CM4c: Pieper's essay "Church & Church Government", in English (1896 Missouri convention)

      This continues from Part CM4b (Table of Contents in Part CM1) in a series defending Walther against a false portrayal by LC-MS President Matthew Harrison on the doctrines of Church and Ministry. — The following 1896 essay delivered by Franz Pieper to the Missouri Synod convention is on the "hot topic" of the matter of "Church Government" and has ties to the doctrines of the Church and the Ministry. Because of its importance for the Lutheran Church today, I decided to spend time polishing an English translation so that it may be more accessible to today's readers. 

     This essay was translated and published by the LCR in 2003 by Pastor George Schweikert. It was also published by Christian News at about that time.  It was a great service provided by Pastor Schweikert, and I have incorporated his added section headings into my translation. But it was slightly abbreviated and changed, and so I wanted to produce my own full translation and add several hyperlinks to Pieper's references.

      After spending some time with this essay, I have grown to appreciate just how important these doctrines are for the Christian Church. More on that from Dr. Pieper. Before I present the full 20-page essay, I would offer some highlights that helped me especially: 

Notable quotes: 

p. 27: "The consideration of what proper church government is leads us right into the heart of Christian doctrine"

28: "The right starting point for the exposition of the doctrine of church government is the doctrine of the church."

28: "The scepter of Christ's kingdom here on earth does not emanate from Rome, nor from… so-called ecclesiastical superiors, but … from Zion, the sanctuary of God."

29-30: "indifferent things (adiaphora), e.g. … the connection of the congregations to synods… The Christians of the individual congregations arrange these things themselves"

31: "In our Confessions the concept of government in the church is very sharply defined" [Pieper gives a lesson from the Confessions]

32: "Those who do not allow themselves to be governed by God's Word are the enemies of Christ"

32: Luther: "they are all equal and have the same right, power, property and honor; moreover, no one desires to be the superior of another… Christians must be governed by faith, not by outward works."

33: "everything that is not determined by God's Word is left to the freedom and good will of the Christians."

33: "if we continue to patiently instruct and admonish Christians with God's Word, then Christians will continue to crucify their flesh…"

34: "Therefore we do not accept any commandments from the secular authorities, to whom we are subject in civil matters, in ecclesiastical matters."

34: "… the separation of church and state which, thank God, exists in this country."

34: Papacy: "no Christian should presume to test the pope's commandments against the Holy Scriptures"

35: "so-called Protestant Christendom…make ordinances to which Christians are subject for the sake of conscience"

35: "This church government [of erring Lutherans] also has divine authority in cases where it does not uphold  God's Word and commandment"

36: "All Christians are only under God without the mediation of ecclesiastical superiors"

36: "St. Paul exhorts Christians in many words to persevere in their freedom [Gal. 5]"

37: "one excuses the issuing of human commandments… with the good intention of serving the good order in the Church"

38: "Where people allow themselves to be commanded by men, the true Christian conscience is lost"

39: "the only external community established by God, the local Christian congregation" [Ortsgemeinde]

39: "The local congregation meets in congregational assemblies"

40: "we [Synod] want to help one another so that God's Word, and nothing but God's Word, governs us"

40: "we do not choose visitors and presidents who are well versed… in our 'Synod Handbook', but people who are well versed in the Word of God"

43: "how is this gift of governing to be exercised? …entirely at the service of the Word of God"

44: "Romanizing Lutherans still operate on the same grounds today" [legislative power]

45: "The flesh, even of Christians, does not recognize the glory of the doctrine of justification and therefore also not the freedom of a Christian."

46: "How glorious… is the church government that is exercised with God's Word alone!"

Now we present our full translation:

The DOCX file may be downloaded >> HERE <<. The PDF of the original German publication is now on the Internet Archive >> HERE <<.

As with Walther's writings, it is not possible to reconcile Pieper's essay with Pres. Matthew Harrison's assertions, and the official teaching of the LC–MS. — In the next Part CM5…