"Zeremoniendienst"

    While preparing the full German text for one of Prof. Friedrich Bente's greatest books,  Gesetz und Evangelium: Buße und gute Werke (that is Law and Gospel: Repentance and Good Works) I ran across a term that struck me as particularly appropriate for a certain para-church organization calling itself "Gottesdienst". In my readings from those involved, I found little or no reference to the Old German Missouri Synod, leading me to believe they have a low opinion of them. So how would the Old Missouri theologians characterize this modern organization that is largely focused on ceremonies? Here is what I discovered in Bente's book, p. 7:

The doctrine of justification makes one secure and immune against Rome. In addition, it thoroughly clears away doubt and unbelief, works and ceremonial worship ["Zeremoniendienst"], as well as the tyranny of the papal church.

So as "Gottesdienst" chose a German word for their organization, I will chose a German word to describe them, one that they may not be pleased with:

"Gottesdienst" = "Zeremoniendienst" = ceremonies worship

Old Missouri focused first on the "Hauptartikel", the chief Doctrine of Justification, then defended true Lutheran ceremonies, not the other way around. (Compare them to Pastor Friedrich Lochner.)

Walther on the Apocrypha: "bad crumbs" (Purgatory)

      The subject of the Apocrypha books comes up at times. If one queries the search engines one is faced with much secondary information, opinions, and confusion among the populace. On the teaching of the Catholic Church Wikipedia reports: 

"Many of these texts are considered canonical Old Testament books by the Catholic Church, affirmed by the Council of Rome (382) and later reaffirmed by the Council of Trent (1545–1563)". 

So when I ran across C. F. W. Walther's comments on this subject, I took note of it. This was included in his essay to the 1873 Western District and his comments are most instructive. In this essay, Walther quotes John Gerhard as he refutes the pope's disrespect of the sacred Scriptures. Walther's comments are in parentheses. Gerhard points out how the popes achieve this (from page 46): 

"2. By appending to the certain and immovable Word of God presented in the canonical books the apocryphal writings, which contain uncertain and false assertions".

(This is very important. We also have the apocrypha in our Bible book, e.g. Jesus Sirach, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Maccabees, etc.; but it is stated above that they are not to be regarded as Holy Scripture, but only to be read carefully. From them we can read what the Jewish church believed after the appearance of the prophets up to the time of Christ, which otherwise the common people would not know at all. But they also contain many falsehoods. It says that the witch of Endor brought the real Samuel out of death, that a certain Rhazis performed a great heroic deed with his suicide, that Judas Maccabeus did well to send two thousand drachmas to Jerusalem as a sin offering, and that it was a good and holy opinion to pray for the dead that their sins might be forgiven. Of course, when the Roman priests read about the 2,000 drachmas, they thought: "This is a good passage, we must not delete it from the Bible," and they looked at the 2,000 drachmas with one eye and at purgatory with the other. The Book of Tobit then also condones shameful sorcery. Even though the Apocrypha contains a lot of valuable things, these are still very bad crumbs. The Roman Church, however, insists as much on the acceptance of the Apocrypha as on that of the Book of Isaiah or the Psalter, because it thinks it can prove purgatory, its sorcery at their consecration and the like; whereas anyone who knows history knows that the Apocrypha was never recognized by the Church of the Old Covenant. We have received the Old Testament from the Jewish orthodox Church, but in this Testament there is no Jesus Sirach, no Book of Tobit, no Books of the Maccabees, and so on. The Old Testament church already had these books, but they were not recognized as divine books. They were not originally written in Hebrew, but in Greek, and some of them only exist in Latin. In short, the papists are lying when they say that the Apocrypha is as good a word of God as the other books. We do not recognize them and give God the glory by not imputing to Him books that He did not make. For it is a great ungodliness for someone to write a book and put another name on the title, such as "Luther". But it is a small sin to write on it: "This book is from God", when it was written by men from their own spirit.) 

It was most instructive that Walther gives examples of falsehoods in the Apocrypha.

Does the Roman Catholic Church still teach Purgatory? 

• Yes, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 268 (see here, sections 1030-1031). 

Do they still use the Apocrypha to justify this doctrine? 

