Dear friends in Christ,
We continue our survey of Church History from the book of Professor E.A.W. Krauss from our St. Louis seminary of a century ago. This month we continue our look at the life and work of Dr. C.F.W. Walther. This month we get a bit of a look at Walther’s rich productivity in theological work. We also get an “outsider’s” impression of Walther.
44. [part 5] Dr. C. Ferd. W. Walther
Walther was a worker with an extraordinary ability and willingness for work. When all his articles in the first 43 volumes of the Lutheraner [The Lutheran], in 33 volumes of Lehre und Wehre [Doctrine and Defense], and all his contributions to 11 volumes of the Magazin fuer evangelisch=lutherische Homiletik [Magazine for Evangelical Lutheran Homiletics {that is, preaching}], and all the synodical lectures he delivered, and his sermon collections are gathered and placed together along with the other books and tracts he wrote, what an astonishing work they point to! Add to this his host of theological opinions and official and private letters! To that add the visits he made for the synod and the schools that, as president, he had to visit (and this was for him, and rightly so, a very important matter), all this in addition to his regular main work of lecturing to the students of Concordia Seminary on Dogmatics and Pastoral Theology: it represents such an amount of work that one can hardly comprehend how he could have mastered it. But he knew where he could seek and find Him who provides His servants with power from on high.
When Walther was at the height of his activity and productivity, he also received (in December 1869) several visits from Count Ernst of Erbach-Erbach, who at that time was traveling to North America and Cuba. In his Reisebriefe aus Amerika [Tourist Letters From America] (Heidelberg, 1873,8), which is still worthwhile reading today, he recalled the impression that Walther made on him. He says in it on page 211 ff.:
“I cannot remain silent about an extremely interesting acquaintance that I recently made. The other day I visited the President of the Lutheran Synod of Missouri. He is a pastor of the congregation in St. Louis and professor of Concordia College in which the young clergymen are theologically trained for their office. His name is Walther, not unknown in the theological world…. I do not hesitate in counting him among the most important, interesting and fascinating men whom I have encountered in my life. The heated battle for the truth that went on for years and the endless work and struggle for the spread of God’s word have formed in this man such a rock-like certainty and bright truth in all areas of faith that I can only be continually amazed and come to the conclusion: this is the man whom God chose here; no one braver could have been found. In fact, among storms and tempests, He used this instrument in order to build His Church anew in the New World upon the rock of the confession. By him, God founded a new homeland for the Lutheran Church, where it is welcomed with open arms as it…is driven out of the Fatherland. The hope of Lutheranism now rests upon America. While everything in the whole world is cracking and breaking and shattering, there the seed of the pure truth is sown, cultivated and watered quietly, untiringly, without concern about the outcry of the whole world; it is sown as weapons for battle at hand ready to defend it at any moment. All this so that it visibly brings forth fruit a hundredfold. Battle is always being waged here. The weapons can never get rusty and this keeps the life of faith fresh and young. No enemy is considered too dangerous; no formalities are binding when it is a matter of truth. It is fought day and night and mostly with those who are earnest for the truth. No little grain of sand of revelation is to be surrendered lest everything can be destroyed. These conditions fill those who are anxious about the future of the Church with comfort.
“Professor Walther is an exceedingly amiable, gentle man with sharply defined noble features and bright brilliant eyes. His conversation in every respect fosters and instructs. Everything is formed and shaped as he speaks and then is easily seen by the eyes of the hearers. He comes and quickly seizes the main point of every question and illuminates everything else from it. In argumentation, his logic is convincing and his eloquence overwhelming. He is unshakeable in doctrine, soft in speech, lively in communication and as energetic as a young man. Hours pass as minutes in his presence. By this he shows a comforting joy that finds its origin in the blessing that God has placed on the work of his hands. With love yet sorrow, he remembers the ecclesiastical conditions in his former homeland. He was especially accommodating to me as he sacrificed long evenings for me in which he interrupted his study. I first heard later that these evening hours were the most precious hours of the entire day to him. He then gave me books and writings from which I might further instruct myself on Lutheranism in America. He has such clarity of presentation that first through him and only through him did I receive a rough picture of the conditions of the church in America. Yet, with all the richness of his knowledge and in looking back upon all his achievements he shows a modesty which I have never before met. He has done nothing himself: the grace of God has worked everything through his weak hands. May he remain for a long time a pillar preserving the Lutheran Church! –My trip to America Is at its climax: temporally, for half of the appointed time is past; and in respect to things spiritual, I have made the most significant acquaintance.”
