Limits6d: “pretense of modern science”; whither Luther Classical College?

      This concludes from Limits 6c, a 4-part appendix to the original series (Table of Contents in Part 1). — Again, as he did with Concordia–Milwaukee, Pieper highlights the limits for higher education, and why there must be these limits for a truly Christian institution. — From Der Lutheraner 65 (1909, pp. 386-387 DE [EN]:

Diverse knowledge and unique knowledge.

Address delivered at the dedication of Concordia College at 

Bronxville, N. Y., by F. Pieper. (conclusion)

But we know what they are talking about. We know that their speeches, under the pretense of modern science, lead mankind back to the time of ignorance, to the time when people did not know Christ and his sacrifice for the sin of the world, but tried in vain to reconcile God with their own works and sacrifices. These people therefore also have a completely wrong world view. They truly do not know what the world still stands for. They think that the world is still there for human genius to unfold and have an effect, for the English spirit, the German spirit, the French spirit, the Japanese spirit, but especially the American spirit to show what it is capable of. That is a completely erroneous view of the world. This is talk that belongs to the age of ignorance, but not to the twentieth century. The world is not for the purpose of people showing what they are capable of, but the world is for the purpose of people repenting and believing in Christ. As the apostle Paul testifies to the Athenians that God now commands all men to repent and that everyone should believe in Christ, and as Christ himself declares: “The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). 

The correct worldview is therefore this: The world and all that is in the world exists only for the sake of the gospel. The world is waiting for people to repent and believe in the gospel of Christ. For the sake of the gospel, God still gives life and breath to everyone, everywhere. States still exist for the sake of the gospel: England, Germany, France, Japan, even the United States of North America. For the sake of the gospel, the sun, moon and stars still shine. For the sake of the gospel, God still gives seed and harvest and earthly goods. For the sake of the gospel, God still gives understanding and wisdom and institutions of learning. The things of the world have value in the last analysis only in that they serve the gospel of Christ. In the light of the right worldview, even educational institutions only have as much value as they directly or indirectly serve the Gospel.

This alone also gives — let us never forget it! — the value of our Concordia of Bronxville. All knowledge and all training of the spirit that is imparted here is intended to serve the Gospel directly or indirectly. Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, English — these five languages will be taught and learned here for the service of the Gospel. O glorious Concordia! You will be a jewel in the eyes of God if you remain faithful to your destiny. Your walls will not remain forever, but will decay or sink back to nothing on the Last Day. But your fruit will remain if you have served the Gospel. Therefore all who love Christ and His Gospel should love you, Concordia of Bronxville, pray for you, care for you, give you abundantly of their earthly goods and finally receive their eternal reward of grace for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

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      What a sobering situation… Concordia–Bronxville is now gone, like several other Concordias, including Portland and Alabama. Some may attribute their demise to the changing situation, changing demographics, financial strain, etc. But with the reports of how far the teaching changed with respect to the Gospel and the Word, how can one avoid Pieper’s words above which also contained a warning, “You will be a jewel in the eyes of God if you remain faithful to your destiny”. One notices that all the "Notable alumni" who were theologians were also "Walkout" sympathizers. Did they “remain faithful”?  Far from it. — One wonders what "Notable alumni" will come out of the new Luther Classical College. May they take note of Pieper's counsel! 

     In the December 2023 issue of Ad Fontes, a monthly publication of Luther Classical College, Dr. Christian Preus stated that "the measure of our success is faithfulness to God’s Word", and that "We seek to hand this faithfulness down to the next generation." While many consider that his leadership will be enough to get this institution properly focused on the right doctrine, yet a problem exists for Dr. Preus in that he is in fellowship with LC–MS leaders and teachers whose teaching has been demonstrated to be lacking "faithfulness to God's Word", and even to the Lutheran Confessions. How does he think that he can maintain the proper focus where the Concordias of Bronxville, Portland, Alabama, Texas, also Valparaiso University have gone? Will he remain faithful to God's Word and avoid expediencies that cut corners? May God help him!

