AG3a: 1875: The Justification of the Sinner

      This continues from Part AG2b (Table of Contents in Part AG1a) in a series presenting Walther's essays to the Western District that supported his theme "That Only Through the Doctrine of the Lutheran Church is All Glory Given to God Alone". — We move on to the following year's 1875 Western District essay where Walther addresses his Thesis III, part 5, a continuation of his teaching on Justification. This is powerful teaching on what the Gospel actually is, and so is worthy of careful study by all who covet their souls salvation. If there is a writing that gives All Glory (AG) to God, this is it. — From pp. 19-40:

Notable Quotes:

20-21: "the doctrine of justification does not say that man is just, but that he is to become just."

21: "there is no sin that has not been atoned for, no matter how great it may be"

21: "but for us he [Christ] fulfilled the law perfectly"

21: "nor did he say: pray, struggle, wrestle until you realize that you have [Christ's righteousness].… if you think you have obtained it in this way, it is only a dream from which you will wake up in horror."

21: "So where do we find God's grace? Answer: In the Word of God and in the Holy Sacraments, nowhere else."

22: "This is what the sects [Reformed, enthusiasts] think. They say that man must do the main thing if he wants to be saved; if he struggles, strives, fights and prays enough…"

23: "if God accepts something from us in grace, which we give him out of gratitude for the grace we have received, God must first give it to us"

23: "But if you say: yes, I don't want to be Lutheran at all, then know that you are not Christian either, for Lutheranism is nothing other than Christianity."

23: "This: “Therefore we hold that a man is justified without the works of the law, through faith alone” [Rom. 3:28, Luther's Bible] is true Christianity, but it is also true Lutheranism."

23: "man was not to become righteous first, but God had already made him righteous when he created him."

24: God "also restores to man the righteousness which He had created for him in Adam, but which he lost in Adam"

24: "when the life-giving Word of God comes to us, we wake up, but most do not want to get up and therefore die again until they go to eternal death"

24: " It is true that Christians must also struggle, pray and fight, but not in order to obtain grace, but in order not to lose it again."

25: "Our Church, however, in the Augsburg Confession, in the Small Catechism, etc., takes this doctrine very seriously."

26: "For what good would it do us if we knew 

• that God is triune, 
• that Christ is God and man in one person, 
• that our flesh will one day be resurrected, 
• and had all the other glorious doctrines of faith, 

but did not have the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone, without merit of works?"

26: "Just read the songs of the blessed in heaven, as described in the Revelation of John. Do they perhaps praise something in themselves? No,…"

27: "The devil, reason, or other such friends say: 'Do this, do that, if you want to be saved'. But do not listen to those voices!"

28: "The Augsburg Confession excludes all personal merit. What, on the other hand, does the pope do? He curses those who hold to Christ's merit alone".

28: "It is also extremely important to keep this doctrine pure and clear…for the person under attack doubts whether he has grace with God and considers himself unworthy of it because of his sins"

29: "We are also blasphemed…we are called…people who only wage wars over words"

29: The tempted "find strong consolation precisely in the fact that “by grace alone” serves the glory of God"

29: Luther "shows how all false doctrine of justification is contrary to the first commandment"

29: "the Father's declaration before the whole world…that it is now righteous before Him, so that it may believe that it is redeemed and reconciled"

30: The believer "now also calls upon God in all earnestness for strength for sanctification"

30: "Those are greatly mistaken who think that we are opposed to earnest godliness"

30: "where the first commandment is established, the grace of God is established"

31: "Modern theology, too, teaches again the doctrine of works, and indeed the most refined, in that it presents faith as a work by which we acquire grace."

31: "According to them [Jesuits], therefore, faith and love justify." [The damnable word "and".]

32: "It is common to say that God justifies man, but on the condition of faith.…Only those who do not know how to distinguish clearly between condition and means can come up with such ideas."

32: "We are not reconciled with God when we believe, but we are already redeemed, already reconciled with God, so that we believe."

33: "The doctrine of justification can only be correctly understood if faith is presented merely as the hand, as the instrument, by which we appropriate the offered righteousness."

33: Easter: "when God raised his Son from the dead, he did not forgive his own sin, but that of all mankind"

Walther's great preaching of the Gospel:

33: "Thus the whole world has already been justified by the resurrection of Christ, which man must now appropriate for himself through faith." [Objective & Subjective Justification]

33: "Just as the Universalists teach that no man is lost, but that all are saved…The enthusiasts know very well that we do not teach this.…man must now accept what Christ has acquired, otherwise he does not have it, and otherwise God cannot save him either." [Lutherans are not Universalists.]

