Reformation 2020: Luther… Walther! Duo of Lutheranism

     As I contemplated a blog for this year's Reformation Day, I ran across an old blog that struck me.  I had already forgotten, from just 3 years ago, what I had translated of Franz Pieper's judgment of Walther's standing in relation to Martin Luther.  I have previously refuted some in the LC-MS who would give a ranking of theologians after Luther by asserting the statement: "Luther, Chemnitz, Walther, not Gerhard, in the Big 3".  But I must say that I have found Pieper's final judgment to be the correct one. Below is an encore presentation of that old blog post to drive this home:

C.F.W. Walther – 2nd only to Luther
The American Luther!

“Walther, in great humility, called himself a lowly pupil of Luther and the old Lutheran theologians. According to my knowledge of Walther and the old theologians, I must say that Walther, in regard to the clear knowledge of the Christian doctrine, and to the gift of clear representation, is to be placed immediately after Luther, and far surpassed most of the theologians of the later time.”  – Franz Pieper

Let this point not be lost on anyone – Franz Pieper clearly placed Walther above not only John Gerhard, but also Martin Chemnitz! And why? Because of the 

Lutheran Doctrine of Justification. 

Top Two 
Lutheran theologians 

of all time:

Luther — Walther 
(not Chemnitz)

Comm10-RNE7: Paris Commune, Fourier, Icarians, Proudhon, Blanqui: "They have achieved nothing"

      This continues from Part 9 (Table of Contents in Part 1), a series presenting a new translation of C.F.W. Walther's Communism and Socialism from 1878. — Walther, after reviewing the Germans, returns again to the French to discuss their theories in greater depth. The writings we see today in America seem only to plagiarize these French philosophers: “Property is theft; God is evil; marriage and family are superfluous.” — The Paris Commune of 1871 was just a few years before these lectures were delivered, so the congregation would have been quite aware of these world events. Walther launches into a rapid-fire swirl of events and people surrounding this Commune that is a harbinger for today's world. — After reading Walther's book, I decided that it would be made more instructive and memorable to add the images of the persons involved, and some of the phrases used by the ideologists, so that I could more easily remember them in the future.  Also I could not wait to add hyperlinks to all of Walther's historical references, to their corresponding Wikipedia articles.  And so I made extensive use of Wikipedia, which is a great accompaniment to this writing, even if some of the judgments there lean toward sympathy with the Communists. — A related historical event to the Paris Commune was the associated Franco-Prussian War.  I am still absorbing all of the events of this period that were contemporary to Walther's lectures.  The world studies Karl Marx today to learn about Communism, but Walther understood this ideology better than Karl Marx.

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Translation of Walther's 1878 Communismus und Socialismus by BackToLuther primarily using DeepL online translation service; highlighting and bolding are my emphases, red text within square brackets [] are my comments, underlining is Walther's emphasis. Red highlight indicates omitted in 1947 translation.

C.F.W. Walther's Communism and Socialism, (Part 10, p. 36-39)

Already on the last evening I mentioned a Communist writer, a French writer, named Fourier [see p. 19, Part 5]. Fourier was [page 37] a French merchant commissioner who had been deprived of his considerable fortune by misfortune. This man — he died in 1837 — established the following Communist theory:

“Man's destiny is happiness. He can attain it only by the harmonious satisfaction of all his urges.”

But dear Fourier certainly does not consider that among these drives of man is also the drive to rule over others, greed, envy, malicious joy, vindictiveness, cruelty, etc. Are all these urges to be satisfied? He continues:

“This requires means, and therefore wealth is the source of all happiness. The same is achieved through work. But for work to bring happiness, an order of humanity must arise in which everyone works in community, in such a way that everyone takes on the work that he wants to do. For this to happen, the individual must be induced to give his own possessions voluntarily to the community, for which he will receive a proportional share of the proceeds of the whole, and the people thus united will then also give up the special home, the special household, the special education.

