Pieper: No foul peace with worldly nature in Missouri Synod (Der Lutheraner 1886)

      A revealing article was published by the young Prof. Franz Pieper in Der Lutheraner of 1886.  Rather than teaching pure Lutheran doctrine, it addresses the matter of Lutheran practice. A correspondent in an opposition publication asserted that the Missouri Synod had instances of worldly practice in its midst, to which the young Prof. Pieper responded. In the following, I am omitting the quote from the opposition for brevity.  From Der Lutheraner vol 42 (1886), p. 81-83:

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A shameless slander of the Missouri Synod.

The Herald und Zeitschrift of May 8 of this year carried the following under the title “Missouri in the East.” …………

So far the publications. From the above it is clear that here is a case of public malicious slander, such as probably does not often happen. Pastor Sieker does not say too much when he speaks of a “sad spirit of slander” which shows itself here among the opponents of the Missouri Synod. That sad fellow who dares to sign himself “Veritas” wanted to slander the Missouri Synod, because he could easily inform himself about the actual facts, if they were hidden from him in some points. But no, after a miserable phrase, which is supposed to be an acknowledgement of the godliness of many pastors of the Missouri Synod “especially in the West,” he publishes to the world: “But with Christian discipline, one sees that it is gone” (in the Missouri Synod). And the Herald und Zeitschrift puts out such slanders. It pretty much outdoes anything this newspaper has ever been guilty of against the Missouri Synod. The Missouri Synod is by and by no longer a newcomer in America. It has now been in existence about 40 years, and there are 42 volumes of Der Lutheraner before the world. Has the Missouri Synod ever approved of the worldly nature? Has it not, on the contrary, always and unceasingly rejected the worldly nature, in whatever form it may take? Even in the congregations of the Missouri Synod, of course, there have always been many infirmities and damages, and there is no lack of them now. There are perhaps more infirmities in our eastern congregations than in the so-called western ones, due to the more degenerate ecclesiastical environment. But show us even one line in 42 volumes of Der Lutheraner, in which a foul peace with the world and its nature would be spoken! Name one synodal assembly where a lax ecclesiastical practice was approved! It is true that among us it is agreed that the weak should be treated gently and with patience. But it is also agreed among us to this day that the worldly nature, in whatever form it may leave, is never to be left unchallenged, but is to be punished with God's Word until it finally comes to the decision whether to keep it with Christ or with the world. This is the past ecclesiastical history of the Missouri Synod. The Herald und Zeitschrift is also well acquainted with it. Where does this paper get the courage to publish a sentence like this in response to a “Veritas” report, which bears the stamp of feigned indignation, malice and lies on its forehead: “Christian discipline, one sees, is gone” (in the Missouri Synod). — It is true, the Herald und Zeitschrift took up Pastor Brohm's rebuttal and Pastor Halfmann's explanations in the number of May 22 the Herald und Zeitschrift also declares in a prefatory note that Mr. Pastor Halfmann “has certainly justified himself completely in the eyes of all who think legally.” But it then pulls itself out of the affair too easily. First of all, it does not utter a word of censure against “Veritas", whom every righteous synod would take into synod discipline because of his obvious slander. Then, the Zeitschrift does not recant its own slander. In the number of May 22 it writes: “Whatever the congregation may have been guilty of, the pastor has thereby” (with his protest) “certainly justified himself in the eyes of all right-thinking people. Pastors who find themselves facing gross abuses can take this as an example. We are heartily pleased to be able to hold up this pastoral testimony to all scoffers and blasphemers from this sad history.” Fourteen days earlier, however, the same Zeitschrift had taken occasion from Halfmann's case to accuse the Missouri Synod of chastisement, and had written that the “witness's” assertion that “we Missourians alone are serious” in doctrine and practice was proving to be a lie again and again in his immediate surroundings. Where is the retraction and the honest open confession of having recklessly and falsely accused the Missouri Synod and having grossly sinned against truth and love? But here we experience again that those who complain so loudly about the lack of love in those who, for the sake of their conscience, resolutely reject all false teaching, lack love in themselves before others. F. P. [Pieper]

