As an Unnamed Source Said, "The Bishop Became a Pope."

Zion on the Mississippi - not a hagiography.
LutherQueasy - "Walther answers all questions."

 The Weaver Messiah set the stage for Pope Walther, an interesting parallel with the short-lived LCS, which morphed into ELDONA.

Let us meditate on the meaning of the first graphic, created many years ago. The words of Walter Forster ring true, thanks to additional information from the Stephan family and the behavior of the myth-protectors.

Just as Stephan insisted on controlling everything and every body, Walther happened to become the seminary president, dogmatics professor, the synod president, the magazine and book publisher.

If Walther could not get his way, he changed the rules, which is how he maneuvered F. Pieper into replacing him as dogmatics professor. Ludwig Fuerbringer wrote frankly about his uncle Ferdy doing this.

Walther, like his emulator Heiser, trashed anyone who might be a threat to his papacy. CFW was a multiple felon - threatening violence, stealing, and kidnapping at least three people. The professor, F. A. Schmidt, who questioned Walther's Objective Justification was condemned for his motives - does that sound like the Eighth Commandment?

Walther blamed Mrs. Stephan for her husband's promiscuity, apparently anxious to make the bishop a sympathetic figure when that suited His Holiness. A pastor faithful to his call might have said that the bishop -

• leaving his wife and sick children behind, 
• traveling to America with his mistress on the same ship, and
• moving his mistress into the same lodging in St. Louis - 

created the disharmony, especially when Stephan's wife begged for reconciliation. But no, the mistress reported that Bishop Stephan not only controlled the souls of the members, but also their bodies.

Walther did not want any of the early history of the sect published, and he largely got his way. When Forster published a massive and detailed history of the Stephanite migration, it was condemned as the bitter work of a disgruntled LCMS pastor. Eighth Commandment?

When a member of the Stephan family wrote a memoir of the family, exposing many of the lies in the LCMS mythology, he was condemned for not being a professional historian and not publishing the first name of Walther's initial Pietism guru!

As an example of minor matters, the author writes regarding the candidate who misled Walther into Pietism, “Kuhn is the only name given. No first name is given in any of the literature” (p. 68). But Stephan does not know the literature. In an article by August Suelflow from 1987, we find the name, “Johann Gottlieb Kuehn,” [note also the umlaut that Stephan missed]3 and in Suelflow’s biography of Walther, even more precisely, “H. Johann Gottlieb Kuehn.” [GJ - Schocking!]

Martin Stephan, Founder of the Missouri Synod, Took His Son and Mistress aboard the Ship Olbers. But He Left His Sick Wife and Children in Dresden. "We Didn't Know He Was an Adulterer!" Walther's Brother and the Two Lawyers on Board the Same Ship

Walther conceded that Stephan was a bit of a Pietist,
and blamed Stephan's marital problems on Stephan's long-suffering wife.
Jim Bob Walther is worshiped by Missourians today.

Bremen, Germany to New Orleans
21 January 1839

DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI - PORT OF NEW ORLEANS

I, H. W. Exter master of the Ship Olbers do solemnly sincerely & truly swear that the within list signed by me & now delivered to the Collector of this district contains the names of all the Passengers taken on board of the Said Ship at the Port of Bremen or at any time since and that all matters therein set forth are according to the best of my Knowledge & Belief just & true & I do further swear that Two of the Said Passengers died on the voyage.

Sworn before me this 21st Jany 1839 ~~ [signed] J. W. Exter-Master

List of Passengers on board of the bremer Ship Olbers H. W. Exter My bound from Bremen to New Orleans

Columns represent: Passenger number, Name, Relationship to the head of the family, Last dwelling place, Occupation, Age, Died on the voyage.

Cabin

  1  Martin Stephan                          Dresden         Preacher         61
  2  Martin Stephan                his son   Dresden                          16
  3  Theodore Julius Brohm                   Dresden         Candidate        30
  4  H. S. Fischer                           Dresden         Merchant         40
  5  Julie Fischer                 his wife  Dresden                          32
  6* Louise Gunther                          Dresden                          32

  7  Gustav Jaeckel                          Dresden         Cashier          32
  8  Francis Adolph Marbach                  Dresden         Attornay (sic)   40
  9  Louise Marbach                his wife  Dresden                          34
 10  Gustav Marbach                his child Dresden                          11
 11  Clara Marbach                 his child Dresden                           6
 12  Victor Marbach                his child Dresden                           5
 13* Martin Marbach                his child Dresden                           2
 14  Eduard Vehse                            Dresden         Recorder         35
 15* Mathilde Vehse                his child Dresden                           9
 16  Hermann Walther                         Dresden         Preacher         29
 17  M. Emil Julius Moritz Wege              Dresden         Candidate        38
 18  Sophie Schneiderin                      Dresden                          40
 19* Fred Loeschner                          *Konigsbruck    Painter          44







CFW Walther kidnapped his niece and nephew, but let his future mother-in-law go to jail for the crime. She was released later and helped in organizing the riot that deposed Bishop Stephan. The Stephanite sex cult brought other minor children over, and bragged about it. Theydid their best to break up marriages where one partner did not want to go to America.