So what should the one who enters this Communist community give up? First of all, his property, even if he had acquired it so sourly and yet legally. Then he should also give up his home and move into a large building with a large mass of others. He should give up his marriage, he should give up his family, he should also give up the education of his own children. For his wife is not his own, but the property of the society. The same is the case with his children. As soon as they are born, they are taken over by someone who has been asked to [1947-52] take care of the children in the state, and this person brings them up. I ask: can there be a theory more crazy, more insane than this one? Shouldn't someone first be bankrupt in body and soul and in every way, desperate in everything before he enters such a community? Whoever is reconciled to his destiny in some way, would he go into such a community? Not now or ever. What greater earthly happiness is there than the happiness of a family? and that is something that one should sacrifice? — Fourier continues:

“They meet in co-operatives, in phalanges” (one square mile should be the ground on which a phalanx or phalanstère would be built) “from 1800 to 2000 people, united in a large house, the phalanstère, where everyone finds orderly employment according to his inclination.” 

The practical execution failed, as already noted. Dear Fourier ran for 12 years to a place he had chosen so that a philanthropist could come and bring one million thalers, [page 38] so that he could realize his wonderful theory. [This report not in Wikipedia] Fourier's pupil Victor Considerant directed the phalanx, which was founded on a great good, but the enterprise failed. He emigrated to Texas when he was accused of high treason. *) What happened to him, I don't know. [Wikipedia.]

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*) History of the World, von Wernicke, V, 469.

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Another French Communist is the lawyer [Étienne] Cabet. He founded the party of the Icarian Communists and died here in St. Louis. It is a strange self-derision that he called his Communism the Icarian Communism. In Greek fables, there is an Icarus whose father made wings and glued these wings with wax to escape captivity and fly over the sea. The father, the fable tells us, had come over happily, but the son was too bold, had flown too high and got too close to the sun, so that the wax melted and he fell into the sea and drowned there. Strange then that Cabet called his Communists the Icarians. Indeed they were, they flew high, but with wings held together by a bit of wax that wouldn't hold.

Cabet, by the way, recognized marriage and family life and wanted to achieve freedom for the so-called proletariat without the use of violence, through equal education, work, order [1947-53] and, above all, fraternity. He made an attempt in Texas in 1848, which failed completely; the colonists themselves accused him of fraudulent cheating, but he was acquitted of this by the court. He then made a second attempt in Nauvoo, Illinois, where the Mormons used to live, but this attempt did not succeed either. The colony became dissatisfied again. Cabet had to flee to St. Louis, where he died in 1856.

[Pierre-Joseph] Proudhon established as his principle: “Property is theft; God is evil; marriage and family are superfluous.” He died in 1865.

        Franco-Prussian War    ——→    French defeat     ——→     Internationals     —→    taking of cannons    —→    Paris Commune

We now come to the last Communist movements in France, in 1871 [Paris Commune], when the surrender of Paris with the German besiegers [Franco-Prussion War] became the opportunity for the Internationals to seize control of the city [ref. Part 3, page 11 for more details].

Generals Lecomte and Thomas, who had been captured on March 18, 1871 and remained loyal to the government, were shot in the afternoon.

 

Now the head of the National Guard and the eager International [Louis Auguste] Blanqui called for elections for a so-called "Commune", i.e. an independent governmental authority of the city of Paris. His and his comrades' plan was to divide the whole of France into Communes, small, independent circles which would have their own judiciary, but which together would form a French confederation. An officer with a [page 39] flag of truce was shot down. Church property was confiscated. The factories of fleeing factory owners were given to the workers.

Archbishop [Georges] Darboy and other prelates and priests were executed, and strict censorship was established. The [Paris] Commune surpassed Robespierre's reign of terror. “War on the palaces!” was the watchword. A corps of “rocket men” was set up, with “petroleurs” and “petroleuses”, i.e. male and female incendiaries. They took hostages of distinguished people. Inhuman atrocities followed in the fratricidal massacre in the streets for a full week.

