[It should be noted at this point that the next essay in Essays vol. 1, the essay "Church and State" was erroneously attributed to Walther. After researching and corresponding with top LC–MS historians years ago, it was discovered that this essay was delivered by District President J. G. Schaller, and so it is being skipped over in this blog series of Walther's essays.]
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This continues from Part EC4a (Table of Contents in Part EC1), a series restoring availability of English translations of several of Walther's convention essays that have seemingly been abandoned by Concordia Publishing House. — This essay, delivered to the 1863 general Synod, is best introduced by quoting the "Foreword" from the 1992 CPH book:
“This essay is an elucidation of Thesis XXI of Walther’s book The Proper Form of an Evangelical Lutheran Local Congregation Independent of the State [see Part EC4a], which appeared in 1863 and whose contents were in the hands of the delegates to the Synodical convention of that year.”
One may read Thesis XXI in translations by John Drickamer here, and by Theodore Engelder here in the book Walther and the Church (p. 97). It is also in J. T. Mueller's translation The Form of a Christian Congregation, p. 63-75. My translation is available in the file below.
There are 3 matters addressed in this Thesis XXI:
- Walther counsels congregations, in calling pastors, against an isolationistic, do-it-yourself approach that excludes the counsel and guidance of the church at large.
- Walther reviews the requirement for the pastor to subscribe unconditionally to the confessional writings of the Lutheran Church.
- The nature and role of ordination: not divinely instituted, but a “wonderful institution”.
Just two quotes that speak to the first and second points above, from pp. 32 and 41:
“Then what is required of the congregations is not really a commitment to the symbols, but a confession of them.”
Another quote from Walther demonstrates his teaching on the Synod itself and whether it can be called a "church" in the sense that the local congregation is "church". On page 34, it is taught that independent minded congregations
"hinder the inner growth of our Synod and thus of the kingdom of God, of which our Synod is also a part, even though it is only a small part."
Compare this with Pres. Matthew Harrison's statement that "a synod is in fact 'church' because it is a transcongregational expression of ecclesiastical unity." Walther minimizes the Synod as only "a small part" in the kingdom of God, Harrison maximizes it in comparison to the local congregation. —
In the following, file links are added pointing to the German original page in Google Books. Links have also been added to the sources for Luther's writings:
In the next Part EC6…
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