Matzat Replies To Suncoast Casino Criticism &Reclaim News Rebuttal

Rev. Jack Cascione

The following is Doctor Don Matzat's reply to our Feb. 25, 2004 Reclaim News article titled, "Matzat and Benke Divided on Deity of Christ at Las Vegas." We thank Don Matzat for his reply.
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"Dear Jack:

What we say must be said very clearly lest we create confusion and give weaker Christians the wrong idea.  Dave Benke and I agree on the statement: 'Jesus is the only God.' That is a true statement, but we would not make that statement among uninformed Christians or non-Christians without explanation because it will cause grave confusion.

If you say, 'Jesus is the only God,' someone will interpret you to be saying that 'the only God is Jesus' - which is a logical conclusion and which is the 'Jesus only' heresy.

I have had numerous opportunities both on the radio and in person to come against the 'Jesus only' movement. This is an insidious heresy and any uninformed reader of your material will conclude that you embrace that heresy.  While I know that your theology of the Trinity is indeed orthodox, what you have written can be easily misconstrued. The Father is also the only God and the Holy Spirit is also the only God.  The three persons of the Trinity are co-equal.

Of course, it would be proper to say, 'the Father who created us is the only God,' - is that not also true?  If I would have made that statement in a public gathering the impression would have been given that we all believe in the same God.  In fact, according to question 96B in the Small Catechism it is proper to say that God is the Father of all humanity, including Jews and Muslims.  According to question 94 in the Small Catechism, the only true God is the Triune God.  LCMS pastors do not embrace the 'Jesus only' heresy, nor remotely suggest, as you seem to be suggesting, that 'only Jesus is the true God.'

Perhaps if you re-read your 'Reclaim' article you might come to the conclusion that you could have done a better job of explaining what you mean by saying, 'Jesus is the only God.' I believe you should have done a better job.  But the problem is, why should we allow you that privilege of re-thinking what you have written if you do not permit others the same privilege of re-thinking what they have said?  And if you should say, 'what I really meant was...' why should anyone believe you if you do not believe others?

Perhaps the words of Jesus are applicable: 'For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?' Matthew 7:2-3

Don"
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Dear Don:

Thank you so much for your reply.  When you talk yourself into an indefensible theological corner you don't back off, it is strictly offence, offence, and more offence.  You remind me of a lot of the people I grew up with in New York City.  That is one of the reasons I like you.  As Benke's chief apologist, you take him right along with you.  Before I say more, please read the following citation from Pieper Vol. 1. page 405.

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"3. Finally, the opponents of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity claim
that this doctrine must inevitably lead to tritheism.  [worship of three
Gods and not one God.] . . .

We answer, in the first place, that Scripture teaches, and therefore demands, that we worship the one God in three persons.  The Christian Baptism must be performed in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.  Scripture, furthermore, demands that all men must honor the Son even as they honor the Father, an adds that he that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father (John 5:23). . .

In the second place, there can be no division of the divine worship, because each Person is the entire God and not one third of God.  The entire majesty is in the Father (by virtue of His eternal fatherhood - agennesia), in the Son (by His eternal generation) and in the Holy Spirit (by His eternal procession from the Father and the Son). Luther: 'Each Person is the entire and very God' (St. L.X:178).  'The fullness of the Godhead" dwells in the Son (Col. 2:9), and the Holy Spirit 'is God' (Acts 5:4). . . .

Finally, whoever worships God as Father worships also the Son and the Holy Ghost.  God is our Father only for the sake of Christ's vicarious atonement and the Holy Spirit's revelation.  Whoever honors the Son honors also the Father, which has sent Him (John 5:23) and the Holy Ghost, who glorifies the Son in the hearts of men (John 16:14).  Whoever prays to the Holy Spirit thereby prays to the Father and the Son, for the Holy Spirit is the Sprit of both Father (Matt.10:20) and the Son (Gal. 4:6)."
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I hope you noticed that Pieper explains that when a Christian is praying to any Person of the Trinity he or she is praying to the entire Trinity.  It is impossible to have faith in one Person without having faith in all three Persons, who is one Divine Being.  The Creed says "I believe in God the Father, . . . and in God the Son, . . . and in God the Holy Ghost."

It was Benke who ended his prayer at Yankee Stadium, "In the precious name of Jesus."  Many of the heathen clergy around him, such as the Moslem clerics, couldn't know that Benke meant that Jesus was the only God unless Benke said it, which he did not.

When I asked at the Suncoast Casino that Benke should have prayed, "in the precious name of Jesus, the only true God" he replied "No."  There was no mistake.  He did want to do it then and he still doesn't want to do it now. Why? Because, as you say, it might "cause grave confusion."  Caiaphas was so
confused when Jesus told him who He really was he ordered that Jesus be killed.

Everytime we sing the second verse of "A Mighty Fortress" we say of Christ, "and there's no other God."  Was Luther trying to confuse everyone?

Everytime we Christians pray among ourselves, "in Jesus name" I hope you don't believe that we are praying to one third of the Trinity.

According to you, the Lutheran Confessions must be guilty of "Jesus only" heresy when we read: "and apart from this man [Jesus Christ] there is no other God." (Concordia Triglotta par. 81 page 1045).

Have you told "Jesus First" about their "Jesus Only" heresy!

You contradict yourself when you claim that the heathen worship the God of the First Article.  The God of the First Article is God the Father, the First Person of the Trinity.  To say, "I believe in God the Father" means that the heathen must also believe in God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, which they do not.  It is not possible for the heathen to identify any Person of the Trinity or the Trinity from nature.

The Heathen do not worship the God of the First Article; they worship God according to the Natural Law.  They have no concept of any articles, just a God that they do not know, a God whose existence they observe from nature.

In your attempt to defend Benke, you've made not telling people that Jesus is God, a Christian virtue.

So you and Benke love all those heathen people so much in Yankee Stadium that you don't want to burden them with the disturbing news that the "precious name of Jesus" means the only true God.  So, let's pray with them but not tell them whom we are really praying to.

This way we can look like we really care about evangelism and their souls, but really don't care at all.

It wasn't only Wally Schulz that lost the case in Dispute Resolution; it was all the heathen in Yankee Stadium, when Benke intentionally gave a false witness about Christ.

Jack

March , 2004

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