AG11a: 1886: Worldly Authorities III, Household Authority (part 1, Parental); "children only toys"

      This continues from Part AG10b (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 this 1886 Western District convention, the last in Walther's great series, he addresses a subject where I wondered that it might be boring. But I was greatly mistaken, for in reading the first two pages, I wondered that this was his most important one, especially for our times today. I could not stop highlighting the text as Walther speaks to the heart. Many of the points he makes may be shocking to our modern ears, but they are biblical. — From the report, pages 9-58:

Notable Quotes:

9: Theme: "…the household rule has neither the right nor the power to rule over the faith and conscience of its subordinates"

10: "If there is no return to the right leadership and sanctification of the household government, at least in Christianity, we are heading for terrible times."

10: "The Church has the calling to be the salt of the earth and to resist the encroaching moral and religious decay."

10: "the Lord has helped our small band to gain a salutary influence everywhere, including in matters of Christian morals and order."

10: "the church, its preachers, and its members will not make any friends by punishing all pervasive corruption"

10: "the Lord has helped our small flock [the Old German Missouri Synod] to gain a salutary influence everywhere, including in matters of Christian morals and order"

11: "This [Household] authority itself, however, is divided into three different authorities, namely parental, marital, and paternal."

12: "Only the Lutheran Church has the true teaching about these three estates"

[Children]

12: Thesis I: "children 1. are bound…not only to love their parents…but also to honor them and be subject and obedient"

12: "The father may be pious or godless, but a father is a father."

13: "It does not help if such a son treats other people kindly and lovingly: if he is disobedient to his father, God sees this as a sin against Himself"

13-14: "When a son has grown up, learned something, and earned a lot of money, parents are often afraid to say what they should say"

14: Americans: "We [Germans] must do things differently than the Americans; we must not follow what they consider decent. Our standard is not the fashion and customs of our country, but the Bible, and we must strictly follow it in these matters."

14: "Jesus, the Prince of Life…is subject to Joseph the carpenter, who is only his foster father, and to Mary…"

15: "The father is not obliged to give his children an account of the reasons for his commands"

16: "Because the authority of parents is divine, they cannot forgive anything of it. If they do so, they sin against God"

16: "Scripture says, “The husband is the head of the wife.” Consequently, when parents disagree, children must obey their father."

17: "Parents now have the great task of resisting and controlling the evil that is in their children"

17: "Some children have such a nature that everyone likes them; …thinks they have very good children. And yet it is all nature, an outer veneer…'Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,' says Scripture."

17: "Discipline has two meanings: first, instruction, and second, when instruction is fruitless, punishment."

18: "the apostle's admonition also expresses God's will that children must submit to their parents' discipline"

18: "A father who thinks he has no time, that he must attend to his business,…he must entrust the upbringing of his children to his wife or strangers, is a shameful father."

18: "In this country [America], the situation in this regard is sad. Many Americans say, 'I don't want to teach my children any religion'…But that is a truly satanic principle."

19: "Most people see children only as their toys, delight in them, hug and kiss them, and think that is enough."

20: "Herein lies the first duty of parents, to care for their children, not only physically, but also spiritually"

20: 2 Tim. 1:5: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice” ===>>>

20: "It is a real shame for men that one so rarely hears that they have made a special impression on their children with their Christianity" [Walther hits home!]

21: "Those who spare the rod deprive their children of salvation." [more than "spoil the child"!]

22: "For God's sake, we should make our children poor sinners at an early age"

22: "if they [wayward children] do not comply with the house rules, they should be sent out of the house." 

25: Luther's Preface to his Small Catechism, § 11: unwilling children's "parents and landlords shall deny them food and drink and inform them that the prince wants to drive such uncivilized people out of the country"

26: "children choose people [for spouses] whom their father wants nothing to do with, who speak a different language, are of a different nationality…Family happiness is ruined…"

27: "The main cause…is and remains that people no longer fear God and His holy Ten Commandments."

27: "children, in particular b. when starting their own family, must obtain their parents' consent when choosing a spouse" 

28: "Children are his [the father's] property, and are not their own masters"

29: "It is not living together that makes a couple married, but the mutual promise with the permission of both parents."

30: "It is most terrible when the parents are good Lutherans and the children marry Papists, so that the doors of the house are opened to Roman priests."

30: "this is also the case with an arbitrary promise of marriage made by the children. The father can also revoke such a promise, or rather, he can declare it null and void."

31: "young people are married as soon as they have given their vows with the consent of their parents"

32: Balduin: "In our [Lutheran] church, however, it is taught with great unanimity that the consent of the parents is necessary for the marriage to be valid"

34: "For if the father does not agree with the mother on the marriage of their children, the consent of the father will undoubtedly take precedence, because the man is the master of the woman"

35: Luther on Gen. 6:2, "they took them wives of all which they chose": "they cast aside the law of their fathers and did not keep a certain order of marriage, but followed their lust badly and took those they loved by force, against their parents' will"

35-36: "It is clear that the most godless society that has ever existed is that of the so-called 'Jesuit Order,'…In 1773, Pope Clement XIV abolished the Jesuit Order because all Catholic political powers had demanded it." [See Part AG10b.]

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35-37: A true history of the Jesuits by C. F. W. Walther. "The Jesuits also undoubtedly killed Pope Clement XIV with a terrible poison that took effect over a long period of time. The Pope himself said, when he signed the bull of suppression: 'I am signing my death warrant.'" [Note: AI bots (Gemini,  ChatGPT) will give false narratives to defend the Jesuits!]

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37: "2. parents have neither the right nor the power to rule over the faith and conscience of their children"

38: "When creatures presume to give commands against God's will, these commands have no validity…No father or mother can command anything that is against a child's conscience"

38: "For conscience is the voice of God within every human being, accusing and condemning him"

39: A Christian will "only be certain and satisfied when they know what God has written in His Word"

40: "There are many good Christians who think that we fight and argue too much in our magazines and sermons…The devil must be cast out, or the kingdom of God cannot come."

40: "When a Christian recognizes the truth that leads to salvation, he also speaks it out…Then no consideration for father or mother may hold him back."

41: On John 2:4: "Since she [Mary] wants to interfere with His office, His kindness ceases."

41: "Parents do not have absolute power to marry their children against their will. They must also ask their children what they want."

42: "…a qualification, as Eph. 6:1 explains: ‘Children, obey your parents in the Lord,’ that is, in those things that are pleasing to the Lord"

42: "Christ commands that parents be set aside when they demand something from their children that is contrary to God; for it means “hating father and mother” (Luke 14:26)"

42: Luther: "I call it worldly to raise children in such a way that they seek nothing more than pleasure, honor, and wealth, or the power of this world."

43: Luther: "although there is no greater authority on earth than the authority of father and mother, it is nevertheless null and void when it comes to God's Word and work"

44-45: "parents, relatives, or guardians do not always act wisely when they force their sons, or relatives, or wards to study theology, to which they are not naturally inclined."

In the next Part AG11b, we conclude this 1886 essay, on the subjects of Women/Wives and Household servants.