34: "the Bible the expression “if we believe, we will be saved” is never used in the sense that it indicates a condition."

35: Heerbrand (pic) on the "hand" of faith: "It is only the way of accepting the benefits offered and given through and for the sake of Christ…the hand is not called the condition, but the means and instrument"

35: "Forgiveness of sins is also acquired for the impenitent. It is only their unbelief that prevents justification from being put into effect for them."

36: "Justification is not something that happens in our hearts, but in God"

36: "When the little word “if” is used in Scripture, it is not always necessarily a conditional “if”, but often a syllogistic “if”, which serves to indicate the consequence." [We are saved "if" we believe.]

36: "God asks nothing of us, we are only supposed to take. And since God Himself works faith, it cannot be a cause or condition, but only a means of justification."

37: Carpzov: "It is inaccurate to call faith the instrumental cause of justification.…it is the instrument"

37: "we cannot accomplish anything, not even faith."

37: "Unbelief is the cause of damnation, but faith is not the cause of salvation."

39: "We therefore stand by what the Scripture says: 'This is the work of God, that you believe'. John 6:29"

39: "We will have nothing else to do for all eternity but to offer Him our thanksgiving that He has justified and saved us sinners by grace"

I loved reviewing this powerful essay again as Walther gives the poor sinner, like me, complete assurance in Christ. — In the next Part AG3b…

AG2b: 1874, Reconciliation, Redemption of Human Race, "Crown of all Christian Doctrine"

      This continues from Part AG2a (Table of Contents in Part AG1a) in a series presenting Walther's essays to the Western District that supported his theme "That Only Through the Doctrine of the Lutheran Church is All Glory Given to God Alone". — This second part of Walther's 1874 essay is one of his most powerful essays, full of comfort, full of defense for the truth, especially against the "enthusiasts". I have quoted from it previously without providing a completely new translation. — From pp. 43-61:

Notable Quotes:

43: "This doctrine is…the crown of all Christian doctrine and the real triumph of the Christian religion."

43: "the Christian religion, on the other hand, teaches not only how people are to be eternally saved one day, but how they are already saved"

43: "Everything has already been done; you are already redeemed, you are already justified before God, you are already saved; therefore you have nothing to do to redeem yourself first"

44: The papists teach "if one sins after baptism, one must then do enough before God"

44: Formula of Concord: "God has decreed in his purpose and counsel, 1. that the human race is truly redeemed and reconciled to God through Christ"

44: "In Christ my sins have already been atoned for; he has done enough for them as my substitute."

45: "Good works should be done, but not to propitiate God…but out of gratitude to Christ"

45: "the damned in hell will one day have to say: I did not go to hell because I was not saved,…but I was cast out because I did not want to accept the salvation I had received from God's hand"

Walther's great Gospel teaching:

45: "We should not say to people: You are saved on the condition that you believe; but the other way around: Because Christ has redeemed you, you can now believe that you have been saved."

46: "It is therefore terrible when the sects say: I have all this on condition that I do something to bring it about."

46: "God is no longer angry with mankind.…For as I believe God, so He is."

47: "…as Luther also says in the 95 Theses. 'The true treasure of the churches,' it says in the 62nd thesis, 'is the holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.'" [Prof. Cameron MacKenzie argues against Luther's 95 Theses as truly Lutheran yet. He also argues against Walther.]

47: "…they are always there for us, even if we do not believe."

48: The enthusiast "is against the means of grace because he does not believe in grace itself. Yes, says the enthusiast, I cannot believe that God gives such great goods through such small, insignificant means."

49: Enthusiasts (i.e. Methodists, Pentecostals etc.) "confess, for example, that they believe in the triune God; but this article is the greatest mystery to human reason."

49: Enthusiasts "do not ask [one]: What do you believe? — but rather: How do you feel?…they go on with the work until he has a feeling as if Jesus is there."

50: "But this is precisely what they lack, and make repentance the means of reconciliation with God" [As the papists do.]

50: "Whoever, at the hour of death, does not keep to the Word but to the "spirit", has only a phantom, a figment of the imagination, and must go to hell."

51: "according to Scripture, the whole Christ, the God-man, died…If only that which was human in Christ had died, then redemption would not be valid"

52: Calvin "…attributes it only to the unconditional eternal counsel of God that God brings a man to heaven, not to Christ's truly perfect satisfaction."

52: "true Reformed do not believe that Christ is true God and man in one person"

53: "if we could not rely on the word of Christ, 'It is finished,' no Christian could say, 'Christ has done enough for every one of my sins.'…Only in the Lutheran Church is this truth taught."