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      The Old Missouri Synod not only taught properly, in a Christian manner, regarding the worldly nature, it also practiced what it preached by disciplining erring pastors and members.  It also had an easy chore to perform when it had to defend itself against slander because it stood on the high ground, on "that spiritual Rock… that Rock was Christ." (1 Cor. 10:4)

Walther on Advertisements: “one cannot accept them”;

      Some years ago, I blogged about Pieper's comments against the prominence of advertising and its ill effects.  But I had not seen Walther's comments… until I discovered them in an 1872 publication.  It seems that Pieper's comments may be somewhat mild compared to those of the father of the Missouri Synod. — From Der Lutheraner, vol. 28 (1872), p. 84: 

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“Do not be partaker of other men's sins.” [1 Tim. 5:22] We were reminded of this apostolic warning when we read the following in the Messenger [Sendboten], the Baptist paper of Jan. 24: 

"As far as advertisements are concerned, we wish to tell our readers once and for all: they do not contain our judgment and recommendation, but the judgment and recommendation of the businessmen who want to bring their things to the knowledge of the public. We do not knowingly include advertisements that recommend things that are of no real value to the public, but, nevertheless, we are sometimes over-promoted by clever traders, just as our readers are. We cannot check all the items advertised in the paper. That is impossible. Everyone has to do it himself.” — 

That the Messenger does not knowingly include fraudulent advertisements and that he declares that the advertisements that appear do not contain far-sighted judgment, this is quite good. But that he declares this, as he writes, in one number “once and for all” is nothing and does not free him from his complicity in fraud; for how many will still read the Messenger who know nothing of this declaration! What a Christian does, he should be sure that it is right. But if an editor includes an unverified announcement in his paper, he can only do so in doubt as to whether it is right. “But whoever,” says the Word of God, “doubts it, and yet eats it, is condemned.” Rom. 14:23. The Messenger admittedly says that it is impossible to examine all the articles that are mentioned. But with this he does not excuse himself, but rather condemns himself. For if it is not possible to check whether such advertisements contain truth or lies, it does not follow that one must accept them unchecked, but rather that one cannot accept them. This is what Christian conscientiousness demands. But if a paper cannot exist without such advertisements, it should not be published, for one should not do evil that good may come from it. Either such a paper is not worth existing, or the world is not worth having it. The advertisement system is already a disgrace of our age in the secular newspapers, but that the religious papers also deal with it is sad beyond all measure. By the way, even the newspapers that call themselves “Lutheran” sin in this. The American Lutheran, this proponent of the revival religion, is the most horrible in this respect. The advertisements alone, which this paper contains, show the nature of its religion. *) Here also the Word of the Lord is to be applied: “By their fruits you shall know them!” W. [Walther]

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*) Thus, for example, the American Lutheran contains in its last January 27, which we last received, among other things, the following advertisement: Headline: “This is no humbug,” and underneath: “Whoever sends in 35 cents together with details of age, height and color of eyes and hair, will immediately receive by mail a well-founded picture of his future husband or wife together with name and wedding day.” This is followed by the name and address of the imposter who sent in this advertisement. What should one call a religion that bears such fruits?

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There were no outside advertisements for unrelated products in Old Missouri's publications – none in Der Lutheraner, Lehre und Wehre, or any other publication of Old Missouri. There were advertisements for only religious items, mostly books published by the Synod or other books for edification or instruction. Only when my research of the Missouri Synod ran into the later LC-MS did advertisements begin to appear, e.g. especially for Life Insurance. And the blurb that immediately preceded the one above by Walther? It was one against… (you guessed it) Life Insurance.

Pieper's 1st Convention: on Walther's Law & Gospel - “exceedingly marvelous proceedings”

      Following the post on Pieper's first book, we found in the same year 1880 of Der Lutheraner a report on Pieper's first Convention Essay.  What is notable about it was that the Theses for the Iowa District were those of the father of the Missouri Synod, C. F. W. Walther.  But the “doctrinal discussions”, or “proceedings” were by the young 27-year old Prof. Franz Pieper.  From Der Lutheraner vol. 36 (June 15, 1880), p. 92:

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Report on the proceedings of the Iowa District.

