The Formula of Concord, Core and Highlights.
The Doctrine of Election in Questions and Answers
By C. F. W. Walther, B.A.
Translated by Kenneth Howes
Lutheran News, 2012, ISBN
#978-0-9644700-4-4
159 pages. Paperback
Reviewed by Gregory L.
Jackson, PhD
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The Lutheran Church Missouri
Synod is incorrectly viewed as Walther’s creation, but that mirage simply
erases the real founder – Bishop Martin Stephan, who gathered the subservient
pastors, promoted and organized the great migration, and led them (and his
groupies) across the Atlantic.
Landing in New Orleans, the
clergy—including C.F.W. Walther—signed a pledge of lifetime obedience to their
bishop. The mythologists want to erase Walther’s signature, but there it is. As
Zion on the Mississippi points out, the only way to become or remain
within the Stephan circle was to be absolutely obedient to the cell group
leader. No dissent was allowed. If a pastor happened to displease Stephan in
any way, he had to beg forgiveness.
Walther’s spiritual training
was stunted by a rationalist stint at the university. His voluntary
associations were exclusively Pietistic – a morbid demanding leader of the
Walther circle and a Halle style Bible study group. The first leader died, and
the group gravitated to Martin Stephan, a Pietist pastor with a Pietist
congregation.
Walther observed much later
that Stephan was a bit of a Pietist, showing how carefully Number Two managed
his own public relations. Walther did not want an early history of the Stephan
cult published, and his circle obliged with silence and knee-slapping lies.
The Stephanites believed
that they alone preserved the Word of God and the True Church. When they left
Germany, the land fell into complete darkness, they thought. When one
Stephanite questioned this on the journey, he was cut off from his subsidy
until he repented. And he did.
This fanaticism led Walther
and his brother to kidnap their niece and nephew. The clergy urged those who
wanted to leave - divorce your spouses
and go. They bragged that minor children left home on their own and joined
their crusade. All this is recorded in Zion the Mississippi, but never
communicated to the masses.
The saddest part of this
debacle is the Walther circle going along with Stephan’s adultery, ignoring his
syphilis, and abandoning his sick family in Dresden – to die from the illness
he brought them. Walther’s crimes—organizing a mob, threatening the life of
Stephan, stealing all his goods and kidnapping him at gunpoint—pale in
comparison to what was done to Mrs. Stephan and her syphilitic children. The
secondary founders of the LCMS, the Walther circle, are guilty of all that –
and lying about their crimes.
Just as the Walther circle
had to answer to God for what they did in enabling Stephan and killing his
family, so the present SynCon leaders will answer to God for:
- Teaching Walther’s world absolution.
- The murders of Mrs. William Tabor and Mrs. Al
Just,
- The rapes of boys videotaped to provide the sex
files at WELS headquarters,
- Darwin Schauer (convicted sex criminal) being
given a “lay-pastor’s” position by the LCMS DP so he could rape another
girl, and
- SynCon work with ELCA while hypocritically
looking down on ELCA.
Walther blamed Stephan’s
adultery on Mrs. Stephan (“confidentially” – CFW’s slander of the victim, which
CPH published in one of many Walther hagiographies).
Given these facts, which are
easily accessed in Zion on the Mississippi, various Walther biographies,
and In Pursuit of Religious Freedom, how can anyone take Walther
seriously as a theologian or as a pastor?
The Template
Nevertheless, Ken Howes has
done everyone a service by translating this Walther volume. Howes contends that
German evaporated as a working language in the LCMS during WWII. I thought the
reaction began during WWI. In Canada, where I served, the town Berlin, Ontario
had to be changed to Kitchener during WWI, because no one would buy goods made
in “Berlin.” The German pastor was dumped in the fountain (for being German).
Victoria Park boasted a large statue of Kaiser Wilhelm, but that was also
dumped in the lake.
WELS once required a bit of
German for graduation from the Sausage Factory in Mequon. They eliminated that
requirement. One Mequonite after another said to me, “You read German?” My
response was, “You don’t?” They were always bragging about their superior
education, so it was fun to silence them.
Howes is correct. German is
no longer a working language in any of the synods, and that is a shame. There
is a vast ministry that could be offered to those whose primary language is
German. One of my contacts sent me some German devotions, which we shared with
German relatives. They are perfectly fluent, but loved the booklet for speaking
to them in their mother tongue. In the past I shared boxes of old German books
with those who wanted them. The Walther sermon books were bound to last through
Armageddon, printed on long-lasting clay paper.
