StL5c: human wisdom… done in smooth, pleasing language; No human teacher… like Luther

      This continues from Part 5b (Table of Contents in Part 1) in a series on the St. Louis Edition (StL) of Luther's complete writings in English. — Pieper highlights Luther's way of writing that is so understandable, as compared with modernists, and so Scriptural, as compared, again, with modern theology. Walther called the modernists the "newfangled faith".  Pieper uses different terms. 

(From Der Lutheraner, vol. 63 p. 403-405 (No. 26, Dec. 17, 1907) (all underlining and bolding follows Pieper's emphasis):

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Luther's Writings.

[by Franz Pieper; continued from Part 5b]

For the church, it depends immensely on which human writings are read in addition to the Holy Scriptures. If one reads writings that clearly and soberly inculcate the pure doctrine of Scripture and thus lead the reader into Scripture and keep him with Scripture, as is the case with Luther's writings in a unique way, then it is well in the church. If, however, one's teachers and advisors are primarily books that mix human wisdom into the teaching of the Word of God, then — especially if it is done in smooth, pleasing language — one will unmistakably come under the influence of false teachers, and things will then go badly in the church. The undersigned is vividly convinced that if our synod is to maintain clarity, simplicity, certainty and decisiveness in doctrine, and if above all we teachers are to remain and increase in the right teaching ability, then one of the most excellent means to this end is that we place Luther's writings first among the human writings that we study. 

No human teacher leads so powerfully into the Scriptures and binds heart and conscience so firmly to the Scriptures as Luther. Under Luther's guidance, one becomes certain of things from Scripture, and certainty creates joy and constancy. And as far as the exposition of the individual doctrines is concerned: no human teacher has explained so simply, clearly and powerfully from Scripture what sin and grace, Law and Gospel, what faith, justification, sanctification and a truly Christian life are, than the Reformer of the Church. The longer one reads Luther, the more one realizes this. The beginner in reading Luther is somewhat hindered here and there by the peculiar language. But as soon as one has “read into it” a little, Luther is easily understood, because he speaks of the highest things so very [p. 405] simply and plainly. Experience also teaches that especially those who are more accustomed to the learned-sounding language of our time initially overlook much in Luther that is really there, because Luther speaks so simply and plainly of the things that others struggle over with high words. [Nafzger, LC-MS, Harrison] But even that soon changes. The longer one reads Luther, the more one notices his God-given mastery in the exposition of the doctrine of Scripture, and the more reading becomes not only a study, but also a spiritual refreshment and delight.

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Luther does not use many of the terms that today's LC-MS teachers do (as pointed out earlier):

actualization, contextualization, culture, data/datum, enmeshed, enfleshed / enfleshment, epistemology, etiology, etymological, existential / existentialism, human creatures (man?), identity, metatheological, metalinguistic, motif, nomological, ontological, paradigm/paradigmatic, personhood, postmodern, matrix, psychology, sociology, resonate, teleological, transsubjective

These "learned-sounding" words are used in the so-called "Confessional Approach" by Dr. Sam Nafzger in his new CPH 2-volume doctrinal teaching book at LC-MS seminaries. — In the concluding Part 5d…

StL5b: Luther’s writings unique, for all places, all time; Walther “only imitated Luther”

      This continues from Part 5a (Table of Contents in Part 1) in a series on the St. Louis Edition (StL) of Luther's complete writings in English. —  Pieper places Luther's writings in the proper context for Christian readers: Luther’s writings were unique among man’s writings, they were for all places, and for all time.  And what about Walther?

(From Der Lutheraner, vol. 63 p. 403-405 (No. 26, Dec. 17, 1907) (all underlining and bolding follows Pieper's emphasis):

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Luther's Writings.