[General Patrice de] MacMahon had 794 dead and 6000 wounded soldiers; how many of the “Internationals” died is difficult to calculate, at least there were thousands of them. Finally, the leaders of the Commune were imprisoned and prosecuted; the main defendants were deported for life, deserted officers were executed. [ref. "Bloody Week"; also New Caledonia political prisoners.] — [1947-54] 

So this is the story of Communism in a few main features. What have the Communists achieved? — They have achieved nothing. — They have plunged themselves into nameless misery, they have terrified the world, they have only caused harm, misery and heartache. And just as they have done nothing in the past, so will they do in the future. For the same preconditions for their lasting victories will also be missing later, as they were missing in the past. As little as the Communists change the laws of nature, as little will they force the Mississippi River to turn north, as little will they be able to reverse the course of the stars: so little will they be able to realize their enthusiastic ideas in human society. They will probably cause a lot of trouble, that is foreseeable. For the poor will become more and more, namely those who believe neither in God nor in His Word, and who therefore soon despair in misery because they have no God and no consolation. And these will be gathered together by the theoretical Communists and they will still, despite having been beaten again and again, start again and again anew and from the beginning, but only to be judged again and to be thrown into nameless misery.

[The editor of the 1947 reprint inserted his own comments defending Walther’s points in relation to the Soviet Union of the 20th century and before. The reader may find those comments on page 54.] [page 40]

- - - - - - - - - - - - -  Continued in Part 11:  - - - - - - - - - - - -

   I have spent perhaps 8 hours preparing this blog post and it's images because of it's extensive historical content.  I will likely refer to it often in the future.  The haunting description by Émile Zola, the first journalist to enter Paris, speaks similarly as Walther does:

“Never in civilised times has such a terrible crime ravaged a great city…”

The flavor of these times can be gained from the semi-fictional book and film "The Scarlet Pimpernel".

Comm9-RNE6: French uprising 1839; Saint-Simonianism; 1848 Revolution; "Young Germany", Weitling; "We aren't united now."

      This continues from Part 8 (Table of Contents in Part 1), a series presenting a new translation of C.F.W. Walther's Communism and Socialism from 1878. — You could set 100 of the greatest scholars of history before me, but I would take C.F.W. Walther's history far above all of them.  He describes perfectly, in such a short narrative, who was involved and which persons were responsible for the ideology, and subsequent treachery, of Communism and Socialism.  I pity the poor French and their disastrous history in this regard. — Although one could wonder that the French were the only main characters in the promotion of Communism, Walther knew from personal experience in Germany, as he said from "the time when I was studying in Leipzig", that German ideologists were quite alike with their French counterparts. I invite the reader, after reading the writings of the German writer Weitling below, to carefully read the Wikipedia article on him and then judge by his writings whether Wikipedia was truly objective… or not. — Unfortunately Walther's history is what the world is living through… here and now. Recently an older husband and wife were sitting within hearing distance near us in a restaurant. When the woman spoke to her husband of how America seemed united when the 9/11 bombings hit America in 2001, the man replied, of a truth: 

"We aren't united now."

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Translation of Walther's 1878 Communismus und Socialismus by BackToLuther primarily using DeepL online translation service; highlighting and bolding are my emphases, red text within square brackets [] are my comments, underlining is Walther's emphasis. Red highlight indicates omitted in 1947 translation.