This District held its 2nd meeting in the midst of the dear Immanuel congregation of Pastor Bräuer in Bremer County from May 19 to 26. The opening sermon was preached by the reverend Vice-President of the General Synod, Prof. R. Lange, on 2 Cor. 3:5-9. Thirteen Theses on the difference between the Law and the Gospel formed the basis of the doctrinal discussions, which were led by Prof. [Franz] Pieper. The 4 first theses form the introduction; in the 9 remaining theses special cases are listed, since Law and Gospel are mixed. Now a few Theses from the exceedingly marvelous proceedings. The doctrinal content of the entire Holy Scripture, both the Old and the New Testament, consists of two fundamentally different doctrines, namely the Law and the Gospel. The Scriptures seem to say this and the opposite. At one time it condemns man, at another it gives him salvation; at one time it says, “Do this, and thou shalt live,” at another that no one is saved by the work of the Law, but by grace alone. So there are two fundamentally different teachings of Holy Scripture. The main differences between Law and Gospel are stated in our Catechism, Fr. 155. — Now it is not enough for a preacher to present all the articles of faith according to Scripture, but if he wants to be a pure teacher, he must rightly distinguish Law and Gospel from one another, according to the words of St. Paul, 2 Tim. 2:15: “Make every effort to show God a righteous, blameless worker, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Such right division of the Law and Gospel is the most difficult and highest Christian and theological art, which the Holy Spirit alone teaches in the school of experience. Dr. Luther says about it: “Whoever can do this article is called a doctor and put on top. The right knowledge of the difference between the Law and the Gospel is exceedingly necessary and salutary; for it is not only a marvelous light for the right understanding of the whole of Holy Scripture, but without this knowledge the same is and remains a tightly closed book. This is the reason why the enthusiasts, and sometimes also the Pope, want to prove their false doctrines with passages of the Holy Scriptures, because they are lacking this glorious light and therefore do not understand the Scriptures. They know neither the Law nor the Gospel properly, and therefore cannot divide the two properly from each other. They preach neither the Law in all its severity nor the Gospel in all its sweetness, and thus violate the article of justification and rob God of glory. For the Law, if it is preached rightly, condemns man altogether; it shows that there is nothing good at all to be found in him. The Gospel, however, is the good news that God has saved all lost and condemned sinners by grace through and for the sake of Christ. So man does not need to acquire the grace of God through his repentance, through his penance, through his prayers and struggles (he cannot do this, because he is dead in transgression and sin), but God is already gracious and reconciled to him for the sake of Christ. This is what God says in the Gospel to all sinners who have been frightened by the Law; in the Gospel He gives and gives them Christ and salvation. Afterwards, when man is thus born again, the Law serves him as a rule according to which he arranges his life more and more. But he who leaves to the natural, unregenerate man and his powers even the smallest thing in the work of salvation and ascribes it to him, does not preach the Law rightly, nor can he preach the Gospel rightly. In summary: the words “Law” and “Gospel” are spoken easily and quickly, but to understand what they mean and say is something every Christian has to learn all his life. — May the book about this important article come into the hands of many; it will be a great blessing to everyone, whether Christian or non-Christian, by the grace of God. —

In the afternoon sessions, missions were discussed to a large extent. The synod decided to hire a school teacher in Council Bluffs as soon as possible and thus make a start in this town, which is important for the mission in the West.

The proposals of the Synodal Conference concerning state synods and the establishment of a collective seminary were adopted.

Finally, it should be mentioned that the Synod strongly recommended that the congregations of its district celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession with festive worship. S. [G. Schaller]

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      Who was the best person to present the spiritual content of Walther's “Law and Gospel”?  It could have been Profs. G. Stoeckhardt, R. Lange, Martin Guenther, G. Schaller, or it could have been Pres. H. C. Schwan.  But it was not one of these older teachers and leaders, as good as they were… it was the young 27-year old Prof. Franz Pieper,. It was that young Pieper who would lead Walther's Missouri Synod undiminished from Walther's “home-going” in 1887 until 1931. How God blessed the Missouri Synod!

Franz Pieper, the Twentieth Century Luther.

LC-MS: VDMA or VDME, on the sleeve or in the heart?

