Walther on “Negroes in the South”: Missouri's missions to the Blacks (Part 3)

       This continues from Part 2 in a short series on the Negro missions of the Old Missouri Synod.  In the year following Prof. Franz Pieper's reports on the Negro Missions, we find Walther's blurb on Negroes in the South, from 1885 Der Lutheraner vol. 41 p. 21:

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The Negroes in the South. The English paper The Church Union of January 15 [1885] writes: ‘It is a strange fact how much religion some Southern Negroes have and how little morality. What a mixture of piety and crime the following report from Georgia contains!’ Hereupon the following is reported: The Negroes gave a hot supper, at which Joe Durret and John Nail, both preachers, were present. Late in the night some brought in whiskey, and the whole party became drunk. The result was a quarrel, in which Durrett struck Nail so violently on the skull with a piece of wood that the latter instantly fell to the ground, disembodied. After the murderer, without making any attempt to escape, had spent the night at the side of his victim, he arranged a prayer meeting, which he himself led, praying over the corpse of the man he had killed. Now he is in prison. — Do not think, dear reader, that this is a proof of how useless it is that we Lutherans do Negro Missions. Rather, the exact opposite follows from this. For as true as it is, what the Church Union writes, that some Negroes have much religion, but little morality, it is equally true that they lack the latter because they lack the right religion. Their religion is often nothing but a miserable rapture. Therefore, let us not tire of helping to bring them the true religion, the pure Word of God, so that we will also bring them, by God's grace, to true "morality", to a godly life according to the holy Ten Commandments. For the Black man as well as the White man is redeemed by Christ's blood, and God's Word never returns completely empty. W. [Walther]

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      Walther did not focus on the lack of morality, he focused on the "right religion", the Christian religion that Lutheranism teaches... then morality will follow.  Walther had a true heart for the Negro or Black people!

The “Lutherans”, not “Evangelicals” – Walther corrects 3 blunders of Reformed “history”, and also Dr. Kolb's blunder

      I have blogged before (here and here) about how Walther corrected the false history of opposing Catholics and Reformed.  But I ran across a most instructive blurb by Walther in Der Lutheraner that masterfully catches a Reformed newspaper article in their false narrative of who the “Evangelicals” were in the beginning, during Reformation times.  From vol. 21 (May 15, 1865), p. 140: 

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The Reformed Church Paper of Philadelphia in the number of April 27 [1865] writes the following: 

“When the evangelicals had made their excellent confession of faith before the Diet of Augsburg, the Duke of Bavaria asked Dr. Eck: ‘Can you refute this confession with good reasons?’ — ‘Not with the writings of the Apostles and Prophets,’ Eck answered, ‘but with those of the Fathers and Councils.’ — ‘So the Evangelicals,’ replied the Catholic Duke, ‘are in the Scriptures and we beside them.’ Under the name ‘Evangelicals,’ however, were at that time not only the Lutherans, but also the Melanchthonians and Reformed in Germany.”  

So far the Reformed Church Paper. Hereby it wants to refute Licentiate Stroebel, who had quite rightly claimed that the Reformed are also “opposed to the evangelical faith”. This refutation, however, is very unfortunate, since it claims that among the Evangelicals mentioned at the presentation of the Augsburg Confession, not only the Lutherans, but also the Melanchthonians and German Reformed were included. With this, the editor of the Reformed Church Paper makes three bad blunders at once: 

1. First, as is otherwise known, there were no Melanchthonians at that time. 

2. Secondly, the Duke could not have meant the German Reformed at that time, since they, as is also known throughout the world, did not want to unite with the Lutherans in the presentation of the Augsburg Confession, in which the Reformed doctrine is rejected in Article 10, because of the existing doctrinal difference, and therefore presented their own, special, so-called Tetrapolitan Confession, which was admittedly received very ungraciously by the Emperor and was not read out before the Imperial Diet. 

