Response to CPH warning letter...

Related to my posting (Dec. 14, 2012) of download links of the in-copyright volumes Essays For The Church by C.F.W. Walther, I have received an emailed warning notice letter from an official at Concordia Publishing House on January 10, 2013.  I had not noticed it until now. It was attached to the following email text:

Dear Sir or Madam:
Please see the attached document and respond at your convenience.  Thank you.

God's Blessings,
Norma
Norma Muench
Intellectual Property Specialist
copyrights@cph.org | P: 800.325.0191 | F: 314.268.1243

First of all, I have removed the download links at CPH's request.  Apparently they noticed my warning to them of this tragic situation created by them – I see I got their attention.  Actually, I'm a bit surprised it took them so long – these books are only 20 years old and were a huge effort (over 600 large pages!) to present to the members.

I'm sorry, CPH, for disturbing your "celebration" of Walther...  I was only trying to help you in your "celebration".  I'm sorry for cutting into the rights you have to Walther's English translations.  Upon your request, I'll turn over 100% of the profits I have earned from this endeavor.

OK, I'll leave you to your normal duties... whatever they are.  Surely they include a massive effort to be

"...presently engaged in releasing a new set of Walther's works, ...  "Essays for the Church" will be included in this new series."

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==>> Personal note to Norma Muench:
In the administration of your official duties, did you know that Walther said the following in these books? (Vol. 1, pg 54):
Question:

“How is it that the consciousness that the Evangelical Lutheran Church alone is entrusted with the pure doctrine of justification has largely disappeared even within this our church?”

Answer:

5. A fifth part consists of those who have indeed recognized the ungodly nature of [Protestant] union (der Union), but now, over against the Reformed, lay the main stress—instead of on the pure doctrine of justification—on outward churchianity, on the visibility of the true church, on its ceremonies, rules, and constitution, on the office [of the ministry] as a special rank created by ordination and [on] its privileged dispensation of grace, on the ex opere operato effectiveness of the sacraments (i.e., by the mere use of them, regardless of faith), and so forth. And in part, besides all this, they either are themselves given to various favorite errors that have become fashionable in our time among the so-called “faithful,” e.g., chiliasm, the hades doctrine, etc., or at least want particularly these heresies to be tolerated in the church as relating to open questions, and in this connection often try to create and preserve in dictatorial fashion (treiberisch) a legalistic piety.

To Norma Muench:
Walther is speaking here of matters of spiritual "life and death".  And the largest English translations of Walther's essays are currently unavailable from CPH.  I suggest you find a copy of these books of Walther in your library there (or a bootlegged file copy of my downloads) and sit down and read them... and discover what the pure Gospel means -- Universal, Objective Justification.  Then, and only then, will you know what "God's Blessings" truly are.  If you want to hear from someone personally, go find Prof. (emeritus) Thomas Manteufel and have him explain it to you.
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