Churchman 3: Against Romanizing; invisible Church; one True Visible Church; Local Congregation

      This continues from Part 2 (Table of Contents in Part 1), a series presenting Ludwig Fuerbringer's 1936 essay "Walther as Churchman". — Several of the Walther's major writings are highlighted in this segment.  These shook up the erring Lutherans worldwide, including those in Germany.  Several missionaries left the well-known Leipzig Mission because it would not recognize Holy Scripture for what it is… God's Word (not man's word). Fuerbringer lists some of the names of those who left for the Missouri Synod.  Some notable names were not mentioned and I will reveal these after the narrative below.

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Original German essay in CTM, vol. 7 (October, 1936), p. 721-730, full text here. Text preparation and translation by BackToLuther using DeepL, Google Translate, Microsoft Translate, Yandex Translate. All bold text is Fuerbringer's emphasis. All highlighting, red text, and most text in square brackets [ ] are mine.

Walther as Churchman.

[by Ludwig Fuerbringer; continued from Part 2]

Walther's activities and merits as a churchman then found further expression in three main writings, the importance and meaning of which must never be forgotten, and the content of which should also become flesh and blood in our ministry and far-flung congregations in the so-called “New Era” and in the English language. These are the writings: “The Voice of our Church in the Question of Church and Ministry” of 1852, repeatedly published, last in Germany in 1894; furthermore “The Evangelical Lutheran Church, the True Visible Church of God on Earth", first presented as a synod paper in 1866 and then published in book form; and “The Proper Form of an Evangelical Church Independent of the State” of 1852, which was last published in Germany in 1894. If the first writing is mainly dogmatic in content, the second is, so to speak, a continuation; but the third is thoroughly practical and shows the proper application of the right doctrine of Church and Ministry. 

The significance of the first-mentioned <page 725> writing in the time in which it appeared can hardly be overestimated. On the then very controversial questions: What is the Church? What is the Ministry? this writing was positively enlightening against all high church, romanizing views, as they were represented in Germany by leading theologians and in America especially by Grabau and the Buffalo Synod founded by him. Of the Church, the first of the nine theses said: 

“The Church in the proper sense of the word is the congregation of saints, that is, the totality of all those who, through the Gospel, are called out of the lost, damned human race by the Holy Spirit. And of the preaching office [or preaching ministry] the seventh of the ten theses said: “The holy preaching office is the power conferred by God through the congregation as owner of the priesthood and of all ecclesiastical authority to exercise the rights of the spiritual priesthood in public office of the fellowship”. 4) 

        Zorn      —     Willkomm

It is perhaps not generally known that this writing had the approval of such distinguished Lutheran theologians as Harleß and Guericke and that the Leipzig Mission Director Hardeland warmly recommended this essay to the pupils in the Leipzig Mission House, among whom at that time were Zorn, Willkomm und Zucker, so that they would be able to come out of the confusion. 5)

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4) Kirche und Amt [Church and Office], p. 1, 354. [2nd ed. 1, 315; English: The Church and The Office of The Ministry CPH 2012, M. Harrison, translator; Church and Ministry, CPH 1987, J.T. Mueller, translator.]

5) I know this from Zorn's and Zucker's personal communications, and Willkomm also published it in the “Ev.-Luth. Freikirche”, 52,125. This was the first word heard about Missouri by these three men, who were all later led to Missouri.

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To justify the second writing, Walther said at the 1864 Synod Convention that we 

“had so far been compelled chiefly to advance the doctrine of the invisible Church as the congregation of saints, as the one holy Christian catholic church, and to resist the error that the visible Lutheran church was the one holy Christian church. For the sake of this struggle, we have often been regarded and suspected as such who are held low by the true visible Lutheran Church and who are of a united mind, as if we were indifferent to which visible church fellowship one belonged. Now that battle is victoriously fought, God be praised!, in that in recent times no one dares any more to publicly describe the visible Lutheran Church as the one holy Christian Church, except for which there is no salvation; even Pastor Grabau had for a long time not pronounced this as bare and decisive as he had done before. So, in order to overcome that misunderstanding, as if we had nothing to do with the true visible Church, as if all the church fellowships were of equal value to us, we should now go to work with joy, to also discuss  <page 726> the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as the true visible Church of God on earth from Holy Scripture and from the confessions of our Church together and to reproach ourselves for the purpose that we are not only certain of it, but will also be glad that we are not members and servants of a false but of the right church, building on the right Zion”. 6) 

And then Walther shows clearly and in detail in this essay that the Lutheran Church really celebrates the true visible Church. This essay was reprinted in 1920.

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6) Twelfth and Thirteenth Synod Reports, 1864 and 1866, p. 39, 40.

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In particular, the third essay should either be translated into English or presented in free English to the present generation; for Walther, after preliminary remarks on the concept of an Evangelical Lutheran local congregation independent of the state, treats them in these three chapters: “Of the rights” of such a congregation, “of the duties” thereof, and “of the exercise” of such rights and duties. The third chapter is the main chapter and is divided into seven sections: 

“1. Of the church assemblies. 2. the exercise of the duty of a congregation, to take care that the Word of God dwells abundantly among them and goes forth as prevalent. 3. the exercise of the duty of a congregation to care for the purity of doctrine and life and to discipline its members in relation to both. 4. the exercise of the duty of a congregation to also take care of the earthly life of its members. 6. to take care of the exercise of the duty of a church to be orderly and honest in everything it does. 6. the exercise of the duty of a congregation to work diligently, in the bonds of love and peace, also with the orthodox Church besides her of unity in the Spirit. 7. the exercise of the duty of a congregation to help in its part so that the Church may be built and promoted as a whole”. 7)

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7) Die rechte Gestalt, p. IX. [CPH translation: The Proper Form…]

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Others Who Left for Walther's Church

      Fuerbringer did not include later German missionaries who left their German church bodies, ones who came during the time of Franz Pieper's tenure as the head of the Synod and/or the Seminary.  Along with Zorn, Willkomm, and Zucker were Theodore Naether and Franz Mohn.  A brief history of them is properly being highlighted by Concordia Historical Institute (CHI) in their MELIM page (*).  Unfortunately those men, if they were to rise from their graves, would testify against CHI's LCMS on its sorry defense of the Inspiration of Holy Scripture.  They staked their spiritual lives on Walther's and Pieper's teaching.

Language Looms on Missouri's Horizon
      Fuerbringer touches on the issue of transitioning from the German to the English language and appears to appeal for more work to be done on this for the rich treasures in Walther's writings so that the laity may read from him.  What puzzles me is that he did not do any of Walther's major writings himself.  Nor did he perform translations of any of Pieper's books.  —  In the next Part 4…