Memories 4: Concordia student; pastor Wisc; Walther's recommendation: Concordia professor; August Pieper

      This continues from Part 3 (Table of Contents in Part 1), a series by Prof. Ludwig Fürbringer of his personal memories of the departed Franz Pieper in the 1931 Der Lutheraner magazine. — Now begins the connection between Walther and Pieper, first as Pieper's teacher, then…

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(page 251, col. 2)

Memories of Dr. Franz Pieper.

by Ludwig Fürbringer – [1.] (Part 4 of 16)

Pieper then transferred to our seminary in St Louis, as the Wisconsin synod did not have its own theological seminary at that time but sent its students to St Louis.

Thus he came under the influence of the blessed Walther and his co-workers, of whom Günther and Schaller later became like Walther his older colleagues. Besides these, A. Crämer, the head of the practical department, and F. A. Schmidt, employed by the Norwegian Synod, worked in those years. The class with which Pieper completed his theological examination after three years of study also showed familiar names in our synodical history, such as the two recently deceased brothers Friedrich and Bernhard Sievers, E. Hamann, who later became a professor at our college in Milwaukee, H. Käppel, the longtime director of our college in Concordia, Mo., G. Spiegel, the future president of our Michigan district, O. Hoyer of the Wisconsin Synod, who later became professor at the institute of his synod in Watertown, and others. I can well imagine how Pieper, with all his earnestness and diligence, threw himself particularly into the study of dogmatics or Christian doctrine, and soon drew the attention of his teachers, especially that of Dr. Walther. And it is remarkable, how Walther – as I was informed by one of the (page 252, col. 1) class from that time – paid special attention to Pieper just because of an excellent student sermon by him on Isaiah. 55:1-3. Every reader already sees from the choice of this text how Pieper was directed at the very beginning to the center of the Christian doctrine also in his preaching; for these are well-known words:

“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.”  

Yes, the doctrine of grace, the certain graces of David, the grace of God in Christ Jesus toward the lost sinner world, that was the theme of his theological thought even then.

Since Pieper came from the Wisconsin Synod, after completing his studies in 1875, he entered the service of this synod, first as a pastor in Centerville (now Hika, Cleveland), Wisconsin, [MAP] from July 1875 to November 1876, and then at the large congregation at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, until September, 1878. I have always considered it a special providence of God that our Pieper was well acquainted with the Wisconsin Synod and its leaders, and remained in constant contact with them until his old age. This also contributed to the right relationship between the two synods in the Synodical Conference, whose meetings Pieper visited regularly, especially in earlier years, and whose well-being, as I have already learned from many conversations with him in recent years, was of particular importance to him.

But Pieper would remain in the service of the Wisconsin Synod only three years. Then he was called to a much more important post. At the Delegate Synod of 1878 in St. Louis, our Synod decided, in view of the fact that Walther was getting older and the other members of the faculty were all mature, to establish a new professorship for Systematic Theology and resume the vacant English professorship left by the departure of Professor Schmidt to the Norwegian seminary at Madison, Wisconsin; and while the Synod ordinarily had its institution’s professorship appointed by the electoral college, in its order at its assembly it expressly reserved the right to carry out such elections as synod itself;

and thus at the Synod, undoubtedly especially on Walther's recommendation, Pieper was elected to the systematic professorship, while the English professorship fell first to Professor M[atthias] Loy of the seminary of the Ohio Synod at Columbus, Ohio, and then, after he rejected this, it went to the blessed Rudolf Lange. And the fact that our synod did not make any mistakes at that time, but through this election has experienced the greatest blessing, everyone in the Church knows. I would like to tell you more about this next time. L[udwig] F[ürbringer].

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      Fürbringer reveals a major point of Missouri Synod history when he stated that Pieper's election to the seminary professorship was "undoubtedly especially on the recommendation of Walther”.  He even stated the Missouri Synod “experienced the greatest blessing” from this.  This corresponds with Pieper's close conversation with Walther near his death which indicated that Walther probably also recommended Pieper to succeed him as president of Concordia Seminary.  Would anyone question Fürbringer's judgment on this, even though he was only about 14 years old at that time? We see now just how hard the LC-MS has worked to bury almost all memory of…  Franz Pieper.