So far Professor Krauss
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A FRIENDLY REMINDER:
YOUR CHURCH STILL NEEDS YOUR PRAYERS AND OFFERINGS WHEN YOU ARE GONE ON A SUNDAY
WHAT WOULD LUTHER SAY ABOUT ALL THE LAWS OF THE LAND? The fewer the laws by which a commonwealth is administered, the more fortunate it is. [AE, XXVII, 409]
THE FOLLOWING DESCRIPTION DOES NOT APPLY TO YOUR CHURCH’S NEWSLETTER:
“We all know, of course, what to make of our newspapers. The deaf man writes down what the blind man has told him, the village idiot edits it, and their colleagues in the other press houses copy it. Each story is doused afresh with the same stagnant infusion of lies, so that the ‘splendid’ brew can then be served up to a clueless [people].”
[Timur Vermes, Look Who’s Back, MacLehose Press, New York, pg. 20]
POPE PRAISES LUTHERAN MISSION WORK
In his encyclical, Militantis Ecclesiae, of 01 August 1897, Pope Leo XIII described Protestantism as the “Lutheran rebellion, whose evil virus goes wandering about in almost all nations.”
Here is a Jewish gem gleaned from a synagogue’s [Congregation Sinai] monthly newsletter:
A Jewish man took his Passover lunch to eat outside in the park. He sat down on a bench and began eating. Since Jews do not eat leavened bread during the eight-day holiday, he was eating Matzo, flat crunchy unleavened bread that has dozens of perforations. A little later, a blind man came by and sat down next to him. Feeling neighborly, the Jewish man passed a sheet of matzo to the blind man. The blind man handled the matzo for a few minutes, looked puzzled, and finally exclaimed, "Who wrote this nonsense"?
Notice what this Church Father, Justin Martyr, wrote in the Second Century. He writes about what we today call “Closed Communion” and the Real Presence of Jesus, His Body and Blood, in Holy Communion. Here we see that Lutheranism is not some new religion coming on the scene in 1517 but is in line with the Church of the ages.
Among us this food is called the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things that we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these, but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation. So likewise have we been taught that the food that is blessed by the prayer of His Word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called the Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me” [Lk. 22.19].
Justin Martyr, Apology, 66 quoted in A Year with the Church Fathers, CPH 2011 pg. 166]
FROM OUR FRIENDS AT THE WARTBURG PROJECT—
Verse numbers in the Bible:
Early Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of the biblical texts did not have the chapter and verse numbers that appear in modern versions. The verse numbers were a very late addition to the text, and, to make it more complicated, there are various systems of numbering that do not agree with each other.
Already by the time of Christ, the Hebrew text was being divided into standard paragraphs and sections. The Eastern Church also developed a system of paragraphs and divisions for the Greek text. In the 13th century AD, Archbishop Stephen Langton and Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro developed two different plans for the division of the biblical text into sections. Langton’s system became the basis for the modern chapter divisions of the Bible.
By 1000 AD, the Hebrew text had a system of punctuation that became a forerunner of the modern system of verses for the Old Testament. The first person to divide New Testament chapters into verses was an Italian Dominican biblical scholar, Santi Pagnini (1470–1541), but his system never became popular. Robert Estienne (aka Robertus Stephanus) created a system of verse numbers for his 1551 edition of the Greek New Testament. This system was also used in his 1553 publication of the Bible in French.
