Even if I read all the volumes of Johann Gerhard, and they all agreed with Walther, they would not supplant the plain, simple truths of Scripture.
The Preus politicians feared the enormous popularity of WAM II, in part because of his popular seminary teaching, but also because of Dr. Walter A. Maier (PhD, Harvard Semitics, a bit tougher than a Ft. Wayne DMin or DMiss in Church Growth). So they used their UOJ clubs on him and anyone else who touched the third rail of Norwegian Pietism and German Rationalism/Unionism.
But the facts remain, not only in the Scriptural teaching, but also in the actual record. LCMS and WELS published Justification by Faith teaching materials at the beginning, yielding only when the Stephan-Walther-Pieper dogma took over. The proof is in The Path To Understanding Justification.
The UOJ thralls think Atonement = Justification of the Word, Without Faith. They cannot read the basic Scriptures and learn from the Holy Spirit. They imagine their philosophical treatises will convince everyone. Unbelievers cannot abide the teaching of the Spirit in the Scriptures, so they turn to philosophy, looking inward at their own MDiv education.