• Yes, see section 1032 here., p. 269.

Do they also use Holy Scripture to justify this doctrine?

• Yes, falsely using 1 Cor 3:15 and 1 Pet 1:7 (see here). These do not speak of an intermediate period after death for "purification". Papists use the Apocrypha against Holy Scripture.

Does the Roman Catholic Church teach that the Apocrypha are inspired?

• Yes, section 1032 explicitly states "…Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead" (Footnote 609: 2 Macc 12:46). The Apocrypha is identified with "Sacred Scripture".

      Many within the LC–MS attempt to soften the view of today's Roman Catholic Church, that it has changed for the better since the days of the Reformation. But we can see by the above that it has only become more deceitful by attempting to mask their doctrine by mixing false Apocrypha teaching with Holy Scripture. — May Walther's clear instruction provide Christians with the tool that they need to refute all false doctrine:

Sola Scriptura!

Pieper: "intelligent silence"

      This was a phrase attributed to Dr. Franz Pieper for which I had lost the source. Now I have discovered that source, and want to publish the phrase.  It is very short, but with a powerful message. 

      In Ludwig Fuerbringer's well-known book 80 Eventful Years, on page 169, he relates the following account:

“At  that  time  Dr.  Pieper  had  not  as  yet  coined  an  expression  which  I  have  since  then  quoted  a  number  of times,  that  there  is not  only,  and  should  not  only  be,  intelligent  speaking,  but  also  an  intelligent  silence,  'intelligentes  Schweigen,'  referring  to  Acts  15:12.”

What does Acts 15:12 say? 

"Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them."

There was no babbling, no opinions given, just silence so that one could hear God's message, keep silence so that one can hear God's voice in His Word. That is "intelligent silence". I have never forgot that phrase.

What is Christmas? Walther on Jn 1:14; why this is important (for Advent season)

      While working on a re-translation of Walther's 1882 essay to the Western District, I ran across a timely section that would be appropriate for this Advent season. Walther was covering the question of who our prayers are to be addressed. After defending against the papal church's worship of the past saints, he moves on to the pernicious error of the Reformed and the papists. We pick up on what he has labeled as his "Thesis II", p. 44-45:

Thesis II.

Our church teaches that Christ, God and man in one person, is to be invoked and worshipped, not his divinity alone.

When considering this thesis, one would naturally like to delve deeply into the wonderful doctrine of the person of Jesus Christ, of the personal union of both natures in Christ, and of the communication of attributes. But here we must content ourselves with the simplest explanation.

The Gospel of John begins with the mysterious and sublime words: 

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-4, 14).

With these words, the Holy Spirit reveals to us that the eternal personal Word, through whom all things were made, that is, the true, living God Himself, became man. He, the only begotten Son of God, did not merely take up residence in the flesh; that could be an indwelling of God, as every believing Christian may experience. No, it says: “The Word was made [or became] flesh!” This is the greatest, highest, deepest, most wonderful, most worshipful mystery of divine wisdom and mercy among all those that God has revealed to us in His Word. Even the apostle Paul, filled with admiration through the Holy Spirit, must exclaim: "Great indeed is the godly mystery: God is revealed in the flesh! " (1 Tim. 3:16). Yes, even the holy angels desire to look into this depth, as Peter writes in the first chapter of his first letter, 1 Pet. 1:12.

However incomprehensible this mystery is, Holy Scripture speaks of it in very unambiguous terms. In Col. 2:9, Paul says: “In Him (in Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (σωματιχώς), that is, just as the soul dwells in the human body, so that both constitute a spiritual-physical human person, so the whole fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ's human nature, so that Godhead and humanity are one divine-human person. As it says in the Athanasian Creed: “Just as body and soul are one human being, so God and man are one Christ.”