54: "Christ bore all sins, both original sin and all other sins.…the enthusiasts say, [God has] only done something for the redemption of all people…we still have to do something in addition."

54: "the angels at the birth of the world's Redeemer and Reconciler…: "Glory to God in the highest"!"

55: "the Presbyterians confess: 'No other is redeemed by Christ…except the elect alone.'"

56: "the ungodly doctrine of the Romans concerning the sacrifice of the Mass.…the greatest abomination of papism."

56: The devil "preserves and elevates the Mass so powerfully, namely to remove Christ's sacrifice from the church"

56: The Apology: "We teach that the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross was sufficient for the sin of the whole world"

57: "The Mass is therefore the real hellish core of the antichristian papacy."

58: "How are people converted? By giving God the glory he has given himself in the work of redemption"

58: "No doctrine is therefore so…worthy that the preacher should present it in a more attractive and lovely way, than the doctrine of the redemption of the world through Christ"

59: Listeners of modern preachers are "only beaten up, given rules, punished harshly and given a great goal. So it is no wonder that people are reluctant to go to church."

59: "If…a preacher proclaims Christ Jesus, exalts this man, and makes people rejoice from the heart that they have such a glorious Savior, that is the right man, he is an ambassador in God's stead"

60: "as Luther rightly says: Even when the Lord Jesus proclaims woe, he does so in order to be able to save."

60: "It is also a wonderful, fruitful means of preparation for this if the preacher diligently studies Luther." [Compare to Prof. Cameron MacKenzie's unhelpful comment on Walther and Luther:

"Walther overlooks or explains away what others might see as sinful [in Luther]. We do not do either of these things today. We expect our heroes both to have weaknesses and to make mistakes—and they do. Martin Luther and oh, yes, C.F.W. Walther. But Walther is long gone and so is his whole approach to Martin Luther as hero and infallible teacher."]

Reading MacKenzie's statement is like saying "Read Luther to see if you can find his sinfulness, his weaknesses, his fallibility". Of course MacKenzie's charge that Walther ascribed "infallibility" to Luther's person is false. But Luther's doctrine was Scriptural and therefore infallible.

      Now I present my new English translation with all missing portions, and Walther's emphasis of wording, fully restored, and hyperlinks added for navigation and reference:

Download the text file here (8-1/2 x 11, no highlighting); German text here.

— In the next Part AG3a we begin Walther's next essay from 1875 on "The justification of the Sinner".

AG2a: 1874 Western: The General Will of God's Grace (Christianity not like Philosophy)

      This continues from Part AG1d (Table of Contents in Part AG1a) in a series presenting Walther's essays to the Western District that supported his theme "That Only Through the Doctrine of the Lutheran Church is All Glory Given to God Alone". — We move on to the following year's 1874 Western District essay where Walther addresses his Thesis III, part 4, the General Will of God's Grace., and part 5, the Reconciliation and Redemption of the Human Race. — This segment contains Walther's masterful defense of Luther's writing  The Bondage of the Will that is so troublesome for several prominent LC-MS theologians. See also Part AG1d, p. 79. — From pp. 30-43 in the original:

Notable Quotes:

31: "a great mistake of modern theology, that one thinks of God without God's Word and then says: This is how he is."

31: "we know that he really wants to save all men; he has revealed this to us in his Word"

31: "God is not like a person who is sometimes friendly, sometimes grumpy, but a being constantly glowing with love."

32: "If a man will not hear God's Word…the will of God to save him is nevertheless a serious one"

32: "such a person…likes it where the devil is served"

33-35: Walther's great defense of Luther's The Bondage of the Will.

33: "some false Lutherans consider our Luther to be a particularist, i.e. someone who believes that God basically only wants to be merciful to some people…" [E.g. Robert Kolb, Cameron Mackenzie, Roy Suelflow.]

35: "In the image of God there is no wrath in his nature and being, and certainly nothing but pure love and goodness."

36: "So when Christ cries out woe over the ungodly, this too…is a voice of his saving love."

36: "these kinds of judgments of wrath only belong to the time of grace; when this is over, the time of wrath begins."

37: "If we do not know that God wants to save everyone, we must forever doubt whether we are in a state of grace, whether our faith is right"

38: On supralapsarians and infralapsarians: "…God is turned into a hypocritical God and the tears of Christ over Jerusalem into hypocritical tears. What an abominable dishonoring of God!"

38: "where has God revealed that he wants to act according to this [His] power? Nowhere. Rather, God has revealed that he wants to have mercy on all men"

39: "God did not actually build hell for people, but for the devils. That is why he once said to the damned: 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.' [Matt. 25:41]"

39: "Universalists deny the redemption of Jesus Christ. They only speak of a love of God apart from Christ."