Prof. August Pieper

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      In Part 3, Fürbringer mentioned Pieper's brother August Pieper, a noted professor of the Wisconsin Synod.  Franz Pieper never mentions the works of his brother August in all his own writings, whereas he praised the works of other Wisconsin theologians Hönecke and John Schaller.  One can detect a possible reason for this when August made the following statements, in his 1923 "Anniversary Reflections" essay, on Walther and his use of languages (The Wauwatosa Theology, vol. 3 p. 237):

      “Walther preached this doctrine of justification as no one has since Luther. When he preached sin and wrath, hearts quaked with fear; when he testified to God’s grace, they embraced it, rejoiced in it, found peace, and humbled themselves before God. …

      He did not have the same power in his lectures in the seminary. In dogmatics, the “Baier hour,” he was indeed always intellectually interesting, but spiritually he often seemed dry. That is in part, of course, because of the nature of teaching dogmatics. It deals to such a large extent with making distinctions between concepts and with logically grasping them, with intellectual operations that do not touch the heart. In Walther’s case this was worse because he kept the Latin textbook and stubbornly adhered to using the Latin language in teaching. It was noticeable that in doing this even Walther was walking on stilts, and most of his students did not fully understand him. For all of them the daily three- to five-hour “Baier grind,” as they in typical student fashion called it, spoiled their joy in God’s precious Word.”

One wonders that brother August was not as astute in the knowledge of languages as his older brother Franz. — One can detect in August Pieper's public comments that his theology, the so-called "Wauwatosa Theology" that the Wisconsin Synod came to adopt, came to differ from Walther's in certain areas, especially Church and Ministry.  August's statement above displays a typical beginning comment of high praise for Walther, only to be followed by a detraction. A student of August later became one of the "faculty majority" who staged the Walkout in 1974 at Concordia Seminary.  In his public testimony, Alfred von Rohr Sauer praised his mentor and counselor… August Pieper.
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      In the next Part 5, we hear of just how proficient Franz Pieper was with the languages of the Church…

Pieper (FP) Memories 3: Early training, language proficiency, esp. Latin

      This continues from Part 1 and Part 2 (Table of Contents in Part 1), a series by Prof. Ludwig Fürbringer of his personal memories of the departed Franz Pieper in the 1931 Der Lutheraner magazine. — This segment continues with more information about Pieper's family.  The report on Pieper's early language training shows the basis for his later mastery of this learning.  O that I had not chosen a learning in languages instead of an education in today's "math and science". For some reason I got into Purdue University with only 1 semester of Spanish -- today they require 4 semesters.

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(page 251, col. 1)

Memories of Dr. Franz Pieper.

by Ludwig Fürbringer – [1.] (Part 3 of 16)

The parents sent the young Franz, apparently as well as his brothers known in the American Lutheran Church, Reinhold Pieper, the late President of our Springfield Seminary, and August Pieper, the professor of the Wisconsin Synod Seminary in Thiensville, Wisconsin, themselves distinguished by special gifts, to the grammar schools nearby his home in Köslin [now Koszalin, Poland] and Kolberg [now Kołobrzeg, Poland after WWII]. And there was already an aptitude that our Dr. Pieper used throughout his life, the talent for languages.

I recall years ago that at a conference we used to play music and sing together to younger pastors (blessed Bente was there also) – nowadays such recuperation has become much rarer.  Now one either sits down in front of the phonograph or in front of the radio and foregoes the joy and enjoyment that one can prepare oneself in a unique way. So he [Pieper] almost complained that, although he loves music, he never came to practice it because in his youth his whole interest was always on languages. And so, not only did he exquisitely master his own native language, German, as everyone knows, but he had also acquired English so that he would have an English ceremonial speech in the dining room at an academic ceremony here in the seminary, when three new professors were introduced.  His subject was a favorite one for him, the vicarious satisfaction of Christ (vicarious sacrifice). But above all, he was interested in the basic biblical languages, Greek and Hebrew, that he had studied all his life (page 251, col. 2) and whereby he brought especially the use of the Greek New Testament to a mastery. His old Greek Bible, which had really turned very brown by age and which I have so often seen in his hands, testifies to how diligently he has dealt with it.