The long trip on the ship with Stephan, his two lawyers, the older Walther, and the Stephan mistress makes it difficult to imagine that "no one knew" until the confession was blurted out after a choice law sermon by a CFW pal. Yes, even the Walther circle agreed that was not the case. The syphilis break-out among the young girls proved to be the precipitating opportunity to upend Bishop Stephan, steal 120 acres from him, take away a large bounty of gold, and grab  his large library of theology books.

The Walther circle manufactured a story
about suddenly realizing Stephan was an adulterer.
Walther organized a mob instead of speaking to his bishop.
See Walther's Pastoral Theology for advice on such matters.

The Stephanites were not searching for religious freedom, but following an extremely abusive guru, a 

Pietist who put his stamp on the Missouri Synod and the future Synodical Conference.

Stephan's rationalistic Pietism taught Walther the Halle dogma of Easter absolution, quoted below. According to their imagination, the entire unbelieving world was absolved from all sin the moment Christ rose from the dead.

From an abusive, poorly educated bishop and his adoring disciples came an abusive synod and synodical conference.

Universal absolution was Stephan's dogma, which Walther adopted
and F. Pieper canonized.
Universal absolution is liberal, mainline theology,
not Biblical, Lutheran, Reformation theology.

Abusive Behavior in the WELS/ELS Sect

This graphic illustrates typical LCMS-WELS-ELS deception.
Stephan was under house arrest for adultery and financial questions
when he was allowed to leave with his sex cult.
Stephan was always a Pietist and so were the members of the Walther circle.
Walther's mob robbed Stephan and kidnapped him, leaving him to die in Illinois.

WELS controls the ELS, so one might as well consider the two dying sects together. The Church of the Lutheran Confession (sic) is simply another, more corrupt, more immoral, more incestuous version of WELS. The LCMS follows to some extent, the worst abusers running the show while sub-groups try to exist on their own.

Clergy and laity driven out by the ELS, WELS, or CLC (sic) should consider themselves blessed, like the early Christians who escaped Jerusalem before the Roman armies surrounded the Holy City.

Those who go back to the abusers, hoping for approval, make a big mistake. They like to have their so-called Prodigals come back, as long as they are broken, subdued, and eager to worship Holy Mother Sect. The harshest critics make the best fuel for roasting the next set of dissenters.

If someone stays away, the long reach of the abusers never remains quiet. Relatives? Friends? Employers? New church body? They need to punish the escapees, just as the Mormons murdered those who tried to back.

ELS clergy call Mequon The Sausage Factory
for its identical products,
according to Jay Webber.

Secrecy and Spying
In an abusive sect, everything is a secret. I used to get so many secret letters in WELS that I had a rubber stamp made that said Burn This Letter! in red. No one wanted to be known for having a negative thought about WELS. Bill Gothard used the same tactic in his cult. Dealing with the facts is negativity, and negativity is from Satan.

Spying goes well with secrecy. Everything is everyone's business, so false friends make a practice of being buddies to keep track of someone who may stray from the plantation. They often encourage dissent and back away to let their target take the blame, the heat, and the Left Foot of Fellowship. Richard Jungkuntz did that to his fellow "martyr" Gehrke, and John Seifert practiced the technique on many pastors.

One layman told me how he was coaxed to bring his problems about Martin Luther College's feminist policies to various leaders. At two different meetings he was sandbagged by the person who urged him to come forward and complain. At the second one, he told the minister, "Are you going to stick with me and support me? Promise. I cannot take another experience like the last one." The second pastor promised all the way to the meeting, then turned on the fellow with savage, personal criticism.
Laity who have done to same to pastors.

If you want a friend in WELS, get a dog.

The people who do this think they are very clever, and they smirk because synod officials are behind them. However, they are really cowardly, wicked deceivers who eventually pay the price for their betrayal of the Word. Still, they leave a lot of broken, wounded victims behind.

"Do not tell on the brothers,
or they will beat you like a rented mule."

The Law and Anti-Law
The dominant UOJ dogma in WELS includes a heavy dose of Antinomianism and legalism. The Antinomianism is easy - "Everyone is forgiven all past, present, and future sins - without faith." Q.E.D. - the Ten Commandments are tossed out the window.

If a pastor is an adulterer, or homosexual, or alcoholic, that is fine, because he knows he is a sinner and knows he is already forgiven. The WELS clergy and their clones have a sheaf of excuses for false doctrine, including a "Luther quote" that justifies doing nothing about it.

