CM1: Harrison's false claims of Walther on Church & Ministry: Harless's Kirche und Amt (Part 1 of 10)

     The doctrines of Church and Ministry are a major focus for the leaders and teachers of the LC-MS today.  Towards this, President Matthew Harrison put a massive effort into his 2012 re-translation of Walther's Kirche und Amt book, Church and Office, promoting the notion that his theology is the same as C. F. W. Walther's. (I have blogged before on this 4 years ago.) Harrison brought in his "sainted teacher, the Rev. Dr. Kurt Marquart" to support his own assertions. The scholarship that went into this book is striking, citing many sources and resources, giving much additional material from the 19th century. It may be noted that he cites numerous recent German theologians, especially in support of his assertions. 

      Others have written much to defend against President Harrison (and Prof. Marquart) on theological, scriptural grounds.  But is it true, that Walther not only did not defend against, but taught that the Synod was also the Church in the same sense as the congregation? This is the striking feature of both protagonists. Marquart states (The Church and Her Fellowship, Ministry and Governance, xi)

"…some popular impressions of, say, Walther's actual position, are one-sided and even inaccu­rate."

Harrison goes into more detail regarding his assertion on page xi:

"…in the American context with its self-governing and largely autonomous congregations, the understanding of what it means to be church is pulled strongly toward the local congregation and away from being a broader fellowship, such as a synod or even the universal Church. We see this disconnect most clearly when we consider Walther's rendering and application of texts compared with Mueller's choice to translate Kirche as "congregation."

Harrison is here building his case for his assertion that culminates on page 65, where he states that 

…a synod is in fact "church" because it is a transcongregational expression of ecclesiastical unity.

Harrison is backed up by the 1981 CTCR report "The Ministry" which states "It is God’s call mediated through the church (as a single congregation or a group of congregations)" (p. 29) That corresponds to Harrison's term for a "synod" as "a transcongregational expression". — But did Walther really teach that "a synod is in fact 'church'" in the same sense as the congregation is "church"? Did Walther really teach against the later "popular impressions" and "[J. T.] Mueller's choice" of terms? Is Harrison's assertion against "Mueller's choice" of terms really true for Walther? To address this conundrum, we will respond in several ways. 

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     The first response concerns the 19th century German theologian Gottlieb Christoph Adolf Harless. Harless held a high position in the German Church. Pres. Harrison states the following against him on the above doctrines (p. xv):

[Hoefling] "'denies the positive divine institution of the office [Amtes]. For him only the general office of the priesthood is divinely instituted, namely, the functions of Word and Sacrament.' Gottlieb Christoph Adolf von Harless… held similar views."

By this reference, Harrison condemns Dr. Harless on the "Ministry", charging him with a low view of the office of the Ministry (Marquart does not.). Harrison sides with those such as Loehe and Kliefoth, and a more recent German theologian Hellmut Lieberg. 

      But what was Walther's opinion of Harless? Did he condemn Harless as Harrison does? — 

      Just as Walther had done in 1852, Harless authored a book in 1853 on "Church and Ministry". After he read this, Walther jumped at the opportunity to give his comments on Harless's theology of Church and Ministry. While processing the volumes of Der Lutheraner for OCR text, I ran across Walther's 1854 review of Harless's Kirche und Amt. All of these writings are within a 2 year period, so Walther knew that his readers were familiar with his famous book from 1852. The following is from Der Lutheraner, vol. 10 (1854), pp. 170-172. Footnotes were re-positioned to be closer to their text. [Ggl Bks; DE docx; EN]:

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Church and Ministry

according to Lutheran doctrine.

Compiled in fundamental propositions with Luther's testimonies by

Dr. G. Chr. Adolph Harless, 

Senior Consistorial President in Munich.

(Stuttgart by Liesching.)

[Review by C. F. W. Walther, Part 1]

 

At the end of last year [1853], the excellent and distinguished theologian Dr. Harless published a paper under this title, in which he gives his voice in the dispute over the doctrine of Church and Ministry just as briefly as it did clearly and decisively. In the foreword, he himself speaks as follows about the occasion that prompted the esteemed author to publish this pamphlet: 

"A special occasion gave rise to the pages published here. It was the request to give a kind of arbitral judgment in a dispute that had arisen in the German-Lutheran Church in North America. *) However, since it does not only seem to be a matter of principles, but also of the manner of their assertion in individual cases, I saw myself unable to render a judgment in arbitral form without hearing the disputing parties and without inspecting the files of both sides.  **) But the invitation was important enough for me to ask myself whether this was not a clear signal to break a long silence. For what is moving the minds there is ultimately nothing other than the dispute about Church and Ministry, which has arisen within the Lutheran Church in Germany for some time and has led to many a feud. So far, I have not been able to maintain a complete and undivided position with either the one [anti-hierarchial, Hoefling] or the other ["high church", Kliefoth-Loehe] of the disputing parties. It was partly due to the matter, partly to the way in which the arguments and evidence were presented."

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*) It is not said by whom this request was made. The Editor. [Walther]

**) Dr. Harleß is therefore not in agreement with the principles according to which the Leipzig Conference acted.  The Editor.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Continued in the next Part CM1a  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

      Walther gleaned from Harless that he was not in agreement with a major German church conference. I suspect that the Leipzig Conference was leaning in favor of the Kliefoth-Loehe-Dieckhoff "high church" camp (instead of towards Hoefling) of giving more right to the public ministry by taking it away from the local congregation. In fact, we get a strong clue from Walther himself, in the next Part CM1b, which concludes Walther's review. Then Part CM1c will publish all 18 theses from Harless's pamphlet.

- - - - - - - - - - - -  Table of Contents  - - - - - - - - - - - -

CM1: Pres. Harrison's assertion: Walther supports me, Harless in error; beginning of Walther's review 

CM1b: Walther reviews Harless II (Romanism); Harrison's & Lieberg's unbalanced, Romanizing teaching

CM1c: Harless's propositions (III) (w/ notes)

CM2: Pieper quotes Walther on "Church" (against Harrison)

CM3: Walther's "Antitheses" to his Church and Ministry (against Loehe & Harrison)

CM4a: Pieper follows Walther on Church & Ministry

CM4b: Preger: Loehe & Kliefoth vs. Justification (Pieper recommends)

CM4c: Pieper's essay "Church & Church Government", in English (1896 Missouri convention)

CM5: Harrison "At Home" with Harrison?

CM6: Walther's 1879 Iowa essay: Synod duties (only advisory body)

CM7: Harrison's one-side teaching not Lutheran (Walther, Iowa 1879)

CM8: Walther's 1848 Synod: Synod is no "well oiled machine" 

CM9: Kliefoth- if only he learned from Walther (Free Church obituary)

CM10: Dr. Schurb vs Pres. Harrison (on Lieberg vs. Walther)