3. The third blunder, however, is the worst. The Reformed Church Paper bases its entire argumentation on the fact that the Catholic Duke of Bavaria, in his address, understood under the Evangelicals to be not only the Lutherans, but also the Reformed, and thus also praised their Confession as being contained in the Scriptures; but it is not at all true that the Duke used the expression “Evangelicals”; rather, he expressed himself thus, without any ambiguity: “So I hear, the Lutherans sit in the Scriptures, and we beside them.” —  

Are now the Lutherans to be understood not only as Lutherans, but also as Reformed? [Answer: No!] — After this unfortunate attempt to draw polemical weapons from church history, let the dear Reformed Church Paper therefore be warned not to plunge again into the ecclesiastical past for this purpose until it has studied church history somewhat more carefully, and indeed from the sources. In general, it should never forget that one learns by teaching, but that teaching must always be preceded by a certain amount of learning. The more it will do in this, the more modest it will become; for the more one really learns thoroughly, the clearer it becomes to one how much one does not yet know; while just the most superficial knower is usually particularly plagued by the tickle of “scholarship”. W. [Walther]

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      Walther's words speak for themselves, but I would point out that he used the word "dear" when referring to the Reformed paper, something he did not do when he fought against the Catholic periodicals.  Walther wished to coax the Reformed back to their roots of the Lutheran Reformation, while the Church of the Pope, the Antichrist, will remain so until the Last Day.

      Two months later Walther touched on the same subject in a short blurb (vol. 21, July 15, p. 174):

Union. With “pleasure” the Apologist presents to its readers a communication from soldiers who, belonging to different confessions, have made union in the camp and now wish to see it carried out at home. In the message, the soldiers, some of whom are Congregationalists, others Evangelicals (Albrecht’s people, Methodists), Baptists, Episcopal Methodists and Evangelical Protestants, declare, among other things, the following: “Do we Evangelical congregations not all have one God, the same Savior, the same creed and the same baptism? Should and must only the name separate us, or the letter, or a word that was put or used this way or that way in the translation of the Holy Scriptures? That we are separated is mainly based on forms; but the main thing is one and the same.” — We think the soldiers are right. That the sects have not yet made a union is due only to unessential things; in the main they are one among themselves, namely in their views of what true Christianity is; on this they are only at odds with the Lutherans, who therefore, of course, cannot unite with them. W. [Walther]

 

As I read this blurb, I recalled an article by Prof. Dr. Robert Kolb in the Concordia Journal, of October 2001 where he held a similar spiritual position as these Civil War soldiers. The article had a title, in part, "On the Blessings and Challenges of Church Fellowship with the New Partners of the LCMS”: 

“C. F. W. Walther and Wilhelm Löhe may be worthy conversation partners in our discussion, but some of the most critical problems we face begin where they stopped speaking—or even some distance after they stopped speaking—more than a century ago. We must answer questions of which they could not dream. They [Walther and Loehe] provide us with an ecclesiology shaped for a world in which the church was conceived of as divided into “Konfessionen.” There is no readily understandable American translation of that concept! We have missed the chance to compose an expression of our ecclesiology for the denominational age of North American Christianity. We will reap only confusion and contention among ourselves and in our relations with other churches if we do not begin soon to formulate a proper expression of Biblical truth regarding the church for a post-denominational age. We must do so in humble submission to Scripture and to God's call to confess our faith abandoning use of ecclesiological problems as instruments for serving political interests [!] among us. We must turn to the honest theological exertion [i.e. forgetting Walther!]  required for repeating our doctrine of the church in ways that address the situation of the confession of Christ's Word in the early twenty-first century.”

Every time I read this plea from Dr. Kolb, I can hardly believe what he is saying, for it echos the spiritual unionism of the Civil War soldiers who questioned “Do we Evangelical congregations not all have one God?”

Gerhard's wisdom on "Faith and Love"

      In the December 25 1861 issue of Der Lutheraner, vol. 18, p. 79, I ran across the following reprint of John Gerhard's wisdom on the difference between "Faith" and "Love":

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Faith and love.

Faith listens to God's promises; love listens to God's commandments.

Faith deals with the works of God; love with our works.

Faith receives Christ's benefits; love returns benevolence.

Faith goes in and takes hold; love goes out.

Faith is, as it were, a beggar, but love is a generous benefactor.

Faith makes one God's child; love proves that one has become one.