Therefore, Holy Scripture also calls the God-Christ as Man and the Man-Christ as God, and speaks of human things concerning the God-Christ and divine things concerning the Man-Christ. It says, <page 45> for example: “The Prince of Life” — that is, the true God — “you have killed”; “the Lord of Glory” — that is, the true God — “you crucified.” (Acts 3:15, 1 Cor. 2:8) “Christ comes from the fathers according to the flesh, who is God above all, blessed forever” (Rom. 9:5), so the true God has a human lineage. “God acquired the church through His own blood.” (Acts 20:28). “The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7). Here, Holy Scripture attributes something purely creaturely and human to God, namely that He has blood. But again, Scripture speaks of divine things concerning Christ, who is human. It says: “The holy one to be born of you” — that is, the true man — “will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35), that is, He will be the Son of God. “The second man is the Lord from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:47). Christ himself, in his state of humiliation, calls Himself “the Son of Man who is in heaven” and “ascends to heaven” as the one who came down from heaven. (John 3:13). Yes, when He once asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” and Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Christ does not reject this answer as blasphemy, but on the contrary praises Simon Peter, because this was not revealed to him by flesh and blood, but by His Father in heaven. (Matthew 16:13, 16)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It there ever was a teaching to explain the spiritual importance of Christmas, this is it. Lutherans pray to the Christ who was both God and Man in One Person. Other churches avoid the humanity of Christ when praying to him. — A translation of the full essay will be forthcoming in some weeks. —

(A previous translation of the above was done for CHI Director August Suelflow in the 1990s,  and was most recently published in the 2016 CPH book All Glory to God, pp. 389-390.)

WIC8: Pieper's Convention Essays - another BTL book

      This concludes from Part WIC7 (Table of Contents in Part WIC1) in a series presenting a new translation of all of Franz Pieper's essays previously translated in the 1933 CPH book What Is Christianity? And Other Essays. — It has been lamented by this blogger as well as some who have corresponded with me that more of Pieper's sermons were not published. But these essays serve as a good substitute, for he always strived to make his material very understandable to a wide range of listeners. These essays do not contain the more technical theological material in his Christian Dogmatics books. The machine translators had very little trouble producing good translations, unlike with many theologians' circumlocutory, philosophical, nebulous language that confuses the machine translators. — The essays in this collection were all delivered in the 20th century, so they can be seen as the best counsel and defense for the Church since Pieper died in 1931.

Table of Contents

The Essence of Christianity.

The Right Worldview.

The Reconciliation of Man With God.

The "Lay Movement" Ordained by God.

The Holy Scriptures.

The Open Heaven.

Appendix: Christianity as a Religion of the Hereafter.

      Now I present the newly translated collection of perhaps Pieper's greatest convention essays, including 1) retained emphasis of wording, 2) paging the same as the original German publications, 3) hyperlinks for navigation and references, and 4) a Table of Contents:

Download complete 212-page DOCX book >>  here  <<, PDF file >> here <<.

This book goes along with Pieper's other great books, his Christian Dogmatics, Foundation of the Christian Church, and, his first and last books, on the Augsburg Confession: 1880 and 1930.

May readers be edified, as I have been in working with these again!

WIC7: Christianity, A Religion of the Hereafter (1920 Synod) (Appendix)

      This concludes from Part WIC6 (Table of Contents in Part WIC1) in a series presenting a new translation of all of Franz Pieper's essays previously translated in the 1933 CPH book What Is Christianity? And Other Essays. — This installment features an essay of Dr. Pieper that was not included among the essays for the 1933 CPH book, but was worthy of inclusion. It involves the matter of the death of each one of us — where will we go when we die? Pieper sets our hearts and minds at rest as Christians. 

      His essay for the 1920 Delegate Synod convention was not published in the Proceedings, but serialized in 5 monthly installments in Lehre und Wehre at the beginning of the following year, 1921. From volume 67, pp. 1-7, 33-39, 65-70, 97-102, 129-134.

Notable Quotes: 

Part I: Against Liberal Theology, "social gospel": Even 100 years ago liberal theology was exploding. We see the fruits of that in today's world.

1: "a powerful movement has begun that wants to either completely eliminate the hereafter, heaven and hell, from the Christian religion.… to turn the Christian Church into a reform school for this life"

2: This world's religion: "the Church…should not emphasize the "hereafter", heaven and hell and the creeds"

3: "for politics is religion, and religion is politics, because both struggle for the same ideal of producing political justice and just politics"

4: Rockefeller "calls interest in creeds and the "hereafter" worthless "theoretical religion"

4: "'Interchurch World Movement'.…has set itself the goal of spreading so-called Christian civilization."