If you register any kind of protest against any of this behavior, no matter how politely and deferentially it was offered up, with meek and contrite words, the response will be:

1. Silence. The letter or email is not even acknowledged.
2. Verbal abuse - "You did not sit down and exercise Matthew 18, explaining my sins to me."
3. False defense - "You have slandered me, violating the Eighth Commandment."
4. Personal attacks - "You never did fit in. You hated GA." (The secretive hazing ritual at Mequon features all kinds of deception, emotional and physical abuse, which helps to mold them into identical sausages, products of the Sausage Factory.)
5. Letter barrage - Various officials send nasty letters that quote some horrible thing expressed by mail and uses that to launch into tirades, clear threats, or implied punishments.
6. Whispering campaign - It soon becomes apparent that some people have spread anonymous ill reports among friends and church members. This escalates into slow, steady shunning and final ejection.
7. Absolution via family or Fuller. Certain families can do anything they want. Lacking the lucky DNA, someone can enjoy the same benefits by going to Fuller Seminary and loving it.
8. Let Herman do it - Although the sects hate Herman Otten and Christian News, both are handy for carrying out the work of shunning, which he is happy to advance.

The imaginary and unwritten laws are far more important than the Ten Commandments. This approach is incredibly useful in handling people. The moment toes are stepped on, the shrieking begins. For instance, I asked about women teaching men, women leading cell groups at St. Paul's, German Village. I was told (and this always comes from a friend, who is ordered to do so) that I violated a sacred principle. I identified the parish! I thought, "What a crock."

One college student got off the bus at Mequon and was sexually assaulted by one of the seminarians, who grabbed him...details to be assumed. I have the verbatim account and also verified it with the family. When he complained to seminary officials, he was told. "You are too sensitive." Although he went to seminary, they made sure he never finished. Likewise, the father of one homosexual made sure a pastor was driven out of the ministry for preaching against it - and you think ELCA is bad?

WELS Pastor Dave Wendt offered to gang rape a blogger,
because she is a liberal. Did he ever face charges for the threat?

Mark Jeske offered a lame, sanitized version of the threat
for his gullible readers.

Abusive Cults Have Their Own Language
Bill Gothard used "defrauding" and other mysterious terms to link the Bible to his special mindset. He manipulated people by making his desires innocent and wholesome while condemning them for objecting. Thirty-two women lodged complaints against him at the end and he was forced out - "Nobody knew," as Mark Schroeder is fond of saying.

Special words make people feel elite and above the crowd. Only some know the true meaning of GA (now called HB - get the joke? - no more GA). The in-crowd can reference GA and let that pass over the heads of laity.

The clergy, whose warped behavior often starts in prep school, have plenty of special terms, such as the physical abuse they hand out for anyone who "tells." The truth cannot be tolerated, so they gang up on anyone who tells the truth. If word of their abuse reaches the officials, the abuse is doubled. The school officials know and approve, because their job is to produce unthinking slaves to row the ship so they can enjoy the Captain's Quarters and the Officers' Mess.

Did anyone vote for Church and Change to take over WELS?
Here is one C and C founder installing another one.
Co-inky-dink?
When I posted this, one WELS official wanted to know, "Who told?"

WELS-ELS-CLC (sic)-LCMS: Cults Switch Dogma
Once upon a time, the Lutheran groups had the liturgy, creeds, sermons, hymns, and an interest in Luther's doctrine. They liked the KJV and used it at all services.

Now all of that has flipped, but no one has confessed how they changed it and turned vice into virtue. A few vintage WELS members recall the Gausewitz catechism (justification by faith) and the KJV being good. After all, the KJV is a revision of the Tyndale, and Tyndale modeled his translation after Luther's. Tyndale took the trouble of studying with Luther and Melanchthon.

Vintage Lutherans are left isolated, bewildered, scorned, and abused.

We met one cult member in the hospital. He was friends with Erin Joy. He said to me, "Erin has to learn she is not the center of the world." I said, "You tell her," and she grinned at me.

This cult member bragged to me that whenever they changed doctrine, which was fairly often, teachers were sent out to re-train the members.

Does that sound familiar? WELS has been trained in the New NIV for years now. Only one DP objected to the New NIV at the previous convention. The one following saw no objections at all. To avoid a ban on the NNIV, the convention blessed all translations. Mequon got its way and Mark Schroeder crumbled again. Or perhaps he was only pretending to object. That is good GA style. Play one side, the switch. Seifert and Buchholz are good at that.

Sorry, Baby Blue Eyes, he can and he will.

Notes about Universal Objective Justification. Boycott the Emmaus Conference

These are some brief things to consider about the pet dogma of WELS, the ELS, and the LCMS - commonly called Universal Objective Justification, but also called Objective Justification, Universal Justification or--to be honest--Universalism.