[by Franz Pieper; continued from Part 5a]

Among all the human teachers that God gave to His Church after the Apostles” time, one occupies a unique place. This is Luther. Luther is not just a teacher among other teachers, but Luther is the God-appointed Reformer of the Church. Luther is the man through whom God placed the light of the Gospel on the lampstand in the church again, bright and clear, after it had become dark in the church due to the Antichrist. Luther was not just a gift of God for his time.  

Through Luther, God not only wanted to teach the Christians in Wittenberg, in Saxony, in Germany and in the sixteenth century, but through Luther, God wants to teach the Christians of all countries and all times until the Last Day. As God has put the Gospel back on the lampstand through Luther's ministry, so the Church can and should use Luther's ministry until the Last Day, that it may remain by the Bright Light of the Gospel and be preserved from the lies of Antichrist and all false teachers. As it says in the Word of Prophecy, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters,” Revelation 14:6—7. It is true that Luther's bodily voice died away when he committed his spirit into God's hands on February 18, 1546. But we have his writings. We should and will read his writings and thus, according to God's will, use the gifts and ministry of this unique teacher to guide us into the Scriptures and to keep us in the Scriptures against all seduction.

Of course, God has given many great teachers to our Lutheran Church. These also still speak to us in the writings they left behind. And we also value these writings highly and use them gladly. But if we ask these great men — they have spoken on this point — what they think of Luther, they speak similarly to Luther's contemporary, Urbanus Rhegius, who said, “We all write and expound Scripture, but compared to Luther, we are disciples.” 

And blessed Dr. Walther held Luther's writings in such high esteem that he used to say that what he (Walther) taught, he only imitated Luther. Walther judged that any, even the greatest, collection of theological books is incomplete if it does not contain Luther's writings. He wrote in his Pastorale: “Luther's works are an almost inexhaustible treasure trove for all branches of theology; they are such a rich treasury that they alone can replace a large library, but cannot be replaced by any collection of books, no matter how large.” (p. 13 [CPH Pastoral Theology, p. 20]) We would be acting unwise if we were to acquire and read all kinds of other human books, but leave Luther's writings unused. Walther therefore also advised the congregations to purchase Luther's works by the congregation and at the congregation's expense in order to make them available to their pastors if they did not have the means to purchase Luther's writings themselves.

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In the next Part 5c…

StL5a: Pieper on Luther's Writings (Der Lutheraner 1907)

      This continues from Part 4d (Table of Contents in Part 1) in a series on the St. Louis Edition (StL) of Luther's complete writings in English. —  This new sub-series presents Franz Pieper's essay from the 1907 Der Lutheraner on "Luther's Writings".  He was not as frequent a contributor to this periodical as Walther was.  So this essay was prominent for him.  He must have sensed a weakening in his Missouri Synod in the struggles it faced against erring American Lutherans, and a tendency for unionism. And so he felt compelled to again raise Luther’s flag before the people, that they read Luther first. — This blog series should be read along with my blog on Walther’s “Fruitful reading of Luther’s writings” from May 14, 2012 — In that blog it was stated: “As Pieper pointed to Walther… I point to Pieper…”  — This blog should be read after re-reading that blog on Walther's essay on the same subject. 

(From Der Lutheraner, vol. 63 p. 403-405 (No. 26, Dec. 17, 1907) (all underlining and bolding follows Pieper's emphasis):

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Luther's Writings.

Christians base their faith on God's Word alone. The word of man, even if it is spoken or written by the most respected and learned people, is completely incapable of serving as a glowing foundation for Christians. As Christ in his work, whereby he kept the Law for us and paid for our sin with His death, is our one righteousness before God, so also Christ in His Word, which He spoke through His Apostles and Prophets, is our one wisdom. In the Christian Church, only God's Word is to be taught by the teachers and only God's Word is to be believed by the hearers. Christ himself says: “One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.”, Matt. 23:8. And: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed", Joh. 8:31. The Lutheran church therefore makes a big difference in its confession between the Holy Scriptures and the writings of all human teachers. Of the Holy Scriptures she confesses: 

“We believe, teach, and confess that the sole rule and standard according to which all dogmas together with [all] teachers should be estimated and judged are the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and of the New Testament alone, as it is written Ps. 119, 105: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” But of all writings of human teachers, our church confesses: “Other writings, however, of ancient or modern teachers, whatever name they bear, must not be regarded as equal to the Holy Scriptures, but all of them together be subjected to them.” (Formula of Concord, Epitome, p. 517 [Triglotta p. 777].)

