Missourian! 5: Lutheran Church has ever and always…; "What, are you also Lutheran?"

      This continues from Part 4 (Table of Contents here), a series presenting Walther's Foreword to the 1872 Der Lutheraner on the term “Missourian”. —  Walther now reveals how many ways the "Missourians" were reviled.  It is a long list.  But what strikes one now is how the field of attackers has grown.  More on that later.  But let us first hear how a true Lutheran can take comfort in knowing that, although he will be assailed by the world, his faith is firmly "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets". (Eph. 2:20)
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Taken from Der Lutherner v. 29 (1872), p. 1-2, 9-10. Translation by BackToLuther using DeepL, Google Translate, Microsoft, Yandex. Underlining follows Walther’s emphasis. All highlighting, text in square brackets [ ] are mine.

Foreword (“Vorwort”)

Twenty-ninth year of Der Lutheraner.
[by C.F.W. Walther, part 5 of 5]

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The apostolic and Lutheran Church has ever and always stated that the writings of the prophets and apostles were inspired word for word by the Holy Spirit; — if we now take them seriously and attack the newer theologians, who deny the literal divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, then we are reproached as arrogant and ignorant despisers of science.

The apostolic and Lutheran Church has ever and always rejected every ecclesial and fraternal fellowship with false believers; — let us now take this seriously and deny church, altar and pulpit fellowship with the false believers, and we shall be scolded as condemnable addicted half Papists.

Ever and always the apostolic and Lutheran Church has taught that Christ's true Church, namely the Church of Promise, without which there is no salvation, is the invisible totality of all truly believing in Christ, spread throughout the world; — if we take it seriously, we are accused of being united enthusiasts. [Prof. Th. Graebner expressly attacked this very doctrine of Walther.]

Ever and always the apostolic and Lutheran Church has given up not one iota of its Confession; — let us now take this seriously and recognize no one for a true Lutheran and Lutheran preacher who rejects this or that of the doctrinal content of the Lutheran symbols, then we are scolded as symbolists, yes, symbol worshipers.

Ever and always the apostolic and Lutheran Church has rejected the hope that the Church will ever attain dominion over the world and cease to be a kingdom of the cross and of persecution, i.e. Chilialism; yes, the Lutheran Church, when Chilialism wanted to invade the Church, was appalled at all chiliastic preachers as dangerous enthusiasts and seducers of its ministry; — if we now take it seriously, they call us carnal zealots who want to exclude the whole old orthodox Church from the Church, condemn it and cast it under spell.

Ever and always the apostolic and Lutheran Church has rejected all sacerdotalism [Pfaffentum; clericalism] and the teaching that the Christian preaching ministry is a privileged priesthood propagating itself alongside Christians through ordination or priestly ordination, which alone can administer the means of grace validly and powerfully; rather it taught that all truly believing Christians are the priests of the New Testament and that preachers are only their attendants, housekeepers, servants, deputies, who in their place administer the rights of the spiritual priesthood according to God's own order and establishment in the public office; — if we now take this seriously, we are reproached as despisers of the preaching ministry.

Ever and always the apostolic and Lutheran Church has taught that a preacher has no right to impose a law on his congregation or to order or command anything; that the congregation and every Christian rather be free from all human commandments and that nothing can be required of him but faith and love; — let us now take this seriously and reject all priestly rule, then we are scolded as ecclesiastical democrats who wanted to establish a mob rule in the Church. [This is precisely the CTS-FW charge against Walther, including Dr. Lawrence Rast]

The apostolic and Lutheran Church has ever and always taught that the free will of man is nothing in spiritual matters, that therefore man is to blame for his unconversion and damnation through his deliberate reluctance, but that conversion and his election to salvation is a pure gift of grace from God, for which man cannot contribute the slightest thing, that salvation, therefore, is completely taken out of man's hands and lies only in God's hand and free mercy; — let us be [Page 10, Column 3] be serious with this, so we are scolded as Calvinist predestinarians, who taught an unconditional predestination to damnation and salvation, like the Calvinists.

