AG9a: 1883: Worldly Authorities I: Churchly Authorities

      This continues from Part AG8c (Table of Contents in Part AG1a) in a series presenting Walther's essays to the Western District that supported his theme "That Only Through the Doctrine of the Lutheran Church is All Glory Given to God Alone". — At the 1883 Western District convention, Walther begins a 3-year series on the topic of Worldly Authorities for Christians: Churchly (1883), Secular (1885), and Household (1886) authorities. — In this first installment, he deals first with what the conscience is, then what tyranny is over conscience. Walther speaks with authority because he teaches according to Holy Scripture, so that we can be absolutely sure of what Christian doctrine is in this matter. — This is an extensive essay, so I am breaking it up into 2 parts. The first part is from the 1883 report, pp. 18-46:

Notable Quotes:

18: Conscience, what it is and is not, its definition; erring conscience after Fall

19: "rule over the conscience of another…1) either by force compelling another to believe…or 2) compelling another to do so by virtue of his supposed authority, office, and prestige"

19: Luther, Diet of Worms: "But Luther did not recant. Why not? Because, he said, among other things, it is 'neither safe nor wise to do anything against one's conscience.'"

19: Thesis I: "…no creature in heaven or on earth, but God the Lord Himself alone, has the right and power to rule over the faith and conscience of Christians"

20: "Matthew 15:9: 'In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.' A powerful word from our Savior."

20: Christian freedom: "Christ paid a high ransom to obtain for us …freedom from the curse and compulsion of the moral law, but also freedom from the ceremonial law and from all human laws"

21: "our church rejects all domination of people's consciences is also clear from its description of Christian freedom"

22: Hunnius: "…under the papacy, the Christian people are burdened with far more additions, customs, and ceremonies [than under Levitical law] , all of which are presented as matters of conscience"

22: "But just as it is a grave sin to want to rule over consciences with human statutes, so it is also false humility to submit to human commandments"

23: Christian freedom "by no means implies freedom to disrupt and despise all established orders…a Christian should also willingly comply with his brothers in this for the sake of love and peace."

24: "It is precisely the children of this world who are slaves to their prophets of wisdom."

24: Walther: "And—we may confess to God's praise—our Missouri Synod has remained faithful to the divine Word and the Lutheran Confessions in this regard as well. For a quarter of a century, it has fought publicly for this doctrine [of Christian freedom.]"

25: Walther: For our synod constitution stipulates, among other things, the following for all time:

"The synod is only an advisory body with regard to the self-government of the individual congregations…"

25: "If a congregation finds that the [synodical] decision is not in accordance with the Word of God or is unsuitable for its circumstances, it has the right to disregard or reject the decision"

25: Walther: "…in the event that our synod should ever knowingly attempt to enforce other principles, it has already called upon all its members, preachers, teachers, and congregations, to leave it as a hypocrite and apostate." [All Glory to God, pp. 421-422]

25: Thesis II: "…not even the whole church"

26: "the holy apostles did everything in their power to prevent their high position in the church from giving rise to domination over conscience within it."

26: "The Papists in particular claim that the church has the right and power to make binding laws."

27: Apology: "we have said…that it is not necessary for human statutes to be uniform everywhere."

27-28: Smalcald Articles: "“It is not valid to make articles of faith out of the work or words of the holy fathers"

28: Formula of Concord: "We also confess to the same first Unaltered Augsburg Confession, not because it was formulated by our theologians, but because it is taken from God's Word" [Walther's emphasis.]

30: "But Ephesians 5:24 already forbids drawing that conclusion: 'The Church is subject to Christ, as the wife is to her husband.'" [Against the papists.]

30: "if the whole Church had the power to make laws, then those who obeyed would have to be outside the Church"

30: "if we look around the Church of the present, we find even in most communions that call themselves Lutheran not only the papist practice of controlling consciences, but also the papist doctrine of ecclesiastical power." []

31: "Through Luther, the grace of God broke this yoke of bondage and brought Christians to the knowledge and enjoyment of their freedom"

31: Thesis III: "Nor any church government, whether it be called pope, bishop, superintendent, deacon, president, or council, consistory, synod, or anything else."

32: "This passage [Acts 15:28] is often cited as proof that the synod at least has the power to make binding rules in external matters" [A synod that oversteps its bounds.]

34: "in the early Christian church, bishop and presbyter or elder were names for one and the same office, namely that of all pastors."

35: Luther: "There should and can be no authority among Christians, but each one is at the same time subject to the other"

37: Against Episcopalians: "Lutherans grant Christians their full Christian freedom and do not grant any church minister power alongside the power of the Word" [*******See this blog post.]

38: "one must also be mindful here that the ceremonies do not ultimately become excessive…that they are not regarded as necessary for salvation"

38: "We often see with regret how many beautiful ceremonies are increasingly falling into disuse among us"

38: "The beautiful ancient Christian custom of making the sign of the cross has now, unfortunately, become so much a mark of Catholics in the eyes of the whole world that we cannot reintroduce it into public use without causing great offense."

40: Luther said "when papal law was occasionally used as the basis for judgments: 'We must tear apart the consistory, for we do not want the lawyers and the pope in it.'" [StL 22, 1511]

41: Thesis IV: "Nor any individual congregation, much less a majority of its members."

41: "Many…think, especially in Germany, that our pastors are in fact quite pitiful … servants of men; that the Missouri Synod has a pope turned upside down, …that it has applied the political-democratic institutions of the American republic to the church" [Especially Loehe was behind this last charge, see this blog post.]

41: "the congregation also have their limits in God's Word."

42: "The smallest congregation stands on an equal footing with the largest"

42: "no individual congregation may rule over the faith and conscience of its own members"

43: "in indifferent matters, that is, in matters that God's Word has not decided but left open, the majority may not demand obedience outright"

44: "external connection with other congregations, for example through a synod, neither gives nor takes anything away from the congregation; it can be a true church even without it."

44: "external connection with other congregations, for example through a synod, neither gives nor takes anything away from the congregation; it can be a true church even without it."

45: "one can certainly do no better service to a congregation that wants to force its members to observe its rules than to resolutely refuse to obey it."

46: "Neither preachers nor listeners may presume to exercise power that belongs to God."

46: Thesis V: "Nor does any governing body of an individual congregation, whether it be called a council, elders, church council, presbytery, or the like" (Walther first gives biblical teaching on the "governing body".)

47: "We do not find any account of the establishment of the lay presbyterate in the New Testament.…certain proof that it is not an office in the church specially instituted by God"

49: "Among them [Presbyterians], the presbytery rules the congregation so completely that everything they decree is law for the congregation."

50: "It was therefore apostolic practice that not the presbytery stood above the congregation, but the congregation above the presbytery."

In the next Part 9b, we complete Walther's essay on Churchly Authorities.