Nevertheless, it would be against the Scriptures if Christians and Christian teachers did not want to read the writings of human teachers. According to Eph. 4:11—12, not only the Apostles and Prophets, but also the evangelists and the pastors and teachers are a gift of Christ to His church here on earth. But the Christians must use the other teachers in addition to the Apostles and Prophets, so that they do not take their own word from the other teachers, but the Word of the Apostles and Prophets, that is, they let them lead them into the Scriptures. God distributes the gifts in the church differently according to His pleasure. All Christians understand so much from the Scriptures that they can recognize their faith from it and also confess it in the circle in which God has placed them. But to some Christians God gives even more for the good of the church, He gives them the gift that they can teach not only themselves and their household members, but a whole congregation, a whole church community, yes, the whole church, in word and writing from God's Word. And these special teaching gifts, which God has given to individual Christians, He also wants Christians to value and use. It would be folly and contrary to God's will if someone were to despise all human writings and say that he wanted to draw everything directly from Scripture without any help from others. No, Scripture itself says: “In each one the gifts of the Spirit are manifested for the common good”, 1 Cor. 12:7.

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In the next Part 5b, Pieper begins to show his readers just how important Luther's writings are to "lead them into the Scriptures".

StL4d: “old famous theologians” testify: "surpasses all other writings"

      This concludes from Part 4c (Table of Contents in Part 1) in a series on the St. Louis Edition (StL) of Luther's complete writings in English. — Walther concludes his book announcement with some testimonies from faithful fathers of the Lutheran Church… and we learn from the master Lutheran historian.

(From Der Lutheraner, vol. 37 p. 113-115 (No. 15, Aug. 1, 1881)[EN] (all underlining and bolding follows Walther's emphasis):

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Dr. Martin Luther's

Interpretation of the First Book of Moses.

Second part.

[review by C. F. W. Walther; concluded from Part 4c]

Before we close this report, we are permitted to share some judgments that old famous theologians have made about Luther's interpretation of the first book of Moses.

Not only does our Formula of Concord call it a “glorious exposition” (p. 599 [Trig. 899]), but almost all of our greatest theologians have not been able to exhaust themselves in praising it. It is sufficient to cite only the following judgments. First, Luther's trusted friend Hieronymus Weller writes:

“Although all of Luther's writings are full of excellent teaching and comfort, the exposition of the first book of Moses far surpasses all other writings and books. No challenge can be conceived for which and against which he has not shown a certain remedy and consolation in the same exposition. It is certainly true that he, Lutherus, has surpassed himself in this exposition.” (See Luther's Works by Walch, XIV, 871) 

Timotheus Kirchner, the main author of the Apology of the Formula of Concord, writes: 

“The book may well be called the ‘Consummatum est’ Lutheri (Luther's ‘It is finished’). All theologians must go to school for this book and no one will study it too much; of this I am sure and certain. In this book the man of God has so clearly and abundantly dealt with almost the noblest and greatest articles of our faith that nothing like it, with the exception of the Holy Bible, has come into the world, nor, of course, will it.” (Ibid. p. 872)

Furthermore, David Chyträus, one of the co-authors of the Formula of Concord, writes: 

“As for the majesty of heavenly wisdom and of the very most important things, as well as the power to move the hearts of the readers and to kindle them to godly and spiritual movements, yet other writers' writings must give way to this writing of Luther's, as much as the other stars are surpassed by the morning star, or rather by the light and brilliance of the sun.” (p. 876)

Daniel Cramer finally goes so far as to write in 1630: “Whoever does not read this book does not deserve the name of a theologian.” (Ibid.) —

May God help that the new edition of this precious book will find many eager readers and many open hearts among the so-called laymen as well as among the preachers; then this will be one of the most effective means that finally also in this most distant West the true church of the Reformation will present itself in ever more beautiful bloom.  W. [Walther]

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In the next sub-series promoting the St. Louis Edition, in Part 5a, we present a later 1907 essay by Prof. Franz Pieper on the writings of Dr. Martin Luther.