5: "an attack on the Christian Church which must be called satanic in the most eminent sense"

5: "Christ also makes a powerful reference to hell.…these people want to have the subject of hell cast aside as an obsolete one!"

6: "every sin …first and foremost registers a debt before God in heaven"

6: "the knowledge of sin…saves us from the attempt to push the creeds … into the background"

Part II: "exerts the greatest influence on life in this world": good for Christian counseling

35: Christians "see their life here on earth as nothing other than a journey, a journey that is directed day by day towards the eternal heavenly home."

36: Christians "paradise is not on this earth…is the heavenly paradise"

36: Liberal "Interchurch World Movement" described as "Another Babylon, more portentous, more mysteriously potent for evil, more daring in blasphemy, more impotent of power to reach up into heaven".

37: "The Christian religion solves all these problems precisely because it is the religion of the hereafter."

38: Marriage: Husbands "love, honor and nourish their spouse"; wives "love, honor and be subject to their husbands"

38: Parents-children: Parents "regard their children as a precious gift from God; they bring them up in discipline and admonition of the Lord"; children "honor and love their parents as God's representatives on earth and are subject to them in all things"

38: Citizens: "never make revolution, but recognize the existing authority, … in all things that are not contrary to God's Word."

38: Employers-workers: Employers "do not abuse their position to tyrannize over the workers and reduce their just wages"; Workers "do not abuse the power that lies in their greater numbers" in unions.

Part III: Missionary activity

66: Christians are to "convey the connection with heaven to other people through the proclamation of the gospel. … the real purpose of our life in this world!"

67: "Even if a person takes his own life, he does not thereby escape existence in an eternal afterlife."

69: "The gospel of Christ… has been widely replaced by the Unitarian doctrine that Christ is not the eternal Son of God and therefore not the Savior of men through his vicarious satisfaction"

70: "God's eye is presently on us in the whole world, especially on the Missouri Synod ….perhaps God's judgments on us have already begun."

Part IV: "public preaching ministry"

97: "The preacher must first of all be certain of his own heavenly home."

98: "a Christian preacher who has the salvation of souls in mind will proclaim God's Law in all its severity… [all] must throw themselves into the dust before God"

99: "the preaching office is not merely to civilize souls, but to save them, the preacher will not allow his office to be made small and unimportant"

100: "Christian preachers in particular should not expect the due reward for their faithful ministry in this world."

101: "We teach our theological students what and how they must teach in order to save souls to heaven."

Part VI: Connection of "Christian Church on Earth with Heaven"; material for Christian counseling.

130: "Christians perceive God's wrath around them … the certainty of God's grace fades…Their connection with the gracious God in heaven does not seem to exist"

130: "the death of Christians looks, on the surface, exactly like the death of unbelievers"

130: "There is a ladder to heaven for us humans here on earth."

131: False connections: a) Spiritualism, "an imaginary connection between this world and the hereafter"; b) Reformed "immediate effect of the Holy Spirit, i.e. an effect that is detached from all external means".

132: The right connections: "These are the means of grace ordained by God for the time of life here on earth, namely God's own Word and the sacred acts instituted by God, Holy Baptism and Holy Communion".

133: "We so-called Missourians and those with us who hold the Holy Scriptures to be God's infallible word are regarded in wide circles as backward eccentrics."

133: "We can be imprisoned and cut off…: if we have a Bible with us or if we have the Bible in our memory and heart, then we remain in secure contact with our Savior and our heavenly home."

134: "In every Christian home belongs the home service."

      In translating this essay, I had no help as in the previous essay, comparing it to other previous translations such as from Prof. Mueller's book. He, and/or Concordia Publishing House, did not include this wonderful essay. But it was not a long essay and it's subject matter will interest all Christians. Therefore it deserves to be included. — Now I present the first full polished translation of Pieper's 1920 essay to the Synod's convention in Detroit:

Download DOCX file without highlighting >> here <<; German text file here.

      When the German Missourians speak of one who has passed away among them, they speak of a "Heimgang" or "going home". It is a striking image for the future of all Christians who believe in Christ as their Savior from their sin. May all readers, and I, fix our eyes on Jesus in the hereafter with Him, our eternal home. Amen! — In the last Part WIC8, we provide a download of a compilation of all essays into one book of 212 pages.

