Memories 9: great knowledge; humorous; Navy league, warships; Vatican ‘For Rent’?; Pelikan, Lueking, Danker false charges

      This continues from Part 8 (Table of Contents in Part 1), a series by Prof. Ludwig Fürbringer of his personal memories of the departed Franz Pieper in the 1931 Der Lutheraner magazine. — In this segment, more than others, we learn a little more of the man – his great general knowledge of the world, his interest in parks and warships, etc. Although short, it reveals more of his "personal" side.

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(page 283, col. 1)

Memories of Dr. Franz Pieper.

by Ludwig Fürbringer – [3.] (Part 9 of 16)

But one should not come up with the idea as if Dr. Pieper would have been a man buried in his study, who otherwise would not have cared for the world and the church.  On the contrary, this versatile man

●  followed everything in the world and in the Church with interest,

●  applied everywhere the sound standard of Scripture and Confession,

●  knew about some things which one never would have expected him to speak of, and

●  understood how to speak of things so intelligently and interestingly,

that in this way he astonished and made a lasting impression upon distant, even very different, persons who once happened to meet with him.

Pieper and wife (?),
1926 new Seminary dedication video 0:13

He also often showed a humorous streak; but everything had a serious, biblical background. So it may come as a surprise to many that he was interested in warships and, at least in earlier years, knew pretty much about so many-inch guns. He probably even got the relevant publications from Washington and looked closely at the illustrations. There was another reason for that, of course; because, like anyone who works hard mentally, sometimes he feels the need to direct his mind to something completely different. For years he was part of the naval league of our country, without, of course, sharing their jingoism and militarism, because he was a peace-loving man. He was interested in the public parks in our city and in the zoological garden. And some walkers along the streets and street vendors could tell of his friendliness and assistance.

Looking back on the nearly thirty-eight years of working with him, I have so many memories that if I wanted to tell everything, I would have to unduly stretch these articles. But I still want to report some more about his life. L[udwig] F[ührbringer].

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      "Old Missouri" is characterized as uninformed on various matters regarding the world and the Church.  Prof. Jaroslav Pelikan charged the American Lutherans (i.e. the Missourians) in 1952 with ignoring German church events.  In a similar way, Dr. F. Dean Lueking in 1964, charged an Old Missouri missionary with lacking an "elementary knowledge of the non-Christian religious systems and culture around him" (while admitting he had a "Christocentric core" in his preaching), Mission in the Making, p. 217-218. Prof. William Danker at least admitted in the 1964 book Moving Frontiers (p. 302) that this missionary, Theodore Naether ("almost an atheist"?), "is honored to this day by Indian Christians" (Naether article: DL 1, 2). This blog has published only a small sampling showing Pieper's (and old Missouri's) "great knowledge", the tremendous number of reports on news from America and around the world – on WW I, secret societies, church conditions around the world, especially in Germany. etc. So when Pelikan made his report directly to the Germans of how American Lutherans (i.e. Missourians) were unmindful of the so-called "reawakening of confessional consciousness" in Germany, he was promoting fiction. — Pieper's interest in naval matters was corroborated by Prof. Th. Graebner in his biography of Pieper:

“To the end of his life he was proud of the navy button in his lapel which he carried as member of a national patriotic organization supporting the naval program of our country. At social gatherings he almost invariably discussed civic and national affairs, often with a good deal of humor and with an acute appraisal of men and issues.” (Dr. Francis Pieper - A Biographical Sketch, page 54)

      Fürbringer spoke of a "humorous streak" in Pieper.  I recall this vividly myself when I read from one of Pieper's lectures – published in English translation by O. Marc Tangner, Luther Academy / Logia, $10.98).  In the German edition p 14, Tangner p. 12-13, Pieper says:

“The doctrine of works is the position, the life, the driving force, the principle of the papacy. If the pope were ever to give up his doctrine of works, then his very essence would vanish. He could then tack a sign to the Vatican door with the words: 

‘For Rent’.”

We see in this an example of what Fürbringer meant when he said Pieper's "humorous streak" had "a serious, biblical background". —  In the next Part 10…