Official synodical history is the worst source of facts--in any denomination--and controversy is the best. I enjoy reading both because the gap between the myth of origins and the raw data is as breath-taking as the Grand Canyon's 10-mile expanse. The American Indians saw that gap as a difficulty to be overcome, but the clergy see the distance to the other side as not worth attempting. 'Tis safer to repeat the official story, especially when it is teeming with lies.
CFW Walther's immaculate deception is one of the great frauds in history. Walther willingly followed a syphilitic adulterer to America, kidnapping his own niece and nephew from his father's parsonage - while his father was grievously ill. CFW pleged complete obedience to the bishop on the way over to America but took over the cult a few months later. Roman Catholics call that "mental reservation."
When the shoes of the fisherman were usurped, Walther insisted on total obedience. His bizarre and anti-Christian opinions were repeatedly established as canonical truthsl. Missouri was the only God-glorifying sect. All others had to submit or be driven away in a torrent of accusations. We can thank Walther-idolator Tom Hardt for associating Walther with Huber's false doctrine of Easter absolution and tracing the association of OJ/SJ with Huberism, via more plagiarism (from Knapp to Woods to Germany to America - There and Back Again, A Habitual Liar's Adventure).
The next version of the justification book will deal with Huber's Easter absolution nonsense, which one website identifies with early Universalism, and Huber's close affinity with Walther's Easter absolution claims. The book will also show that the LCMS was born in Pietism and never escaped the problems of that insidious movement.
The Olde Synodical Conference has fed everyone the line that they were the orthodox Lutheran alternative to the unionistic and Pietistic decay of the Muhlenberg tradition (General Synod, General Council, ULCA) - even though Muhlenberg, Bishop Stephan, and Adolph Hoenecke all went to Halle University, the mother ship of Pietism.
Calvin pretended to be Lutheran and signed the Augsburg Confession. He had to be flushed out of the tall grass by Westfall. Huber came to Lutheranism via Calvinism but never accepted Lutheran doctrine. Spener blended Calvinism with Lutheran doctrine and practice, never admitting that he stole the idea of cell groups from a Calvinist.
In Walther's day the clergy were either aggressive rationalists, favored by the system, or isolated Pietists, barely able to pass the state exam, since the rationalists dominated the process. Thus Walther was trained and nurtured in two forms of Calvinism, one the logical result of Calvin's magisterial use of reason, the other Spener's clever blend of Calvinism and Lutheranism.
As Chemnitz wrote, quoting the ancients, when the stream is muddied, we have to return to the source, putting aside the various doctrinal statements and studying the Word of God itself. That is where the UOJ Stormtroopers find themselves stranded in shallow waters. They can only quote a tiny group of double-justification fanatics to prove their case, ignoring the entire witness of the Scriptures so they can pixelate one part of one verse in Romans.
The UOJ Enthusiasts are responding to the corrosive effect of the facts by avoiding their favorite shibboleths. They no longer want to go into battle yelling, "Everyone is already forgiven, whether they believe it or not!" Instead, they use justification by faith in their writings while juggling words to indicate they only mean - "making a decision to trust in a previous, universal absolution."