Limits6c: “What good is all knowledge if…”

      This continues from Limits 6b, a 4-part appendix to the original series (Table of Contents in Part 1). — Pieper contrasts the two knowledges, human knowledge and saving knowledge. In matters of saving knowledge, it does not matter whether one is "a man of culture or a barbarian". From Der Lutheraner 65 (1909), pp. 386-387 DE:

Diverse knowledge and unique knowledge.

Address delivered at the dedication of Concordia College at 

Bronxville, N. Y., by F. Pieper. (continued)

They [Athenians] do not know two things, because it is neither written in the heart of man by nature nor can it be read in the book of nature. First, <page 387> they do not know that the Son of God became man and that this incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ, is the Savior of men, namely, that he died for men to redeem their sins, and that God now wants all men to repent and believe in Christ as their Savior.  Secondly, they do not know that Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, rose again from the dead and is the judge of men. This world is coming to an end. At the end of the world, Jesus Christ will appear. He who has believed in Him will be given eternal life; he who has not believed in Him will not see life, but the wrath of God will remain upon him, regardless of whether he was a skillful Athenian or a clumsy Boeotian, Greek or Roman, a man of culture or a barbarian. The reason why the apostle calls the Athenians ignorant, despite the worldly knowledge they may have had before others, is thus perfectly clear.

We humans, dear listeners, are ignorant as long as we do not know the Savior of the world and the Judge of the world. What good is all historical knowledge if we do not know the main fact of human history, namely that Jesus Christ came into the world to save mankind? What good is all linguistic knowledge, even if it extends to seven or more languages, if we cannot hear through the languages and spread further that in which alone lies the salvation of men from the dies irae, dies ille, [the day of wrath, that day], from the wrath of the Last Day? What good is all our knowledge of nature, of God's creatures, if our — the discerning man’s — relationship to our Creator is not in order, if we do not know how we can have a merciful Creator? What good is the knowledge that there is a God, and what good is our civil righteousness, our righteousness before men, if we do not have the righteousness that is valid before God through faith in Christ and do not know: “Christ's blood and righteousness, that is my adornment and robe of honor; with it I will stand before God when I enter heaven”? [TLH 371] “Knowledge is power.” Yes, it is! But only one knowledge overcomes death and judgment, the knowledge of Christ, repentance and faith in Him. “Knowledge is useful.” Yes, it is! But the knowledge of Christ is the only knowledge that has the promise not only of this life, but also of the life to come.

Let us now return to our institution. In our Concordia in Bronxville we will cultivate worldly knowledge with all diligence, that is, the knowledge that also serves this earthly life. Our aim will be not only to equal other institutions of the same kind in this, but to surpass them. But in doing so we will not forget the knowledge “κατ εξοχήν”, the unique knowledge, the knowledge of Christ as the only Savior of the world and the great future judge of the world, but let it remain the great main thing. We will not allow ourselves to be misled by boastful talk of “modern science”. It has been said in recent times — especially here in the eastern United States — that “modern science” demands that people no longer repent and believe in Christ, but rather cast aside the gospel of Christ, the crucified and risen One, as outdated and think of a new religion. These people do not know what they are talking about. Sometimes they repeat words they do not understand, sometimes they have unclear concepts of their own which they do not account for. 

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      Pieper now applies it to his listeners in New York, that they are to also promote the "unique knowledge", the Christian Gospel. — In the concluding Limits6d…

Limits6b: Athenians: the “progressives”, the “ignoramuses”; Paul's address

      This continues from Limits 6a, a 4-part appendix to the original series (Table of Contents in Part 1). — Pieper now tells his listeners to follow him to the "metropolis of learning", Athens of antiquity. And his description makes one wonder if he takes us not to antiquity, but to today's "metropolises of learning". This was the environment that the Apostle Paul faced in Athens. From Der Lutheraner 65 (1909, pp. 386-387 DE:

 

Diverse knowledge and unique knowledge.

