Pf05: Lotteries, booze, food parties, dance festivals [& church bazaars]

      This continues from Part Pf04 (Table of Contents in Part Pf01) in a series presenting C. F. W. Walther's 1874 Der Lutheraner essay on "Who are the Pfaffen?", the good and the bad. — In this segment, Walther rounds out his "dirty dozen" of the second class of Pfaffen who do not rightly divide the Word of God. — From Der Lutheraner, vol. 30 (1874), p. 50-3 to 51-1:

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Who are the Pfaffen?

[by C. F. W. Walther; Part 5]

[9] If such Pfaffen see that their parishioners lack the love to sacrifice something for church and school and other purposes of the Kingdom of God, they arrange lotteries, booze and food parties, dance festivals and the like, in order to cover the necessities from the net profit of these impure means. 

[10] Since such Pfaffen have no conscience with regard to pure doctrine and right confession, they also exchange their pulpit with preachers of other faiths when the opportunity arises, and they also accept people of other faiths into their congregation without demanding that they abandon error and the false church; by placing love above faith and outward physical peace above inward spiritual peace, union with all that wants to be a believer is their rallying cry. 

[11] Such Pfaffen do not demand that anyone who wants to go to Holy Communion first register for it; rather, they admit anyone who comes to the table of the Lord without examination. 

[12] Besides the fact that such Pfaffen hold the public office of preaching, they also practice underhandedness by trying to ingratiate themselves with the members of their neighbor's congregation by being especially friendly, like Absalom in 2 Sam. 15:4-6, and by trying to draw them over to them, and thus, as real thieves, murderers and evildoers, they take hold of someone else's office. 1 Pet. 4:15. That these kinds of preachers are not faithful servants of God, but really apostles in the worst sense, there can be no doubt. For thus says the Word of God: 

“And the Lord said unto me, Take unto thee the instruments of a foolish shepherd. For, behold, I will raise up shepherds in the land, who will not visit the faint, nor seek the bruised, nor heal the broken, nor look after the healthy; but the flesh of the fat they will eat, and rend their hoofs. O idolatrous shepherds who leave the herd. Let the sword be upon their arm, and upon their right eye.” (Zech. 11:15-17) “Thus saith the LORD; Woe unto you that make pillows for men's arms, and pads for their heads, both young and old, to catch souls. When ye have caught souls among my people, ye promise them life; and desecrate me among my people for a handful of barley and morsels of bread, that ye may condemn to death souls which ought not to die, and condemn to life souls which ought not to live, by your lying among my people, who love to hear lies.” (Ezek. 13:18-19 [Luther Bible, LED]) 

St. Paul admonishes his Timothy against such Pfaffen: 

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15) “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; [page 51-1] but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” (2 Tim. 4:2-3) 

Such Pfaffen are, of course, highly respected by the world; they are presented as models to the faithful stewards of God's mysteries, who do not seek people's money and favor, but their souls and salvation, as good men, before whom one must still have respect. But may the mob fall upon them and come to them in multitudes like water — woe to them! For it is written: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn sour into sweet and sweet into sour” Isa. 5:20. Even if they preach something about the crucified Christ in passing, they are nevertheless “enemies of the cross of Christ,” who in their whole administration of office proceed “lest they be persecuted with the cross of Christ, which end,” writes the apostle, “is the condemnation, to whom the belly is their god, and their glory is put to shame, of them that are earthly minded.” Phil. 3:18-19; Gal. 6:12 Deplorable are the congregations that have such Pfaffen as their preachers!

