This concludes from Part 1, a new English translation of the 1931 funeral sermon for Franz Pieper by President Friedrich Pfotenhauer. — It was only after I had translated this sermon that I discovered that Matthew C. Harrison had already translated it in 1993 and had it printed in CHIQ. And so I read with interest Harrison's prefacing remarks to his translation where he spoke of one of his own mentors, Prof. Otto Stahlke (CTS-FW) :He had stood guard by Pieper’s earthly remains until the old doctor was laid to rest on June 6, 1931. Pieper had been Otto’s favorite seminary professor. This sermon [of Pfotenhauer] is prescient. ‘… the demise of a great man of God is usually a harbinger of evil times to come in the Church.’
Yes, President Harrison, even you seem to admit, along with previous president Pfotenhauer, that "evil times" have come to the Church. But could it be that this is in part your doing, because even you have left "the House of My Fathers". The Wikipedia page on you tells the whole world that you were in league with "St. Peter Catholic Church" in a social program. But I thought the Lutheran Church confessed that salvation was by faith alone, not by the Roman Catholic "faith and works"? Which is it? How can your members be "Joy:Fully Lutheran" when they can't be sure of this doctrine… because of your actions?
Translated by BackToLuther using DeepL, Google, Microsoft, Yandex. German text available here.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Funeral Sermon on John 17:10,
held at the funeral of F. Pieper on June 6, 1931.
God had placed Dr. Pieper in a large room and a great field to instruct. For fifty-three years he worked as a theological professor at our local seminary and since Dr. Walther's death in 1887 he has also been the president of this great school. The number of students sitting at his feet grew steadily, so that every year ever larger classes were sent from the great field of work of our Synod. From synods and conferences and at important doctrinal conversations, he was our recognized and sure guide. Through our journals and books he exerted great influence on our pastors and churches as well as on circles outside our synod. Through his work as a theologian, our Synod was comforted over the departure of Dr. Walther, in whose work he entered and which he faithfully continued. If one wants to briefly characterize Dr. Pieper's theological activity, one cannot do this better than by saying: He spread the knowledge of Jesus through word and writings and thus glorified his Saviour.
Jesus’ face shines alone in Holy Scriptures. The Bible is nothing other than the revelation of the kindness and gentleness of God, our Saviour. If a theologian takes something away from this or adds something to it, then he darkens the figure of Jesus, yes, he may cover it completely. A proper theologian must therefore be a Christian theologian. This Dr. Pieper was to a great extent. He described Christ's person and Christ's ministry as the Holy Spirit revealed to us in his words. v. 5 [John 17:5] And in relation to the work of Christ, he equally emphasized both: the gratia universalis and the sola gratia, that is, that Jesus is in the same way the Saviour of every man, <column 2> and that he saves without any merit, worthiness or contribution on our part, but only by grace. This teaching was at the center of his theology. He never got tired of talking about them. He defended this teaching with great courage. He did not allow himself to drift off course by interjections of human reason. Even in the slightest point, he did not give up anything for reasons of opportunity. [see L.F. testimony on this] He did not want to let any shadow fall on the clear form of his Saviour, but to glorify Him through word and writing and to reveal Him in His true form.
And precisely because his theology was solely focused on Christ, the great Saviour from all trouble and the Saviour of all people, that is why we listened so gladly to him and grew through him in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Our hearts often burned in us when we followed his oral explanations or read his writings at home.
Dr. Pieper has now completed his race. [Hebr. 12:1] His activities have come to an end. If we survey these, we must marvel at their glory and greatness. His activity was glorious, for in it we see a fulfillment of the high priestly words of our Saviour: “Father, I am glorified in them.” [John 17:10] They were great, and what greater things can a man do than glorify his fellow man Jesus, to show them Jesus as a sure Saviour from all misery?
Therefore today not only the wife and the children of the departed complain of a great loss, but also the whole church. And oh! in our complaints there are serious worries about the future of our Synod. “The righteous is taken away from the evil to come”, Isa 57:1. Certainly our Father had reached the fullness of a human life. His age and the added illness told us that his end was naturally not far away. But this does not change the fact that the death of great men of God is a harbinger of evil times in the Church.
So, then, in this era in the history of our Synod, let us be hesitant and tremble with regard to the future of ourselves, our sins and our inability , and let all seek refuge alone with our faithful Saviour, and let us ask him here at this coffin that He may remain with us. And especially for our faculty at our Concordia Seminary here at St. Louis, where Dr. Pieper has been for half a century the decoration and adornment, help them that they do not suffer as has happened to so many theological faculties, which through their doctrines have obscured the glory of our Saviour, but that through them, as in the past, so in the future, the knowledge of our Saviour may be spread through word and writing, and that our theological youth may be properly prepared for their profession for the temporal and eternal salvation of many immortal souls and for the glory of our highly praised Saviour.
God be gracious and merciful to us and give us His divine blessing!
Let His face shine upon us, that we may know His ways from the earth!
God bless us, our God! God bless us and give us His peace! Amen.
F. Pfotenhauer.
= = = = = = = = End of sermon = = = = = = = = = =
Pfotenhauer's description of "burning hearts" from Pieper's oral presentations reminded me of the following report by Pastor Armand J. Boehme's Foreword to the book C.F.W. Walther: The American Luther, p. x (emphasis mine):
When Dr. Theodore F. Nickel (*) attended Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri (1923-1927), he was taught by a number of faculty members… noting especially the work of Dr. Franz Pieper. Dr. Pieper was Walther’s hand-picked successor in serving as Professor and Seminary President. Dr. Walther was known as “Mr. Law and Gospel”; Dr. Pieper was known as “Mr. Law and Gospel II.”How sad it is that the LC-MS would not! (Matt. 23:37) After only a few years after this sermon, the Missouri Synod rejected Pfotenhauer as their president, instead electing John Behnken. Also Ludwig Fuerbringer was elected to succeed Pieper as president of Concordia Seminary, instead of stronger men such as Theodore Engelder or Paul E. Kretzmann or J. T. Mueller,. The rest is history. Pfotenhauer’s prophecy of “evil times” prevailed in the 20th Century… and continues to this day.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments only accepted when directly related to the post.