WIC6: "The Open Heaven" (1929 Synod); Walther "remains firm, like steel and diamond"

      This continues from Part WIC5 (Table of Contents in Part WIC1) in a series presenting a new translation of all of Franz Pieper's essays previously translated in the 1933 CPH book What Is Christianity? And Other Essays. — This sixth of six essays completes the series of essays that Prof. J. T. Mueller translated in 1933. It is a fitting essay for the finale, as Christians must always keep their eyes on the hereafter. This is largely a Bible lesson and will place a Christian's faith on solid ground and in… the Open Heaven. 

      I am sorry that Prof. Mueller did not include much of the emphasis of wording as these are critical to get the full power of Pieper's teaching. Again, this is one of the main benefits of my translations over Mueller's. This essay was not printed in the convention report but rather in 3 installments of Lehre und Wehre, vol. 75, pp. 196-201, 225-233, 257-264.

Notable Quotes:

Part I: How was heaven opened?

198: "of this heaven we say from Scripture that it is open to all men.… Yes, heaven is open!"

198: "Of course, heaven was closed to us humans because of the Fall of our first parents."

199: "He also committed Him to take upon Himself the whole guilt of sin that lay upon the human race.… thus opened heaven again completely to all men without exception."

199: "For the apostle does not say: 'God was in Christ, reconciling' half the world or a quarter of the world to himself, but 'the world.'"

200: 2 Cor. 5:19 – "word of reconciliation": "does not refer to the reconciliation that takes place in the heart and conscience of man…[but] the reconciliation by which God reconciled the whole world to himself" [I. e. not subjective reconciliation, but objective reconciliation.] 

200: "He who does not preach heaven open to all men through Christ does not preach the gospel"

201: "everything that the world generally puts under the comprehensive heading of "worldview" is trivial."

201: "As far as reconciliation through Christ is concerned, there is no distinction of race, color, class, culture and unculture, worldly respectability and worldly reproach."

Part II: Unitarians, Calvinists, Romanists and Arminians, American Lutherans want to close the open heaven.

225: "Unitarians openly practice the closure of heaven.…deny that God was in Christ…"

226: Unitarians "invoke Christ … 'In my Father's house are many mansions.'" Answer: "'I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.'  John 14:6"

226: "If [Unitarians] continue to deny the Lord who bought them with his blood, they exclude themselves from the open heaven."

226: Calvinists "teach that Christ has acquired grace and opened heaven for only a part of mankind"

228: "Calvinist Reformed thus take the liberty of simply crossing out Scripture words like these: 'God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself'" [2 Cor. 5:19]

228: "as soon as man is struck by God's law,… he logically counts himself among the eighty percent whom Christ did not purchase from eternal damnation with his blood" [According to Calvinists.]

228-229: "the Calvinist must become Lutheran, that is, believe in God's completely unlimited general grace, if he is not to perish through despair in temptation and agony"

229: "Let us therefore also be careful when recommending Calvinist writings." [Examples: Spurgeon, John MacArthur]

230: Synergists: "The Roman Church places itself before the door of heaven… and demands that those who wish to enter must show a fulfillment of 'the law of God and the commandments of the Church'."

230: The Arminian Reformed [Methodists, Holiness groups, Pentecostals, Mennonites] also stand before the door to heaven…God's grace in Christ is not enough …man must contribute to this" [Some want to distinguish Arminians from Reformed, but Pieper corrects that notion.]

231: "the saddest event in the history of the Church and the world in recent centuries"…within the American Lutheran Church in particular, 'by grace alone' was also fought against and rejected with great seriousness.…taught that conversion and salvation depended on the right conduct of man"

Part III: Against Reformed attacks on Lutheran doctrine

257: "…attested in our Lutheran Confessions, that God has reconciled the whole human world to himself through the vicarious life, suffering and death of his incarnate Son, and that heaven is thereby open to all people without exception. We must teach and confess this truth clearly and tirelessly."

