The Walther myth-makers will not admit that their Pietist hero obeyed and enforced the edicts of a sex cult leader, Bishop Martin Stephan, STD.
Rambach and Halle Pietism
Worst of all, Walther made Stephan's Halle Pietism his own, building a little fortress around that anti-Scriptural fetish of the world being absolved of sin on Easter. The exegesis for that Easter absolution fantasy comes from Rambach, a Halle Pietist. (Look up the first hymn about baptism in The Lutheran Hymnal: written by Rambach, "Baptized into Thy Name Most Holy," #298.)
UOJ guru Jay Webber favors Rambach's explanation over the earlier Chemnitz exegesis. That is important to realize. UOJ trumps Biblical knowledge - always. Rambach has no standing in Lutheran orthodoxy, while Chemnitz was the senior editor of the Book of Concord and the Formula of Concord. God prepared Chemnitz for that role by placing him in doctrinal combat with Roman Catholics and Calvinists.
One might say that Pietism was a skillful blend of Luther's and Calvin's doctrine - an amalgamation. Spener was the first union theologian, a prolific writer and remarkable organizer. All the Lutheran bodies in North America were established by Pietists, and Walther assumed the role of America's Lutheran pope.
Show of Hands
Let's see how many people have studied Quenstedt. Raise your hands. Hmmm. Be honest. I have always concentrated on Luther and Chemnitz, so Quenstedt has been a name from the later orthodoxy but not that well known.
I recall Robert Preus saying in a lecture that Quenstedt was his favorite, that he wanted to name one of his many sons Quenstedt. Johannes Quenstedt died 100 years after the Book of Concord was published, so that makes Quenstedt a late contributor to Lutheran orthodoxy.
Let's Look at the Orthodox Lutheran Family Tree:
Luther and Melanchthon trained Chemnitz (Book of Concord, etc) and Tyndale (the KJV translator).
Chemnitz was the uncle of P. Leyser, who battled against Samuel Huber's UOJ - at Wittenberg.
Leyser and Gerhard took over the unfinished Gospel Harmonies of Chemnitz.
Quenstedt wanted to study with his uncle, Gerhard, who died before that happened.
Quenstedt taught at Wittenberg.
The names come alive when we discover that these men battled against false doctrine within their ranks and outside of their confessions. Samuel Huber left Calvinism, everyone thought, and became a theologian on the Wittenberg faculty. His UOJ was soundly defeated by Leyser and others, but that did not make the issue fade from memory.
Doubtless Quenstedt published the statement above in reference to that earlier conflict. Here is a key statement from a good summary of Quenstedt's life:
Caleb Bassett in Excitare Studium, MLC:
After six years of study at Helmstedt, he arrived at the university at Wittenberg in 1644 to continue his work as a student. The Lord blessed Quenstedt with great success at Wittenberg, despite the cool reception by the other members of the university caused by Quenstedt’s history with the university at Helmstedt. Members of the faculty took him under their wing and through their encouragement, and more importantly through the study of the Word, he began to champion the truths of Lutheran orthodoxy.
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| Georg Calixtus was an infamous unionist at Helmstedt University, where Quenstedt studied. |
Tracing the roots can be a lot of fun. Those who promote UOJ have to skip over the research and memorize some more talking points to help them ignore the real issues.
This is like the old technique of bracketing, getting three photographs of the same scene, one under-exposed, one over-exposed. Naval historians would call this bracketing too, but in another sense. Battleships had three rifles (not guns, you land-lubbers) so the shells would bracket the enemy ship, one over, one under. Based on the fall of the shells, the crew could find the exact distance - except both ships were moving.
When we examine the controversies of the period, we can see what a theologian was arguing for and against - not abstracts and shadows on the wall.
Quenstedt wanted to study with Uncle Gerhard, his mother's brother. Studying at the University of Helmstedt made him suspect to the Wittenberg faculty, which he later joined, because of Calixtus' work in erasing doctrinal distinctions (modern Pietism or Church Growth). At Wittenberg he studied toward his doctorate and published his lectures.
Two Consistencies
Lutheran orthodoxy is consistent in teaching justification by faith and opposing attempts to subordinate it to Calvinism or Pietism. A few examples are the passages in Isaiah 55, Romans 4, 5, 10, the Gospel of John, Luther, Melanchthon, Chemnitz, Chytraeius, Andreae, Gerhard, Quenstedt, and the last book of Robert Preus, Justification and Rome.
UOJ is also consistent...with Calvinism (Huber) and Pietism - Rambach, Knapp, Stephan, Walther, and F. Pieper.