And he also mastered the language he particularly valued, which in his early years also needed part of his teaching, the scholarly language of the whole world, Latin. He was fluent in Latin even without further preparation; and from my student days I am especially aware of a comparison of two Latin speeches which were given at the inauguration of our St Louis seminary in 1883 on the second day of the academic celebration by Stöckhardt and Pieper. Both speeches were masterpieces in their own way and yet completely different. Stoeckhardt, who had visited one of the well-known Saxon grammar schools, which were famous throughout the world for their care for Latin, without any trouble spoke a most elegant, chosen Latin, which was therefore more difficult to understand. Pieper, on the other hand, also speaks quite fluently, but in a more popular way, as always was his way.

In 1870 Franz Pieper came to America with his parents. They settled in Wisconsin, in the Wisconsin Synod territory, and so the son completed his studies at Northwestern College at Watertown, Wisconsin.  Of his teachers at the time he kept a grateful memory, as far as I can remember. There was the Hanoverian Professor A. F. Ernst, the longtime president of the institute, who distinguished himself with philological and philosophical knowledge. Dr. F. W. A. Notz, as well as Ernst, was well-educated in Württemberg in the ancient languages ​​and this dominating Württemberg scholar began his Watertown activity only since 1872. Pieper also met often with both of these yet in later life, especially with Ernst.

And as he after two years of study in Watertown was awarded with the title of Bachelor of Arts, so his alma mater honored him later in 1903 for his twenty-five-year jubilee professorship by awarding him the theological doctorate at the same time as with the man who established himself as the leader in the Wisconsin Synod, as Pieper in our synod, in the area of Dogmatics, Dr. Adolf Hönecke.

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      Although Pieper was wistful about his lack of music skills, yet the Lutheran Church is better for it -- for his skill in languages.  Thank God! for Pieper’s command of languages!  We will hear more about these in future segments.  The next Part 4 begins Pieper's first experience with Walther.

“…Lutherans die well” (Part 3 of 3): amusing fables of Catholics and Jesuits

      This concludes from Part 2 (Part 1). —  Now Walther defends against not just one fable but three.  And in the process he teaches us "Protestant schoolchildren" just exactly what a "Protestant" is.

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Roman Catholics live well, but Lutherans die well.

[Part 3 of 3; By C.F.W. Walther – Der Lutheraner v. 24, no. 18 (May 1868), p. 139]

It is amusing that the Louisville Faith Messenger relates that Melanchthon said to his mother: “The Protestant doctrine is easier, but the Catholic doctrine is safer.”  

Every good Protestant schoolchild knows, however, that the Lutherans were called by the name Protestant only after that incident because on April 29, 1529 [sic? or April 19] they entered a solemn written Protestation against the imperial annulment of [the ban the Diet of] Speyer [1526].

Hey, hey, Mr. Papists, may that not happen to you! As is generally known, the Frenchman [Antoine] Varillas was the first to invent that fable, although Varillas lied even more grossly by saying that Melanchthon did not say the words given by the Faith Messenger [page 139, col. 2] to his mother on her deathbed, but on his own deathbed, 31 years after her death!! (For it is well known that Melanchthon did not die until 1560.)  But although the Louisville Faith Messenger omitted the fiction of Varillas where he had betrayed himself, the Faith Messenger did not find his fiction bad enough. While Varillas reports that Melanchthon said to his mother: “The religion of Luther is more plausible, the Roman safer," yet according to the Faith Messenger Melanchthon is quoted to have said: “The Protestant (!) teaching is easier, but the Catholic is safer.” The difference between Varillas and the Faith Messenger is that he tells us that Melanchthon said those words to his mother after she had died 31 years before, which Varillas hadn't thought about at the time, while the Faith Messenger tells us that Melanchthon called the Lutherans ‘Protestants’ even before their “Protestation”, which is about the same as if someone told him that Columbus had said on his journey across the Atlantic Ocean: “I want to see if I can not discover America!” Who would believe that? —

The Faith Messenger again looks for when it can twist a story or invent something that has not actually happened. (Such was the case, for example, of the purely fabricated story by the papists of the Donatio Constantini [Donation of Constantine]. It must study the history of the time to which it wants to transfer its made-up story, so that it does not indeed “shoot a goat” [i.e. make a big mistake], by which it betrays itself. This can easily happen, especially when it again commits such an anachronism [chronological error], as the scholars would call it.

Of course, the Faith Messenger would do best if from now on it would invent no more stories, but always tell everything as it really happened. Although this is not a principle of the Jesuits, rather a true Lutheran one, we should think that even a Jesuit would not be ashamed to act accordingly.   W[alther].