If something is not
translated from Latin or German, it is lost on the American public today.
Walther should be translated and read because of his influence, not because of
the quality of his work. Stephan and Walther created the template that governs
the LCMS, WELS, and ELS today – not to mention the micro-mini sects that hate
and covet the Big Three, sharing and magnifying the same fatal flaws.
Those flaws are:
- Justification without faith as the official
dogma – not the Gospel but the anti-Gospel, hence no Gospel fruits.
- Rationalism – Their main (albeit stealth)
theologian is George C. Knapp, the Halle theologian whose
double-justification was adopted and enforce, even today, by the SynCons.
Knapp denied the Biblical basis of the Trinity. Tholuck was an open
Universalist. In or out of the Universalism closet, the Halle theologians
were the foundation of all modern apostate theology.
- Pietism, Enthusiasm, Pentecostalism – This isms
fuel the decline because they are natural outgrowths of denying the
efficacy of the Word and the Means of Grace.
- Abuse of members and pastors – Like Stephan and
Walther, the clergy have no problems with treating the vulnerable as
sexual outlets, savaging dissenters into submission, and reigning as
tyrants. Wives are slaves, said Walther; slavery is good, Biblical, and
wholesome.
The Book – Three Parts –
Part One, Bente Foreshadowed
The first part of the book
will strike some people as a rehash of Bente’s Introductions to the Book of
Concord, but without citations. Once I read through that part of the
Howes book, I thought, “This is Bente.” This Walther volume was written to
celebrate (?) the anniversary of the Book of Concord, 1877, so it predated the Triglotta
with the Bente Introductions, 1917.
In spite of Walther and
Pieper’s dreadful leadership, the Missouri Synod still promoted a lot of sound
Lutheran material – the great Luther set in German and the Triglotta.
They atoned for their Luther work with a constant stream of UOJ materials, from
the Pieper faculty at St. Louis and Concordia Publishing House.
Bente’s use of Walther, or
their common use of familiar stories (the German Q), may reveal the start of
the Paul McCain style – copying while posing as an original writer.
The stories and quotations
are good to know, but they are far from the reality of Lutherdom today. The
SynCons coo with delight over the latest eructations from Fuller Seminary, so
one can imagine the Big Three openly joining the gay liberation movement from
Andy Stanley, Mclaren, and Rick Warren. Apostasy gains momentum quickly when no
one objects – and precious few bother. There is too much money in false
doctrine, too many rewards in bowing to denominational dictators.
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| SP Harrison's DPs can sell your church out from under you and cover up for sex offenders - no problem. |
Second Part - The
Election Questions and Answers
The second part is a series
of 114 questions and answers about Election. Since Walther is asking the
questions he answers, the content is contrived and more artificial than plastic
flowers on the altar.
Here is the Formula of
Concord, Election, Solid Declaration
It is far more edifying that
Walther’s effort to explain it.
13] Therefore, if
we wish to think or speak correctly and profitably concerning eternal election,
or the predestination and ordination of the children of God to eternal life, we
should accustom ourselves not
to speculate concerning
the bare, secret, concealed, inscrutable foreknowledge of God, but how the
counsel, purpose, and ordination of God in Christ Jesus, who is the true Book
of Life, is revealed to us through the Word, 14] namely, that the entire
doctrine concerning the purpose, counsel, will, and ordination of God
pertaining to our redemption, call, justification, and salvation should be
taken together; as Paul treats and has explained this article Rom. 8:29f ; Eph.
1:4f , as also Christ in the parable, Matt. 22:1ff , namely, that God in His
purpose and counsel ordained [decreed]:
15] 1. That the
human race is truly redeemed and reconciled with God through Christ, who, by
His faultless [innocency] obedience, suffering, and death, has merited for us
the righteousness which avails before God, and eternal life.
16] 2. That such
merit and benefits of Christ shall be presented, offered, and distributed to us
through His Word and Sacraments.
17] 3. That by
His Holy Ghost, through the Word, when it is preached, heard, and pondered, He
will be efficacious and active in us, convert hearts to true repentance, and
preserve them in the true faith.