StL4c: low price; indexing; the next future volume (vol. 11)

      This continues from Part 4b (Table of Contents in Part 1) in a series on the St. Louis Edition (StL) of Luther's complete writings in English. — Walther presents to us a garden of delights in… Luther's writings.

(From Der Lutheraner, vol. 37 p. 113-115 (No. 15, Aug. 1, 1881)[EN] (all underlining and bolding follows Walther's emphasis):

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Dr. Martin Luther's

Interpretation of the First Book of Moses.

Second part.

[review by C. F. W. Walther; cont'd from Part 4b]

 

Help yourselves then, O help yourselves, dear Lutheran Christians and church servants! God now stands again, as it were, on the market of this world and offers you once again a precious commodity for an unprecedentedly low price in his open store, namely the swan song of His highly blessed armory, Luther's, the sweetest song which he once sang in the face of his approaching death. You cannot find a better reading of God's Word. Once you have read into this book, you cannot read your fill of it. Luther's gift, no matter how high, important and difficult matters he deals with, to entertain and delight the reader at the same time, is reflected in none of his writings so wonderfully as in this writing. Reading it is therefore not only richly instructive, but also a pleasure, an amusement, a delight. Whoever, therefore, does not yet have the first part of the same, should hurriedly acquire it, and if he cannot now win the prize for the second part at the same time, he should postpone the acquisition of this part, too, until later. Should we, however, encourage someone who already owns and has read the first part with many words to now acquire the second one as well? This would undoubtedly be a completely unnecessary effort. For those who have tasted this food need no encouragement to eat more, but only the news that in the second part Luther serves his readers ever more tasty dishes. — 

As far as the price of the second part is concerned, it cannot be supplied at the price at which the first part was issued. The price for the second part is $4.50. The latter is not only just as excellently equipped, it is also considerably larger. It contains first of all highly valuable forewords in 43 columns, secondly, text in 2091 columns and finally an exceedingly rich index in 176 columns, so that the whole volume comprises 2210 columns in 1100 large quarto pages. Everyone will therefore admit that even at the somewhat higher price it is not about money, but merely of spreading the wonderful work as widely as possible. The threefold index newly prepared by Mr. Christian Körner with the utmost diligence and with admirable skill, of which the first contains a Hebrew word index, the second a Scripture passage index and the third a subject index, gives the two volumes a double value. Therefore, the Lutheran Church in our country cannot express its gratitude enough to him, as well as to Licentiate Stöckhardt and his assistant, Mr. Kähler, who have gladly taken the trouble of producing a thoroughly revised new edition of this invaluable work. Only he who has ever had to do similar work can appreciate the tremendous amount of work that these men have had to do. —

The next volume, which should follow this second one as soon as possible (with the revision and printing of which a good start has already been made), will be the eleventh of Walch's edition, which contains the Gospel portion of Luther's Church Postils. It is precisely with this part that the continuation of the publication of Luther's complete writings is to take place, because, as is well known, Luther's house postils are found in very many of our families, but the incomparable Church Postils, this first great Reformation writing of Luther, is only rarely found in the homes of our readers. Hopefully, this institution will also find general approval. Walch, too, has not published his twenty-four volumes in order, but according to need, soon this one, soon that one, and has therefore, for example, had the eleventh volume follow the eighth and the twenty-second volume follow the thirteenth. —

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In the next Part 4d… 

StL4b: Luther’s own judgment of Genesis; the “later Luther”

      This continues from Part 4a (Table of Contents in Part 1) in a series on the St. Louis Edition (StL) of Luther's complete writings in English. — It is refreshing to read Luther's opinion of his own writings. 

