Only a Lutheran, only Dogmatics: Bente praises Pieper's Dogmatics, vol. 2 (Part 1 of 3)

      This is a revised and updated version of an old blog post from 10 years ago in 2015. While reading this piece I remembered how glad I was to find such a wonderful judgment of Franz Pieper's Christian Dogmatics in the pages of Lehre und Wehre. In this case, it was a book review by Editor Prof. Friedrich Bente of Volume 2. I had translated Bente's review and inserted my extensive comments. In this updated version, I have added pictures, comments and more links.  — In the following presentation, Bente's text is in black font, my comments are indented in red font. From Lehre und Wehre, vol. 63 (1917), pp. 468-469 [EN]:

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Christian Dogmatics. By Dr. Franz Pieper. Second volume. Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. 672 pages, bound in cloth with spine and cover titles. Price: $4.00.

This work, which thousands will welcome with pleasure, has already been sufficiently characterized in Lehre und Wehre. However, we do not want to deny ourselves a few remarks. 

“Thousands will welcome?” That was true over 100 years ago, but today? For those few who still value true Christian doctrine, this volume is available for viewing, free of charge by borrowing, on the Internet Archive. Still, this book is so important that a hardcopy is priceless.

It is true that not every Lutheran can write a dogmatic, but only a Lutheran can write a truly Christian dogmatic. Why? Because he alone stands at the center of Christianity, not only according to his heart faith, but also according to his knowledge. 

Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics is not an entirely Christian dogmatics, no matter how many volumes he wrote, no matter how many accolades it receives.   According to the recent book Strange Glory, page 136: “Karl Barth … the Swiss theologian had moved from Münster ... to assume Bonn’s post in Reformed Theology, which was being funded by American Presbyterians eager to promote Calvinism in the land of Luther.” Karl Barth was a Reformed theologian.  So why is Barth not suitable for instruction in Christian dogmatics?  Read on...

Anyone who does not take his position at the center does not see everything, nor does he see and judge what he sees correctly. In theology, this position is that one really sits in the Scriptures, sees everything through the Scriptures, and judges according to the Scriptures. 

However, not everyone who operates with the words of Scripture and knows how to surround himself with a scholarly exegetical atmosphere is really seated in Scripture, but only those who have taken their standpoint in the actual heart of Scripture. This heart of Christianity, however, is nothing other than the scriptural doctrine of God's grace in Christ Jesus, according to which only faith justifies, regenerates and saves. 

Today there are many a theologians who know how to “surround themselves with a scholarly exegetical atmosphere”, e.g. Exegetics Professor James Voelz of Concordia Seminary.  Many of today’s theologians gain notoriety by having higher degrees from Cambridge, Oxford, University of Chicago, etc.  Concordia Publishing House can’t get enough of these Bible commentators and the positive reviews for their books by these “scholarly exegetes”.  Their editors love this scholarly atmosphere, the “scholarly exegetical atmosphere”. 

But yet they are either weak in or have lost the Doctrine of Grace.  Walter Albrecht, in his Foreword to Volume 3, page v, of Pieper’s Dogmatics, highlighted Pieper’s statement from Volume 1 (pg 101), that “Only dogmatics is edifying”.  That is, it is for doctrine that the Bible was given to man.  As Pieper says on page 101: “Exegetical theology deals exclusively with the words of Holy Scripture…. [It] loses its theological character if the exegete does not adhere throughout to the maxims “Scriptura Scripturam interpretatur” [Scripture interprets Scripture] and “Scriptura sua luce radiat.” [Scripture shines its own light]  —  This is how I was led back to my Christian faith, as Pieper (and Walther) held my nose to the bare Scripture of 2 Cor. 5:19 and said “See?”  Can you read?... God IS already reconciled to you?...  now you know what grace is.

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In the next Part 2…

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Part 1: This introduction

Part 2:  All "threads of theology" tied "into a knot"

Part 3: The great stir in America