40: On the 1) general will of grace and of the 2) election of grace: "…we too are certainly in great danger of violating one of these two doctrines in one way or another through the devil's cunning."

40: "Zwingli and Calvin were philosophers…Calvinism flooded Switzerland, France, England and Holland in particular."

41: For Calvinists, "when the Bible uses the word 'all' or the expression 'without distinction' or when it says: 'God wants to save sinners', it always refers only to the elect."

41: "For it is inexplicable to our reason that the Chinese…have been without the preaching of the Gospel for so long.…this is the abyss the Calvinists could not get over"

41-42: Walther on Philosophy:

41: "Calvin's doctrine looks like a harmonious whole that solves all the riddles of reason."

41: "Luther's doctrine, on the other hand, fits reason neither back nor front. Of course, the apostles and prophets are to blame for this…"

42: "For Calvin is quite the same as our modern philosophers, except that he still cites Bible verses for his cause. These philosophers, such as [Immanuel] Kant, [Friedrich] Schelling, [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich] Hegel, are therefore actually better, for they do not attach Bible verses to their philosophy."

42: "we do not seek a doctrine that forms a system, like philosophy.…Christianity, however, is not such a science."

42: "We see that many children are deceived and lost…But it is important to note that there is a mystery here"

      It should be noted that in the year of this essay, 1874, there was already a discussion on whether the 12th point, Election of Grace, should be pulled forward because of the attacks on this doctrine by the Iowa Synod. It was surely Walther who made the point that this doctrine should only be dealt with after "we have gone through the other doctrines that precede it in the third thesis". See Part AG1. — In the next Part AG2b, Walther addresses the fifth point of his Thesis 3, the Reconciliation and Redemption of the Human Race.

AG1d: 1873: Divine Providence (Thesis III, 3); full download

      This continues from Part AG1c (Table of Contents in Part AG1a) in a series presenting Walther's essays to the Western District that supported his theme "That Only Through the Doctrine of the Lutheran Church is All Glory Given to God Alone". — Concluding the 1873 Western District essay is Walther's Thesis III, part 3, on Divine Providence. — In Walther's forceful teaching, he exposes all hidden unbelief, even in matters relating to this subject. — From pp. 63-80 in the original:

Notable Quotes:

63: "The dear Christians…think that these [laws of nature] are actually the driving force … [they] should rather see God at work everywhere."

64: "…God's greatest honor, that no mosquito can move in the universe without Him…Oh, it is a very blessed teaching!"

64: "Anyone who does not believe [providence of God] this is not a Christian."

65: There have been people who have thought that God takes care of the whole, but does not take care of the smallest things; but this is a boundless stupidity.

66: "God considers everything he has created important,…and cares about everything without exception"

66: "The pagan Pliny thinks that the divine majesty is defiled when it cares for despised things. But these are foolish thoughts…"

67: God's "eye surveys everything, from beginning to end, without first having to consider anything"

67: "The power of God is no less visible in the creation of a mosquito than of an elephant; hence also in its preservation."

67-68: God's handiwork: The mosquito, elephants, bees, beavers

68: "…everywhere they [atheists] look they see themselves surrounded by immeasurable power and wisdom, and they are nothing but impotent dust." [Notwithstanding Artificial Intelligence.]

69: Luther: "that God is with his own in death, in hell, in waters, in mud, which are as unclean and impure as other filth"

70: "If the good Lord were not everywhere, no seed could germinate, no sprout could become a stalk…"

71: "In this disgraceful, God-denying time, we must push this article hard.…Many people don't really believe the first article"

71: "For it is not true faith, if someone thinks that there is a bit of God everywhere…[God] is not only everywhere, but everywhere he is always whole."

72: Luther: God "is at the same time in every little grain completely and utterly, and yet in all and above all and beyond all creatures"

72: "…the Reformed say: 'How can the body of Christ be in the host? He would then have to crawl into it completely.' But these are stupid rational thoughts." [Walther catches the Reformed in their error: they not only deny the True Prescence, in the process they deny God's Providence.]

73: "all things…are only there because there is divine preservation.…perpetually dependent on Him for all eternity."

73: "we have a way of saying: "The sun rises, it rains, it hails." — But this is an improper way of speaking…" [Scripture] "usually says: God makes the sun rise, God rains, God hails." 

74: "the blessing that is in the grain nourishes us. Only the blind heathen thinks that the nourishing power is in the grain itself."