Faith has Christ, as he is offered in the Gospel with all His benefits, as its object, love God and neighbor. (Johann Gerhard.)

Love wants to be deceived, but faith cannot be deceived.

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What a Christian lesson this is!

Negro Mission 2: Pieper's appeal (Der Lutheraner 1884); LCMS Dr. Seltz's inflammatory charge against Old Missouri

      This continues from Part 1 in a short series on the Negro missions of the Old Missouri Synod.  Six months after Pieper's report on this Mission effort, he then widened the circle of participants to include the Synodical Conference in this effort. Pieper's report is a snapshot in the history of the Old Missouri's mission efforts, and speaks of all the various fields they were active in and where they were contemplating activity.  From Der Lutheraner, vol. 40 (Oct. 1, 1884), pp. 148-149:

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An Appeal Concerning our Negro Mission.

The Synodical Conference, which met at Cleveland, Ohio., from August 13 to 19 of this year, dealt in detail in its afternoon sessions with the Negro Mission which it has undertaken, and has instructed the Commission for Negro Missions to publish an appeal concerning the Negro Mission in the papers published within the Synodical Conference. The purpose of this appeal is to call attention to the status and prospects of the Negro Mission, and possibly to cause all our dear Christians to give it the attention which, in the opinion of the Conference, it deserves.

It is an obvious fact that the Negro Mission, although it was started by decision of the Synodical Conference some years ago, is met with distrust by many individuals and congregations. In many cases, it was thought that the Negro Mission would hardly ever result in anything right because of the prevailing conditions, and that it would therefore be better to devote time and energy to other work. The supposed reasons for this opinion will not be discussed in detail here. 

At its last meeting, the Synodical Conference was convinced that our Negro Mission was by no means hopeless before the eyes of men, but was rather enjoying a strong and healthy prosperity. The young mission counts 80 communing members, has 3-400 children in the mission schools and a number of adults in special instruction. Work has been done in the church and school in silence, without much external attention, and by God's grace the work has not been in vain. In particular, it can be said of our main station, New Orleans, that there, as far as men can judge, the Lutheran Church has gained a firm foothold among the Negroes.

Here the mission has 60 communing members in two stations, who are organized into two small congregations, in which Word of God rules in doctrine and practice. Here the mission also has two weekly mission schools, in which about 200 Negro children are taught Lutheran catechism, biblical history, etc. year in and year out. Here the parishioners have also begun to give contributions for church purposes, in order, God willing, to be able to sustain themselves later on.

The Synodical Conference not only took note of this stand with joy and thanksgiving to God, but also decided to put double and triple effort into the Negro Mission. There is still much room for our mission in the South. In New Orleans, a number of Negro children who have crowded into our Lutheran schools have repeatedly had to be turned away because the schools were already filled. Furthermore, according to the report of our missionary, there are still parts of the city in which the mission could and should be started, just as in the already occupied area. Thus, the Commission has been instructed to open a third preaching station and mission school in New Orleans as soon as the forces and means are available. Furthermore, reports indicate that there are still many thousands of heathen Negroes living in the rural districts of Louisiana. Here, too, preaching stations and Lutheran mission schools should be established. 

If we occupy the still free area in this way, the Lutheran Church could, by God's grace, soon gain a firm foothold among the Negroes in the South. Especially through our weekly schools, we could gain an entrance for the Lutheran Church in the present relationship among the Negroes in the South. In the South, the schools are generally very deficient, but there is a complete lack of Christian weekly schools. Thus we find a free area for our mission schools in many places and through them we would first bring the whole youth under the influence of the Word of God. And our congregations know how the church is built through such schools through their own parochial schools, and we have already been able to experience this in our Negro Mission schools.

The Synodical Conference was now of the opinion that if our congregations were made acquainted with the state of the Negro Mission and the prospects for the same, then certainly all hearts would turn to it. God grant it! The Negro Mission needs more workers first. So let our dear Christians pray to the Lord of the harvest that among the workers who are now being trained in increasing numbers for service in church and school, He will make some willing to devote not just a few years but their entire lives to the service of the Negro Mission. Then the Negro Mission needs more money. So far, a relatively small number of congregations have accepted this mission with gifts, and the love of these congregations has ensured that the work could be carried out. Now, however, the work should be extended further, as has just been explained. For this, more earthly means are needed. Thus, all our Christians should help to ensure that the necessary means are soon provided.