(From Der Lutheraner, vol. 37 p. 113-115 (No. 15, Aug. 1, 1881)[EN] (all underlining and bolding follows Walther's emphasis):

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Dr. Martin Luther's

Interpretation of the First Book of Moses.

Second part.

[review by C. F. W. Walther; cont'd from Part 4a]

Therefore, already in 1523, when he published the first part of the Old Testament, namely the five books of Moses, in German translation, Luther wrote in the prefacing “Foreword to the Old Testament”, among other things, as follows: 

“I faithfully ask and warn every pious Christian not to be offended by the simple speech and history, which he will often encounter, but do not doubt how badly it can always be seen, that it is pure words, works, judgments and history of the high divine majesty and wisdom. For this is the Scripture that makes fools of all the wise and prudent, and is open only to the small and foolish, as Christ says, Matt. 11:25. Therefore, let go of your arrogance and your feelings, and hold on to this Scripture as of the highest, noblest sanctuary, as of the richest treasure that can never be sufficiently filled, so that you may find the divine wisdom, which God here presents so foolishly and badly that it dampens all arrogance. Here you will find the swaddling clothes and the manger, where Christ lies, to which the angel also directs the shepherds Luke 2:11. Bad and insignificant swaddling clothes they are, but precious is the treasure, Christ, who lies within.” (XIV, 2) — 

In his Commentary on Genesis, Luther has set down his entire pure and profound theology as if in a complete excerpt for all time. There is no article of our holy Christian faith and no doctrine of the Christian life which is not dealt with more extensively or more briefly in this Commentary on the basis of the divine Word and rich Christian experience. This writing is also the ripest fruit of the theological meditations, which were waving day and night through the mind of the highly enlightened man of God. 

Luther spent ten years on these lectures on the first book of Moses, which are now included in the first two parts of his works in a new edition, namely the last years of his life in 1535 until November 17, 1545, on which day he concluded the [page 114] great work with the following words: “This is now the dear Genesis. Our Lord God grant that others may do better after me! I can no longer: I am weak. Pray God for me, that he may grant me a good blessed hour.” The first of these two wishes, of course, has not been fulfilled. Far from it, that the later interpreters of Scripture could have “done better”; so only those who faithfully exploited Luther's treasury wrote something righteous about the first book of Moses. But Luther's other wish was soon fulfilled, for just three months later, on February 18, 1546, God let His faithful servant enter into eternal rest and glory after unspeakable hard work and after uninterrupted hot struggle and strife. Incidentally, Luther had already written to Wenceslaus Link in Nuremberg on January 4, 1545 [sic, Jan. 17], StL21b, #3184,  col. 3061]: “I am nearing the end of Genesis, having reached the 45th chapter. May the Lord give me the end of this dead and sinful life with the completion of Genesis, or even before, if it should please Him so, whatever you want to ask for me.” (See: Letters of Luther collected by de Wette. V, 714 [StL21b, #3184,  col. 3061]) Quite beautifully, Melanchthon calls Luther's exposition of the first book of Moses “Luther's swan song”; for the ancient poets claim that the mortally wounded swans sing their sweetest song before they die.

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Modern expositors rarely acknowledge Luther's work, thereby revealing their own weakness in not only understanding Martin Luther, but also the Holy Scriptures.  Concordia Publishing's Commentary series' are guilty of this, at least many areas. — In the next Part 4c…

StL4a: Walther on Vol. 2-Luther's Genesis, better than church fathers, no fault with Scripture

      This continues from Part 3e (Table of Contents in Part 1) in a series on the St. Louis Edition (StL) of Luther's complete writings in English. — This new 4-part sub-series presents Walther's second announcement and review of a new volume in the St. Louis Edition, Volume 2. This is the first book review with extensive comments promoting the Genesis exposition, and this edition. Walther gives us the inside story on how this edition was produced, and why there was a delay. But more than that, Walther begins one of the best promotions of Luther's writings ever written. 