The first English New Testament to use these verse divisions was a 1557 translation by William Whittingham (c. 1524–1579). The first Bible in English to use both chapter and verse numbers was the Geneva Bible published in 1560. These verse numbers soon gained acceptance as the standard way to divide the text, and they have been used in nearly all English Bibles and in the vast majority of those in other languages. http://wartburgproject.org/sp_faq/52
THE INTELLECTUAL’S CORNER: “It is not miracles that dispose realists to belief. The genuine realist, if he is an unbeliever, will always find strength and ability to disbelieve in the miraculous, and if he is confronted with a miracle as an irrefutable fact he would rather disbelieve his own senses than admit the fact. Even if he admits it, he admits it as a fact of nature till then unrecognized by him. Faith does not, in the realist, spring from the miracle but the miracle from faith. If the realist believes, then he is bound by his very realism to admit the miraculous also. The Apostle Thomas said that he would not believe till he saw, but when he did see he said, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Was it the miracle that forced him to believe? Most likely not, but he believed solely because he desired to believe and possibly he fully believed in his secret heart even when he said, ‘I do not believe till I see.’”
[The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Kindle edition, location 584]
THOUGHTS ON STUPIDITY
”…the stupider one is, the closer one is to reality. The stupider one is, the clearer one is. Stupidity is brief and artless, while intelligence wriggles and hides itself. Intelligence is a knave, but stupidity is honest and straight forward.” [Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, Kindle edition, Location 4775]
LITURGY AND HYMNS:
The Church remains what she is even without a Liturgy. She remains a queen even in beggar’s rags. It would be better if everything else were lost and only pure doctrine remained safe than for us to continue the ceremony and adornment of glorious services which lack light and life because the doctrine has become impure. Yet it is not necessary to let the Church go about in beggar’s rags. Much better is it that her prayers, her hymns, her sacred order, the holy thoughts of her Liturgy should be taught to the people without their noticing it. This way the hymns and the liturgy of the Church will become a holy weapon of defense in the Lord’s battle against the devil, the world and our sinful flesh.
Pr. Wilhelm Loehe—Three Books About the Church pg. 178, Augsburg Fortress Press
THE DIVINE SERVICE AND PREACHING:
Delivery of a Good Conscience “[The sermon] plays a vital part in God’s provision of a good conscience and its benefits by ensuring that God’s Word is rightly heard. The focus of God’s Word is on the conscience of God’s holy people. Our problem is that as soon as God speaks His word into our hearts, the devil starts preaching to us as well, so as to undermine our faith by re-infecting us with a bad conscience. He too uses God’s Word; but he misspeaks it in order to confuse our minds and desensitize our consciences. He misapplies God’s word so that we get things back to front. On the one hand, he uses God’s law to condemn penitent sinners and silence the message of the gospel. On the other hand, he uses the gospel of Jesus to excuse sin and disregard God’s law. So the Sermon is meant to address the conscience of its hearers by preaching God’s Word as law and Gospel. It uses the law to expose sin and to show us the good works that are pleasing to God. It uses the gospel to justify sinners and make them holy. Thus the goal of preaching law and gospel is a clear conscience, a conscience free from guilt and shame. It drives the devil from our hearts and prepares us for the rest of the service. It keeps us clean and makes us holy. –Liturgy and Delivery of a Good Conscience: Our Earthly Reception of Heavenly Gifts, by Rev. John W. Kleinig
In the terrors of my sins, I flee to Your wounds. When my conscience fills me with fear, I will receive Your blood as my ransom. Yes, in my dying hour I desire to know nothing but You, O Jesus. Your holy name, O Jesus, shall be my last word. Your bleeding image, my last thought. Your last word from the cross, my last sigh in death. With You I will say: “Father, into Your hands, I commit my spirit.” In that last hour, Jesus, be my comfort, my joy, my consolation, my defense. Amen.