• The real founder of the LCMS Perryville branch was Martin Stephan, who never finished a college degree. He did not care to study Latin and Greek, but spent his time reading the literature of Pietism. He was not qualified to be a pastor, but the unique Pietistic congregation was allowed to extend him a call, St. John in Dresden.
• CFW Walther completed a bachelor's degree at Leipzig University, which was entirely rationalistic at the time. Walther joined various Pietistic circles, first the Kuhn group and then the Stephan group of young clergy and professionals.
• Stephan demanded absolute obedience to him among the young clergy who followed him. Any dissent was addressed with punishment and a forced apology and submission to Stephan's rule.
• Walther's concept of justification came from Stephan, and it never varied after that. Not from Luther. Not from the Book of Concord. Not from Gerhard or Calov - but from Martin Stephan, semi-educated Pietist, syphilitic adulterer, spiritual tyrant.
• 
  
  

• The double justification language of UOJ--dearly loved and copied throughout the Synodical Conference--comes from the Calvinist translation of the Halle Pietist Georg C. Knapp. Leonard Woods was a famous Calvinist whose translation dominated American theology for a century. Walther liked the Woods terms, which the Germans had copied back in the Homeland, and so it spread like kudzu on a warm summer day.
• Stephan's limited education included Halle University, where Knapp was the last of the Pietists before rationalism completely took over the school.
• Halle University was central to American Lutheranism, from Muhlenberg, founder of the ULCA or LCA tradition to Stephan to Adolph Hoenecke, the WELS dogmatician. The Norwegians were Pietistic and so were the Swedes, even though the Swedes named their synod Augustana, after the Augsburg Confession.
• Walther wanted to be the big dog in the LCMS and certainly taught his UOJ, but the LCMS was quite willing to print a justification by faith catechism in German in 1905. They still sell a KJV catechism which is entirely lacking in UOJ.
• WELS is equally hypocritical, expelling Pastor Paul Rydecki for teaching justification by faith, but only playing patty-cake with VP Paul Kuske for the same "crime."
• The Gausewitz (WELS) catechism, used by the entire Synodical Conference, did not teach UOJ, which is why there has been so much conflict from the addled leaders trying to force UOJ on their sect.

  

  Rydecki was kicked out while Kuske was relieved of his precious emeritus label.
  Oh. Oh.

No wonder Concordia Ft. Wayne is a hotbed of Romanism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew, Martin Stephan, CFW Walther, and the Founding of the Missouri Synod. The Scandals Continue Unabated. Boycott the Emmaus Conference

Jeffrey Epstein kept a group of teenaged girls for himself,
not unlike the founder of the Missouri Synod, Martin Stephan STD.

Prince Andrew, age 40 at the time,  has his arm around a 17 year old girl, Virginia Roberts,
who was compensated for sex with influential men.
She is writing a book. The nearby woman was an Epstein enabler.

The dentist kept me waiting in the chair, so I began reading Zion on the Mississippi, by Forster. Someone has to read it! The dentist is studious, so he began questioning me about the book when he came back to examine me.

After close questioning, I responded. "The founder of this group, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, kept a group of young girls around him. He took them and some clergy from Germany to America and founded this large Lutheran group. He was a lot like Jeffrey Epstein, in the news for his teenage girl groupies and the men he influenced with them - Prince Andrew and Alan Dershowitz."

The dentist said, "They always get away it. Hundreds of people follow them. He must have been a charismatic figure."

Lutherans seem incapable of embarrassment these days. Martin Stephan and his clergy enablers were the lowest of the low, virtually chased out of Europe, joyously kidnapping minor children (not just the niece and nephew of Walther) because they were the One True Church. That spirit of triumphalism prevails today as they constantly tell the Walther myth with eyes as glazed as any Mormon missionary talking about Joseph Smith and Bring-em Young (41 wives, many in their teens).

Why did Martin Stephan insist on buying Mormon land in the area now known as Perryville? The St. Louis neighbors were getting mighty suspicious of all the women and girls hanging around the Stephan abode. They could have bought choice land in St. Louis, but headed out to the boonies instead. The clergy all knew about Stephan's promiscuous sex with young women. The lawyers who came along were defending Stephan (under house arrest) when they all left for America.

Walther did not organize the riot against the Bishop for his adultery, but because the syphilis outbreak gave them an excuse to be outraged, a story they could tell, and a reason to steal the Bishop's land, gold, books, and personal possessions. 

Now adept at kidnapping, they threatened Stephan's life, shipped him across the Mississippi at gunpoint (another felony), and dumped him in Illinois to die. The cult was suddenly in the black again, with the bishop's loot. Stephan's main mistress came to live with him in Illinois.

The story is X-rated, but the LCMS, WELS, and the ELS have turned it into a fairy tale to bedazzle converts and keep members in stoned submission to their pastors and synod officials.

Martin Stephan never finished college,
but he picked up an STD along the way,
sharing his syphilis with his young, single groupies, his wife, and his children.

