Part 4: The Counter-Reformation within the Lutheran Church: Melanchthon's error

      This concludes from Part 3 (Table of Contents in Part 1) in a short series publishing Franz Pieper's last convention essay in 1930 on the 3 Counter-Reformations. — In this segment Pieper speaks of Lutherans, old and new, who have deviated from Lutheran doctrine. And in the process, we get a clear explanation of the doctrinal weakness of Philip Melanchthon in his later years. — From the 1930 Eastern District, pp. 43-47: 

I. The Counter-Reformation within the Lutheran Church.

Notable Quotations:

p. 39: "And now the sad event that even during Luther's lifetime a man arose within the Lutheran Church itself and at the University of Wittenberg who challenged the Gospel of grace, and that this man was Philip Melanchthon"

39: "Melanchthon wanted to be wise beyond the Holy Scriptures. He wanted to know more about things that affect people's salvation than God has revealed to us humans in His Word."

39: "In order to explain to human reason why not all people are saved… Melanchthon came up with the fantastic idea … that man could and must make a contribution to the development of faith in the Gospel"

39: "Melanchthon had truly forgotten what Scripture so clearly teaches… every human being is dead in sins"

40: "Luther had a very serious conversation with Melanchthon, and Melanchthon gave in."

40: "Melanchthon attributed to man the ability to turn to grace before his conversion"

41: "Another example of exaltation over others is the Jews. They did not want to sit on the same bench of sin with the Gentiles and thus excluded themselves from the kingdom of God for time and eternity, Matt. 8:10-12"

41: "…very soon afterwards, so-called “scientific” theology broke out, especially in Germany."

42: "The fathers of the Missouri Synod…were led by God's grace from Germany to America"

43: "Luther also teaches the inspiration of Holy Scripture."

44: "…German university professors no longer consider the Holy Scriptures to be the Word of God."

44: "If a denier of Christ's inspiration …wants to console himself with John 3:16 … the devil may well whisper to him: How can you rely on John 3:16"

44: "the extremely sad fact that modern Lutheran theologians mostly also deny the vicarious satisfaction"

45: "substitutionary satisfaction is the direct teaching of Holy Scripture."

45: "Luther teaches that all those who do not believe in the vicarious satisfaction of Christ are outside the Christian Church"

45: "Unitarianism, however, is the dominant religion in our famous universities." [i.e. Harvard]

46: "Even within the American Lutheran Church, the substitutionary satisfaction of Christ has been directly denied in individual cases."

46: Synergism: "the idea that God has not completely reconciled the world to himself through Christ's substitutionary satisfaction."

46: “ecumenical Lutheranism” [or so-called “catholicity”]: "Some understand it to mean a further development of Lutheran teaching". [e.g. Loehe]

47: "As far as doctrine is concerned, there are no Old Lutherans and New Lutherans. … its “ecumenical” character, which remains the same for all times and places, includes unity in Christian doctrine."

The following gives access to the full essay in English translation:

A download of the DOCX file is provided >>  HERE  << which has been added to the original "Convention Essays" blog listing.

      Pieper's clear condemnation of Melanchthon's later error shows that Prof. Bente, in his Historical Introduction to the Symbolical Books, followed not only Walther, but also Franz Pieper. Pres. Matthew Harrison recently claimed that Pieper is "our greatest LCMS theologian who is still studied at our seminaries today". So why does the LC–MS oppose Pieper on the history and the doctrine of Melanchthon's later error? Is it not true that today's LC–MS has actually joined the "Counter-Reformation within the Lutheran Church"?