Walther on: Heshusius, Justification; "pure doctrine… most lacking in Protestant sects" (Der Lutheraner 1876) (Part 1 of 2)

     Tilemann Heshusius (Red Brick Parsonage bio; books), an early Lutheran theologian, was written about in the 1876 Der Lutheraner, in an announcement of a republished Missouri Synod book of his, Ten Sermons on the Justification of the Sinner Before God (Zehn Predigten von der Rechtfertigung des Sünders vor Gott, WorldCat).  What made it of special importance was that C.F.W. Walther wrote the notice and review, and so we hear a truly orthodox commentary. 

      One of the most common things I hear from correspondents is that they think some erring parties, including LC-MS Lutherans, do not err in the fundamental Doctrine of Justification but only in certain other doctrines.  But Walther answers this with the resounding rebuttal “It is precisely the pure doctrine of justification that is most lacking in all the so-called Protestant sects.” Walther knew that Heshusius, in his Preface, teaches the same thing when he wrote

"When this principal point is darkened or adulterated, various seductions and errors must follow in other doctrines also and it is difficult for any article of Christian faith to remain pure; or if anything is ever left unadulterated, it is still without all use and power, because the above-mentioned principal source is blocked by false teaching."

This refutes those that think that the Reformed sects only err on the sacraments, but are right in the pure doctrine of Justification.  This refutes those who think that the LC-MS does not err in the Doctrine of Justification, but only in other secondary doctrines, e. g. Church Fellowship.  No, it is because they first err on Justification that they err on the Sacraments, or on the Person of Christ, or on the doctrine of the Antichrist, or on Church Fellowship, etc. — The following book announcement and review of Walther is from Der Lutheraner vol. 32 (1876), p. 72, col. 1, [EN]:

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Ten Sermons on the Justification of the Sinner Before God. By Dr. Tilemann Heshusius. (Reprinted unchanged from the 1563 edition.) St. Louis, Mo., and Leipzig. 1876. 

This book has just been published. It belongs to the many pearls from earlier times, which are worth being brought out of the dust of the past. As the title says, it deals with the central doctrine of our holy Christian faith, with which, as our ancients rightly said, the church stands and falls. Many people now think that even if the various so-called Protestant parties disagree in some important doctrines, they are all united in this main doctrine, the doctrine of justification, and even if there is now often a lack of thorough knowledge of many doctrines among the faithful, no believer lacks knowledge of the doctrine of justification. But this is a serious error. It is precisely the pure doctrine of justification that is most lacking in all the so-called Protestant sects. If they were pure in this doctrine, they would and should have to abandon their other errors as well; for, as Luther so often testifies: “In this article hangs and stands everything, and shows all the others with it, and everything is to be done for this one, so that whoever errs in the others is certainly not right in this one either, and even if he holds the others and does not have this one, it is still all in vain. Again, this article also has the grace, where one perseveres in it with diligence and earnestness, that it does not fall into heresy.” (Tom. VIII, p. 504.) But it is equally erroneous when so many now think that they know at least the doctrine of justification so well that they hardly need further instruction on this point. Just the opposite is the truth. There is no doctrine of the entire Christian religion that a Christian learns less than this one, and anyone who claims to have already learned it proves that he has hardly made a start in this knowledge. The greatest scholars of God have always said that they must remain students of this doctrine until their death. Therefore, not only all preachers, but all Christians who desire to grow in knowledge, should welcome with joy any writing that treats the doctrine of justification in a pure, thorough and experiential way. The present one is indeed such. The author of it, Heshusius, was born on November 3, 1527 in Wesel in the Prussian province of Rhineland, studied in Wittenberg, and died as the first professor of theology in Helmstedt in 1588. His main activity thus falls into the frightening time after Luther's death up to and after the adoption of the Formula of Concord. In this time, when so many fell away from the teachings of the Reformation, our Heshusius was among the few faithful students of Luther. His incorruptible faithfulness also had the consequence that his whole life was almost a constant wandering from place to place. Almost regularly, after a short administration, he was expelled by the enemies of the pure doctrine or of Christian discipline. The most peaceful years of his life were the four years during which he was court preacher to Count Palatine Wolfgang of Zweibrücken in Neuburg on the Danube. It was during this time, in 1568, that he published the Ten Sermons on the Justification of Sinners before God. They deal with this doctrine in a thorough manner and in Heshusius' own, at that time so rare, fluent and granular language. The book, comprising 380 pages in small octavo and bound in pasteboard with gold title, costs $1.00.  Postage is 10 cents. It may be obtained at the address of the publisher, F. Dette, 710 Franklin Ave., St. Louis, Mo., in Leipzig von E. Bredt.   W. [Walther]

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      Walther's emphasis on the Doctrine of Justification follows Luther and the Lutheran Church as we saw in many previous blog posts. And we see that Heshusius also shines as a Lutheran theologian and deserves to be read.  This brief book announcement by Walther caused me to prepare a translation of Heshusius's book and publish it… in the next Part 2.