AG11b: 1886: Women/Wives, Household servants (Paternal)

      This continues from Part AG11a (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". — This segment concludes the essay from the 1886 Western District convention. Even though Walther's biblical teaching shows how far today's American society has strayed from God's Word, yet he charges his own times with the same charges that we face today! — From pages 45-58:

Notable Quotes:

[Women, wives]

45: Thesis II: "the woman 1. according to God's Word is bound in conscience to be subject to her husband"

45: "The spirit of independence, which has now taken hold of almost all peoples, is now also rampant among women" [Walther called this out even 140 years ago! Who can deny this now?]

45: "In the church, however, such women do not want to be mere listeners, as the apostle clearly and unambiguously demands, but they also seek to take control of the pulpit"

46: "Those women who are addicted to innovation now say, of course, that this Bible verse applies only to barbaric times, but not to ours"

46: "The Lutheran Church alone is so simple-minded that it submits unconditionally to the word of the apostles and prophets.…Woe, therefore, to those whom God has led into this [Lutheran] church and who leave it as apostates!" [E.g. Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan, "Father" Richard John Neuhaus, Ed. Preuss, etc.]

48: "Where can we find women today who speak of their husbands as their lords?" [Luther's Gen. 3:16]

48: "…but the parents are mostly to blame. They have experience, should know better, and should never allow marriage to such a worldly man.

49: "in this sense marriage represents a kind of kingship, not popular rule"

50: "2. the husband has neither the right nor the power to rule over the faith and conscience of his wife"

51: "One should therefore not marry an unbelieving person in the hope of converting them."

52: "A wife is not under the rod like a child, but should be her husband's helper."

[Household servants]

52: Thesis III: "household servants… 1. are bound by God's Word to honor their masters …to faithfully carry out the orders given to them in accordance with the agreement made"

53: "It is a shameful principle that the Communists put forward that all people should be equal. God's Word says the opposite. Rich and poor, high and low, masters and servants must be among themselves."

54: Genesis 31:38-41: "Jacob put up with all of Laban's injustice [unlike Communists] and waited for the day of retribution." [Genesis 31:38-41]

54: "one can also employ ungodly people, but one should not take them into the family, as one does when one makes them servants or maids"

54: "In Luther's time, slavery was already virtually abolished in Germany"

54-55: "For from the authority of parents flows and spreads all other authority."

55: "servants and maids should see to it that they… also honor them as their own fathers and mothers"

55: "Those shameful people [Communists] who engage in agitation want to eat bread, but it is against their honor to help out as farmhands."

56: "2. those who are in charge of the household have neither the right nor the power to rule over the faith and conscience of their servants."

56: "since most of the servants mentioned in Scripture were slaves, it is very difficult to cite passages that are appropriate to our circumstances." [But Walther's deep Scriptural understanding finds 2 of them!]

57: "However, a householder must ensure that his unbelieving and papist servants are instructed in the true faith…But they are not to be forced to convert"

      Now I present my English translation of the full complete essay. It includes missing portions restored, all emphasized wording retained, wording sometimes closer to Walther's, and hyperlinks for reference and navigation. All references to Luther's writings are linked to English versions:

Download text file with no highlights here; German text file here.

In the next blog posts, Excursus 2A and 2B expand on Walther's history of the Jesuits. Then Part AG12 concludes the series with an all encompassing download of all 11 essays.

AG10b: Secular Authorities, part 2 (Jesuits, French Dragonnades)

      This continues from Part AG10a (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". — This concludes the essay from the 1885 Western District. This segment overlaps with some of the material in Prof. Lindemann's essays on "Religious Freedom" and ""Religious Intolerance in America". — 

Notable Quotes:

42: Thesis VII, 3: "a. the secular authorities have the right to neutralize…those heretics who…are dangerous to the state, but that, b. outside of this case, the secular authorities have neither the right nor the power to use coercive force against false beliefs and false worship"

43: "Truly, the secular authorities would therefore have sufficient reason to take action against the Pope as a heretic with principles dangerous to the state; but because they fear him, they bow down before him."

