CFW
Walther: The American Calvin
By
Gregory
L. Jackson, PhD
Public
Domain Non-Profit
Contents
Mythological statements
abound in Lutheran history in America. The most basic is that Lutherans can be separated
into two distinct groups. The oldest group, beginning with the bulk of the
Lutheran Church in America – now ELCA – is supposedly the most liberal. The
newcomers - who arrived with CFW Walther – are often said to be far more
conservative. In fact, both sides work together on religious projects, gather
together at the feeding trough of Thrivent (AAL-LB) Financial, and repudiate
Luther’s doctrine in exactly the same way. They agree with great satisfaction
and mutual congratulations in their embrace of the movement that brought most
of them from Europe to America – Calvinism, wearing the mask of Lutheran Pietism.
Most of the spokes-puppets
of Lutherdom will angrily disagree with this summary. However, Zwingli and
Calvin sought the chameleon role of appearing to be Luther while seeking to
replace Luther as the real Biblical scholars, the genuine theologians. The
crypto-Calvinists actively persecuted the sincere Lutherans and promoted their
own works, until they were found out. Nevertheless, the effort to Calvinize the
Lutheran Church never stopped and reached its final goal with all Protestants,
even “conservatives” accepting the Church Dogmatics of the
Calvinist-Marxist lovebirds, Karl Barth and Charlotte Kirschbaum.
But there was an
intermediate step between Calvin and Barth-Kirschbaum – Lutheran Pietism. That
difficult to define movement started from the sterile atmosphere of Protestant
dogmatics, Calvinists arguing Latin terms with Lutherans in matching, enormous
tomes. It is said that dead orthodoxy spawned Pietism.
Jacob Spener and his
followers energetically organized people who wanted to return to the Bible. He
also promoted the use of lay-led cell groups, which became the real church for
Pietists. As the state churches became more rationalistic in Europe, the
Pietists became more sure of their purity. In general, Lutheran Pietists wanted
to study the Bible more, and have prayer groups. They tended to treat the
liturgy and Sacraments as part of the state church, because the established
order was the structure that gathered the cell groups together.
My wife and I attended
a meeting where koinonia (cell) groups were promoted by a well known LCA pastor
and his lay leader. The lay leader spoke of the results in this giant
congregation in Davenport. “Who did all the work on church clean-up day?
Koinonia! Who is the first to volunteer their efforts? Koinonia! Who is there
every Sunday? Koinonia! Later, I saw the perfect description of Pietism in
Hoenecke. They confuse the Christian life with justification, and make the
Christian life the cause of justification.
Halle University was
organized to teach the Biblical piety of Spener’s movement. That developed a
universe of good works for those in need. The modern nursing movement and Red Cross began in the deaconess program.
Young women were taught to care for the sick. World missions were a major goal
of Pietists, somewhat by default, because the state churches did not want their
members leaving for America and other lands.
The growth of Rationalism
– human reason dominating faith – did not come only from Lutheran Pietism, but
the following anecdote is true. The modern Biblical scholars have a list of
pioneers in rationalistic Biblical studies. Almost all the names are from Halle
University. The mother ship of Pietism became a hotbed of Rationalism in only
one generation.
Rationalists could not
imagine Calvinists and Lutherans being separate and fighting over doctrinal
points. State churches became more worldly and also more critical toward the
Pietists. Schleiermacher, the key person in the transition to modern theology –
faith without belief – studied at Halle University and also taught there. He was
a proponent of the Prussian Union and worked actively to achieve it.
Virtually all modern
theology and Biblical studies are entirely rationalistic. They may use the
terms of theology and the words of the Scripture, but they express a philosophy
that does not allow for faith, God, the Savior, or miracles. As one Broadway
businessman said about the Bible, “It’s a great book and there is no copyright.”
