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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis - 1926 Dedication video

[2018-06-15 added link to current CSL website; Nov. 26, 2014: updated to add download link to video converted to MP4 format]
There is a silent video (lasting 16:44) on the web showing the festivities at the opening of the new Concordia Seminary (St. Louis) in 1926.  It requires iTunes to view it. I have not figured out how to download it:
http://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/historic-events/id426814665#
 or http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/seminary-dedication-1926-video/id426814665?i=92201368

Or download converted video to MP4 format directly ==>>  here <<== (43 MB)
2018-06-15: reference this CSL website that displays this video.

Dr. Pieper appears at the 0:20 and 10:50 marks.  Prof. Theodore Graebner is shown at the 12:08 mark unveiling the "Graebner Hall Tablet", presumably in honor of his father Prof. A.L. Graebner.  Rev. J.W. Behnken (later President of the LC-MS) is shown at the 13:13 mark giving an address.  Walther's (died 1887) carriage is displayed at the 13:57 mark.

This is the only video recording that I know of that shows Dr. Pieper.  I believe T. Graebner said somewhere that they wished they could get a voice recording of him but did not.

It appears that this is a major transition time for the LC-MS.  The English language had made major inroads into the activities:
  • the video has messages in English, 
  • Tyndale (a non-Lutheran) was honored for his English Bible, and 
  • A.L. Graebner wrote for the English based Theological Monthly publication. 
This was 7 years after Pieper wrote about why the German language was still the main language used in Missouri Synod publications.  Perhaps there was a headiness in the air... the beginnings of the downfall of doctrine in the old German Missouri Synod.  However there still remained a faithful teacher to head off any doctrinal compromising ... it was Dr. Franz Pieper, the "The Twentieth Century Luther!".

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