Subtle Synodical Worship Displaces Christ with Rationalism, Idolatry, and Greed. Boycott the Emmaus Conference

BOLO:
Destruction of evidence in sex crimes, defrauding widows and orphans,
working with ELCA, promoting pan-sexuality, and false doctrine, 

The rationalism of Saxony, the birthplace of the Stephanista Sex Cult, has been duplicated in the synodical sex cults of today. When they are not assaulting the young and the married, they are cross-dressing and bragging about it.

Their need to excuse themselves finds a home in Universal Objective Justification. Everyone is already forgiven and saved, according to Jay Webber's catechumen, Jon Buchholz.

Buchholz worked with Jeske's Church and Change business
to spend a fortune remodeling a smaller congregation,
leaving them hopelessly in debt when he took off for a plum call in Tempe, Arizona.
Was he inspired by Tim Glende in Savoy, Illinois?

By the way - I figure Buchholz is bucking for a professorship at the Sausage Factory. He has lived off world missions already, so he might as well teach it.

That leaves an opening for DP, which Steve Spencer would be glad to fill. His loyalty to Mark Schroeder--whose loyalty to Mark Jeske touches the hardest heart--qualifies him for the role.

------------------------  C A L L S   D E C L I N E D  -----------------------

  Bivens, Rev David F        WLS - Mequon WI                      12/29/2014
         World Mission Seminary Professor

But what to do with Jay Webber? Like his pal, Paul McCain, he has no qualifications for imposing his wobbly false doctrine on anyone, but that has never stopped him. He has no paper trail for opposing the Fad of the Ages - Church Growth - good career move. He has planted his UOJ flag, and that is the only dogma that matters to the synods today, whether ELCA or CLC (sic). Doctrine divides, but apostasy unites.

John Shep says Jay makes fun of the ELS leadership until he is within 100 miles of Mankato, so putting Jay in Mankato could leave him permanently on the positive side of Smeagol. After all, he was offended that I had the Forbes article published in Christian News about Marvin Schwan. He was not offended by his superiors sucking up to the womanizer. Nor did he mind his European vacations on St. Marvin's dough. But was anyone offended for the sake of the first Mrs. Schwan, who ended her life in despair, or the second Mrs. Schwan, who returned to Catholicism 15 minutes after Marvin died?

Some may accuse me of hyperbole, but I know these rascals too well. Listen to their conversation and read their odious papers. They do not teach Christ and the Means of Grace - they teach The Synod. Winking at each other, they pretend they belong to the only worthwhile sect, but they know better.

They listen carefully for signs that someone doubts the magisterial force of this or that author. Alarms go off, because The Synod is the ruling norm. Any twist of language or logic can be used to return to that sacred resting place for the intellectually lazy unbelievers.

One reader commented that the Stephanite movement,
which lodged in St. Louis and Perryville,
was a cancer transplant.

The New Rationalism - How the Saxon Migration Explains UOJ. Boycott the Emmaus Conference

I needed a book for the wait at the doctor's office (routine visit). I grabbed Zion on the Mississippi, by Walter O. Forster, a monumental expose of the Walther-Stephan connection with Halle University, but one needing the supplemental information from In Pursuit of Religious Freedom (sic).

I must be one of the few parsons who has read both books. I will concentrate on some insights from Zion.

Rationalism
In the 1800s, the overwhelming philosophy of Saxony was Rationalism. The state church was officially Lutheran, but the clergy and academics sought to impose their rationalism on the laity.

All the clergy officially swore their allegiance to the Book of Concord, but rejection of the Confessions was the norm (just like WELS and many in the LCMS today).

Rationalistic sermons treated such topics as:

• Stall feeding
• Vaccines
• Coffee drinking
• Drunkenness
• Careless Bathing
• Silkworms
• Tree planting
• Sanitation. (Zion, p. 12)

As most know, the modern "sermons" in the emergent churches in Lutherdom are also rationalistic. The clergy are admonished to stick to practical fix-it sermons.

The Prussian Union
A second intellectual force was the gathering strength of the Prussian Union, which sought to unite all Protestants in the same doctrine, the same worship, with no Lutheran distinctions. This Union began in 1817 and was renewed in 1830. The alternative was prison or exile.

Although Halle University began in an effort to teach Biblical studies and piety to the clergy, the school turned from Pietism to rationalism rather easily in a generation. Pietism began as a union movement, with Lutherans and Calvinists doing good works together.

World missions were unionistic too.

The Calvinistic influence suppressed Lutheran doctrine and encouraged the supremacy of Rationalism.

Rationalism in WELS, ELS, LCMS, CLC (sic), and ELCA Today
The synods reek of Rationalism today. Where to start?

"Since Christ became sin, we have to conclude that the entire world is declared righteous."

"He died for the ungodly. That means everyone is now forgiven and saved."

"Studies show..." and anything that follows is true, regardless of the Word.

"We are real, relational, and relevant." But the Bible is not?

"Having a pipe organ tells people you belong to another century."

The new Rationalism explains why everyone is content to work with ELCA and Thrivent.

