CM8: Kliefoth- if only he learned from Walther (Free Church obituary)

     This continues from Part CM7 (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 have lumped Loehe and Theodore Kliefoth together several times in this series because that is generally done where the doctrines of Church and Ministry are concerned. So although Pres. Harrison does not promote the German theologian Kliefoth in his editorial comments, yet because his teaching was much like Loehe, I want to publish an obituary of him published by the Lutheran Free Church of Germany in 1895 by "Hr.". They certainly knew Kliefoth well as he was a significant Lutheran church leader in Germany, and, as we find out, ended up despising the Free Church. The following is a story that is so much like that of Wilhelm Loehe — a time of (1) strength against the prevailing rationalism and for true Lutheran liturgy, (2) but then, as with Loehe, seriously weakening in his later years. 

A few hightlights:

89: Kliefoth was "in earlier years and in some respects the most outstanding of all churchmen in Germany"

89: "He swept out rationalism with an iron broom…"

89: "One of Kliefoth's greatest achievements was that he, an authority in the field of liturgy, provided the Mecklenburg regional church with a thoroughly orthodox agenda."

90: "Kliefoth came to be suspected of 'the blackest orthodoxy'" (in Germany)

90: "For the sake of truth, however, we cannot conceal the fact that when the time came for Kliefoth to work his way from the second to the third article, he suffered the same fate as more or less all German theologians.… Kliefoth could not find his way around the third article of the Christian faith… he henceforth swam in Roman waters."

90: "The state church, the institutional church, had completely confused his naturally sober mind."

91: "People imagined that they had returned to the full Lutheran faith and confession, and yet they had stopped halfway."

This 3-page obituary was reprinted in Lehre und Wehre, vol. 41 (1895), pp. 89-92 [EN]. Below is a polished translated English version:

This file may be viewed directly >>  here  <<. 

This article was instructive for me, to learn more of the history of the Lutheran Church in Germany in the 19th century, how rationalism was turned back by men such as Kliefoth, only to sadly have these men lose their way. We saw how far he fell in Part CM4b. How appropriate it was for the Free Church author to comment how Kliefoth

"neglected to familiarize himself sufficiently with the Lutheran theology brought back to light by a man like Dr. Walther and to learn from him."

There are many in the LC–MS today, like Pres. Matthew Harrison, who favor Kliefoth and Loehe… but should learn from Walther. — [2024-07-07: modified this announcement:] In the next Part CM9 we uncover forceful testimonies against Pastor Wilhelm Loehe… by two of his own most notable former students.