Starke’s Prayer Book—Revised edition, CPH 2010 (pg. 77-79)
LCMS STEWARDSHIP ARTICLE:
Have you ever noticed the subtle ceremony of receiving the offerings during the Divine Service? The offerings are collected in plates or baskets, and they are brought forward and given to the pastor or an assistant. The pastor turns toward the altar, and, as he slightly bows his head, the offerings are raised slightly to the Lord and placed on the altar or an adjacent table.
Why do we have this ceremony? And what does it teach us? For that is what ceremony does – it teaches, as the Augsburg Confession tells us what we need to know about Christ. (AC XXIV, 1–3)
Originally, this ceremony included more than simply bringing forward what was collected in the offering plates. The elements for the Holy Communion – the bread and the wine – were brought forward with the offerings. The offerings and elements were lifted toward the Lord and placed upon the altar. The altar, now made a table, would be set for the Lord’s Supper.
Gifts brought to the altar come from the sweat of His people’s brow. They are the bread and wine, the fruits of His people’s labor in this fallen world. After six days of labor and toil, the people are to bring a generous proportion for the Lord’s work. Gifts set upon the altar are offered to the Lord for Him to take up and press into service for His gracious work.
For what is offered to the Lord from the sweat of His people’s brow – the bread of anxious toil – comes back to us as the bread of life. The bread comes down from heaven that whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup will receive life through the forgiveness of their sins.
This is not unlike what the Lord did for His people in the Old Testament:
“You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire – oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household.” (Deut. 14:22-26)
What a blessing! God provides for us in all things. He provides bread from the sweat of our brows. He receives this from us in the first-fruits offerings we give to Him in thanksgiving and praise, and He turns these into spiritual bread. He gives this heavenly bread – the bread of eternal life – back to us so we might have joy.
So, the next time you are in the Divine Service, watch this ceremony in wonder. The offerings we have given to Him, the Lord gives back to us in His supper so that we may rejoice in the salvation He won for us upon the cross.
From the LCMS Foundation: www.lcmsfoundation.org 800-325-7912 Ext 1684
Rejuvenation
Throughout our world, winds of restlessness bring change to cultural landscapes. These conditions are captive to corrupt hearts, leaders or cultural circumstances dictating the plight of masses.
Within the U.S., the debate seems centered on whether ingenuity and capital markets are just, or whether the government is obligated to intercede and reallocate wealth according to social expediency. Political transformation causes resulting innovation that is hotly debated. Does such struggle result in progress or regression?
Meanwhile, the daily patterns and responsibilities of homelife, work, social, emotional and spiritual concerns continue in a dynamic reconstruction cycle. Our lives circulate through a daily loop of replenishment or depletion. Although our bodies are subjected to the curse of our own refusal to follow God’s will, opportunities for regeneration and restoration are available from an infinitely kind Spirit.
Thanks to the work of Jesus Christ in God who formed and redeemed all creation, the ever-present comfort of the Holy Spirit is ours. Those who live by faith in God’s Word know that renewal and rebirth result in repair and restoration of the mind, body and soul.
Despite differing motivations, people of faith recognize the undeserved favor given to reform their wayward tendencies. This miracle adds luster to the manna of time that transforms life’s experience with an inner conversion. Only when God’s reinvigoration occurs does a person find the restitution and revitalization that awaits in freedom’s Jubilee.
As summer vacations also provide a time to rejuvenate, it’s also time to consider renovating your own plans for when life’s final renewal transforms us to eternal life. A ‘Lifetime Plan for Giving’ with a will, trust or beneficiary designations can communicate your intent clearly, signaling a renaissance to rebuild the future.
Family gifts well planned can regenerate their lives for God’s purposes. Renovation that remembers the Lord’s work gives opportunity to leave assets to advance the Kingdom of Grace.
Contact Robert Wirth, LCMS Foundation Gift Planner @ robert.wirth@lfnd.org or 716-863-4427 to learn how a trusted charitable guide can encourage you to plan and direct your passion to give to loved ones and cherished ministries so others might know that the rejuvenation is your hope.
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