One will not find in The Lutheran Witness of Pieper's time, either before or after his passing, any extensive articles on Pieper's theology. One can find at least some essays of this type in the German language periodicals Der Lutheraner and Lehre und Wehre. The chief editor of the Witness was Prof. Theodore Graebner who would in a few years explode into syncretistic actions. I suspect that Graebner was already, in 1931, harboring weakness in maintaining the doctrines of the faith. But before his sad downfall, Graebner still published some words of praise for the departed chief teacher of the Missouri Synod since Walther's passing in 1887, 44 years of leadership in following God's Word. — Here is another short tribute that Graebner published in the months following Pieper's "going home". It is not about Pieper's doctrine, it is about his life:
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The Many-Sided Dr. Pieper.*
* Most of these reminiscences were sent to the undersigned for his biographical sketch of Dr. Pieper, but were received too late for inclusion in that treatise. G. [Th. Graebner]
The Lutheran Witness, September 29, 1931, p. 327
The Street-Car Nickel.
How about cheating the street-car company out of a street-car fare? The late Dr. F. Pieper, while president of Synod, sat at dinner with a group of delegates, when the above question was put. Some one said, “If I am not approached for my nickel by the conductor, I’ll keep it.” The Doctor answered, “I prefer to call the conductor’s attention to the fact that he has overlooked me and to hand him my nickel. The devil is always planning to tempt a Christian and to get him to doubt that he is a child of God and saved. When he charges a Christian with having deserved the wrath of God and damnation, he usually does not hold up to him that he has stolen a hundred or a thousand dollars, but that he has cheated some one out of a penny or a nickel. And just these petty things can cause the Christian’s conscience untold agony. So I would rather a thousand times have paid my little street-car fare than expose my conscience to such torture. Besides, in spite of all my efforts to be scrupulously conscientious even in little things, I know that I am sinful from tip to toe, for all of which I continually approach my God, believing in the full atonement of Christ, saying: ‘Purge me! The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin [1 John 1:7].’ ”
Rev. J. D. Matthius, Indianapolis, Ind.
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Pieper's response to the situation reminds me of Joseph's response to Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39:9. I was pleased to see a pastor from Indiana, my home state, offer his public praise of Pieper. Further tributes from The Lutheran Witness will follow.
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