The Synodical Conference did not conceal from itself that the individual synods belonging to it have their main task in the so-called Internal (or Home) Mission, that the next good work of the individual synods is this, to introduce the immigrating Germans into the Lutheran Church, which is blossoming so wonderfully here by God's grace. The Synodical Conference therefore did not want the Negro Mission to be pushed into the foreground by this appeal at the expense of the inner mission. However, it was of the opinion that our dear Christians would be willing to introduce at the same time the poor abandoned Negroes, whom God has taken to our door, into the blessed home of the church of the Reformation. We were also indebted to the poor Negro long ago. God has given us the earthly means to carry out this work as well. The Synodical Conference felt that it would perhaps be best if, in addition to regular giving to the Internal Mission, we would also regularly give small gifts to the Negro Mission. In this way, since God has made us a numerous Lutheran people, there would be no shortage of funds to operate the Negro Mission.

As experience has shown, there is a lack of acquaintance with the Negro Mission in our congregations. The Synodical Conference therefore asks the pastors, as much as they can, to make the congregations acquainted with the Negro Mission and to make it their business to distribute the Mission Dove [see left] and the Pioneer, which regularly report on the Negro Mission. If our Christians know about the Negro Mission, they will certainly have hearts and gifts for it.

There was one more point that the Synodical Conference wanted mentioned in this “Appeal”. A request was made to them to immediately start an actual heathen mission, for example in China or Japan. This subject was also discussed in detail. The result of the discussion was approximately the following: We are keeping the heathen mission in mind; for we recognize the obligation to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles as long as there is still one heathen. But at the moment we still have our hands full in our own country. We have within the Synodical Conference not only the vast field of internal missions, as well as the mission to the Jews, but before our eyes in the Southern States are hundreds of thousands of heathen Negroes. Shall we go past these into the heathen lands? Shall we leave the Negroes in our own country to the pope, who is making great efforts to introduce them into his anti-Christian empire, or to the sects which are now making up their minds to conquer the South with their missions? No, we must first do the work that God has taken away from us in our own country. And if we do here what we should do, then God will show us the way to the heathen countries. Therefore, the Synodical Conference is of the opinion that our Christians should give to the Negro Mission the gifts that they would give to the Gentile Mission under other circumstances. However, if someone wants to give gifts for the heathen mission already now, so that a larger sum of money is immediately available for the start of the same, he is not prevented from doing so. The gifts sent specifically for “Heathen Mission” will be kept and not used for the Negro Mission.

Now, to Him, the Lord of the Church, also the work of the Negro Mission is commended. May He abundantly give His grace and blessing to our work, and let us not be sluggish to do what we ought to do. Amen.

On behalf of the Commission for Negro Mission

St. Louis, Mo., September, 1884.

F. Pieper.

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Dr. Seltz's charge of “Structural Racism”

      Dr. Gregory Seltz, formerly Speaker of The Lutheran Hour 2011-2017, stated the following in his 2017 Concordia Seminary PhD dissertion, p. 107-108:

“[James] Cone’s teaching highlights the LCMS’ racism that forced black ministers to go to these lengths [German culture] just to belong.”

Dr. Seltz is not just charging the "LCMS" with "Structural Racism", but Old Missouri, who were German-Americans, who taught Lutheran teaching largely based in the German language.  Would Dr. Seltz now charge the Lutheran faith with "Structural Racism"?  —  Of course Dr. Seltz's charge is ridiculous as we see by Pieper's report above. His inflammatory remarks only show how far his LCMS is removed from its Lutheran foundation. And his charge is just as inflammatory as those of the  American mainstream media of today. – It is sadly ironic how his comments can be viewed while the LCMS recently closed its school in Alabama. For an antidote to Dr. Seltz's view, read C. F. Drewes' 1927 book Half a Century of Lutheranism Among Our Colored People. It is free to read on HathiTrust, also on Archive. 

