A weeping seminary student... a Christian. (Prof. Harold Buls)

In my extensive research in the 1990's, I heard an anecdotal story about a student at the Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne.  The story was that this student came running and weeping to Prof. Harold Buls... why?  Because he was so distressed at the teaching of another professor, Professor Walter A. Maier Jr. (son of Walter A. Maier, the original speaker for the Lutheran Hour radio program).  Maier was teaching that faith was required for our justification, that somehow faith was the quality in man that was necessary for there to be a Justification from Sin, for God to be reconciled to him.

Why would this weeping student then run to Professor Buls?  Because the student understood Buls' teaching to be quite different than Professor Walter A. Maier Jr., a teaching that spoke of a universal reconciliation, a reconciliation even before faith.  That this is true of Prof. Buls' teaching can be confirmed in his sermon notes published here (see especially his notes on 2 Cor. 5:19).

I have often thought of this weeping student, whoever he was, a student who ran from a teaching that would cause him to question his faith... who wept when confronted with a teaching to cause doubt on his Christian faith.

This running, weeping student was

a Christian.

All Christians should run weeping away from any and all teachings (doctrines, dogmatics) that cause them to question and doubt their faith.