L10–IV. 1. Law precedes justification through faith; Eggold's 2nd criticism of Walther

[2025-08-18: added note at bottom in red.]

      This continues from Part L09a (Table of Contents in Part L01) in a series on the instruction of the Law by C. F. W. Walther and Martin Luther. — In this segment, Walther gets to the heart of the matter that makes him, and Luther, stand out: how to properly use the Law in relation to the Gospel.  — From Lehre und Wehre, vol. 7 (Dec. 1861), p. 370 ff.: 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

IV. What is the relationship between the preaching of the law and the preaching of justification through faith?

      1. The preaching of justification through faith must be preceded by the preaching of repentance from the law, as it is written: "Thus it is written, and thus Christ must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and cause repentance and remission of sins to be preached in his name among all nations, and be raised up in Jerusalem." Luke 24:47.

What Luther says on the preaching of the law in relation to justification:

• “They have invented a new method for them, that grace should be preached first, then the revelation of wrath, so that the word "law" may not be heard or spoken.… But they do not see how St. Paul teaches in a contrary way, first showing the wrath of God from heaven and making all the world sinners and guilty before God; then, when they have become sinners, he teaches them how to obtain grace and become righteous… But they turn the shoe around and teach us the law according to the gospel and wrath according to grace.”
• “Those who are stubborn, stiff-necked and secure should be frightened with examples of God's wrath, so that, as is said here, they may learn to fear God. But now our hearts are inclined not to like to be chastened. We all accept the promises with joy and do not resent them. But the preaching of the law frightens people and makes them, as it were, fierce and angry.”
• “But the Antinomians would have it that the doctrine of repentance should begin badly with grace; but I did not follow this process. … [I] comforted no one except those who had previously repented and suffered for their sins and had themselves been tormented by them, whom the law had frightened”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    In Prof. Henry Eggold's ThD dissertation "Walther, the Preacher", beyond his judgment that Walther exhibited Pietism in his preaching (Part L09a), he also disagreed with Walther's strong preaching of the Law. After he quotes Walther's statement that "Hypocrites even today still cling to every Christian congregation" (Licht des Lebens, p. 297), Eggold states:

"This is an extremely important assertion of Walther's because it reveals quite clearly the attitude Walther takes toward his own congregation. Only on the basis of the statement can one understand why he applies his sermons quite consistently to the unbelievers as well as to the believers in his audience. …. I feel that his statement is too broad. I would prefer to say that there are certainly hypocrites in every congregation where Law and Gospel are not preached properly and where church discipline is neglected. But I do not feel that there is warrant for categorically assum­ing that there are hypocrites in every congregation."

Now "Eggold, the Preacher" would surely consider that his sermons properly preached Law and Gospel, and that his church discipline was not neglected. But did it not occur to Prof. Eggold that he is in essence charging Walther with not properly preaching Law and Gospel and also with neglecting church discipline. Perhaps it did not occur to Prof. Eggold the lesson of the parable of the tares among the wheat (Matt. 13:24-30) Perhaps it did not occur to Prof. Eggold that even Jesus's own preaching did not convert all who listened to his preaching. All of Eggold's seeming praise of Walther's preaching elsewhere is tainted by his criticisms. Walther is Old Missouri, Eggold is New Missouri and was at one time the head of Concordia Theological Seminary. — In the concluding Part L11…

========

2025-08-18: It should be noted that Pastor Klemet Preus († 2014) also criticized Eggold's homiletical style as driving a "wedge between fact and empowerment". This was done in Preus's essay "The Sermon As Absolution" in the book Propter Christum: Christ at the center: essays in honor of Daniel Preus, 2013 Luther Academy, p. 291. Preus also included Walkout Prof. Richard Caemmerer in his charge.