75: "If God is not willing, no war can break out; if God is not willing, no peace can be made.…Anyone who attributes victory to cannons or well-trained soldiers is basically an atheist." [Or drones, or Artificial Intelligence.]

75: "we Christians, when we read in the newspapers [or Internet], must always look not at men, who are only the instruments, but at God, who rules the world."

75: "Therefore no revolutions, but repentance!"

75-76: "therefore the most simple-minded Christian horseman can make a better judgment about it than the greatest historian, if he is not a Christian."

76: Unbeliever: "everything he does is pure sin before God, even if it may be civically good."

76: "a most important subject, namely the extent to which God cooperates in evil deeds"

77: "strictly speaking, God has no foreknowledge, he has no present, no past, no future. What he knows, he knows; only for us is it foreknowledge" [Who teaches like Walther?]

77: "But men were preserved because the Son of God prayed for them."

78: "God is not bound by the so-called laws of nature. The three men in the fiery furnace are an example"

79: "even if God is the driving force in all people, he works good; but he does not work evil, …This is …a justification of Luther's entire book…The Bondage of the Will. So if there are other passages in which Luther speaks as if he believed that God also does evil, this is mere appearance." [See Part AG1c: Against Robert Kolb, Cameron MacKenzie, Roy Suelflow.]

80: "God shows us…that he is the great artist who can make something good out of evil"

How comforting to hear Walther's powerful teaching of God's Providence!… that He is with us always!

      Now I present my new English translation with all missing portions, and Walther's emphasis of wording, fully restored, and hyperlinks added for navigation and reference:

Download DOCX file here; German text here.

Walther's teaching against the Reformed above is counteracted by several prominent LC–MS theologians and pastors. These tend to equate the term "Evangelicals" with today's Reformed, but it was the Lutherans who were the real "Evangelicals". These LC–MS teachers typically teach against a so-called "biblicism" that they perceive as Reformed, or "Evangelical", doctrine. But these essentially ignore the strongest defense against the Reformed that Walther uses, that the bare words "This is my body, this is my blood" are not understood as they read. The Lutherans accept these simple words as they read — does that make true Lutherans "biblicists"? It would seem so.  — In the next Part AG2a…

AG1c: The cause of sin, death, hell, damnation (also Predestination, Election); "banging heads"

      This continues from Part AG1b (Table of Contents in Part AG1a) in a series presenting Walther's essays to the Western District that supported his theme "That Only Through the Doctrine of the Lutheran Church is All Glory Given to God Alone". — Continuing the 1873 Western District essay: In Walther's Thesis III, part 2, the title indicated above could have been expanded to include the words Election of Grace or Predestination. Little did I realize how closely these are tied together. Walther explains at the beginning that he included this topic because the Iowa Synod was accusing Missouri of being Calvinistic. Several modern LCMS theologians have criticized Walther and even Luther on the subject matter covered in this Thesis. Names such as Robert Kolb, Cameron MacKenzie, Roy Suelflow, and even John Wohlrabe and John Brenner (Wisconsin Synod) have slipped in criticisms. These will be covered in more detail in Parts AG7c and AG7d. — From pages 53-63: 

Notable Quotes: 

53: "For we, following Luther, have proved…that man's free will is not at all active in this [salvation]"

53: "the cause alone is God's eternal mercy and the merit of Jesus Christ. We reject every third cause of salvation that is supposed to lie in man." [Against Synergism.]

54: Those not chosen by God "have not been saved because they have willfully rejected this grace [of God]"

54: "the Iowans say that Luther's book on free will is a completely false book, that it contains pure Calvinism…they say that Luther later revoked this writing" 

54: Luther "did not revoke this writing 'That Free Will is Nothing' until his death, but declared it to be his best writing…" [See this blog post]

 54: "Anyone with a little leaven of Pelagianism will of course bang his head against this writing [of Luther]" [On the Bondage of the Will, or De Servo Arbitrio; LC–MS theologians are "banging their heads"!]

55: "the cause of sin is the will of the wicked, that is, of the devil and ungodly men"

55-56: "'Why,' said Eve, as it were, 'did you make the serpent?' and Adam wanted to say: 'Why did you give me Eve?' This is part of our nature: we prefer to blame God"

56: "God spoke differently about the vessels of mercy and the vessels of condemnation" [See this blog post]

56: Setting the record straight regarding Luther's On the Bondage of the Will: "it is a gross falsehood when the Iowa Synod says that Luther's writing on free will contains Calvinistic elements" [Some of the above mentioned recent theologians are among those charging Luther on this.]

57: "If they call us Calvinists, they are lying." ["Crypto-Calvinism" was the charge.]

58: "God does not do evil in man; people already do evil without him."