257: "Krummacher wrote an article …entitled: "Why we are not Lutheran, but Reformed.…to propagandize for the Reformed Church against the Lutheran Church in this country""

258: "two things are held up as Lutheran doctrine against the Reformed…unrestricted universal grace, …and unrestricted grace alone"…God's Word teaches both." 

Both Calvinists and synergists are against God's Word that teaches both universal grace and grace alone. This refutes the notion that Arminian/synergists are distinct from the Reformed. Their difference is only superficial, as they both deny God's clear Word. One of the most confusing theological topics is found when asking the Internet "intelligence" whether Arminians are "Reformed" or not. One gets conflicting explanations when exploring this (search "are Arminians Reformed?") on the Internet. The Calvinists and synergists are united in their opposition to Lutheranism, and God's Word.

258: "…the Lutheran Church in its Confessions believes God in his Word"

259: Walther: "He who has not yet learned to hold both — universal grace and grace alone — … has not yet passed the last necessary test of his ability to teach within the Christian Church"

260: Walther "remains firm, like steel and diamond, in his judgment and condemnation of the opposing doctrine that God's grace and mercy are dependent on human good behavior".

261-262: "Every chain, as Dr. Walther used to remind us, is only as strong as its weakest link.… The chain forged by God for our salvation is strong…O pity! — people have come up with the idea of improving the divine chain of grace by inserting human good behavior.

263: "So we should not be lax in spreading the message of the open heaven, but rush out into the world with it, as it were"

      Now I present my full translation of Pieper's 1929 essay. Again all of Pieper's emphasis of wording has been retained, unlike the translation by Prof. Mueller in 1933:

Download file without highlighting >> here <<; German text file here.

      Prof. Mueller chose well in selecting these essays as they cover a broad spectrum of topics and are all edifying for the Christian faith and life. One could even think of this selection as an abbreviated, less technical, version of the 3-volume set of Pieper's Christian Dogmatics.

      But I would like to add one more essay that I feel should have been included in this compendium. It's topic would go along with the above essay on "The Open Heaven", and I am including it as an Appendix to this collection, in Part 7 in the next blog post.

WIC5: The Holy Scripture ("The Holy Bible"; 1921 S. Illinois); "entire world…our enemies"

      This continues from Part WIC4e (Table of Contents in Part WIC1) in a series presenting a new translation of all of Franz Pieper's essays previously translated in the 1933 CPH book What Is Christianity? And Other Essays. — This fifth of six essays is one I have been looking forward to as especially important for today. Being delivered in 1921 to the Southern Illinois District, is would be a prelude for what he taught 3 years later in his Christliche Dogmatik, volume one. I have blogged about that previously, but this 1921 essay is a wonderfully concise yet thorough version that will be even more accessible for the general reader.

      There was no greater point of controversy in the Lutheran conferences in the 1930s and 1940s in America than the matter of "Verbal Inspiration" and "Inerrancy" of Holy Scripture. One may read about this in Clifford Nelson's 1972 book Lutheranism in North America, 1914-1970, search for "verbal inspiration". One comment by Nelson indicates the source of the problem: "Lutheran scholars in Germany and Scandinavia". Pieper's essay is the perfect antidote to their corrosive influence in America.

Notable Quotes:

9: Luther "stuck to sola Scriptura. Scripture alone must teach Christianity and govern hearts and consciences"

10: "we have virtually the entire world, the host of hell, and most of contemporary external Christianity as our enemies."

11: Papists at Luther's time "left unchallenged…the proposition that Holy Scripture is the Word of God."

11: "Scripture is [by deniers] called "divine-human" in the sense that human error is also found in Scripture alongside divine truth. [C.D. I, p. 216] [Cp. with the LC–MS’s and Dr. Samuel Nafzger’s Confessing the Gospel, and others.]"

13: How do we know "that Holy Scripture…is God's own Word"? "1. The words of the Old Testament Scriptures are quoted in the New Testament as God's words. [C.D. I, p. 214]

13: "scriptural passages that are sometimes overlooked…the passages of Scripture that say that all events in the world must be or happen according to the Word of Scripture" [C.D. I, p. 214]

14: "the writings of the apostles of the New Testament are … also God's own Word"

14: "The apostle Paul explicitly refers the Christian churches of his time to his letters and demands that the churches should accept the letters he has written as God's Word"

15: "1 Cor. 14:37: "…let him acknowledge the things that I write unto you: for they are the commandments of the Lord.""