Second ALPB Meltdown over Walther

Someone questioned Walther, Braaten, and Jenson!?

http://www.alpb.org/forum/index.php?topic=5300.105

GregoryLJackson

• ALPB Forum Member
• 
• Posts: 23
• • 
   
  • 
   
  • 

Re: Walther

« Reply #106 on: Today at 09:38:42 PM »

• Quote
• Modify
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Quote from: Michael Slusser on Today at 09:07:54 PM

Quote from: Charles_Austin on Today at 08:57:24 PM

Good  grief! What foolishness. let's hear some other people on this forum speak of Dr Braaten and Dr Jenson. or do we let foolishness have the last word?

Calm yourself. Or if you wish, Google "Braaten" "Jenson" "apostasy". You will find entries going back to 2007 for a blog called ichabod-something or other, written by someone named Gregory Jackson, who may be the same as GregoryLJackson. Otherwise, you won't find those three words together except in an entry for a book Braaten and Jenson wrote that mentions apostasy. In other words, Pr. Jackson has a long-running single-handed animosity toward those two theologians. He has expressed himself long, vigorously, and frequently, but may not have made many converts. Let him alone.

Peace,
Michael

I am hardly alone in questioning the fidelity of Braaten and Jenson, but they are clearly in the style of this little discussion group.


I have some good information from a dissertation on Walther and the Synodical Conference. It can be found here -


http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2013/12/dr-cruz-discovers-dissertation-walther.html


The dissertation clearly explains how the Synodical Conference has fallen for relying on the work of Walther and making an idol out of every word he ever put into print. Some moan today that the Great Walther is not published completely in English.


Hoenecke, who was far better in theology, tended to look down on Walther as a religious journalist, according to Fuerbringer.


The people who want to call themselves confessional Lutherans never confess the doctrine of Luther at all.


The motley assembly of confessions, sects, and cults on this group blog should admit that they have one thing in common, the unifying creed of the Synodical Conference and ELCA - universal absolution without faith.


I dare not say Unitarianism or Universalism. Those bonded brothers are honest about their unbeliefs. Here - not.

Dr. Cruz Discovers a Dissertation - Walther Was Not the Ultimate Theologian

As Zion on the Mississippi points out, the ladies' "confession of adultery with Stephan"
was bogus, and the clergy admitted later they knew about their bishop's promiscuity.

Dr. Lito Cruz, an essential part of Team Ichabod, has been sending me material about Walther tonight. The research brings up matters that others have discussed (in hushed tones) in the past.

Here is the link to the dissertation:

http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/1608/thesis.pdf?sequence=1

Below are some comments from Dr. Cruz -

I was looking at Walther's teaching on Church and Ministry. I stumbled on this thesis 

http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/1608/thesis.pdf?sequence=1

The author of this thesis is pro-Walther yet I find it strange he did not cast suspicion on Walther's theological method.

It must be Waltherolatry.

LPC

According to A. Pieper, dissertation, p 46...

Not only did Walther use terms that were readily misunderstood by others, but another cause for 

his naevi [faults], according to his student August Pieper, was that Walther depended too heavily on the secondary sources of theology, i.e., Luther and the lesser fathers. In spite of all his  emphasis on Scripture, there can be no denying this. Although Walther was a great, and a very talented leader, he was a poor, even an inferior exegete. He had only an average knowledge of the original biblical languages. Frequently he would cite dozens of Bible passages merely because  Luther and the dogmaticians had done so. Yet these passages did not prove what they were supposed to prove. Although very eager to express himself on matters, he failed to recognize that his position was based on translations and not on the original text. Thus, he could say something as if it were doctrinally true, but without a firm scriptural basis. Over all, the knowledge of Scripture that Walther had was more an intimate acquaintance with Luther’s Bible and knowledge of certain passages rather than knowledge of the whole line of thought of a biblical book and of the original text.

Also p. 47-

According to the author

Walther built his theology more heavily on the writings of Luther and his faithful followers than even Walther would admit. This is evident from his entire way of doing theology. This characteristic appears in all his doctrinal books, papers, and essays. “His dogmatics textbook consists entirely of material taken over from others.” The method that Walther used was understandable at a time in which there was searching for true Lutheranism, and it also fully corresponded with Walther’s  spiritual development. Another reason that is frequently cited for his use of this format is that he realized how inadequate his knowledge of Scripture and doctrine really was in comparison with Luther and Chemnitz, Gerhard and Calov, thus in all modesty he was afraid of going astray in even the smallest point of doctrine.49 

