Rather than withdraw his published errors about the Trinity, Dr. Waldo
Werning has dug in his heels and is more convinced than ever about his
blasphemy on pages 33-34 of his book, "Health and Healing in the
LCMS" sent to every Convention delegate.
At the same time Werning keeps adding the names of LCMS officials and
pastors who receive his letters whom he believes support his teaching on the
Trinity. Their names are: Synodical President Gerald Kieschnick, Rev. Ronald
Krug, South Wisconsin Circuit Counselor, Rev. Paul Borgman, Fourth Vice
President of the South Wisconsin District, Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Meyer, President
of the South Wisconsin District, Rev. Herman Otten, Dr. John Heins MI, Rev.
Wayne Pohl MI, Rev. John Reusch MI, Rev. Okamoto MI, Rev. C. William Hoesman,
President of the Michigan District. To our knowledge, only Herman Otten has
refuted Werning's errors on the Trinity.
Werning has gone beyond redesigning the church and worship. He is now
redesiging God. What he calls contemporary is as old as Cain. This is not
about opinions on worship, practice, liturgy, and congregational polity, but
alterations on the teaching of the Athanasian Creed. This is about pastors of
"Jesus First" going into eternal damnation for openly endorsing
Werning's false doctrine about the Trinity.
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."
"For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and
another of the Holy Ghost." ". . . they are not three
Eternals," "three Uncreated nor three Incomprehensibles,"
"not three Almighties," "not three Gods," and "not
three Lords." "So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say,
there be three Gods or three Lords."
"He, therefore, that will be saved MUST thus think of the Trinity. . .
This is the catholic faith; which except a man believe faithfully and firmly,
he cannot be saved."
In defiance of the Athanasian Creed, Werning teaches 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."
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."
The church has always condemned Unitarians, who claim God has revealed
himself in three persons. "The Modalists of the third century held that
God is Unity and therefore uniperonsal. This unipersonal God has revealed
Himself successively in three different modes, or forms: In the Father as
Creator, in the Son as Redeemer, and in the Holy Ghost as Sanctifier."
(page 382)
The church has also always condemned Tritheism, which teaches three divine
essences or natures in God. (page 384)
The "Lutheran Cyclopedia" (page 98) defines blasphemy as
"speech, thought, writing, or action manifesting irreverence toward God
or anything sacred (Ps. 74:10, 18, Is. 52:5, Rev. 16:9, 11, 21)."
There is no doubt that every one of these LCMS officials and pastors added
to Werning's list publicly supports the Athanasian Creed, just as Werning
claims he does. However, these LCMS officials must also condemn Werning's
published modalism and invented "threes in God" if they really
believe, teach, and confess the Athanasian Creed. Werning's heresy is so raw
it makes Sabellius appear orthodox.
Redeemer Lutheran will set a date to meet with Doctor Waldo Werning
relative to his false teaching about the Trinity. We will not meet with
Werning unless he brings an LCMS Pastor as a witness who supports what Werning
teaches in his book about the. All of the Wisconsin officials named above have
published signed letters supporting Werning's teaching. Anyone who agrees with
Werning's teaching on the Trinity will not receive Communion at Redeemer
Lutheran Church.
Werning continues to increase the number of his charges, but neither the
congregation nor I will meet with him until he agrees to the original charges
he has filed against me with the Michigan District President in his letter of
July 26, 2001.
We have reminded Werning that he is the one who wrote the false doctrine
about the Trinity. He is the one who is filing the charges in Dispute
Resolution. He may not file charges against me in behalf of anyone else
including, the false teachers of "Jesus First," the trash produced
by the Church Growth Movement, the fanatics of the Michigan 102, and the false
teaching of PLI because he is not them.
Let the LCMS lay people beware of what little regard many LCMS officials
now have for their souls. Power politics, offices, career goals, voting
blocks, control of the Synodical machinery have been given a higher priority
than the doctrine of the Trinity.
Werning's "3's" read more like the incantations of witchcraft
than the confession of Christianity. The only three in God is the three divine
persons in one divine being. All who add or delete from this confession have
the eternal damnation of which the Athanasian Creed warns.
Should Werning die before retracting his false teaching about the Trinity,
he should not be given Christian burial and God will hold the pastors and
officials on his list accountable for supporting him in his false teaching
before he died. Thus writes the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 33.
In short, "Jesus First" uses him for political purposes, but
cares nothing for his soul.