Voters' Assembly To Judge Werning's Doctrine of Trinity
By Rev. Jack Cascione

 

Redeemer Lutheran Church continues to wait to meet with Dr. Waldo Werning and hear him explain his "new teaching" about the Trinity and why he is filing charges against Pastor Jack Cascione for breaking the Eight Commandment.

Werning filed charges against Cascione with the Michigan District Office on June 26th of 2001 because Cascione published his objections to Werning's false doctrine about the Trinity published on pages 33-34 of Werning's book "Healing and Health for the LCMS."

In his most recent letter of October 24th to Cascione and members of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Werning writes to Cascione, "You are not the church, and God has not appointed you to be the judge of me or anyone else in the church."

Werning is correct. The Voters' Assemblies of each congregation are the final judges of doctrine in the church. The Synod is not a "church" nor is Pastor Cascione the final judge of doctrine in the church.

Under its current operation, any false teacher on the LCMS clergy roster can write and distribute to the laity any damning heresy he chooses. If a pastor objects or attempts to protect his congregation from lies about God, the pastor is then accused of breaking the Eighth Commandment. The Michigan District President's letter tells the two parties to meet and discuss the issues as if the Gospel, correct doctrine, and the existence of God are not his concern, regardless of what Werning writes.

Numerous LCMS officials support Werning's position. South Wisconsin District Circuit 22 Counselor Rev. Ronald P. Krug writes, "I have found him [Werning] to be solidly on the foundation of Lutheran exegesis of the Scriptures."

South Wisconsin District Vice President Borgman writes, "To reiterate: it was clear to me that you [Dr. Werning] believe, teach and confess the Orthodox position concerning the Holy Trinity as the Church confesses it in Scripture, the Ecumenical Creeds, and the Lutheran Confessions."

South Wisconsin District President, Dr. Ron Meyer writes: "In contrast to the inaccurate and hurtful statement and suggestion made concerning Dr. Waldo Werning's theology, it is my duty and privilege, herby, to affirm the clearly stated, Lutheran position of Dr. Werning on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity . . ."

"Jesus First" gave a positive review of Werning's book and campaigned for the election of Dr. Kieschnick before the 2001 Convention. Reverend Charles Mueller Jr., a member of the Board of Directors of "Jesus First," has published his defense of Werning's doctrine of the Trinity.

All of these men on the LCMS clergy roster are blind guides; they have lied to the church about Werning's doctrine of the Trinity; and have joined him in his heresy. If anyone actually believes what Werning writes about the Trinity on pages 33-34, they will lose their salvation according to the warning of the Athanasian Creed.

The Athanasian Creed warns: "Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic [i.e., universal, Christian] faith. Which faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly."

In defiance of the Athanasian Creed, Werning teaches on pages 33 and 34 that in the Triune God there are: "three forms of address 'You shall!,' 'You may!,' 'You can!'" Man experiences, "God in a three-fold manner." There are "three manners of being (God above us, God among us, God in us)" and that "God revealed Himself in three ways." While the Athanasian Creed teaches the only three in God is "the three divine persons in one divine being."

Pieper writes, Vol. I page 383, "a. The names Father, Son, and Holy Ghost can denote only three self-subsisting persons. No one who hears these names of God will think of three modes of appearance or three activities of the same."

Luther writes that anyone who claims to experience God, let alone in three experiences, is speaking for the devil. "Therefore we ought and must constantly maintain this point, that God does not wish to deal with us otherwise than through the spoken Word and the Sacrament. It is the devil himself whatsoever is extolled as Spirit without the Word and Sacraments. Concordia Triglotta, Smalcald Articles, Part III Art. VIII, Page 497."

In his landmark sermon, "The Sheep Judge Their Shepherd," Walther explains that the final determination of doctrinal truth lies in the hands of the lay people because it is ultimately their souls that hang in the balance of truth and error. Walther writes: "In God's Kingdom we are all equal. Holy Baptism takes the purple from the king, and the rags from the beggar, and clothes them both in the robes of Christ's righteousness. In divine matters it does not depend upon learning, or holiness, or cleverness, or prudence. It often happens, rather, that the most learned are the most perverse. Human wisdom is foolishness to God. Human righteousness is to Him sin. If a learned man would enter heaven, he must climb down from the heights of his human wisdom and become a child. For God reveals His mysteries only to the babes who humbly acknowledge their natural blindness and darkness. Therefore in divine matters no one is excluded from the judicial office. All Christ's sheep are judges, both learned and layman, man and wife, bachelor and spinster, young and old, for it concerns each one's soul, his own life, his own salvation."

We are waiting for Doctor Werning to bring with him all the LCMS clergy he can possibly find who will support his blasphemy. The lay people must be subject to lies about God from Werning and "Jesus First" because the truth is not in them. The lay people must be subject to these lies because the LCMS President and Council of Presidents have no intention of protecting these lay people from Werning's and "Jesus First's" lies about God. Why should they? Most of them support "Jesus First" but not the correct teaching on the Trinity that saves souls.

We are waiting for Werning to come the halls of Redeemer Lutheran Church and defend his soul-killing devil's-speak. Let the laymen judge, because these LCMS clergy have failed miserably to confess the truth about God.


Rev. Jack Cascione is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church (LCMS - MI) in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. He has written numerous articles for Christian News and is the author of Reclaiming the Gospel in the LCMS: How to Keep Your Congregation Lutheran. He has also written a study on the Book of Revelation called In Search of the Biblical Order.
He can be reached by email at pastorcascione@juno.com.

November 30, 2001