Walther was a great leader and the Lutheran Church benefited much from his leadership, still no matter how justified Walther’s method of citing Luther and the Lutheran dogmaticians might have been in the beginning, it was wrong both in principle and in practice. The problem was that unlike Luther, who stressed the Bible and the study of the Bible, Walther’s positions neither rested directly on Scripture nor did they lead one directly into it. Instead he strongly stressed, to the extreme, the importance of Luther and the Lutheran Confessions and the Lutheran fathers, and certainly much more than he cited God’s Word. Utilizing this format Walther led people to think that the matter under discussion or being presented had been established sufficiently by the quotations from Luther and the fathers; therefore it was unnecessary to study Scripture. This format actually hampered people in their use and study of the Bible. And eventually, it has come to the point where the citation theologians not only quote Luther and the old fathers but now they have also included Walther and others as proof of the doctrinal stand. As pastors, theologians, and theological students took up the study of doctrinal maters in subsequent years the subject of study was not as much a study of the Bible as it was a study of old synodical reports and conference and  convention essays. And now quotations from these, not the Bible, are frequently used to support doctrinal positions.50 

In other words, LutherQuest (sic) and the ALPB Online Forum suffer from a debilitating flaw - 

Instead of accepting the limitations of CFW Walther, BA, Pietist, they make him out to be the greatest theologian of all time.

Therefore, anyone who questions the Great Walther, as he is named on a statue in Missouri, is by definition a rogue, a maggot, and a leper.

Myth versus Fact about CFW Walther

Forster's vast research reveals the true nature of the
Saxon migration that became the LCMS.
He was trained in the Missouri Synod and earned a PhD
as a historian. 

When I tried to point out the vanity of promoting the CFW Walther myth on ALPB Online's forum, I was savagely attacked in the most bizarre fashion. The ELCA journalist Charles Austin and the apostate LCMS District President ganged up with some Walther disciples to launch a series of personal attacks, which I found amusing.

I fed their rage by answering them appropriately. They made such fools of themselves that the entire thread was erased and started over again. The Austin/Benke tag-team retreated for the second round.

This is a glimpse of what the group posted when I published some facts about Walther in the erased thread:
1. I had no right posting on the discussion board until I had proved all of my credentials, including where I was trained, where I was ordained, who ordained me, whether I went to Notre Dame or not, and whether I taught in higher education.
2. I was trashing Walther.
3. I had no right posting about Walther because I was not LCMS.
4. I made fun of Notre Dame graduates (not true).
5. I belonged to more than one synod, although they failed to mention Al Barry (four synods), Robert Preus (three synods), and Rolf Preus (LCMS twice, ELS, rejected by Canada's synod, Rolf Synod once but  abandoned by the Rolf Synod pastors). The Rolf thread on ALPB has 22 pages already.
6. Did I study urban ministry under Mark Jeske? Did I know about the Jeremiah Project?
7. Did I read Arabic script? One dysfunctional pastor said I had the pillars of Islam wrong on some details. He used a post on a rarely used blog from seven years ago.
8. The same people could not find biographical details about me, though those details are published all over the Net.
9. Not to be outdone, the "moderator" Peter Speckard blocked one of my new comments and later asked,
http://www.alpb.org/forum/index.php?topic=5300.msg324081;topicseen#msg324081

peter_speckhard

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Re: Walther

« Reply #64 on: Yesterday at 06:40:57 PM »

• Quote

How (and why) do so many of you know the historical details being shared in this thread? It one thing to be an historian, but something else entirely to go celebrity stalking in the church triumphant.

***

Allow me to briefly compare the Walther myth to the reality.

1. Myth - Walther was an orthodox Lutheran who sought to bring true Lutheran doctrine to America, which was awash in Pietism, revivalism, and all kinds of doctrine error.
Fact - Walther's academic training was limited to a bachelor's degree in a rationalistic university. He placed himself under the leadership of one severe Pietistic guru and also joined a Pietistic Bible study group. When the first guru died, he and his cell group placed themselves under Martin Stephan, a Pietist with a Pietistic congregation that was allowed to have cell groups at the church's location.

2. Myth - Walther was a leader of the Saxons.
Fact - Stephan was the person who brought the large group over the America. Walther took over gradually after organizing the riot that deposed Stephan. Without Stephan there would have been no pilgrimage to America.

3. Myth - Walther taught Luther's doctrine.
Fact - Walther learned Halle's Easter absolution from Martin Stephan who studied at Halle. Walther taught this Easter absolution, contrary to Luther, all his life. Ironically - Stephan never graduated from the two universities he attended. His role as a Bohemian Pietist allowed him to serve a special congregation in spite of his lack of qualifications.

4. Myth - Walther never went along with Stephan being made bishop for life.
Fact - Walther signed the document pledging his obedience to Stephan, as all the clergy leaders did. Oddly, Walther listed himself as the pastor of the congregation where he had resigned his call. All this happened was after Stephan left his wife and family in Dresden (except one healthy son) - taking his female groupies along on the trip, including his main mistress Louise.

5. Myth - Walther and the clergy suddenly found out about Stephan's adultery.
Fact - Vehse and Marbach defended Stephan in court in Dresden, on the issues of serial adultery and financial mismanagement. The young ladies hanging around Stephan created questions on the ship (son's account) and lots of talk in St. Louis. Stephan avoided choice land in St. Louis over garbage property in Perryville, where he was less likely to be strung up along with his obedient clergy followers.