==>> Again, let the reader judge between Dr. Franz Pieper vs. Dr. Gregory Seltz in this matter! —  In the next Part 3, we bring a comment from Old Missouri's founder, C. F. W. Walther.

Walther on State Lotteries (1885)

      The matter of State Lotteries is practically over in the United States except for 5 states still holding out against, according to one source.  But it was a bit surprising to me that in 1885 Prussia (Germany) apparently had a State Lottery.  C.F.W. Walther inserted a blurb about this in the Der Lutheraner vol. 41, p. 110 (translation by BTL):

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Testimony against the Lottery System. During this year's negotiations of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies on state lotteries, the following words of King Frederick William IV and a famous statesman, probably Bismarck, were quoted, among others. The former said: “I consider it highly pernicious from a national economic point of view to promote lotteries on the part of the state, which are based on passions and the desire to get rich without work and effort.” 

The other [probably Bismarck]: “It has always made an embarrassing impression on me to see among the branches of our state administration an institute which, in my opinion, must be regarded as immoral in its tendency. In a Christian state, as we like to be called, where religion, morality and good manners are held in high esteem, it must make a painful impression to see the lottery used as a means of increasing the state's income. Preferably it is the needy classes of the people who allow themselves to be lured by the prospect of winning and thereby shorten their already meager subsistence.” — It is true that here in America, too, in many states, including Missouri, the lottery game is frowned upon; but it is well known that there are congregations here which, in good Jesuit fashion, make use of this shameful game to "make money" for ecclesiastical purposes. W. [Walther]

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      One wonders how long the remaining hold-out states against State Lotteries can continue against the tremendous pressure in today's America to promote all things gambling.  But the King and Bismarck (and Walther) point out just how "embarrassing" it really is. — But who is embarrassed today?  One LCMS member corresponded privately with me that the elders of his congregation, after a meeting, immediately headed off to… Las Vegas.  Are there any warnings against gambling in today's Lutheran Witness, or has Pres. Harrison offered any warnings in his blogs? 

Missouri pastors in the South during Civil War

      A small blurb in the 1864 Der Lutheraner periodical gave a glimpse of what it was like for Missouri Synod pastors who were located in the Southern states during the time of the American Civil War.  From vol. 21 (Nov. 1, 1864), p. 37:

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Richmond in Virginia. The brethren of the Missouri Synod will be pleased to learn that Rev. Carl Gross in Richmond [Virginia], one of those members of our Synod who are officiating in the Southern States (the other being Rev. Kilian in Texas, of whom we have had no news at all since the outbreak of the [Civil] War), is still well. He writes by "flag of truce" under September 15 of this year to a friend here, among other things, as follows: “I am so happy to report to you that we are still well under all the trials and dangers that surround us, and are on the whole getting along well under the gracious guidance of our heavenly Father. On Sept. 5 we had the great joy of welcoming a small child. Mother and child are quite well. The little one was baptized the following Sunday, Sept. 11. I took the liberty of choosing your dear wife as godmother. I suffer greatly from the lack of communication with our Synod.”

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      This is one of the few places in Der Lutheraner that mentions the Civil War, demonstrating again that the Old (German) Missouri Synod did not mix politics with religion.  We notice that a "flag of truce" system allowed the pastor in Virginia to at least send some letters to the North. — We also see that Pastor Gross's church fellowship was very dear to him. He was a well known pastor who was active in Synod affairs and was the author of a few of its books.

Walther: Phooey! on Farmers in Labor Unions, Communism, Socialism

      A small blurb appeared in the 1886 Der Lutheraner that caused me to burst out laughing… at the blunt truth of C. F. W. Walther. From Der Lutheraner, vol 42 (1886), p. 93: 

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Seal of the Knights of Labor