Address delivered at the dedication of Concordia College at 

Bronxville, N. Y., by F. Pieper. (continued)

But there is another kind of knowledge against which all the above-mentioned knowledge is out of the question, a knowledge so important and so decisive for the whole of mankind and for every single member of mankind that all men who do not possess it have an entirely false view of the world and are to be called ignoramuses. Follow me to the metropolis of knowledge in so-called classical antiquity, to the city of Athens.

An apostle of Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul, also came to Athens on his first trip to Europe, as we are told in the 17th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. The city of Athens was, as the Roman Cicero admits, the metropolis of intelligence. Human knowledge had plenty of representatives in the city. Socrates had taught here. Plato, Socrates' even more famous pupil, had founded his philosophical school here, the so-called Academy. A little later, Aristotle, who some have declared to be the greatest sage of the world, also taught here in the Lyceum. Worldly wisdom was also represented in several schools here in Athens at the time when the apostle Paul came to Athens. The apostle of Christ soon came into disputation with the Epicureans and Stoics. The Athenians were all, as we would say today, very “progressive”. They always wanted to hear the latest news, Acts 17:20-21. They also showed their keen intellectual interest when the apostle Paul appeared in their midst. 

They took the apostle by the hand (Acts 17:19) and led him to the place of judgment, the Areopagus, the place in the city where wise and prudent thoughts were exchanged. Here they challenged the apostle of Christ to speak, and the apostle spoke on the Areopagus. What does he have to say to the Athenians? The apostle's speech culminated in the words: “God has overlooked the time of ignorance; but now he commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the circle of the earth [Kreis des Erdbodens] with righteousness through one man, in whom he has decreed it, and hold up to all men the faith after he has raised him from the dead.” [Acts 17:30-31]

You can imagine the astonishment of the Athenians at the apostle's words. The apostle tells the educated, scientifically-minded Athenians that they have lived in a time of ignorance, that is, they have been ignorant until now. Why? Is he denying their worldly education and their worldly knowledge? Not at all. He even quotes from one of their poets the sentence: “We are of his race” as a testimony to the natural truth that there is a God and that human beings are God's creatures. And yet he calls them ignorant. Why then does the apostle call the Athenians ignorant? Why do the Athenians know nothing? 

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     Pieper's description of Athens makes one feel that they have actually been there. I had to read and study Acts 17:16 ff. again to fully appreciate this. In more recent times, at the time of the Reformation, Luther had to stand up to Erasmus, a very learned man, who was "ignorant" regarding the free will of man. It seems that the world today is ruled by "progressives".  (Although the outcome of the recent presidential election in America will put a dent in it.) Even the seminaries are being taken over by the "progressives". And so our response should be modeled after Paul's address. — In the next part Limits6c…

Limits6a: Pieper to Bronxville: "unique knowledge" – don’t forget it (1909)

      This is a 4-part appendix to a previous blog series (Table of Contents in Part 1; Part 5) on "The Limits of Human Science" in the Synod's educational institutions. The previous posts presented Prof. Franz Pieper's address to Concordia–Milwaukee in 1901, and also compared Pieper's counsel for Valparaiso University in 1926 with the plans for the new "Luther Classical College" to open in 2025 in Wyoming [Part 5]. In 1909, 8 years after his address at Milwaukee, Pieper delivered another important dedication address that is worthy of study. It echoes much of what he said in 1901, but with some added points, and Pieper is always edifying. It had to be a joyous occasion for Pieper since he had earlier, in 1886, corresponded with Pastor J. H. Sieker to encourage him in his efforts to get this school opened.

      Concordia–Bronxville closed in August, 2021, an institution far different from when it first began. In 1909 it had a Synod leader in Pieper who guided it on the right course. But Bronxville drifted off course, as it seems practically all Concordia schools have done. — Many Concordias have closed, making it all the more important that the new "Luther Classical College" in Wyoming get it right from the beginning and always stay focused on the right priorities. What better way than to study and take to heart Pieper's counsel!