6. Myth - The riot was caused by a sudden, shocking discovery of the adultery of Stephan, after a moving sermon and a confession by one or two ladies. Louise later denied any confession.
Fact - Since the clergy knew all about the adultery, thanks to the court case, the walks at night with young women, and various other obvious signs of moral turpitude, the riot had to have another cause. Based on the research of others, I agree that the outbreak of syphilis among Stephan's girlfriends was the breaking point (potentially fatal for the leaders) and also an ideal opportunity for Walther.

7. Myth - No one can figure out how Stephan, known for his understanding and leadership of people, became so bizarre in his behavior and demands in America.
Fact - His children died from syphilitic symptoms after being institutionalized. His wife was also ill. Stephan complained of rashes, which are a sign of syphilis. His mental decline is consistent with the neurological phase of the disease, called "the great imitator." His trips to spas and his night walks were convenient ways to be with his various girlfriends. He even moved one into his house, like Karl Barth, and moved her back in when his long-suffering wife threw the girl out.

7. Myth - Walther handled the situation well.
Fact - Walther violated the Scriptures when he failed to confront the bishop about the adultery, passing up many opportunities. When Walther went down to Perryville, he used to opportunity to arrange support for the upcoming spontaneous riot and to steal the land the group gave to the bishop. He failed to meet with Stephan. Walther arranged the riot and only took his supporters along. No dissent was allowed.

8. Myth - Things got better after a rough but necessary action.
Fact - Walther and his crew stole a vast amount of gold from Stephan, a library of 1500 books, all personal possessions, and a total of 120 acres of land. The gold went a long way toward making the society solvent again. The land was divided among the winners. The books were handy for the new seminary (a theft copied later by Seminex, with howls of outrage from the grandchildren of the original thieves). Stephan was accused of stealing money from the group, so they piled slander on top of their crimes. As Luther noted, deception is always used as a cover for greed.

Zion on the Mississippi has almost all the information needed. The book has been around for about 50 years, so there is no excuse for the fairy tales broadcast by the LCMS.

The Stephan book, In Pursuit of Religious Freedom, makes it clear that Stephan left house arrest to pursue sexual freedom for himself in America. The group felt persecuted because Stephan was under a cloud for his corruption. They were sure the Gospel left Europe when they set sail, even though Walther himself was escaping arrest warrants for kidnapping his niece and nephew.

If the readers do not think the LCMS is as mean, vindictive, petty, and dishonest as Walther appears in the Stephan book, they should follow LutherQuest (sic) or ALPB for a few hours.

I found Servant of the Word, a gushing hagiography, to be useful in filling in details, including the Missouri fable about Stephan smuggling gold pieces in his hollow cane. Sure - while they were threatening his life, stripping him down to look for money, and forcing him to sleep outside for the night, the bishop was jingling away with his gold-filled cane.

I have bought the Fuerbringer books 2.5 times, giving them away to friends to read. Fuerbringer has interesting points about NOT KNOWING the early history from his Uncle CFW and the source of the jewel encrusted chalice stolen from Stephan and used by Walther as a trophy - for Holy Communion.

There is another book, CFW Walther, The American Luther. I read that long ago.

SpenerQuest Accuses ELDONA of Promoting Walther-Stephan Dogma

Walther signed the document making Stephan the bishop-for-life,
a fact Missouri loves to deny.

PS - Roland Bainton wrote about the School of the Prophets seminaries in early America. The theological student stayed in the parsonage and received his training from a veteran pastor. More than one candidate also married the minister's daughter.

George Mueller (Mueller) Senior Member Username: Mueller Post Number: 1004 Registered: 11-2012

Posted on Saturday, October 19, 2013 - 8:06 pm:       Well, we could talk about ELDoNA's new seminary and why it is called St. Ignatius. Like, wasn't it Ignatius who identified the church with the bishop, as if the bishop is the means of grace? A Lutheran seminary would identify the church with Christ and the means of grace. But if you deny objective justification, you have to find some sort of catalyst to make the means of grace efficacious. Perhaps the catalyst is the fellow who wears that purdy purple shirt!

George Mueller managed to describe the founding of the LCMS perfectly. Mueller could be a pen-name for Rolf Preus. We won't know until he reverses himself on UOJ several times in a row.

The resident Enthusiasts have definitely reclaimed Walther. They have his grasp of Lutheran doctrine (none), 

his ethics (none), and his desire to hide and deny the past.

Walther and crew did not suddenly discover Stephan's adultery in America (what a hoot). 

Their dictatorial bishop:

• left his sick wife and dying children in Europe, after being under house arrest for adultery and financial improprieties, 
• took his mistress and female groupies to America,
• and spread his syphilis among the young women. THAT was the scandal.