DL3b: #2 - Martin Guenther—"guarded pure doctrine"

      This continues from Part 3a (Table of Contents in Part 1) in a series presenting Der Lutheraner, 1888-1934, in English. —  How does one follow the great Walther?  We find here the man who did it admirably.  This history complements the memorial address that Franz Pieper gave at his "home going". You will find many writings in the "Lutheraner" of Günther with the signature of "G.".  From Der Lutheraner, vol. 76 (1920), p. 5-8:

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Martin Günther.

Günther had entered the college at Altenburg and moved with it to St. Louis in 1849. He served the church forty years, twenty of which were in the pastorate at Cedarburg, Wis. and Saginaw, Mich. and Chicago, Ill. While still in the pastorate at Saginaw he wrote the excellent book, “Populäre Symbolik” [Popular Symbolics], which has won recognition and praise beyond the borders of our continent, even in Europe. His sermon was simple and straightforward, like his whole being and appearance, but at the same time it was textual, well-ordered, easy to grasp, rich in content and doctrine, lively and lively in its delivery. An former pastor who sat under his pulpit for years confessed: All the sermons that Guenther preaches are fit to print. He served the Synod of the then Northern District as secretary for six years, His lectures to the students were without pomp and state, matter-of-fact and soberly delivered, but dug from the depths, pure gold of doctrine, apt and clear, exact and sharp, concise and brief, reliable and certain. [p. 6] Not all of his listeners appreciated what was offered in an inconspicuous shell. 

While still in the pastorate he had written many things for the “Lutheraner”: “J. Gerhard's Life", “Petrus Paulus Vergerius", “The Jesuits” and others; now, as a professor, he had to do the main work in editing the “Lutheraner”. The “Lutheraner” was then, as now, edited by the teaching staff of the theological seminary in St. Louis, and Walther, who continually took an active part by industrious writing, had the decisive word as founder of the paper, as president of the seminary, and from 1864 to 1878 as president of the synod, and in the last period of his life among colleagues, most of whom were his students; to Günther, however, fell the work of the actual editor. He introduced himself to the readers with the detailed Foreword to the 30th volume of the content: Where God's Word speaks, freedom ceases for a Christian, and where God's Word is silent, no compulsion applies. This was soon followed by discussions on Lutheranism and union, rebuke of false doctrine in periodicals, and so on. With a watchful eye, he guarded pure doctrine like the apple of his eye. In his articles he proves to be a reliable teacher of divine truth and a knowledgeable guide to the knowledge of the errors of the times. Clear in the pure doctrine, faithfully adhering to the recognized truth, resolute and unyielding against any error, no matter how glaring: this is the character expressed in Günther's articles. A respected father of the synod, who knew Günther well, once said that it was to be expected that Günther would write solid articles, but that he would know how to lead a newspaper for the Christian people with such skill and in such a popular manner was a joyful surprise for him.

Günther, the modest, selfless man, was held in the highest esteem by those who were closest to him and knew him best. The president of the seminary, Dr. F. Pieper, gave expression to this esteem when he said at the coffin of the deceased: “He was characterized by a clear and sure knowledge of the pure Christian doctrine as it is testified in the confession of our church. He possessed in an outstanding degree the gift of distinguishing between right and wrong doctrine. And just as he was wholeheartedly devoted to pure, unadulterated doctrine, so he also shared with all serious and well-instructed children of God the characteristic of being heartily hostile to all falsification of wholesome doctrine. In this sense he worked in oral discourse and in writings and exerted a far-reaching influence on our Synod and the Church in general. It is true that his effectiveness was more silent. He rarely took the floor in public church meetings. But it was given to him before others to testify in clear, concise written expression to the saving truth and to refute error. Thus God made him a blessing to the church through years of editorial work, especially on the ‘Lutheraner’.” And his pastor, Dr. C. C. Schmidt, confessed in Günther's funeral oration: “What he taught, he also lived. That is the good testimony we must give to the deceased.”

After a sermon preached on Whit Monday morning in 1893, Günther was suddenly called away from his blessed ministry as a result of a stroke. “In the midst of his work, and indeed from the occupation which had always remained his dearest, from the effectiveness of a preacher of the Christian congregation, and in his workroom, in which he was accustomed to spend most of the hours of the day and night, and without having felt the nearness of death, tasted the bitterness of death, he has been called home to the rest of the accomplished, to the eternal holiday of the faithful servants of God.” The man who wrote this succeeded Günther on the editorial board:

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It is Guenther's quality of "heartily hostile to all falsification of wholesome doctrine" that gradually, almost imperceptibly, began to fade from the pages of Der Lutheraner after the turn of the century. That is what separates the Old Missouri from the LC-MS. I invite the reader to read the address of Pastor C. C. Schmidt, the "prince of preachers',  on Guenther. I did. — In the concluding segment Part 3c, our historian gives details on A. L. Gräbner that perhaps some may not have known. But before that, we insert an Excursus to present Martin Guenther's book about the life of C. F. W. Walther.