      Pieper demonstrates his knowledge of ancient history, world history. His overview was quite informative and interesting for me. He even calls out certain aspects of the fields of astronomy and theoretical philosophy as harboring "illusory knowledge". But his review of Apostle Paul's visit to Athens is most instructive, for it puts human knowledge in perspective.

      The following dedicatory address was published in Der Lutheraner 65 (1909, pp. 386-387 DE EN]: 

 

Concordia-Bronxville, now closed

Diverse knowledge and unique knowledge.

Address delivered at the dedication of

Concordia College at Bronxville, N. Y., by F. Pieper.

Like other educational institutions, our Concordia in Bronxville, the first buildings of which we are opening for use today, is intended to serve knowledge. The human spirit is formed and destined by God to know, that is, to take cognizance of things and to have knowledge of them. Knowledge also has great practical significance for man. It has rightly been said that “knowledge is power” and “knowledge is useful”.

Now knowledge is of many kinds. Let me first say a few words to you about the knowledge that belongs in this life.

There is historical knowledge. From existing documents and, to some extent, from tradition, we can gain knowledge of what happened long before our time and what people who lived centuries and millennia before us said and did. And this historical knowledge is useful. We know how highly Luther valued historical knowledge. He calls history the most excellent earthly teacher. He calls the “writers of history” the “most useful people” and their books “wonderfully useful for recognizing and governing the course of the world, indeed for seeing God's wonders and work”. — 

There is also linguistic knowledge. We can acquire knowledge of old and new languages. And the benefits are obvious. The knowledge of modern languages enables us to have an extended intercourse with present-day humanity. It has been calculated that a knowledge of German and English alone enables us to communicate with the fourth part of the last living human race. Knowledge of the old languages is not useless either. Apart from the fact that elements of the old languages have passed into newer languages, namely English, the knowledge of old languages enables us to recognize what the civilized world thought and did centuries and millennia ago. In recent times, a movement has begun to push into the background the study of ancient languages, especially the so-called classical languages, Greek and Latin, in higher educational institutions. We will not go along with this movement in our secondary schools. — 

There is also a scientific knowledge. It arises from the observation of things and facts that exist in the vast and wonderful realm of nature. Admittedly, much in this field is passed off as real knowledge, which is only illusory knowledge, human imagination. I need only remind you of the field of astronomy and theoretical philosophy. But there still remains a sum of real knowledge in the field of nature that is of great benefit to human life here on earth. — 

Finally, there is also a body of knowledge that has been called moral knowledge. This is the knowledge of an all-powerful, holy God and of the difference between good and evil or of civil justice, which is inherent in all human beings. This knowledge is also extremely useful. Without external, civil justice, it would be impossible for people to live together in a state. 

That, in brief, is the human knowledge that belongs to this life. But there is another kind of knowledge against which all the above-mentioned knowledge is out of the question…

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      The leader of the movement to establish Luther Classical College, Dr. Christian Preus, has emphasized a "classical" education from the beginning, including languages. We see from the above that this agrees with Pieper's emphasis. But will he agree with Pieper's points on "scientific knowledge"? There are signs that he may not exactly. — In the next Limits 6b we are treated to a wonderful overview of antiquity…

Biermann, Piepkorn and… Jehovah's Witnesses? (Part 3)

[2024-11-06: added note below to compare with Synodical Conference essay.]

