Have you wondered why most Internet discussions about Lutheranism are about electing the next president and fussing about the most trivial details of official synodical history?
I do not wonder at all. Those in charge in the synods loathe Martin Luther's doctrine and spare no effort to eliminate all traces of it. They cannot deal with the facts of their own history and doctrine, so they dance around the edges. The leaders love to watch pastors bickering over trivia, because they derive their power from alienating people and manipulating the naive.
American Lutheran church history consists of telling the biggest lies and hiding the most facts possible. The Concordia Historical Institute has plenty of evidence about the criminal and unethical actions of C. F. W. Walther. The youngest of pastors who pledged themselves to their syphilitic, adulterous bishop--CFW -was schocked, schocked to find out about Stephan's errant ways. Sure. The bishop's family was booked for passage to America, but he only took his son and his long-standing mistress, Louise Guenther. His mistress was not a secret because Stephan was under house arrest for his affair with her and other wome, up to the moment he left for America. I think the court thought, "Good riddance." They took extensive testimony about Louise and others, so the matter was public, published in court documents. When a man takes his mistress but not his wife to a new location, he has broadcast his infidelity to the world. Those who pay attention to him should be jailed as his enablers. The cover-ups continue to this day, but synodical wrath is reserved for those who tell the truth.
Walther was the man who stole back the 40 acres given by the Society to the bishop. Fraudulently changing court documents is a crime. That would never happen today - except Jerry Kieschnick changed the will of an elderly woman and still became SP. No one seemed to mind. Christian News worried more about whether the conservative candidate du jour was Waltherian enough. Perhaps some grand theft larceny would have helped the other man seem more like CFW.
The LCMS could tell the truth about Walther, instead of having him hover six feet above the ground, more immaculate than the Blessed Virgin Mother. One of the Ft. Wayne heroes was actually in prison in Europe. The synod admits that much. They should brag that Walther ran from the police so fast that the cops never got to serve the arrest warrants for kidnapping his niece and nephew. Pastor Otten is a runner and a biker - he would appreciate that fact. Missouri hstorians rejoice that another pastor and 50 others drowned in the journey to America, sparing their beloved and irrereplacable leader, who would have been on the ship - if he had obeyed the law.
Walther involved his in-laws in the kidnapping, so his future mother-in-law was arrested for her role in Europe. He involved his lawyers in hiding the kids from his own father (a pastor) and the authorities. He also involved his future in-laws in the mob action against Stephan, although he never confronted Stephan about the adultery. Remember that when reading Walther's Pastoral Theology and Law and Gospel. Wonder no more why Missouri treats clergy so badly - Walther established the pattern.
Worst of all, Walther was a crack-pot theologian. I will explore that in the post above, giving people a chance to wipe their brows and get another cup of coffee.
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| Martin Stephan was investigated for many years. He installed a young girl in his attic and lived with Louise Guenther at the spa, where he was treated for syphilitic rashes. Three daughters were deaf, a symptom of congenital syphilis. He was trained at Halle University, where Knapp taught double-justification. Thus Stephan founded the Church Growth Movement in the Syn Conferance: crypto-universalism combined with clergy adultery. |