16: "We cannot come closer to God for our salvation in this life than in His Word."

17: "The world is wrong in its assessment of current events. …[Christians] can and should put all these things in the light of the Word of God." [I.e. judge all "news" in light of the Word.]

18: "Are we diligent to commit as many words of Scripture as possible to our memory" [This catches me as I find the Internet usage a hindrance to doing this memorization. But as I was first returning to my old faith, I bought a Billy Graham book with tear-outs of Bible verses to commit to memory. I thank God for that!]

18: "Many unbelievers have been converted to Christ by reading the Bible. [Contrary to some in the LC-MS!]

19: "This divine act of inspiration is the reason why Holy Scripture…is not the word of man but the Word of God." [C.D. I, p. 235: "There is no danger that the 'human side,' [of Scripture] …will be overlooked."]

19: "Scripture…does not consist of "persons" or "things" but of words, so certainly the inspiration of Scripture is word or verbal inspiration"

20: "every dispute is decided by words. By saying "It is written" three times, Christ confronts the devil with the words of Scripture and wins the victory.

20: "If ye continue in my word…"

20: "Guided or directed by God and inspired by God are quite different concepts."

21: "civil society is to be instructed from reason about good and evil. But in the church, a completely different order prevails"

22: Romanists "want to lower the prestige of Holy Scripture and, on the other hand, raise the prestige of the "oral tradition" they fabricate." [Against Prof. Biermann and his “tradition”!]

22: Deniers of Inspiration "deny that there is a God who has all 'accidental occasions' in his hands."

23: Luther on the general authority of Scripture are "blasphemers, blind people, and people of disturbed minds"

23: "that Holy Scripture is inspired by God and is therefore God's own Word also implies its complete inerrancy" [I.e. deniers of inerrancy deny Scripture is God's Word.]

24: "The sacred writers were no more and no less than organs or instruments of the Holy Spirit in the creation of Holy Scripture."

24: Of the individual writers of the Scriptures were: "…the Church Fathers' image of a musical instrument. [Cp. this blog post.]"

24-25: "every critic of the Word of God is struck by God's judgment,…denies his natural understanding…becomes unreasonable and illogical." [There are many "Lutheran" theologians who have been "struck by God's judgment".]

25-30: Objections to the inspiration of Scripture: with Pieper's answer

25: 1) different styles: "different styles do not contradict divine inspiration, but are required by it, because God spoke not only through one, but through several men, each of whom had his own style"

26: 2) human research, human information, and human knowledge: God "used the historical knowledge that the writers had through their own experience or through research or through communication from other people"

28: 3) various readings (variants): "…it is thereby presupposed and promised that the apostles' word will not be lost until the Last Day, but will be present."

29: 4) contradictory passages: "If, however, a case should occur to us where we do not recognize a possibility of reconciliation, we as Christians leave the matter alone, because we believe the inerrancy of Scripture on the authority and clear testimony of the Son of God… John 10:35"

      Now I present my full translation of Pieper's 1921 essay. Again all of Pieper's emphasis of wording has been retained, unlike the translation by Prof. Mueller in 1933:

Download printable file without highlights >> here <<; German text >> here <<.

 

      May readers who want to believe their Bible find refreshment for their faith in Pieper's powerful essay. Amen! — In the next Part WIC6…

WIC4e: Lay movement and the Christian walk (Thesis 3); full essay downloads

      This continues from Part WIC4d (Table of Contents in Part WIC1) in a series presenting a new translation of all of Franz Pieper's essays previously translated in the 1933 CPH book What Is Christianity? And Other Essays. — This section of Pieper's fourth essay covers the good works of Christians, or the "tangible fruits of faith". — From pages 62-67.

Notable Quotes:

62: "…all Christians should also work diligently… through their Christian walk in all circumstances of life"

63: "an advertisement of the Christian Church…through the good walk of Christians"

63: "But before men who cannot see into the heart, we are only justified by works."