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      When Walther quotes the prophet Isaiah "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil", one may immediately think of our world today. I also think of Concordia Seminary Prof. Joel Biermann on the authority of Holy Scripture. I will present a blog series presenting his attack on "sola Scriptura" in the near future. I also think of Gottesdienst, on "faith alone". — We will take up the third of Walther's four classes of Pfaffen in the next Part Pf06…

Pf04: Pfaffen: all false teachers, man pleasers; Walther the pietist? (Dr. Eggold)

      This continues from Part Pf03 (Table of Contents in Part Pf01) in a series presenting C. F. W. Walther's 1874 Der Lutheraner essay on "Who are the Pfaffen?", the good and the bad. — In this segment, Walther begins a long list of the practices of "Pfaffen" so that we may be able to identify them. It is a long list, and some might consider it harsh. But when I read from the theologians and pastors of the LC-MS (e.g. Drs. Henry Eggold and Jaroslav Pelikan) and the Wisconsin Synod (Pastor Jeremiah Gumm) who said that Walther's sermons were at times too harsh, I consider them to be in the camp of the "Pfaffen", for Walther properly distinguished the Law from the glorious Gospel. — From Der Lutheraner, vol. 30 (1874), p. 50-2 to 50-3: 

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Who are the Pfaffen?

[by C. F. W. Walther; Part 4]

But who are such Pfaffen? — They evidently fall into four main classes.

First of all, to the Pfaffen belong all false teachers who overturn the foundation, who, while passing off their doctrine as God's Word, preach the word of men, thoughts and poems of their own heart, their self-made laws and dreams. For all such are priests [Priester] of a false god and, as blind guides for the blind, lead the souls following them into hell, pretending to save them. For of them Christ says, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Matt. 7:15. And John writes of them, “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” 2 John 9-11.

The second class of Pfaffen includes those who preach God's Word but, out of fear of men or to please men, do not fully, or rightly divide or apply it. These are those preachers who preach only what people like to hear from God's Word, but keep silent about what might anger them and make them enemies. They neither punish false doctrine nor ungodly life seriously. If they do punish publicly, they are careful not to hit the rich and noble and those who are favorable to them; but they do not dare to say to an obvious sinner, like Nathan to David, “Thou art the man,” [2 Sam. 12:7] especially if the sinner is rich, respected and influential. 

[1] If faithful pastors and stewards of God's mysteries suspend unrepentant, unforgiving, slanderous, drunkards and the like from Holy Communion, such Pfaffen will inevitably hand them the body and blood of the Lord. 

[2] If those who have been punished by a faithful shepherd from God's Word separate from him, they will find the most willing reception and the richest consolation with such Pfaffen. 

[3] If unrepentant sinners run away from church discipline somewhere, these Pfaffen welcome them with open arms. 

[4] If justly banished persons come to them, they are quite welcome guests to these Pfaffen. 

[5] That in truly Christian congregations those who are members of secret societies are admonished to renounce them, and therefore prefer not to join those congregations, is quite dear to such Pfaffen; for they gladly accept such secret allies without ever weighing down their consciences with warnings and punishments from God's Word. 

[6] If parents bring ignorant children to them, whom a faithful pastor could not confirm for the sake of conscience, then such Pfaffen immediately show themselves ready to lay hands on the children and solemnly confirm their ignorance. 

[7] If a righteous servant of Christ cannot marry a couple because they are related in a degree that prevents marriage, or because one or the other is not validly divorced according to God's Word, or because they lack parental consent, or because the alleged bridegroom or bride is already validly engaged elsewhere, etc., then such Pfaffen do not make the slightest difficulty for such a couple desiring marriage, but bless it immediately. 

[8] If the relatives of a deceased person who despises [page 50-3] God's Word and the Sacrament until death, or who has lived in sin, in manifest avarice, in drunkenness, in all worldly vanity, etc., cannot obtain a Christian burial from a conscientious servant of Christ, then such Pfaffen do not hesitate to give a touching funeral oration to the one who has passed away without repentance. 

Where God's servants punish, they comfort; where those curse, they bless; where those bind, they loose. The door of their congregation opens to everyone; the only necessary key is the promise of a regular monetary contribution. 

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      LC-MS theologian Dr. Henry J. Eggold (†1982) stated in his 1962 doctoral thesis, "Walther, the Preacher", that "Pietism left its mark on Walther for good and for ill" (p. 254). This suggests that Dr. Eggold was weak on properly distinguishing the Law and the Gospel which puts him in Walther's second class of "Pfaffen". — We will finish the list of Walther's second class of Pfaffen, and take up the third class, in the next Part Pf05…

Pf03: “Pfaff” loses good meaning, gets bad reputation

      This continues from Part Pf02 (Table of Contents in Part Pf01) in a series presenting C. F. W. Walther's 1874 Der Lutheraner essay on "Who are the Pfaffen?", the good and the bad. — Now Walther reveals how the downfall to an “evil meaning” came about. His reason for the famous "Peasants' Revolt" is at odds with that of most Reformation historians, so we are treated with true history. — From Der Lutheraner, vol. 30 (1874), p. 49-3 to 50-1: 

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Who are the Pfaffen?