Farmers and the Knights of Labor. From the report of the Convention of the Knights of Labor, held last month in Cleveland, it appears that farmers have recently joined the Society of the Knights of Labor. This is a most sad thing. The farmers should thank God that they are in a position where they are urged by nothing to participate in the present revolutionary labor movement. The farmer class is the freest and most independent in our country. The farmers can virtually be called the princes of the country. They have no cause to beg their customers or to refuse one to another in order to exist. Their commodity is the dear bread, which all men need daily and for which all Christians ask in every Lord's Prayer. The farmers have therefore hardly to fear that they will be boycotted. They can therefore act no more foolishly than by banding together with the Knights of Labor, thus selling their freedom and independence for nothing and voluntarily and wantonly submitting to the most shameful tyranny. That godless farmers do this, who are filled with the communist and socialist spirit of our time, cannot be otherwise, of course. But phooey [pfui] on those who want to be Christians and join, even without any need, the subversives of our time, and thus make themselves partakers of all the atrocities they commit! W. [Walther]

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      I know what Walther is talking about having grown up on a farm.  My father was a member of the Farm Bureau, but not the NFO, which a neighbor farmer had joined. — How refreshing it is to read from the greatest enemy of Communism and Socialism in the last 200 years: C. F. W. Walther.

Guenther reviews Hochstetter's History (1885); Guenther vs. Peperkorn

      It is coming up on the one year anniversary (May 14), where I began my series to translate the entire book by Pastor Christian Hochstetter of the History of the Missouri Synod.  Recently I discovered, along with the book review in Lehre und Wehre by Prof. Schaller, the book review in the 1885 Der Lutheraner by Prof. Martin Guenther.  Prof. Guenther confirms the good report by C.F.W. Walther that Dr. August Suelflow reported in his 1999 book C. F. W. Walther, Servant of the Word, p. 144-145.  One may want to review those 2 previously published reviews before reading the following.  Guenther was an associate with Walther since 1873, and an early graduate from Walther's schools.  So he can be considered a young contemporary of Walther.  Let us now hear from Prof. Guenther (vol. 41, p. 112-113, translated by BackToLuther, hyperlinks added):

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The History of the Lutheran Missouri Synod in North America and its Doctrinal Struggles from the Saxon Emigration in 1838 to the Year 1884, Presented by Chr. Hochstetter, Pastor at Wolcottsville, N. Y. Dresden, published by Heinrich J. Naumann. 1885.

The author of this paper published in 1882 in the Canada "Volksblatt" an essay running through many numbers under the heading: “The Beginnings of the Missouri Synod.” Many who read it immediately recognized the author's gift for beautiful presentation. The article was also published in the “Evang.-lutherische Freikirche” (Evangelical Lutheran Free Church) published by our brethren in Germany, and we are not surprised that it was precisely from the midst of our German brethren, who stand so faithfully by our Synod, that a request was made to the author to expand the article into a complete history of the Missouri Synod.

The author, who has been a faithful member of our Synod for 18 years, is, however, in our opinion, especially suited to write a history of our Synod for another reason; for he was a member of the Ohio Synod for some years before joining our Synod, and then a member of the Buffalo Synod for a longer time, and therefore knows these Synods, with which ours had to struggle, very well. — The “Free Church” quite correctly remarks: “No one will be able to accuse him of knowing only Missouri and therefore being biased in his judgment.” He himself says in the preface that he is “not only in many respects an eye and ear witness of what he reports in this writing, but is also to some extent grown up in the doctrinal disputes and struggles which have attended the Missouri Synod.” (p. V) “It has not become easy for us,” he adds, “the former members of the Buffalo Synod, to do right by those in whom we formerly thought we saw church destroyers; readers will . . . recognize that it was only under many a tribulation, which had to serve us for the best, and after the contest which teaches to mark the word, that we were brought by God's gracious guidance to the path which we have now trodden in unity of spirit with the members of the Missouri Synod for eighteen years.”

In the present history of our Synod, the reader will find not only a dry statement of dates and facts, but — on 480 pages — an interesting and faithful overall picture of our Synod according to authentic sources. The reader is first introduced to the prehistory of our synod: the emigration of the Saxon Lutherans, their first struggles and work, the earlier activity of Pastor Wyneken, “the father of the German-American mission”, the arrival and work of the first emissaries, especially those sent by Loehe, their entry into already existing synods and their resignation from them for the sake of truth. It is then shown how the synod was founded and how it grew so wonderfully. At its constitution (1847) it counted 22 pastors, now more than 850. The author rightly remarks that “rapid expansion sometimes also takes place in fanatical fellowships”, therefore no weight is to be attached to the growth per se. (p. 475) But this growth also has its cause. “Let it therefore be asked,” says the author, “in a narrower sense, whence does it come that congregations press to get preachers from us? Should it be because they perceive that we seek only the wool of the sheep? Or is it not rather because they know that they are not deceived by our preachers, not emptied, but well provided for?” (ibid.)

