Werning's Charges Over Trinity Against Cascione Go To Second Round
By Rev. Jack Cascione

 

After a two and a half hour meeting on December 27, 2001 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, according to the rubrics of LCMS Dispute Resolution, Dr. Waldo Werning remains adamant in his defense of his false teaching about the Trinity.

Doctor Waldo Werning filed charges against this writer on June 26, 2001 for breaking the Eighth Commandment. He claims he was slandered when I wrote that his teaching about the Trinity on pages 33-34 of his book, "Health and Healing For the LCMS" is heresy.

Evidently, health and healing for the LCMS require the confession of a new god because the old God has not been sufficient for the South Wisconsin District Office, Werning, or "Jesus First."

In the Athanasian Creed, Christians confess that there are three divine Persons in one divine Being. There are not three eternals, not three uncreates, not three incomprehensibles, not three Almighties, not three Gods, and not three Lords. The Athanasian Creed confesses that all who teach otherwise are eternally damned.

Now, Dr. Waldo Werning defends his teaching that in God there are three experiences, three revelations, three manners of being, and three forms of address. In actuality, no one experiences God and God only has one revelation, one manner of being or existence, and only addresses us in one way, namely through the Bible.

He claims to "experience Christ as Savior through prayer" and that Christians "sense the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives." He claims that when he prays, the Holy Spirit gives him the correct words to pray in English and it is God's Word in his mouth. I watched him do this in his opening prayer when we met. He uses the Lutheran Confessions to support these claims. (Article XIII Tappert page 213:16, and Large Catechism page 423:22-24)

He claims the statement; "All theology is Christology" is false doctrine, even though Christ says the Scriptures testify about Him (John 5:39) and Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). He does not understand how we can only know about the Trinity (Matthew 28:19) except through Jesus Christ.

Second Table of the Law (Commandments 4-10) is become more important in the LCMS than the First Table of the Law (Commandments 1-3).

During his acceptance speech at the 2001 LCMS Convention, President Gerald Kieschnick stressed the importance of the Eighth Commandment and drew a standing ovation. There was no such emphasis or ovation for the First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

In line with this new direction in the LCMS, a few months later, we read about President Kieschnick defending the name and reputation of Atlantic District President David Benke after Benke prayed with Buddhists, Moslems, and Jews during a prayer service in Yankee Stadium.

Not only has Dr. Waldo Werning filed charges against me in Dispute Resolution, the unholy trinity of Rev. Ronald Krug, South Wisconsin District Circuit Counselor, Rev. Paul Borgman, South Wisconsin District Vice-President, and Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Meyer, South Wisconsin District President, have also published letters to the church at larger declaring that Werning teaches correctly about the Trinity. They also say and that I am guilty of slander and breaking the Eighth Commandment because I condemn and refuse to worship Werning's false god.

No doubt, under the right political circumstances, such as in front of a District Convention, the officers of the South Wisconsin District will say the right things about the Trinity. But then, when the politics are different, they attack those who condemn Werning's lies about God.

"Jesus First" endorsed Werning's book and recommended it to the entire LCMS. A free copy was sent to every delegate.

Anyone with a dictionary can read that Werning's use of the words "three-fold-manner" in the Trinity is Modalism. His claims of personal revelation and experience of God are pure fanaticism. He promotes the new user-friendly god of Church Growth and "Jesus First."

Werning demanded that the location, time, and events of our meeting on Dec. 27, 2001 be kept confidential. After the meeting, he promptly sent out his own seven page report of the meeting to sixteen LCMS officials and pastors whom he claims support and defend his cause: LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick, Rev. Ronald Krug, South Wisconsin District Circuit Counselor, Rev. Paul Borgman, South Wisconsin District Vice-President, Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Meyer, South Wisconsin District President, Rev. Herman Otten, Dr. John Heins, Rev. Wayne Pohl, Rev. John Reusch, Rev. Toshio Okamoto, Rev. John Merrill, Dr. Raymond Hartwig, Secretary, Michigan District President C. William Hoesman, Michigan Vice-Presidents: Rev. Wayne Wentzel, Rev. Arnold Brammeier, Rev. David P. Maier, Rev. K Frank Graves, and the officers of Redeemer Lutheran Church in St. Clair Shores MI.

In view of his sixteen letters, this writer is no longer bound to silence on the results of our first meeting.

There is no question that Werning makes some correct statements about the Trinity in his book that also casts me as the leading character with 140 listings of my name. He is obsessed with my name. However, his correct statements about the Trinity are not the problem. The problem is the lies he tells about God in the three paragraphs on pages 33 and 34.

We now prepare for a second meeting, this time with Werning bringing at least 3 LCMS pastors. I am also to invite at least three additional pastors to this meeting. We will convene a conclave of heretics and determine who and what is the real God of the LCMS. Perhaps we will arrive at a compromise, win-win God with whom we can all be happy.

In this writer's opinion, the officers of the South Wisconsin District have signed a statement leading to their own eternal damnation for defending Werning's false teaching about the Trinity.

Lay people may be rightfully concerned that LCMS clergy are no longer agreed on the definition of God, which may also place the entire Synod's salvation in jeopardy.

In our theologically pluralistic Synod, declaring the other pastor's invention of God is an idol is a greater sin than worshiping the idol. Some pastors desire to worship the God of their choice, not only in America, but also in the LCMS.


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.

January 26, 2002