      It has been noticed on occasion that some commenters on Lutheran forums and blogs use the tag line VDMA, letters which in Latin mean “The Word of the Lord Remains Forever.” C. F. W. Walther inserted a short blurb in his Der Lutheraner that recounts a conversation about this during the time of the Reformation, vol. 39 (1883), p. 62:

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Verbum Domini Manet In Æternum,

that is in German [English]:

The Word of the Lord Remains Forever.

John the Steadfast, Elector of Saxony, once chose these words as his motto and had the first letters of the same V. D. M. I. Æ. to be embroidered on the sleeves of his servants' skirts, which Landgrave Philip of Hesse then also did. When both appeared with their servants at the Imperial Diet in Augsburg in 1530, they had to endure much ridicule because of this. Among others, Bishop Matthäus Lange of Salzburg mockingly called out to the landgrave: “Your beloved ones confess: Verbum Domini Manet Im Aermel (The Word of the Lord remains in your sleeve)”; to which the landgrave quickly served the Bishop with the answer: “Your beloved ones understand this injustice; we have therefore put it thus: Verbum Diaboli Manet In Episcopis (the Word of the Devil remains in the Bishops)”; to which salted answer the bishop fell silent. A narrator of this story nicely adds, “Whether now, indeed, reportedly the papists only made a mockery of these words at first, they had at last to learn that God's Word remained firm not only on the sleeve, but also in the heart.” W. [Walther]

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      This account deals with the Lutherans against the papists at Augsburg, but I could not help thinking of today's LCMS which ostensibly wants to be known as conserving the "Word of the Lord", yet equivocates on that Word in so many ways, and no longer defends against the Antichrist, the Pope.  I challenge the newly elected President of Concordia Seminary, Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Egger to steer his seminary back…, back…, Back To Luther.

Luther and Walther on cemeteries, burial practices; against cremation

      In Der Lutheraner vol. 41 (1885), p. 56, C.F.W. Walther quoted a sermon of Martin Luther that touched on the subject of this blog post, then follows with a comment.  It is a topic for Christians today:

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Luther on the graveyard. 

“As we have a churchyard here in Wittenberg, not only necessity but also devotion and respectability should drive us to make a common burial ground outside the city. For a burial ground should be a fine, quiet place, set apart from all other places, where one could walk and stand with devotion, contemplating and praying about death, the Last Judgment and the Resurrection; so that the same place would be, as it were, an honorable, almost a holy place, that one could walk there with fear and all honor; because without a doubt several saints lie there; and there, on the walls, one could have such devotional pictures and paintings painted.” (X, 2346, § 43-44, [AE 43, ~115]) 

Especially in the present time, in which the pagan custom of not laying the corpses in the lap of Mother Earth and as seeds of the resurrection in the field of God, but of handing them over to the fire, wants to arise more and more, we Christians should hold our burial places all the more dear, yes, more sacred. This includes, among other things, that the Christian congregations do not tolerate any grave monuments with pagan symbols and unchristian grave inscriptions on their graveyard. W. [Walther]

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Luther promoted the practice of burial grounds or places for quiet cemeteries, which presupposes the burying of the body.  Walther is more explicit about this by calling out cremation as an un-Christian practice. It has been quite a disappointment for me to read from other Lutherans today, even ones considered conservative, who give counsel promoting cremation.

Walther: Vol. 1, St. Louis Edition is ready! – The first American Edition (Der Lutheraner, 1880)

      To follow up a recent blog post of the 1879 announcement of the forthcoming St. Louis Edition, or “Walch 2” in Der Lutheraner, a year later, in 1880, Walther had the great pleasure of announcing the fruition of his dream, an American Edition of Luther's Works. The later translation into English currently sold by CPH, the so-called "American Edition", is a version containing many unorthodox comments by the editors, yet claims higher scholarship.  And although the newer American Edition may contain portions not available in the Old Missouri's German language “St. Louis Edition”, it woefully lacks many works, including many wonderful letters of Luther.  However, CPH may be commended for now working on their “New Series” to fill in the missing materials. — Now let us hear Walther's words of promotion for this great edition, the other American Edition. Translation from Der Lutheraner, vol. 36 (1880), p. 176:

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Dr. Martin Luther's Sämmtliche Schriften, edited by Dr. Joh. Georg Walch. Volume 1. The first part of the exposition of the first book of Moses. New revised stereotype edition. St. Louis, Mo. “Concordia Lutheran Publishing House.” (M. C. Barthel, Agent.) 1880. 