18] 4. That He
will justify all those who in true repentance receive Christ by a true faith,
and will receive them into grace, the adoption of sons, and the inheritance of eternal
life.
19] 5. That He
will also sanctify in love those who are thus justified, as St. Paul says, Eph.
1:4.
20] 6. That He
also will protect them in their great weakness against the devil, the world,
and the flesh, and rule and lead them in His ways, raise them again [place His
hand beneath them], when they stumble, comfort them under the cross and in
temptation, and preserve them [for life eternal].
21] 7. That He
will also strengthen, increase, and support to the end the good work which He
has begun in them, if they adhere to God's Word, pray diligently, abide in
God's goodness [grace], and faithfully use the gifts received.
22] 8. That
finally He will eternally save and glorify in life eternal those whom He has
elected, called, and justified.
Walther used Election to
marginalize every other Lutheran leader, to undermine justification by faith
without his need to mount a frontal attack on the Gospel itself. This Election
conflict was also useful in providing a red herring for anyone discussing Synodical
Conference doctrine. Everyone goes off on a merry chase about who wrote what
about Election, who was right about this or that.
Thus a section in the
Formula of Concord urging us not to speculate has been used by Walther
as a springboard for speculation, attack, and division. No one worked harder at
dividing Lutherans than Walther. Now the Big Four (ELCA too!) are united around
his greatest flaws (listed above).
Since the questions and
answers are a summary of Walther’s agenda, studying this section will be
valuable for anyone wanting to explore the Election conflict. I have several
contacts who wish to do that, so I suggested the Howes book to them. It is far
better to start with original documents than to read about the documents.
That is why publishers and
authors like book reviews, because they motivate people to buy and read the
book.
Third Part, The Afterword
– Pure Walther
I enjoyed the third section
of the book, the Afterword, which reveals so much about the character and
methods of Walther. In case anyone wonders, Walther explicitly used his own
Election catechism to prove why his opponents were wrong.
If the innocent and sluggish
accept Walther as an expert in theology, using himself as an authority is ideal
for not taxing the brain. Luther used the Word of God. Chemniz used the Word
and the patristic fathers. Walther used Walther, which reminds me of Waldo
Werning recommending Waldo Werning in one of his many Church Growth books.
Walther labels his opponents
as Synergists. Even today, this is the shrill cry of those who advocate
universal absolution (UOJ).
Synergism is an accurate
term for those who teach decision theology. “God has done this, so it is time
for you to make a decision for Christ. Join with me in praying the sinners
prayer.”
The Calvinists and Arminians
fought over this, so it is ironic that Walther (like his fanclub today) viewed
the world in Calvinist terms. He never caught on to Lutheran theology because
he began in rationalism (his sole degree, a bachelor’s at a rationalistic
university) and continued in Pietism, a common refuge for those who could not
accept the rationalism of the 19th century.
Rather than teach Luther and
the Book of Concord, the SynCon seminaries today teach sect worship and the
adoration of previous essay-writers.
The colleges and parochial schools teach almost nothing of the Lutheran
classics. They are too busy marketing the Gospel and not offending anyone.
The road to success and
promotion in the SynCons is a Fuller drive-by D. Min. degree. That alone should
tell everyone what they need to know.
I realize that exceptions
exist. One reader told me of a Missouri Synod DP who knows, reads, and quotes
the Book of Concord. But of all the SynCon leaders, he is an exception – hardly
the norm.
So Walther’s opponents were
“up to their ears in Synergism”? (p. 155) No wonder that simply quoting or
linking another Lutheran will make the Groeschel fanclub shriek like little
girls who just saw a spider on their pinafores.
Walther should be
studied, with the SynCon blinders off,
but the Scriptures and Confessions must be studied far more than they are
today.
I am happy to report that
one Luther quotation is now leading all other posts, month after month, with
2500 page reads each month. Other favorite posts are about Luther’s doctrine or
the Book of Concord. Look at the top ones for the last month:
|
May 23, 2012
|
Who Should Buy This Book
This is a good volume for
any pastor in the Synodical Conference, because the last two parts open up the
topic of Election in relatively few words. If Lutherans can motivate themselves
to study Walther without the mythology, sugar-coating, and hagiography, they will
discover the difference between Biblical Means of Grace teaching and Enthusiasm.
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| From Pietism, Pietism. |
