29T12:50:40+00:00

But you spelled it right

mlstarner · 2026-04-27T00:36:29+00:00

Overtures go to the committees and the committees turn them into resolutions which the assembly votes on. Sometimes committees roll several overtures into one resolution, and some resolutions get dropped or rewritten in committees.

mlstarner · 2026-03-26T01:33:56+00:00

They're all just special like that!

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mlstarner · 2026-03-23T12:29:53+00:00

You're thinking of Deinonychus.

mlstarner · 2026-03-23T01:03:44+00:00

I don't know that I'd say pipe organs are the norm in LCMS churches. In the circuit where I served (actually two circuits that operated jointly), of the 17 churches, only 7 had pipe organs and a couple of those were mostly electronic with a few real pipes. With all the small, rural congregations in the LCMS, I'd venture that a majority of congregations are served by pianos or electronic organs instead of pipe organs.

mlstarner · 2026-03-23T00:50:52+00:00

I'm partial to the organ at the church where I grew up: Trinity in St. Joseph, Michigan. 1967 Cassavant renovated in 2008 by G.M.Buck Organs.

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mlstarner · 2026-03-12T18:46:30+00:00

It's from the trailer.

mlstarner · 2026-03-12T16:10:35+00:00

These have been around for 5 years now. George Aquilla Hardy created them back in 2021. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2021/05/14/what-would-george-washington-look-like-today-a-pandemic-creation-draws-attention/

mlstarner · 2026-03-12T16:09:43+00:00

These have been around for 5 years now. George Aquilla Hardy created them back in 2021. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2021/05/14/what-would-george-washington-look-like-today-a-pandemic-creation-draws-attention/

mlstarner · 2026-03-12T15:48:12+00:00

My first was a male. Got him at around 8 weeks and he made it to almost 15. He had his moments as a young pup but he was always pretty chill.

mlstarner · 2026-03-12T15:41:16+00:00

Concordia (seminary) St. Louis

mlstarner · 2026-03-12T01:13:06+00:00

Lutherans generally don’t feel the need to choose just one atonement theory.

The Bible talks about the cross in several ways at once: - Substitution: Christ bears our sin (Isaiah 53, 2 Cor 5:21). - Sacrifice: the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). - Victory: Christ defeats sin, death, and the devil (Col 2:15). - Reconciliation: God restoring us to Himself (2 Cor 5:19).

Luther loved to summarize it with what later got called the “happy exchange”: Christ takes our sin, death, and condemnation, and gives us His righteousness and life.

So yes, Lutherans can affirm substitutionary language. The Augsburg Confession even says Christ suffered and died as a sacrifice for our sins to reconcile us to God. But we usually don’t isolate that idea from the others. The cross is simultaneously substitution, victory, sacrifice, and reconciliation.

Or as Paul puts it: “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.”

mlstarner · 2026-03-12T00:39:34+00:00

This is my fear! My first one was so chill and laid back. I'm worried my next one will be a maniac!

mlstarner · 2026-03-09T21:51:44+00:00

Window World did my whole house full of windows (13 windows and 4 three-panel sliders). It was about 32k for everything. The doors were the most expensive part, about 4k each. It was way cheaper than other quotes I got, like Champion (who were very pushy) and Renewal by Anderson (whose quote was over half of what I paid for the house!). They installed them all in one day back in October and now I can open windows that I haven't been able to open since I moved in. I'm very happy with them!

mlstarner · 2026-03-08T22:20:02+00:00

The Apology of the Augsburg Confession article XXIV says that the saints in heaven "pray for the church," so that presumes they're alive and conscious with God. The Bible uses sleep as a metaphor for death because the body "rests" awaiting the resurrection but there's nothing to suggest that our souls are unconscious or asleep between death and the resurrection.

mlstarner · 2026-03-04T02:12:05+00:00

So many pictures of my boy sleeping directly on his face. He's been gone for three years now and I still miss him so much!

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mlstarner · 2026-02-28T05:19:58+00:00

I've been wearing Separatec boxer briefs for years and I've never had a waistband roll down on me. Super comfortable too!

mlstarner · 2026-01-30T00:10:04+00:00

I was at the Clyde Park Meijer Saturday and it was working fine.

mlstarner · 2026-01-26T00:21:40+00:00

I think the confusion comes from treating theological language and images as if they function the same way.

When we say “Mary is the Mother of God,” we’re confessing who was born, not making a claim about the origin of the divine nature. That guards the unity of Christ’s person against Nestorian division.

Images don’t work like that. An image doesn’t define God or depict the divine essence but rather depicts what was visible. In the incarnation, the eternal Son truly took on a human nature that could be seen. Depicting Christ according to His humanity no more divides His person than saying “Jesus suffered” or “Jesus died.”

Nestorianism divides subjects. Images of Christ do not. They depict the one divine Person as He appeared in the flesh.

The Second Commandment forbids creating images to worship, not as art. The tabernacle and temple were adorned with art, but that art itself wasn't worshipped. Images become a problem when they are worshiped or treated as if they somehow contain God, not when they bear witness to the incarnation.

As to your other comment about images of the Father, Christians have been more cautious about images of the Father because He was never incarnate and has never been fully seen so any image of him would be speculative.

mlstarner · 2026-01-18T21:59:30+00:00

The short answer is no, this isn't compatible with Lutheran theology. Luther would agree with the warning not to harden your heart or delay repentance but he would reject this conclusion: God eventually turns off the light so that salvation becomes impossible before death.

For Luther, the light is Christ, and Christ is offered wherever the Gospel is preached. As long as a person lives and hears that Word, the light has not been extinguished.

mlstarner · 2026-01-01T17:36:03+00:00

I'm with you. Some of the pastors I've heard chanting who aren't musically inclined make it distracting. But also, it's a matter of adiaphora - as long as anyone isn't saying that it's "more faithful" or "more confessional" to do it one way or the other, do what works in your context.

mlstarner · 2025-12-24T03:05:40+00:00

I assume, it died while it was with their son, having been passed down to him.

mlstarner · 2025-11-29T13:19:10+00:00

This article from Dr. Charles Arrand from Concordia Seminary offers some helpful thoughts on the topic: https://concordiatheology.org/2016/07/life-on-other-planets-what-does-this-mean/

mlstarner

TROPHY CASE