The Lord has done great things for us; let us rejoice! The first volume of the new edition of Walch's famous edition of Luther's complete works in German, which was announced just a year ago, is now ready for dispatch. In a time like ours, in which the once so mighty building of the Lutheran Church presents the picture of a devastated city (Is. 1:8), a new edition of Luther's works in such a magnificent form as Walch's seemed to be an almost foolish, because impossible, undertaking. And behold! The Lord has helped that so many subscriptions have already been made in order to confidently begin the so costly work in His, the Lord's, name. Certainly, we are right to call this something “great”, and all the more so because we cannot doubt that, after the first volume has been able to “appear” in the present jubilee year of our dear Luther Church, with God's help, all the other volumes will also appear little by little; for whoever has once tasted of this food, will certainly ask for more. Reserving a discussion of the importance and great value of Luther's writings for one of the next numbers of this journal, in the present number we only share the "Preface" to the new edition, in which the dear Editor describes it in more detail as follows:

"In Lord's name, the first volume of the old Walch edition of Dr. Luther's works, well known and highly esteemed in the Lutheran Church, is hereby presented to the public in a new form and shape! The Pastoral Conference of the Western District of the Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other states dealt in September 1879 with the question whether a new edition of the works of Luther by Dr. J. G. Walch would not be in the interest of our Synod. Reference was made to the twofold circumstance that the copies of the old edition [Walch 1] are becoming increasingly rare, and that the Erlangen edition, which lacks the valuable, longer prefaces and the translations of the Latin writings, does not replace Walch's edition.  

“Thus the conference decided, "in the name" of the Ministry of the Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, "to procure" a new, revised edition of Luther's works according to Dr. Joh. G. Walch, and predestined that Pastor G. Stoeckhardt, with the assistance of E. W. Kaehler, should take over the editing.

“After the ministry of the synod and the directorate of the synod's printing office had declared themselves in agreement with this plan, the aforementioned went to work together and first tackled the revision of the first volume of the edition, containing the first part of the exposition of the first book of Moses. In difficult cases, they sought the opinion of Doctor and Professor of Theology C. F. W. Walther, who had been placed at their side by the conference as a counselor. The old translation with its comprehensible, vernacular language was to be retained in essence. However, since an edition of Luther's works is mainly concerned with capturing the meaning and opinion of Luther himself as accurately as possible, the translation published by Walch was again compared with the “Latin” original. The following changes seemed to be necessary in such a revision. The incorrect and inaccurate versions have been corrected, incomprehensible expressions have been replaced by clearer ones, complex paraphrases have been shortened, superfluous additions, e.g. the tables of contents preceding each chapter, which only classify the known biblical text, as well as some notes in the preface, which can hardly be appreciated from an antiquarian point of view, have been omitted for the sake of clarity and comprehensibility. Printing and layout will recommend themselves to the readers. Above each page, the corresponding page number of the old Walch edition is noted under W. I, II 2c., of the Erlangen Latin edition under L. I, II 2c. The German of the old translation has been clarified according to the rules of the newer orthography. The rather laborious correction of the printed sheets was done by Mr. Christian Körner.

May this new edition of Luther's works stimulate and encourage Lutheran Christians to listen diligently and eagerly to the voice of their teacher, the prophet of the “last” days! Just the exposition of the first book of Moses contains, as is also noted in the prefaces, a short, clear summary of Luther's doctrine, which is taken directly from God's Word. The double anniversary of this year, the 350th anniversary of the handing over of the Augsburg Confession, as well as the 300th anniversary of the first publication of the Book of Concord, has seriously reminded Lutheran Christianity to be faithful with the treasures handed down to it by the Fathers. Among these treasures are especially Luther's writings. By God's great grace, the unadulterated doctrines of Luther, long forgotten and buried, have been made accessible anew to the Lutheran Church of North America. Let us prove our gratitude for this blessing of God also by researching and studying Luther's doctrine from Luther himself - for the strengthening and fortification of our most holy faith! St. Louis, on the Feast of the Reformation 1880. The Editors.”