[by C. F. W. Walther; Part 3]

Unfortunately, however, very soon among the papal priests [Priestern], especially since the introduction of celibacy, such a great [page 50-1] corruption set in that the word “Pfaffe” gradually lost its originally good meaning more and more, and that it was finally used to designate a person who, although ordained as a priest, abused his sacred office (for which the papal priesthood was considered) only for the satisfaction of his carnal lusts, his desire for money, and his lust for honor and power.  

When already at the end of the fifteenth and at the beginning of the sixteenth century a peasant revolt broke out in southwestern Germany and the peasants joined together in a union, which they called “Bundschuh” after their badge, they had made the question: “What is the nature of that?” and the answer to be given to it: “One cannot recover before monks and Pfaffen”, their distinctive mark of identification. *) 

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*) See [Johann Georg] Heinsius’ Kirchengeschichte [?], II, 216. Usually the papists blame the peasant wars of the sixteenth century on Luther and his Reformation, but history teaches that long before Luther the insatiable avarice and tyranny of both the Pfaffen and the nobility had incited the hard-pressed people to revolt.

 

In Luther's time, everything that was then called Pfaffen was in such bad repute that in 1530 it wasn’t just Emperor Charles V who is reported to have said: “If the Pfaffen were pious, they would not need Luther,” but even the Cardinal Archbishop of Salzburg Matthias Lang, after reading the Augsburg Confession, broke out into the words to Melanchthon: “Oh, what do you want to reform us Pfaffen for – we Pfaffen have never been good.” (** See: Luther's warning to his dear Germans of 1531. XVI, 1987. f. [StL 16:1644; AE 47:32]) Already earlier, in 1517, Emperor Maximilian, after reading Luther's 95 Theses against indulgences, said to the Electoral Saxon Councilor Pfeffinger: 

“What is your monk [Luther] doing? His Theses are not to be despised. He will start a game with the Pfaffen. The Elector may well take care of the monk, it might happen that one would need him.” († See: Heinsius' Kirchengeschichte, II, 140.)

This emperor was, as can be seen from this, convinced that the ruin of the church had its seat above all in the “Pfaffen”.

Thus it came about that the word Pfaffe was finally used only in an evil meaning. In the Holy Scriptures Luther used it in Isaiah 19:3 to describe the Egyptian idol priests but otherwise not at all; and in the apocryphal book Baruch he attached this name to the deceitful pagan priests of Babel (Baruch 6:9, 48). But where Luther usually speaks of Pfaffen in the evil sense, he means as a rule the papal priests who teach falsely and offer the idolatrous sacrifice of the Mass for money, together with the Pope and the bishops, but sometimes he also gives this title to preachers who want to be “evangelical”. Matthesius, for example, relates that when Luther was told of horrible cases of sin by so-called “evangelical” preachers, he declared that he would have to “ask the Elector for a Pfaffen's tower” so that preachers who desecrate their sacred office through godless living could be thrown into such a prison as just punishment for it.

So it is unfortunately true that there are preachers, there are servants of the church who deserve to be called not preachers of the Gospel, not servants of Christ, not pastors, not venerable lords (or Reverends) and the like, but Pfaffen, and that in the worst sense. [Gottesdienst]

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      Walther's history should be distinguished from mainstream historical scholarship on "anticlericalism" which commonly focuses on reactions against Roman Catholic clerics for their corruption, such as during the French Revolution. Protestantism is largely ignored in these histories and the free-thinking, rationalist radicals were themselves against all religion. However Walther focuses only on "Pfaffen" within Christianity, also Protestantism, even "evangelicalism". This is where we get true Church History. — In the next Part Pf04…