The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Worship and Change...

The question is not if the words and music are good, but rather if the theology of the man you are endorsing affects the theology of your worship--there is a difference. Since I studied in Wittenberg Germany, lived in Luther's residence, and studied some of the actual books he studied, his theology affects me more than many. Go back and re-read what I wrote originally. I said, “The more one knows about the author(s) the more about that person’s character (and thus theology) is interjected into personal worship.” However, since you are the one that brought this issue of Luther to the forefront it actually demonstrates my point—when you thought of Luther, you thought of his error concerning the Jews. It does affect your worship. I not only think of it, but having seen some of the concentration camps (Hitler used Luther’s material for justification his actions; i.e. read Mein Kampf, Daniel Johah Goldhagen's book, Hitler's Willing Executioners, or The Holy Reich, by Walter Buch, the head of the Nazi Party court) it makes me sick.

The object for us is to keep worship as pure as possible—it will never be perfect on this earth. Do you not agree that when we can eliminate sin from the picture—it should be eliminated? I prefer songs that are (1) actual psalms—thus inspired, (2) hymns established on actual texts of Scripture. Thus, I think of God and His Word and not the “author.”

Yes, sermons are preached by fallible men. However, this is another reason why “scriptural” preaching is so important. I desire the text and its proper interpretation—which is from God—not man. If all I am hearing is a preacher’s short stories, jokes, and poems, I am not hearing the Word of God, but rather his wallowing in the mud.