We would like to add that the layout is excellent in every respect, and to the delight of our Synod, it may be a new proof that those who are active in our “Concordia-Verlags”-establishment not only understand, but also compete with each other with love for the cause, to make the so valuable printed works from this establishment worthy of it.

This first volume, which contains, in addition to the prefaces, the first half of the great, incomparable exposition of the first book of Moses [Genesis], comprises XVIX and 1765 columns or 907 pages in large quarto format. The price of this volume is set at $3.50 (postage not included). From this extremely low price, not only will every reader see that this enterprise is not aimed at the acquisition of money, but only at the dissemination of the salutary doctrines, may many be encouraged by this opportunity to acquire a priceless treasure for so little, not to shy away from the small expenditure. W. [Walther]”

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      One may note that Stoeckhardt was not yet a full professor at the Seminary, but would be be elected to a full professorship in 1887. — Walther's words give me incentive to produce the digital text of this St. Louis Edition.  It is hoped that the 2 volumes of Luther's letters will be made available yet this year.

Walther on Knowledge, or lack of it (1884 Der Lutheraner)

      Walther was a very knowledgeable man, very "smart" and very well read – a true scholar.  He knew multiple languages and understood world history.  So it was with interest that I read his short blurb in Der Lutheraner vol. 40, (1884), p. 95:

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Saint Bernard              ●             Peter Abelard

Self-knowledge.

 

In one of his letters, the pious [Saint] Bernard makes the following judgment about the highly famous scholar [Peter] Abelard: "Of all that is in heaven and on earth, there is nothing that he does not know, except himself. — Unfortunately, this verdict is true for most of the great scholars, but especially for those who think they know and understand everything, know all sorts of things, but know nothing. W. [Walther]

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      In his life filled with controversy, Walther had dealt with many very smart theologians, ones who considered themselves as great scholars – both in Germany and America.  But great knowledge, by itself, did not impress Walther, even though he himself was very knowledgeable.  Walther was rather impressed with Saint Bernard's insightful comment about one of the greatest scholars of history.

Walther on loss of German language by American Lutherans

      I have blogged numerous times on this subject, but those blogs used Franz Pieper's comments.  However, I discovered that Walther lamented the loss of the German language even in 1874 before the 2 World Wars!  Walther references the Mennonite emigration from Russia. One may read some history of those people in Wikipedia.  Walther comments in Der Lutheraner, vol. 30 (1874), p. 150, – translation by BTL: 

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German Mother Tongue. The Mennonites who are now immigrating from Russia, where their forefathers emigrated from Germany in the last century, speak German fluently in addition to Russian, to the astonishment of the Germans here. When the reporter of a newspaper expressed his astonishment at this, a man of about sixty said: “Surely we will not forget our mother tongue?” — Thus speaks a Mennonite, to whom his religion cannot make the German language particularly valuable, since the number of Mennonite writings in our language is very small; what a disgrace it is, therefore, for many local German Lutherans, who not only look on indifferently as their children lose their mother tongue, but, who even do everything that their children must lose it, by sending them, instead of German, to English schools!     W. [Walther]”

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      Walther lamented that Lutherans were less rigorous in retaining their "mother tongue" than the Mennonites.  In hindsight we can see that Walther was correct to promote the German language, because the loss of the language by the descendents in the 20th Century has devastated theological and devotional reading.  And 2 World Wars have made any return to German to be practically impossible, except for the few who choose this language.  Thank God for the Internet that has given us tools to not only access the old German Lutheran writings, but also to translate them into our new "mother tongue" – English.  How the Lord has answered my prayer of 25 years ago, that I might be able to read directly from our German Lutheran forefathers.

Socialism in California (1880): Baptist Socialists? (Der Lutheraner beats Wikipedia)

      It has been noted today how the state of California is distinctly Socialist today.  And we may think that this is something relatively new, that California was not so Socialistic in the past.  But 140 years ago, Der Lutheraner had a report that makes one wonder that today's Socialism is only a continuation. Prof. Martin Guenther reported the following in vol. 36 (1880), p. 100: 

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      The Baptist (Anabaptist) sect likes to boast that everything in it is set up "according to the apostolic model.”  But our readers know that this is a vain boast. Even the dumbest eye can recognize the Baptists' behavior in California as unapostolic. 