64: "we are to pursue good works with the greatest seriousness and zeal"

65: "We have the outward witness of the Holy Spirit in that the Holy Spirit produces tangible fruits of faith and moves us to good works."

66: "Every time we give offense to a brother through evil conduct, so that he is in danger of falling, we are busy destroying a work of the Holy Spirit"

67: "the world has a judgment on the walk of Christians."

67: "People are not converted by the ringing of bells in our churches, but they are called into the church to hear the Word of God."

      Now I present the full polished English translation of Pieper's essay that follows the original more closely than that of Prof. Mueller's translation. Importantly, it retains Pieper's emphasis of wording:

Download the above in a non-highlighted version >> here <<; German text file here; 

One hundred years ago, the "Lay movement" was a "hot topic". Pieper counsels this movement to encourage it, and to show its limits in certain cases. — In the next Part WIC5, we cover the fifth essay in this compilation.

WIC4d: Lay Movement: Financial matters (Theses 1 & 2)

      This continues from Part WIC4c (Table of Contents in Part WIC1) in a series presenting a new translation of all of Franz Pieper's essays previously translated in the 1933 CPH book What Is Christianity? And Other Essays. — This post covers pages 37-61, on the financial matters of a "lay movement".

Notable Quotes: Financial terms (pages 37-61)

38: "We do not, however, impose tithing as a duty on the conscience of New Testament Christians. … because it would be contrary to Scripture."

38: "on the other hand, …we should not turn the freedom with which Christ has set us free into a cover for sin"

40: "it is a terrible abuse of Christian freedom when Christians use the freedom from tithing to give Christ as little or nothing as possible for his kingdom"

41: "the weakest Christian should start in Christian freedom where the Jew left off, namely with 10 percent"

42: "But alas, when the "mite" is misused by those who are not poor widows, but who have plenty of earthly goods, to seek the smallest possible gifts and to soothe their conscience with the 'widow's mite'!"

45: "the desire for small gifts also easily becomes an offence to the unbelieving world."

45: The unbelieving world "rejoices immensely when it perceives that Christians…even resort to gambling and dubious entertainments in order to drive out money [for their cause].

46: "…the goal of Christians to give first to the kingdom of God"

48: "But in many, many cases, the poverty or small possessions of Christians is also due to the fact that they give so little for God's kingdom."

48: "…whether we too have not become a blight on the land through our ingratitude and stinginess in giving to the gospel."

49: Luther Germans lack of giving: "If this is how it is to be in German lands, I am sorry that I was born a German or that I have ever spoken or written in German."

50: Christians "owe their teachers reverence and sustenance"

51: Scripture "warns both sides [congregations and pastors] against selfishness and avarice."

52: "What should the preachers be paid for? The work, the hard work."

52: "story of a Negro preacher": "‘Dat’s true, brudder, but de congregation mus’ pay for de pipin'" ["That's true brother, but the congregation must pay for the piping"]

54: "we can also point to congregations in our midst that now provide amply for their preachers after the preachers have endured their poverty."

54: On pastors and teachers: "…avarice, which happens when the real aim of their ministry is to provide for earthly needs and to maximize their salary"

54: "True men of war [pastors, teachers] do not see their life's work in foraging, but they leave it to the commissary department to supply their rations."

55: "we expect our pastors, …to preach under certain [temporary] circumstances even without a salary."

57: Financial sluggishness comes from "a partial lack of clarity in the doctrine of justification."

57: "The more seriously we teach good works in a Christian manner, the more powerfully we preach the gospel."

59: "let us not neglect…to familiarize our Christians with the needs of the kingdom of God"

59: "As a Christian, you are obliged to keep your own eyes open. Perhaps you don't even keep a church newspaper, for example Der Lutheraner, [or the Lutheran Witness]"

61: "a discussion about the support fund for old and sick pastors and teachers and their families and surviving dependents"

61: "If this [enough wages for pastor] is done, they have money left over for sickness and old age."

      When I read of these financial matters, one could sympathize regarding the load on congregations to support their pastors and teachers and their families, including for sickness and old age. The cost of healthcare is massively out of balance due to the socialist nature of medical care in the United States. — In the next Part WIC4e,  the "The 'lay movement' in the Christian walk in general".