The various doctrinal battles that our Synod has fought through by God's grace are detailed: the battle with the Buffalo and Iowa Synods, and especially the final doctrinal battle for the alone correct doctrine of election by grace. In addition, it is shown how our Synod has always been willing to establish a true, God-pleasing peace with the opponents on the basis of truth: by delegating delegates to Germany, by religious discussions, by promoting the Synodal Conference, etc. Finally, the work of our Synod for the building of the Kingdom of God is presented to the reader: its institutions, its missions.

Whoever is not prejudiced against our synod, must recognize God's gracious, wonderful government when surveying the history of our synod, must admit that God has given our dear synod a high task. Before our synod was founded, unionism, rationalism, methodism, and other fanaticism prevailed in the so-called Lutheran Church in America. The author also describes these earlier conditions quite faithfully. When members of our Synod came forward with their testimony, they had to hear from nominal Lutherans, e.g. from members of the Ohio Synod: “Don't do that in America!” (p. 136.) “You want to impose on us principles that come from the “old country” (from Germany); we cannot use them here.” (p. 127.) Later, some outside our Synod recognized this task of our Synod. The author shares in the preface such a voice from the “Pilgrim” in Reading. It reads: “This is not the place to go into the history of the Missouri Synod, the largest and most important Lutheran synod in our country, but I cannot conceal, or at least hint at, the fact that there is no more obvious example of God blessing human faithfulness than the Missouri Synod. Had she not held so steadfastly to her confession of pure doctrine, had she not testified and fought so sharply against all and every deviation from the path which she alone recognized as right, had she shown herself more yielding in practice than in doctrine, had she only slightly accommodated herself to the views of our easy-moving times, she would not have achieved what she can now call her own. She has taken her reason captive under the obedience of Christ and the Lord has rewarded her. The honor of God, the truth of the Word, which found its clearest expression in the confession of the “Lutheran” church, stood and stands higher for her than the favor of the world and the windy fancies of men. If God had not had mercy on the Lutheran Church in America by placing the Missouri Synod in its midst, we would be a small group, perhaps still bearing the name Lutheran, but otherwise an open pasture for foxes and other game. When I think of what, with God's grace, has been accomplished by the Missourians, I cannot agree with the clamor against them. It is my conviction that the Missourians attribute their success to the mercy of God and not to their diligence, however proud they may be of it. The Lord bless the valiant Saxons and let their salt work ever more powerfully in the leaven of American churchmanship.” Many of those who still face us today would agree with these words if they knew the history of our Synod. May this “History” reach the hands of many of them!

There are many among our readers who have lived through the whole history of our synod and its prehistory. Should they not welcome with joy a book that presents to them the whole picture of what they have experienced and invites them to praise and glorify the goodness of God? Some of our readers are unfamiliar with the history of our synod, especially the older part. Will they, who nevertheless take such close part in the welfare of our synod, not want a history of it from the beginning to the present time?

It should also be noted that the publisher, Mr. Heinrich J. Naumann in Dresden, has had the book splendidly decorated. The price is $1.40. It can be obtained from Concordia-Verlag. G. [Guenther]

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I was especially struck by the contrast between Guenther's assessment of Hochstetter as a historian:

“especially suited to write a history of our Synod”

versus that of Rev. Todd Peperkorn, current Chairman, Bd. of Regents, Concordia Seminary:

“Hochstetter was a disgruntled former Buffalo Synod pastor. He can hardly be expected to present a balanced or reliable treatment of Grabau and the controversy over church and office in the mid-nineteenth century.”

Let the reader judge!… whether they can trust Prof. Guenther or Pastor Peperkorn in their judgment of Hochstetter and his History.