Ever and always the apostolic and Lutheran Church has declared the article of justification by faith in Christ by grace for Christ's sake alone to be the chief article of the whole Christian religion, and has carried it on and on as such before all other articles; — if we now take it seriously, and carry this article on before all, we are accused of despisers of good works and zeal in sanctification. *) [Prof. David P. Scaer stated that “All Theology is Christology” which essentially overturns the Lutheran Confessions statement that the Doctrine of Justification is “the chief topic of Christian doctrine”]

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*) It is certainly undeniable that our Missouri Synod has found such a great foothold among our dear German Lutheran people and is still finding more, because it is noteworthy that in the Missouri Synod it is not a new-fashioned doctrine, but the doctrine which is found in the good old writings that edify people.  And it is because the people in the Missouri Synod are so abundantly preached the Gospel of justification by grace alone through faith in Christ, whereby people really get bread for their spiritual hunger and certainty of salvation. So may our opponents, after all, carry themselves with the sweet hope that the Lutheranism of the Missouri Synod has no future in America, the Missourians have come up with something inexplicable, they will not do it much longer, the Lutheranism of the liberal General Synod will finally take over everything in America: it is a foolish hope; if the Missouri Synod remains with the old, good, pure doctrine, and if the sweet doctrine of justification remains in it above all, and continues to promote it, the Lord will continue to keep it and grow it further; for there are always hungry souls who do not want to be fed with the straw and sawdust of human doctrines, but with the bread which has come from heaven.

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Ever and always the apostolic and Lutheran Church has taught that the true justifying and sanctifying faith works only in the terrors of true repentance in the heart of the sinner, and that through it man is born again in the Holy Spirit; — let us now take it seriously and preach with zeal repentance, conversion, and rebirth, and we shall be reproached as Pietists, yes, Methodists. [By no less than LC-MS historian Prof. C.S. Meyer, Walther Speaks to the Church, pgs 11,]

If we bring quotations from old, recognized Lutheran teachers to prove that our teaching is the old Lutheran one, we are accused as wretched manservants who worshiped Luther and made the old dogmas their Bible; — but if we do not agree with them in one point, we are accused of this as an indelible shame and disgrace for us. [“Luther worship” was essentially the charge of CTS-FW Prof. Cameron MacKenzie who said (CTQ 2011, “C. F. W. Walther's Use of Luther”,  p. 264: “Walther did not conceive that Luther ever actually did get it (Christian doctrine) wrong”.]

But if we [as Missourians] wanted to quit, would we all want to name the things in which we agree with the apostolic and Lutheran churches and in which we are now serious again, but for which we are scolded as a Missourian new sect? For the sake of brevity, what has been said is enough for this time.

What are we supposed to do now? — We want to continue in God's name on the path we have walked; where we are found guilty of believing, teaching or living as “un-Missourian”, we want to humbly admit it and improve ourselves; 

but the cry: “That's Missourian!” should make us so little frightened and moved to depart from our good old Christian-Lutheran doctrine and practice, as once the Lutherans were frightened and moved to abandon their doctrine when once an Augsburg bishop, after reading Rom. 3:28, attacked the New Testament indignantly and exclaimed: “What? are you also Lutheran?” W. [C.F.W. Walther] 

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Let's summarize the points of attack that Walther's Missourians faced. The format is (a) their teaching: (b) the false charges against them:

1. On Inspiration of Scripture: "as arrogant and ignorant despisers of science".
2. On doctrine of church fellowship, especially with so-called "Evangelicals": "as condemnable addicted half Papists".
3. On the doctrine of the Church: as "enthusiasts". 
4. On Confessionalism: as "symbolists, yes, symbol worshipers."
5. On Chilialism or millenialism: as "carnal zealots".
6. On sacerdotalism and that the ministry is a privileged priesthood: "as despisers of the preaching ministry".
7. On rejection of priestly rule of congregation: "as ecclesiastical democrats who wanted to establish a mob rule in the Church".
8. On doctrine against the free will of man in spiritual matters: "as Calvinist predestinarians".
9. On the article of justification as the chief article:  as "despisers of good works and zeal in sanctification".
10. On the preaching of repentance, conversion, and rebirth: as "Pietists".
11. On quoting old, recognized Lutheran teachers to prove that our teaching is the old Lutheran one: as "wretched manservants who worshiped Luther".

I have inserted in the essay above examples of those in today's LC-MS who have joined with the scoffers of Walther's time.  Anyone who today stands with the Old Missourians will face the same hot breath of not only the world, but also the LC-MS teachers on many of the points above. — In the next Part 6, we hear rare praise of Walther's "Missourians" from a German.