58: " But when God wants to punish in his wrath, he does nothing.…Calvin understood "hardening" to mean a real act of God in the hearts of people, i.e. making them hardened. No, says Luther…"

60: 2 Sam. 24:1 and 1 Chron. 21:1, Calvinist's confusion: "that God was so angry with David because of his unfaithfulness that he decided to allow the devil to give David the power to number the people, which would then result in a great judgment." [I. e. God is not the cause of sin.] 

60-61: "Man can be compared to a falling stone.…If God does not work in him, he falls from sin to sin."

61: Calvinists "want to say that God is ultimately to blame; he is such a sovereign being"

61: "It is therefore terrible that the Iowans equate us with the Calvinists." 

Regarding this last quote, LC-MS theologians Robert Kolb, Cameron MacKenzie and Roy Suelflow want to charge even Luther with Calvinism in his writing On the Bondage of the Will. Not Walther! Anyone wanting a defense against these LC-MS theologians who want to charge Luther with even a hint of Calvinism will find their heart's desire in this segment. More will detailed on this in Parts AG7c and AG7d. — In the next Part AG1d…

AG1b: Lutheran Doctrine: The Word of God, Hermeneutics short course (put Bible in the furnace?)

      This continues from Part AG1a (Table of Contents in Part AG1a) in a series presenting Walther's essays to the Western District that supported his theme "That Only Through the Doctrine of the Lutheran Church is All Glory Given to God Alone". — Continuing the 1873 Western District essay: In Walther's Thesis III, part 1, he gives a somewhat briefer treatment of the Word of God than he did in several other writings, so this may serve for those wanting a short course on Lutheran hermeneutics. Most LCMS historians overlook this subject in Walther's 1873 essay, including Prof. Raymond Surburg. Only Prof. Thomas Manteufel makes brief mention of it in his 2004/2005 Pieper Lectures essay “C. F. W. Walther and the Doctrine of Scripture in the Early History of the Missouri Synod”. — From the official report pp. 41-52:

Notable Quotes:

Thesis III, 1: The Word of God

42: "Luther did not, indeed, leave a scientific system of this doctrine; but if you only read how he speaks of the Scriptures, …[he had the] same faith which Gerhard and Quenstedt and Calov" [Cp. with 1886 writing.]

42: "Here our Church confesses that every word, every phrase, every repetition of any word, every abbreviation, the whole way of speaking has its origin in the Holy Spirit, who has inspired everything,"

43: "whoever commits himself to the symbolic books…and does not believe this doctrine is a wretched scoundrel."

43: "It is not Isaiah, not Moses, not Paul who speaks, but it is the Holy Spirit who speaks"

42-43: Apology of the Augsburg Confession: "Do they think that these words [passages of Scripture] fell inconsiderately from the Holy Ghost?"; "In short, this passage shows that the doctrine of the inspiration of Holy Scripture, as it was presented by our old dogmatists in the seventeenth century, already lies in the symbolic books."

44: Modern theologians say Scripture contains errors: "some historical, some astronomical, some physical, some mathematical, some chronological."

45: "every man can take everything from Scripture…He needs no pope, no council, no church, no pastor"

45-46: The Popes diminish God's honor "by making the authority of Scripture dependent on the authority of the church alone" [Prof. Joel Biermann makes Scripture dependent on "Tradition". Also see recent Vatican  news of  "Mariology, not being governed by Scripture Alone"]

46: The Apocrypha: "are not to be regarded as Holy Scripture, but only to be read carefully". [See other blog post "Walther on the Apocrypha: "bad crumbs" (Purgatory)" for more on this.]

47: "if Scripture, which God made, were an imperfect work, then God would no longer be God."

47: "we do not mean to say that the Bible is a person, but that it judges just like a person"

48: Erroring theologians say "all heresies have arisen from the Bible." [Cp. Piepkorn and Biermann speak like this: “biblicism” produces “Jehovah’s Witnesses”, “Mormons”]

48: "Luther was not a prophet and apostle who could not have been mistaken. … We therefore place Luther's translation below the original text." [Against Prof. Cameron Mackenzie's attack on Walther, that Walther  "carefully avoided any reference to sinful indulgence or weakness" in Luther.]

49: Reformed say "yes" when Lutherans say "The Bible is God's Word, literally inspired by the Holy Spirit" But if Lutherans apply this to 'This is my body; this is my blood'… they [Reformed] make excuses." [See this blog post.]

50: "For the Lutherans, Scripture is the sole norm, rule and guideline of all faith and life. Catholics, on the other hand, place tradition and the authority of the Church above Scripture. [See this comment on current Mariology in Roman Catholic Church.]

