Friedrich Brunn: "Man of God" biography; "co-founder" of LC–MS (Part 1 of 2)

     I have had the honor in the past to be contacted by descendants of notable Lutheran pastors of Germany. One of those was a great-great grandson of the faithful pastor Gustav Knak who stood before the world by standing by the words of Joshua 10:13: "And the sun stood still". I took that opportunity 4 years ago to honor Knak by publishing translations of 2 of his sermons.

 

    Recently I have been contacted by descendants of another German pastor, one who prepared upwards of 235 men for service as pastors to the American Missouri Synod: 

Friedrich Brunn.

 

I blogged about him also 4 years ago to honor him, republishing Prof. Klug's review of a biography by grandson Rev. August F. Brunn [† 1994 Find-A-Grave], The Triumph of Truth. So it was pleasant to hear that another biography had been assembled. Erwin H. Brunn († 1972), the name on the front cover, was another grandson who led another effort to get the materials together to produce this work. Erwin's son Kenneth, of Fullerton, California, worked to get the manuscript into a reproducible form in 1998. Descendants through another line have inherited this biography that was produced previously only in small quantities. I have been graciously granted the right to publish the PDF file of this biography by Peter and Barbara Gozdeck of California. Barbara, née Clem, is a great-great-grandchild of Friedrich Brunn.

       The pedigree of this publication, Friedrich Brunn: A Man of God is somewhat lengthy. One finds that much of the material is based on Friedrich Brunn's own book (translated) Memoirs of My Life. So in that regard it is an autobiography. One may read more background of this publication in the "Foreword" and "Preface". Of course the material will overlap that of the other publication Triumph of Truth by cousin August F. Brunn. But the story of Friedrich Brunn's life is so full, dramatic, and edifying that it merits multiple accounts.

      I am calling Friedrich Brunn a "co-founder" of the LC–MS only because LC–MS Pres. Matthew Harrison wants to use that label for Wilhelm Loehe along with C. F. W. Walther. But as stated before, Harrison overstates the importance of Loehe in matters of Lutheran doctrine, whereas Friedrich Brunn far excels Loehe in this regard—more on that later. 

Download >> HERE <<

Benefits of Erwin Brunn's Friedrich Brunn: A Man of God:

      While the other biography, August Brunn's Triumph of Truth, was reviewed by Prof. Klug, it has not been made available to the public as far as I know. So this biography will give a greater exposure to anyone who wants to know more, thanks to the family members' permission to present it on my blog. 

      Included are some pictures of the area in Germany that Friedrich frequented along with his home base of Steeden. The maps make it easier to follow his journeys. In the original autobiography, Friedrich Brunn speaks at length of the state of "Nassau", but that state no longer exists because it was incorporated into the German confederation in 1866. So the maps that Erwin included were most helpful for someone like me.

      Also beneficial is Erwin's and son Kenneth's update to more recent times relating the further developments after Friedrich's passing in 1895. How did the free churches in Germany fare in more modern times? Did they carry on Friedrich's legacy?

 

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      In preparing this blog post I found myself drawn more into the history of Friedrich Brunn, so much so that I decided to process his own 273-page German language autobiography so that it could be machine translated and polished for English readers. In that process, I learned much, which will be brought out and summarized in the next post in this series, Part 2.