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      A recent popular book on Luther by James Reston Jr., Luther's Fortress p. 241, has reminded the world, even if the LC-MS does not, that “the Roman Catholic ban on Luther ‘and all his followers’ is still in effect”.  That ban was upheld at the Diet of Speyer 1529 against the Protestants, i.e. the Lutherans.  But as Walther's article shows, there is no ban on Catholic fables of Church History.

      The accounts of Herman Otten in Christian News of his final days on his deathbed would indicate the same faith as Melanchthon's mother on her deathbed – “justified and blessed before God alone by believing in Jesus ​​Christ” – a Lutheran faith that died well.

“…Lutherans die well” (Part 2 of 3)

      This continues from Part 1. —  Walther now shows exactly where the Catholic paper promoted fiction. Walther and his associates showed an amazing capacity to keep up with what other religious papers were putting out to their people.  And when he witnessed the lies of a Roman Catholic publication, he sprung into action.
      Melanchthon is perhaps known among orthodox Lutherans for his doctrinal weakening against the Roman party after Luther's death.  But in this history, Walther relates a most comforting episode from his life.  Lutherans can be strengthened in their faith when hearing that the author of much of the early portions of the Lutheran Confession was strong in faith with his dying mother.

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Roman Catholics live well, but Lutherans die well.

[Part 2; By C.F.W. Walther – Der Lutheraner v. 24, no. 18 (May 1868), p. 139]

The opposite of this narrative is the truth about Melanchthon’s mother, who remarried twice after the early death of Melanchthon's father, did not become Lutheran, but remained in the Catholic Church for the sake of her strictly Catholic husbands until shortly before her death. She had even let one of her daughters from her second marriage become a nun in Neuenburg.

But when at the beginning of March of 1529 Melanchthon traveled to the fashionable Diet of Speyer [Speier, Spires] with the Elector of Saxony and finding that it was delayed, he had to spend his free time with his old mother and his eager Lutheran brother George Schwarzerd, in Bretten, who was the mayor there. He found his elderly mother was near death. However, she asked her son what to believe among the scholars’ quarrels in order to be able to die peacefully. What did Melanchthon do?  He asked her, while near death, what she prayed for and what she believed.  

Now when she confessed that she was relying on nothing but the precious merit and blood of her dear Lord Jesus ​​Christ and addressed her prayers to him alone, Melanchthon strengthened her in her faith and assured her that she would die peacefully in these beliefs.

This is exactly the striking proof that, although Roman Catholics live well, Lutherans die well. For in her life she had relied on her miserable works, and, instead of Christ alone, called on Mary and other saints and sought their help. But in her death, as did once the dying Duke George of Saxony, she threw this all away, and in a good Lutheran way would become justified and blessed before God alone by believing in Jesus ​​Christ. –

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      Just as the Florida martyrs were not actually Lutherans but Calvinists (Huguenots), so Melanchthon’s mother was not Lutheran, but remained Roman Catholic during her life.  Ah, but she would die well, and so died a Lutheran.  So died all the Lutheran Martyrs.
      Walther interjects a bit of church history that is omitted almost everywhere else in the histories of the Reformation.  It is the strikingly similar situation of the notorious Duke George (or George the Bearded), who relentlessly persecuted the Lutherans during his lifetime as a Roman Catholic.  But in death, he turned “Lutheran”.  This is related elsewhere by Franz Pieper in his Christian Dogmatics, vol. 2, p. 255: "Duke George of Saxony died confessing the doctrine of justification by faith which throughout his life he had denied over against Luther."
      A member of the LC-MS contacted me privately some time ago thanking me for my blog. Their past family history included Lutherans, Roman Catholics and then there were Southern Baptists, but now this person turned Lutheran. May this series be a comfort to them as a Lutheran.
      In the concluding Part 3, Walther shows that he is not yet done with his "fable busting" of Roman Catholics.

Memories of Dr. Franz Pieper by L. Fürbringer (#1), on Pieper anniversary: † June 3, 1931

Prof. Ludwig Fürbringer

      Today marks the 88th anniversary of the "home going" of Dr. Franz Pieper.  To commemorate this, I would begin a series of blogs publishing my translation of Prof. Ludwig Fürbringer's string of articles on his personal memories of Pieper.  The subject matter is more wide ranging than what he covered separately in his series "Dr. Franz Pieper as Theologian".  I have already published small portions of this series elsewhere (here and here) and so I will not repeat the portion that I included in the series on "Copernicanism".  Otherwise most of this series will be first published here in English. —  Some of this material may only be of interest to historians as Fürbringer writes of individuals apart from Pieper, but most of the material touches on spiritual matters of importance to all Christians.  We now begin our journey with Dr. Fürbringer to learn more of the man, Franz Pieper – "The Twentieth Century Luther". 