C.F.W. Walther's Communism and Socialism, (Part 9, p. 33-36)

Saint-Simon  ———  Bazard  ———  Enfantin

Count de Saint-Simon, who died by self-disembowelment in 1825 [1947-47] after losing his fortune and falling into bitter misery, presented the following theory to the world: “The working class must be elevated to the first rank in human society, since it provides it with the means to satisfy its needs and desires, whereas it now unlawfully occupies the last place. This is only possible through the devotional love of men for one another. This teaching is the new Christianity which will bring about the Kingdom of God on earth by transforming the religion of love into a religion of joy and pleasure.” His disciple [Amand] Bazard added: “Work must be emancipated from capital, and the right of inheritance of the individual must be replaced by the exclusive right of inheritance of the State, which must distribute it according to the principle that only work gives a right to property, and that each person is employed according to his ability, but each ability is rewarded according to his work.” [Barthélemy Prosper] Enfantin declared Saint-Simon as the new Messiah who united the teachings of Moses and Christ in the demand to sanctify one’s self through work and pleasure. Everything in man is holy, the flesh with its innate drives, just as the spirit is holy. Large holy families were to be founded, in which a community of women was also to take place. This laid the foundation for a split and then for the complete destruction of Saint-Simonianism.

The latter was quite well-intentioned, but it was just pure enthusiasm. It is not enough to tell people: You must have love, and if you walk in love, heaven on earth will come. Yes, as true as this is, so certain is it that no one can have love when it is demanded. Love is planted in the heart by the grace of God alone. Those who do not want to recognize the grace of God and do not want to accept it, but despise it and trample it underfoot, never have love, even if what they do is often like the act of love. [page 34] 

In 1848, after Louis Philippe I's overthrow by the February Revolution, on June 23, a Communist uprising broke out in Paris [French Revolution of 1848]. More than 30,000 proletarians were armed: workers from the national workshops, escaped convicts led by deposed officers or by the heads of Communist clubs. Barricades rose up in the east of the city. They wanted to proclaim a social republic with a community of women and goods. On several flags there was an inscription: “As victors we plunder, as defeated we burn.” Bishop Affre of Paris joined the insurgents and spoke for peace, [1947-48] but was shot on a barricade. A furious and atrocious battle followed. Women poured boiling water and oil from the barricades on the soldiers. On June 26, Cavaignac had won. The dead and wounded on both sides were 5,000, 14,000 were captured, of whom 3,423 were deported. Louis Blanc had caused the misery.

Heine  ———  Mundt  ———  Gutzkow
"Young Germany"

In Germany, the real pioneers of Communism were the representatives of the so-called “Young Germany”, headed by the famous poet [Heinrich] Heine, then the novelists [Theodor] Mundt and [Karl] Gutzkow, who declared that “the rehabilitation of the flesh”, as they called it, must finally be enforced, i.e. the flesh of man must be restored to its original rights. To express this in German, man must again have the right to eat, to drink, to whore, to break marriage, and in short, to do everything his flesh desires. I am not exaggerating, it is like this: These are the principles that the aforementioned have established, even if they did not use such coarse words; for if they had used such coarse words, they would certainly not have captured the inexperienced youth. At the time when I was studying in Leipzig, they were high up on the board. They are now little more respected. But what they have sown is now bearing fruit. — Now something from the German Communists.

A certain [Wilhelm] Weitling, a tailor’s apprentice from Magdeburg, but a highly talented young man — here in America he would be called a self-made man — had not attended high schools or universities, but had acquired a not insignificant degree of education. This Weitling describes the introduction of the new order of things as he wanted it, among other things as follows:

“All promissory notes, bonds and bills of exchange shall be declared null and void in the dealings of the administrative staff, as shall all rights of inheritance… Thus all distinction between rich and poor, between lowly and noble, between the highest statesmen and officers and the lowest employees or soldiers is forever abolished… For all gold and silver in stock are to purchase food and war supplies from abroad. The use of money is abolished for the dealings of the [page 35] administration with the interior.” (Some of this has been discussed in the local Volksstimme [see p. 6 above] [1947-49] as the opinion of the editor a few days ago) [in 1878]. “All state and church goods are confiscated for the good of the community. Religious instruction in schools must be general, it must not lean towards Catholicism, Protestantism or any of the many Christian sects. *)

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*) Guaranteed Harmony and Freedom. 1842. page 243 ff.