(From Der Lutheraner, vol. 37 p. 113-115 (No. 15, Aug. 1, 1881)[EN] (all underlining and bolding follows Walther's emphasis):

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Dr. Martin Luther's

Interpretation of the First Book of Moses.

Second part.

Edited in German by Dr. J.G. Walch.

Newly published on behalf of the Ministry of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States.

St. Louis, Mo. “Concordia Lutheran Publishing House.” 

(M. C. Barthel, Agent.) 1881. 

It is with great pleasure that we inform our dear readers that this second part of the complete writings of Luther, published by Walch, is now ready for dispatch in a new edition with God's help. With the appearance of this volume in impeccable, yes, in every respect excellent layout goes in this so gloomy time of a bitter dispute for our American Lutheran Church — God be praised for it! — a brightly shining star of peace is rising.

Let it not alienate anyone that this second part appears later than the readers might have hoped and than the editors had hoped. The large work is stereotyped, so that at any time, when the supply comes to an end, new copies can be produced without delay. However, since the stereotype plates could not always be produced all at once in our own establishment, the temporary dependence on the stereotypist outside our printing plant caused a delay, the prevention of which was beyond the power of our managing directors. When Walch's edition of Luther's complete writings came out for the first time, they appeared within the short period of fourteen years, namely in the years 1740-1753. Already in the first year, the publisher Gebauer in Halle was able to deliver no less than four volumes to its subscribers. Of course, volume after volume of our new edition will not be able to follow so quickly one after the other. However, as great a test of patience this may be for some of our dear Godly subscribers, the appearance of the individual volumes in longer intervals may also have its good side. In this way, it will be possible for the less well-off to gradually come into possession of the entire work.

The second part before us contains the second major half of Luther's lectures on the first book of Moses [Genesis], namely the interpretation of chapter 25, verse 11, up to the conclusion, chapter 50, verse 26. Whoever has this part together with the first part possesses a priceless treasure. Not only does it give him an insight into the true meaning of the first book of Moses, but it also gives him the key to the entire Holy Scripture, for, as Luther writes, from the first book of Moses “flowed as from a well of all the prophetic books, even the entire New Testament, which is promised in it.” (XIV, 170 [StL14, 148]) Everything that even the best church fathers before Luther wrote about the first book of Moses is to Luther's interpretation of it what the half-light of twilight is to the brightness of the noonday Sun.   

What until then no one had found in the simple words of Moses, the Holy Spirit has opened to the ceaselessly praying and pondering Luther and that he now shares with his listeners in his lectures on the first book of Moses in a fresh and powerful stream of words. From the few words with which Moses describes the prehistory of the Kingdom of God in Genesis, Luther knows how to create such a vivid picture that it is to the attentive reader as if he experienced everything and saw it before his eyes. Luther portrays the Old Testament saints as if they had been New Testament believing Christians, and yet one sees that Luther does not invent anything, but as a master in the exposition of Scripture really takes everything from his holy text and, as it were, eavesdrops on it. 

Often a single word, which until then all readers and interpreters had completely overlooked, becomes a star that radiates the brightest and sweetest light. Yes, what until then had seemed almost offensive to others in Mose’s reports not only loses all apparent offensiveness through the illumination it receives through Luther's interpretation, but also becomes to the devout believing reader what it is, namely “divine power and divine wisdom.” The reason for this is that Luther did not, like the theologians of the newfangled faith, find fault with the Holy Scriptures [Column 3] as if they were a book of fables stitched together with a few grains of gold, but that he believed in the Holy Scriptures as the Word of the great God from the heart. 

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As Luther provided the ultimate exposition of Genesis, so Walther provides the best promotion of it.  In the next Part 4b…