CM10: Schurb vs Harrison (on Lieberg vs Walther)

    This concludes from Part CM9b (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. — 

      I briefly mentioned a serious disagreement between the respected Dr. Ken Schurb and Pres. Matthew Harrison in Part CM1b, but there is much more to tell on this.  Dr. Schurb was Assistant to President A. L. Barry from 1994 to 2001. In his recent book review of Hellmut Lieberg's Office and Ordination in Luther and Melanchthon, (CPH 2020) in CHIQ Summer 2021, he referenced his 1997 essay published in the Pieper Lectures, Volume 1, The Office of the Ministry. But since he said in the book review: "This review is not the place for detailed critique," I decided to study his 1997 essay, and found quite a defense of Walther's teaching over against that of Lieberg. Lieberg is Pres. Harrison's favorite reference in his editorial comments for his translation of Walther's book, Church and Office. I counted 20 such refereces throughout Harrison's commentary.

      Dr. Schurb's 1997 essay was written long before the 2020 CPH English translation of Lieberg came out, but his comments on the 1962 original German book would apply equally to the new CPH/Matthew Carver English translated book, essentially the same book.  And what did Dr. Schurb have to say about Lieberg and his theology? 

• (p. 62:) "…the universal priesthood held no fundamental significance for their subject’s doctrine of the Ministry. Hellmut Lieberg most forcefully advanced this thesis as he set Luther and Melanchthon side-by-side, heightening the contrast between them on this point." [Erring theologians often attempt to drive a wedge between Luther and Melanchthon.]
• (p. 63:) "A handy way for us to concentrate on Hellmut Lieberg’s view is by way of contrast with Walther’s."
• (p. 67) "Curiously, Hellmut Lieberg averred that in general Melanchthon knew of a right to administer Word and Sacrament common to all Christians, but he said Melanchthon based it on the share they have in the power of the keys — not on the universal priesthood!" [Dr. Schurb rescues Melanchthon's legacy from this notion of Lieberg.]
• (p. 78) "The Latin original of the Treatise went on to say that because (ob eam causam) the Church has the keys principally and immediately, therefore the Church has the authority to call pastors. It is questionable whether Lieberg fully appreciated that point."
• (p. 78-79) "Against the idea that each Christian has the full power of the keys, Lieberg ventured this claim…"
• (p. 83) "…[Lieberg's] claim that the keys are given only to the apostles but not to the Church."

Dr. Schurb's scholarship on both the Lutheran Confessions and Hellmut Lieberg was most helpful to understand better the doctrines of "Church and Ministry" and the errors of Lieberg. He levels some serious points against Lieberg. And even more, he states the following in his CHIQ Summer 2021 book review:

[Lieberg] "made no secret of his aspirations that his work would exert an influence in systematics, toward … the newer direction taken during the nineteenth century by Loehe, Vilmar, Stahl, and Kliefoth."

But yet Pres. Harrison boldly labels Loehe as the "co-founder" of the LC-MS. Even though Dr. Schurb has "hit the nail on the head" in his defense of Walther's theology against Lieberg (and Loehe), yet I think that Pres. Harrison is correct in his assertion, that Loehe is indeed the "co-founder" of the LC-MS, but not the Old Missouri Synod. — All of this begs the question: Why was Dr. Ken Schurb never a regular professor at one of the LC-MS seminaries? Is it because he was too "Missourian"?

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      So I have reached the end of this blog series that establishes that Pres. Harrison's assertions in his editorial comments on Walther's Church and Office are not true. It was an unpleasant task. I find myself "stuck in the middle" with Walther (see Part CM6c – corrected 2024-07-21).

      But the LC-MS could take the shortcut to a return to orthodoxy if it would recognize Preger's findings (in Part CM4b), that Loehe and Kliefoth were turning away from the Lutheran Doctrine of Justification, and so they need to study Walther's clear teaching of Universal, Objective Justification, or sola fide – "by faith alone". May the Lord God grant them grace to see their way to that path to the true Gospel. Amen!