Translation by BackToLuther; highlighting is mine; hyperlinks added. Text extracted from Der Lutheraner, vol. 87 (1931), p. 250-252.

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(page 250, col. 2)

Memories of Dr. Franz Pieper.

by Ludwig Fürbringer – [1.]

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As we already said in the number of Der Lutheraner in which the blessed passing [Heimgang, “home going”]  of our faithful and much-beloved Dr. Pieper was announced, we now send to the valued readers of this paper some memories of his long and richly blessed life. A number of district synods which gathered in June have already duly given thought of him in one way or another: in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana, Michigan, Ontario, and Manitoba and Saskatchewan districts, as today's number announces at other places.  In the Colorado district meeting I had to represent the President of the Synod. I was allowed there to report after the last segment, where Dr. L. Wessel spoke on the royal office of Christ and his kingdom of honor and glory, something about the last weeks and the blessed passing of our teacher. Certainly some pastors and congregations have commemorated the departed teacher in their services without any further reason. And the Western District has especially recommended to their congregations to hold a memorial service as Pieper was a member of this district for fifty-three years.  In our Concordia Theological Monthly, in one of the upcoming numbers, Dr. Pieper’s importance as a theologian and churchman in a German and English article will be appreciated. A popular biography is in preparation.

Therefore, the following memories, as I would like to present at this point, will now be kept very personal. So I will describe as best I can the man who was first my esteemed teacher, who I then joined at his side as a younger colleague, and who together with me almost thirty-eight (page 251, col. 1) years, was allowed to labor at our seminary.

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Part 2 was published under my series on Copernicanism here and so will not be repeated here.  It covers Pieper's early life in Germany and his acquaintance with the Lisco-Knak affair. —  Fürbringer's series spanned 6 issues of Der Lutheraner.  My series will split this into even more sections.  This adds to the earlier series "Dr. Franz Pieper as Theologian" and "Pieper's Sermons"
      There was another series written about this same time by Prof. W.H.T. Dau: "Dr. Francis Pieper the Churchman" and is available from CTS-FW here (formatted text here). However I have not highlighted Prof. Dau's works, even though written in English, as they show more of the tendency toward what the Missouri Synod transformed into, the LC-MS. Although Ludwig Fürbringer exhibited some of these same tendencies, yet he offered a better testimony to Pieper's greatness as a theologian. — In the following Part 3…

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Part 1 – This blog with introduction; personal memories of Fürbringer
Part 2 – Birth place, Pomerania; near to Pastor Gustav Knak (from Copernicanism series)
Part 3 – Early training, language proficiency, especially Latin
Part 4 – Concordia student; pastor Wisc; Walther's recommendation: Concordia professor; August Pieper
Part 5 – trained in Dogmatics by Walther; Greek & Latin: "like water"; captivating Pieper-Conferences 1880/81
Part 6 – Pieper’s essays; 1st Brief Statement; Fürbringer called to faculty; relations with WELS
Part 7 – Fürbringer- new Prof.: “learned constantly”; "translated justification into daily life"
Part 8 – Christliche Dogmatik – the simple, clear Scriptural truth; “this instrument of the Lutheran Church”
Part 9 – Pieper’s great knowledge; humorous; Navy league; Vatican ‘For Rent’?; Pelikan, Lueking, Danker
Part 10 – Convention essays; Germany, Australia, missions; breakdown, racism?; “winged words”
Part 11 – Joyful- “lay the heart… on doctrine of justification” (not psychology)
Part 12 – Congregations, congregational schools; C.C. Schmidt, model preacher
Part 13 – Anniversaries- Professor- 25th & 50th (1903/1928); Chinese congratulate, but Th. Graebner?
Part 14 – Pieper "now grown old", "thought of written word"; not lonely
Part 15 – Last Words (again); Open Heaven; Albrecht Ritschl's deathbed conversion
Part 16 – How did Pieper die?; “this was not death”; sola gratia; Copernicus… again?