50: "…for the Lutheran doctrine is nothing more than a repetition of what is written in the Bible"

51: "we say so confidently and cheerfully to the whole world and to all sects, 'You are wrong, we are right,'"

      We have already covered the theology of Profs. James Voelz and Joel Biermann elsewhere.  In a similar way as Biermann, Rev. Dr. John Bombaro, a prominent LC–MS pastor, said the following in a 2013 essay concerning those who he called "biblicists", those who believed that "the Bible, down to the details of its words, consists of and is identical with God’s very own words written inerrantly in human language":

"the dictum of Frederick Nietzsche seems to obtain: 'Convictions are more dangerous enemies of the truth than lies.' Enemies of the populace, of course, must be sequestered if not eliminated, especially when such repellent and bigoted religious content indoctrinates otherwise innocent children."

"Must be sequestered"? "Eliminated"? "Repellent and bigoted religious content"? These are the pronouncements of Rev. Dr. (Pastor) John Bombaro against what Walther taught. One cannot think of a more dangerous theologian for Christians than Dr. Bombaro. He is the current senior pastor at St. James Lutheran in Lafayette, Indiana. How would Walther respond to Dr. Bombaro? 

"You are wrong, we are right."

In the next Part AG1c…

A short Christmas Eve message, from Walther's pen

     While defending against the errors of Rome and the Reformed on the Person of Christ, C. F. W. Walther pointed out a lesson from a short Bible verse that deals with the events of the first Christmas. While the Papists make a show of their veneration of saints, especially Mary, the Bible verse Matt. 2:11 stands in the way. From the 1882 Western District essay, p. 46:

“Among the examples presented to us in Holy Scripture, foremost is that of the wise men from the East, of whom it is said: ‘They saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him,’ not the mother, but the child.” (Matthew 2:11)

Not the mother Mary, but the child Jesus in the manager. They directed their worship to the Lord of glory in the manger. We also may all go directly to our Lord Jesus in our prayers. — May the reader see how foolish the Roman Catholic Church is in its teachings on this!

AG1a: 1873 Western: Walther's 'All Glory to God' Essays (Part 1)

   As I have done with Franz Pieper's convention essays recently, I am providing my own translations of Walther's essays that have already been translated and published by Concordia Publishing House. I am targeting Walther's series entitled 

"Only Through the Doctrine of the Lutheran Church is 

All Glory Given to God Alone",

in which there were 11 essays presented to the Western District from 1873 through 1886. The CPH versions were spread across 2 books: 1) Convention Essays (1981) and 2) Walther's Works: All Glory to God (2016)

      Why is this being done? For several reasons:

1. To make these essays available to the public free of charge so that no one is deprived of Walther's extensive teaching.
2. To restore portions omitted due to "space limitations", especially for years 1873-1876.
3. To correct any missing emphasis of wording.
4. To offer hyperlinks for navigation and references.
5. Allow immediate online linking to references in Walther's writings.

Walther outlined 12 points that he intended to cover in this series. Following each point, I identify in red what year it was addressed:

1. of the Word of God; [1873 Western Dist.]

2. the cause of sin, death, hell and damnation; [1873 Western Dist.]

3. of divine providence; [1873 Western Dist.; Thesis III, no. 2 deals with Election]

4. of the general will of God's grace; [1874 Western Dist.]

5. of the reconciliation and redemption of the human race; [1874 Western Dist.]

6. the justification of the sinner by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ without merit of works; [1875 Western Dist.]

7. the necessity of regeneration and sanctification; [1875 Western Dist.]

8. the foundation, validity, power and immutability of the means of grace; [1876 Western Dist.]

9. of conversion; [1876 Western Dist.]

10. of the invocation and worship of God; [1882 Western Dist.]

11. obedience to men in matters of faith and conscience; [1883, 1885, 1886 Western Dist.]

12. the election of grace. [1877, 1879, 1880 Western Dist.]

As one reviews this list, we notice that Point 12, Election of Grace, was pulled up to go ahead of points 10 and 11. This was because of the urgency of the great controversy on this doctrine.

      In this first of 11 essays, it should be noted that although most historians report that Walther first addressed the Election Controversy beginning in 1877, Walther already wrote about it in 1873. So we can see the beginning of the build up in the great controversy at this earlier date. — This segment is covered in the official report on pages 26-41. We introduce this essay by presenting some extracts:

Notable Quotes:

Thesis I: On Religion in general:

26-27: Religion "deals with the relationship of man to God.… the word used for it in Scripture is "religion" (Gottesdienst) (in Greek: ϑρησχεία)."