As is well known, the head of the Baptists in San Francisco, a certain [Isaac Smith] Kalloch, is a Baptist preacher and at the same time mayor of the city. He was elected by the Socialist Party and recently stood accused of abusing his office in favor of rebellious elements. His son, also a Baptist preacher, shot a newspaper writer in revenge, and old Kalloch, far from seriously condemning his son's deed, expressed the hope that the Baptist congregation would not take a step against him that would hinder his usefulness as a preacher. But has not the whole Baptist Convention of California declared itself against these vile men? None of the above. The convention, recently assembled at Sacramento, voted down a motion condemning the conduct of these two Baptist preachers. Who does not think of the socialistic, murderous Anabaptists of Luther's day?      G. [Martin Guenther]

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      One may read of this San Francisco mayor Kalloch in Wikipedia and find some details, that he was the Mayor of San Francisco from 1879-1881.  But what one will not read in Wikipedia is the true spiritual meaning that Prof. Guenther brings to this history.  This is where reading Der Lutheraner, instead of Wikipedia, will better prepare a Christian to stay with the full truth of history, and not get swayed by the typical socialist reporting in Wikipedia.  This blog intends to continue providing the full history from the Old German Missouri Synod Der Lutheraner.

Pieper on Sauer's History of St. Paul's, Ft. Wayne – a Lutheran congregation, a Lutheran layman: Henry Rudisill

      A notable history book was published not long after Walther's passing in 1887, and the young Prof. Franz Pieper was compelled to add his recommendation in a book review published in Der Lutheraner, vol.. 43 (1887), p. 180:

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New Printed Matter.

History of the German Lutheran St. Paul's Congregation at Fort Wayne, Ind. from the year 1837 to 1887. - Distinguished for the fiftieth anniversary of the congregation by H. [Henry] G. Sauer [† 1896]. St. Louis, Mo. Printers of the Lutheran Concordia Publishing House. 1887.  

In another place in this paper [p. 175-176] the dear reader will find an account of the celebration which St. Paul's congregation at Fort Wayne held on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary. However, we cannot refrain from referring to the above booklet, written by Pastor Sauer, which contains the 50-year history of the aforementioned congregation. Just as the descriptions of the lives of individual Christians and faithful servants of God are a most interesting and instructive read for all Christians, so is the history of entire Christian congregations. And St. Paul's congregation at Fort Wayne is not only one of the congregations which met in the Missouri Synod in 1847, but from this congregation, in which such highly gifted and faithful men of God as the blessed Wyneken and the blessed Dr. Sihler administered the Ministry, has come a rich blessing both to the immediate vicinity and to the whole Synod. Their skill is part of the skill of the Missouri Synod. We therefore commend this booklet to all our readers with the assurance that they will read it not only with the highest interest, but also for their rich instruction, exhortation and edification. To be obtained from Siemon Bros, in Fort Wayne at the price of 25 Cts.         F. P. [Pieper].

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      As I researched the current state of this congregation, there seemed missing the sometime silliness associated with the images and narratives of other LC-MS congregations.  It appears that the onslaught of modernism of the LC-MS has not completely taken over this congregation.  One could wish that there were more men as teachers at their school… as there were only men as teachers in the earlier years of their parish school.

      I would never have attempted to prepare the German text and translate this "History" without Pieper's strong recommendation.  I discovered that this book, and its subsequent edition 25 years later were readily available online (see references here).   The following is my English translation, for those American Lutherans (like me) who cannot read German: 

Published GDoc here; PDF download here;

     A most interesting laymen is reported in this account, Mr. Henry Rudisill. In another 1912 newpaper account, Mr. Rudisill and his family “were the first Lutherans in the northwest territory at that time and were especially active in the work of the newly founded church” (St. Paul's). The following description of him by Sauer caused me to pause and thank God for such a Lutheran layman as him:

“Rudisill could have joined one of the existing American sectarian churches; he had been invited to do so several times. But Rudisill was a Lutheran and wanted to remain a Lutheran.” (emphasis added)

      For those interested further, I also produced an English translation of the later book's added pages of the history of the next 25 years, to 1912, by J. W. Miller here, PDF download here.