GB14: Buchwald misuses Walther's lamentations; Free Church could be better?

      This concludes from Part GB13 (Table of Contents in Part GB1) in a series presenting C. F. W. Walther's defense against a Saxon State Church theologian Georg Buchwald, who attacked both the Lutheran Free Church in Germany, and the Missouri Synod in America. — Just like German Pastor Rudolph Hoffmann in his book of 1881, (see blog post Part RH10) Buchwald points to the lamentations that Walther had for his Synod. In the 1878 address to the Synod, Walther spoke thus: "the time of the first love of our synod, which we older members of it once saw, is gone". So Licentiate Buchwald (Ph.D.) does the same thing as Pastor Hoffmann in his 1881 pamphlet. Germany’s State churchmen's only mention of Missouri is to deride it, and to twist its writings. — The following translation is from Lehre und Wehre, vol. 32 (1886), pp.144 [EN]:

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Latest Defense of the State Church against the Free Church.

[by C. F. W. Walther]

 

Now just one more thing! At the end Buchwald quotes some passages from our [Walther’s] jubilee sermon of 1872 and from our synod address of 1878, in which we seriously complain that "among some formerly zealous members, especially of our older congregations" a sad decline can be felt. From this Buchwald concludes, in almost unbelievable blindness, among other things: "It is not beautiful fruits that doctrinal discipline, communion discipline and separation of state and church have borne", and the editor of the Sächsisches Kirchen- und Schulblatt (Pastor Schenkel in Cainsdorf) agrees with him! Indeed, Buchwald remarks: 

"Is it worse or better? It remains to be seen!" 

It is true that we do not take back any of the complaints we have made and recognize from the bottom of our hearts that we have great cause to humble ourselves in the dust before God because of them; but if the aforementioned gentlemen leave it open whether things are worse or better in their state church congregations, this reveals a truly astonishing insight into their conditions, or damage and infirmities. It is only good that Buchwald responded to Pastor Willkomm's accusation that their state church was a Babel. When even an old Saxon preacher [? - unknown] who had emigrated in 1838 for the sake of religion, who had spent a longer period of time in Germany in 1850 and 1860 and made his observations there, who was also quite familiar with German theological and popular literature, was also concerned about the religious, moral and social situation out of a love of the fatherland that had not yet died out, and ecclesiastical conditions, we would otherwise create a picture of the Babel of the other world, which would drive away the masters' desire to tickle themselves over our infirmities, which we have not punished according to a police but a spiritual standard.

In summary: Licentiate Buchwald's writing is indeed a splendid sleeping powder and lullaby for the awakened consciences over there, which he has prepared as a guardian of his Zion, but as a defense [apologia] for his state church it is so well done that everyone immediately sees that, as easily as he may be able to read old manuscripts and as learned as he may otherwise be (both of which we are not inclined to diminish, together with the associated merits), he has here entered a field in which he is obviously a stranger. Finally, we must say that anyone who wants to learn about the plight of the Saxon state church should read his defense of it. W. [Walther]

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      In Buchwald's statement, he left his own assertions in some doubt by leaving the door open that the Free Church could be better than the State Church, demonstrating his unstable mind.

      “Red Brick Parsonage” may want to add spiritual judgment, beyond just an evaluation of “Luther scholarship”, to his comments on Georg Buchwald in the future to avoid confusing readers who also read Walther's judgment of this scoffer of the Lutheran Free Church, and the Missouri Synod. Surely his Wisconsin Synod would not want to appear to disagree with Walther in his points against Buchwald.

      May Walther's sharp evaluation of a well known German Luther scholar give aid to those who covet their soul's salvation, by arming them for their own evaluation of what is truly Lutheran and what is not. It certainly helped me!