29: "the Christian religion is the true religion, because it alone gives all glory to God"

30: Atheists "do not even have what the pagans have."

30: "our intention to argue only with those who admit the existence of a God"

30: "The sects say: 'We give God the glory; but you must work out your salvation, pray, fight, wrestle'"

Thesis II: On the True Visible Church

31: "the only true church is the one that gives glory to God alone through all its teachings"

31: "the church differs from the state in that it is united by religion, while the state is united by the needs of this life"

32: All glory to God means "…that man is less than nothing; who brings man to fall down before God"

32: Luther complained "that it was becoming so difficult for him to… apply 'by faith alone'."

33: "Alas, it is not easy to give God the glory. It costs great struggles…"

34-35: "That is why Luther…repeated the first commandment in every commandment: "'We should fear and love God'…"

36: "…God's honor is diminished by the slightest false teaching"

Thesis III: Evidence from our forefathers

38: Luther: "the world becomes hostile to us precisely because we give all glory and praise to God and leave nothing to the world."

38-39: Ancient Fathers: "It is not the suffering that makes the martyr, but the cause of the suffering."

39: "'Alas,' said the enemies [of Luther], 'he puts all good works to shame, is an enemy of piety, says that God does everything.'"

40: "anyone who knows that a doctrine is the Word of God starts a war with the whole world."

41: Kromayer: "…the Lutheran religion… relates everything to God's glory"

41: "Methodist Nast claims to have penetrated to perfect sanctification…that he has given up smoking"

In the next blog post Part AG1b, we cover a section that gave me much encouragement: Of the Word of God.

- - - - - - - - - - -  Table of Contents  (Western District, "All Glory to God"  series  - - - - - - - - - - - - 

      At the beginning of Thesis III, Walther reveals the doctrines that he would eventually cover in the next 13 years under this Thesis, through a total of 11 essays presented to the Western District. I plan to follow Walther's original plan rather than strictly in chronological order. See the following, noting that "AG signifies "All Glory":

AG1a: This introduction, 1873 Western District: Theses I, II, and Thesis III partial

   AG1b: 1873: Lutheran Doctrine: The Word of God, Hermeneutics short course (put Bible in the furnace?)

     Excursus: Walther on the Apocrypha: "bad crumbs"

   AG1c: 1873: The cause of sin, death, hell and damnation (also Predestination, Election); "banging heads"

   AG1d: 1873: Divine Providence (Thesis III, 3); full download

AG2a: 1874: The General Will of God's Grace  (Christianity not like Philosophy)

   AG2b: 1874: Reconciliation, Redemption of Human Race, "Crown of all Christian Doctrine"

AG3a: 1875: The Justification of the Sinner

   AG3b: 1875: The Necessity of Regeneration and Sanctification

   AG3c: 1875: Good Works; full download

AG4a: 1876: The Means of Grace, their Foundation

   AG4b: 1876 Means of Grace: Validity and Power

   AG4c: 1876: Means of Grace, their Immutability; Conversion, Antichrist

AG5: 1877 The Election of Grace I

AG6: 1879 The Election of Grace II

AG7: 1880 The Election of Grace III

   AG7a: 1880 Pastoral Conference 

   AG7b: 1881 Pastoral Conference 

   AG7c: 1868 Northern, Siegbert Becker, Brenner, Wohlrabe, Eckhardt, G. Fritschel, Roy Suelflow, Kolb, MacKenzie

   AG7d:  MacKenzie's "second error in Walther's citing of Luther"

AG8a: 1882: Invocation and Worship of God (Prayer I)– what it is and is not

   AG8b: Saints worshipped, Christ robbed; Person of Christ (Prayer II)

   AG8c: Evangelical aspect to Prayer; against Pietism (Prayer III)

AG9a: 1883, Obedience to Men (or Worldly Authorities I, Churchly Authorities)

   AG9b: 1883, Churchly Authorities, part 2; with download

AG10a: 1885, Obedience to Men  (Worldly Authorities II, Secular Authorities)

   AG10b: Secular Authorities, part 2

     Excursus 1: Walther on Jesuit expulsion from… Catholic lands

AG11a: 1886: Obedience to Men  (Worldly Authorities III, Household Authority)  Thesis I: Parental

   AG11b: Theses II  (Women, wives) and Thesis III (Servants)

     Excursus 2A: Jesuit constitution in "black letter" (Walther's warning vs AI gods)

     Excursus 2B: Grok's & Britannica's reports on Jesuits' & Pope Clement XIV

AG12: Walther's All Glory to God book, 11 essays in one BTL book

"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.)