      This continues from Part 2 in a series (Table of Contents in Part 1) on the teaching of Concordia Seminary's Prof. Joel Biermann in relation to Holy Scripture. — When listening to Prof. Biermann's lecture, one is taken back 50 years, to the 1974 "Walkout" professors and their sympathizers. All of them had given up the Lutheran reliance on Holy Scripture. So let us listen to these two Concordia Seminary professors, then and now:

Prof. Arthur Carl Piepkorn († 1973)	Prof. Joel Biermann
Concordia Theological Monthly,  vol. 25, 1954, p. 739: “We have thus to differentiate this type of Verbal Inspiration from the Verbal Inspiration of the "Hard-Shell" Baptists, contemporary Fundamentalists, and such sects as Jehovah's Witnesses.”	Systematics III 05, lecture on YouTube 48:50:  “Because if you do [read the Bible apart from “tradition”], what are you going to come up with, who knows, you come up with … [Charles] Taze Russell and be a Jehovah's Witness, thank you for that! Or Joseph Smith, and you come up with Mormonism. What Bible did he read? Ours. What Bible did Jehovah's Witnesses read? Ours.”

Both Piepkorn and Biermann attempt to scare and shame Lutherans into thinking that reading the Bible will turn them into Jehovah’s Witnesses or other non-Christians. Biermann goes even further and adds Mormonism to the list. Both men tend to group “Fundamentalism” with these heretical sects. Both men would have Lutherans not solely depend on their Bible for their assurance of faith. This is essentially negating the Lutheran Confessions which confess the Holy Scriptures as their sole source of doctrine. [2024-11-06: Compare Biermann with the old Synodical Conference here.]

      Are there any LC-MS professors today who would not walkout now, given the same circumstances as those of the Walkout of 1974? What active current LC-MS professor today is openly critical of Piepkorn in this matter?

      For me, as a Lutheran, I believe in Christ and His Word, the Holy Scriptures. And I run from the wolves, like Professors Piepkorn and Joel Biermann! God help us from the likes of of these two professors.

[I have transcribed most of Biermann's lecture and may present this with further information on its content in future blog posts.]

Fritschel on LC–MS's Biermann: is he a Christian? (Part 2)

      This continues from Part 1 in a series (Table of Contents in Part 1) on the teaching of Concordia Seminary's Prof. Joel Biermann on Holy Scripture. — Biermann could not make his lecture statements if he really believed in the Inspiration of Holy Scripture. He could not teach "sola scriptura" as the Reformation theologians did.  A perfect response to his provocative statements comes from the old Iowa Synod, a synod that later merged into the American Lutheran Church (ALC – 1930-1960), then into today's ELCA. So one would not expect to see a defense of the Bible and its divine inspiration coming from their teachers. Yet the following is recorded by the historian of the ALC, Fred W. Meuser, in his 1958 Yale dissertation The Formation of the American Lutheran Church: A Case Study in Lutheran Unity, p. 178-179:

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The publications of both Iowa and Ohio [Synods] gave considerable attention during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century to the attacks by modern Biblical scholars on the traditional view of inspiration. Authors of both synods were fully convinced that the Bible taught its own divine inspiration, and that because the writings were inspired they were completely reliable. Not every assertion of the earlier dogmaticians was defended, but there was no yielding on the belief that Scriptural authority and reliability were essential doctrines of the Christian faith. Gottfried Fritschel in 1875 expressed the convictions of his synod and all conservative Lutherans when he wrote:

“The doctrine of inspiration is no distinctive Lutheran doctrine; it is common to all of Christendom. If a man denies it, the question is not whether he can remain a Lutheran but whether he can even be regarded as a Christian. Acceptance of the Holy Scriptures as God’s Word and all its teachings as infallible truth is shared by the Lutheran Church with all Christian churches. . . . It is taken for granted that when church fellowship is being determined, it cannot be granted to non-Christians but only to those who, with all Christians, accept the Word of God in all its parts as infallible truth.” (Theologische Monatshefte IV (1871), p. 278)

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This from a forebearer of the ELCA, a church body that has no appearance of holding to Fritschel's statement. But it appears that the old Iowa Synod, a Synod not as strong as Walther and the old Missouri Synod on Inspiration, would even go so far as to question whether LC–MS Prof. Joel Biermann can even be regarded as a Christian, let alone a Lutheran. — 

      Biermann makes another assertion in his lecture that wants to shame Lutherans. We compare this with a well known "Walkout" sympathizer in Part 3…