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He wrote this in 1842, when he did not yet dare to express his heart’s actual opinion, because if he wanted to express this, he would have said: “We do not want to have any particular religion at all, but only a general religion, only the natural religion; just as it is here in America in the non-religious free schools.” Ferdinand Lassalle, a likewise ingenious, scientifically educated Jew from Breslau, who wrote many ingeniously prepared writings to justify the Communist theory, but who died young in 1864 in a duel with a rival, is similarly portrayed. But before we go any further, a little of our German Weitling. He continues in his book: Guaranteed Harmony and Freedom (1842), as follows”

“If I did not above all want the natural equality of all, I would say with so many others: Our principle will be realized entirely on the progressive path of the Enlightenment. Yes, all good things can be realized in this way, but not the elimination of the personal interests of all those who have power and money. Where has it ever been seen that these have listened to reason? Ask history if you doubt. Its pages are filled with the notes of countless struggles of personal interest against the general interest. Through war and revolution dynasties changed, maintained and fortified themselves. Our principal will also be realized through a revolution. But the consequences will be all the more terrible the longer the present state of disorder lasts. Let us teach in times of calm and act in times of storm. As soon as the storm passes, there is no precious time to be lost with useless speeches, as there was at Hambach, but quickly — like lightning, action must be taken, quickly, like this one, must be taken one after the other, as long as the people live under the impression of the first stages of excitement.”…

Very smart. As long as the people are intoxicated, they'll go through with it. But as soon as the [1947-50] second thought comes, they become sober and no longer want to follow their fanatical, enthusiastic leaders into the fire and endanger their own lives in order to destroy thousands of other lives.

“And no truces,” Weitling continues, “no [page 36] negotiations with the enemy must be entered into, no promises made by them must be trusted. As soon as they provoke the fight, they must not be considered otherwise, for they are unreasonable animals, incapable of understanding reasonable language.”

He wants to say: “All our opponents will be given a bullet in the head or hung from the next lamppost, because they do not learn reason; they will never say that we are right and give us their money to distribute.”

“If, contrary to all suspicion,” he goes on to say, “the mighty, in order to work against the realization of our principle, want to imprison us in a prison community, … then our philosophers must let go of the terrible fireship, which alone is then capable of effectively thwarting the plans of our enemies.”

Well, then he still has a remedy when all these agitators have been put in prison: a “terrible fireship” to set the world on fire. And what is that? He continues:

“Then a morality must be preached which no one has dared to preach before and which makes any government of self-interest impossible, a morality which transforms the bloody battlefield in the streets, where the people always get the short end of the stick, into a perpetual guerrilla warfare; … a morality which will bring us whole legions of fighters whose participation we now abhor;”…

He wants to say: “Such a morality must be preached, by which those are then lured to us to help us to carry out our cause, whom we now still abhor, because they are too immoral, too foul; for their principle is: rob, steal, plunder, murder.” Therefore he continues:

“— — a morality, which leaves our opponents no other lifeline than that of our principle. … But this morality can only be taught effectively among the masses, who are swarming in our great cities and plunged into the most boundless misery, abandoned to despair.” *)

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*) ibid., p. 229-236 ff.

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When Weitling recommended those allies from the [1947-51] criminal world to the French Communists, the French were more sober. They answered him:

“Think of yourself at the head of a gang of 10,000 scoundrels, now that the time has come to act, stand up and demand that your accomplices place their robbery on the altar of reason and justice to begin the system of community! O how they will laugh at you!” —

- - - - - - - - - - - - -  Continued in Part 10:  - - - - - - - - - - - -

      Would any scholar of today want to question Walther’s source on the French answer to Weitling's call to use the criminal world for Communism? I have learned much history by reading the related articles in Wikipedia.  But it is truly amazing that Wikipedia makes no mention of the highly inflammatory nature of Weitling’s writing!  I am thankful that C.F.W. Walther presents the full history, the one that properly presents what even the best worldly historians leave out.  That is my answer to the correspondent who suggested that I contribute to the articles in Wikipedia.