43: Luther on Communists of his time: "…that one should have no property of one's own, but should leave one's wife and children, house and farm, or hold and have all things in common: these are to be punished immediately and without any doubt by the authorities"

43: "it was right that the Jesuits were expelled from Catholic countries in the last century" [Suppression of the Society of Jesus, See following Excursus 1.]

43: "In America, this category includes the Mormons, who were expelled from Missouri and Illinois because of their thievery and settled in Utah" [This is glossed over in today's America.]

44: "b. the secular authorities have neither the right nor the power…to use their coercive power against false beliefs"

44: "Without external force, through the Word alone, the 'deception' of the Antichrist should therefore be destroyed."

44: Luther: "what raving people we have been for so long, wanting to force the Turks to believe with the sword, the heretics with fire, the Jews with death…"

46: Luther: "I am truly sorry that such miserable people are so pitifully murdered, burned, and horribly killed; everyone should be allowed to believe what he wants" [Luther for Freedom of Religion!]

46-47: "History tells of many bloody atrocities committed by Roman Catholic authorities…A second example of deliberate cruelty…against the Huguenots…is the infamous [French] Dragonnades." [See also this blog post.]

48: Dragonnades: “Die or become Catholic!” [Wikipedia: "The dragonnades caused Protestants to flee France"]

49: "Calvin forced the Council of Geneva in 1553 to burn Servetus, who denied the Trinity"

49: "Even the Reformed Max Göbel must admit: the Reformed… were far more the persecutors than the persecuted in preventing Lutherans from worshiping…so too did they commit many injustices with the help of their Reformed state government'

50: "We Lutherans in America cannot therefore thank God enough that the federal constitution makes it impossible for our authorities to give preference to one religion over another."

50: "here [in America], to the shame of those fears [in Germany], religious freedom has proven to be the highest and richest blessing for both the state and the church."

51: Western District: "With thanks to God for the freedom enjoyed by the Church in this country, the synod concluded its doctrinal deliberations"

      Now I present my English translation of the full complete essay. It includes missing portions restored, all emphasized wording retained, wording sometimes closer to Walther's, and hyperlinks for reference and navigation. All references to Luther's writings are linked to English versions:

Download text file with no highlights here; German text file here.

Immediately following is an Excursus 1 on the expulsion of the Jesuits from Catholic lands by the Catholic authorities. Then follows the next Part 11a…

L06–II. 2. The Golden Rule: misconception #2; Communism?

      This continues from Part L05 (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 addresses the second of two misconceptions of the "Golden Rule": "love your neighbor as yourself".  — From Lehre und Wehre, vol. 7 (Nov. 1861), p. 339 ff.:

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II. What is the proper understanding of these words: You shall love God above all things and your neighbor as yourself?

      2. Another misconception… is that one believes one must draw the conclusion from it that it is therefore against the love of one's neighbor that I am rich or a master and let my neighbor remain poor or a servant. 

• “But this principle is just as troublesome and confusing to the conscience as it would, if it were carried out, overthrow all orders in the world. … absolute Communism would be the only right relation among men in regard to their goods. But the words: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’, have a completely different meaning.”
• “If, for example, my neighbor is poor and I am rich, I should act towards him as I would think fair, that he should act towards me if I myself were poor and my neighbor rich.”

What Luther says about this, that one should not harm oneself when loving one's neighbor:

• “Therefore, no one can tell you better than you yourself what to do, what not to do, what to say or what to wish for your neighbor.”
• “I understand the commandment to mean that it does not command us to love ourselves, but only to love our neighbor. First of all, because the love of self is first in all men and reigns supreme. Secondly, if God had wanted this order, he would have said thus: Love yourself, and then your neighbor as yourself. But now he says: Love your neighbor as yourself, that is, love him as you already love yourself without any commandment.”
• “Therefore you do not need a book to teach you how to love your neighbor. For you have in your heart the finest and best book, in which you will find described everything that all kinds of laws may teach you, and you need neither a doctor nor a teacher: just ask your own heart, and it will tell you that you should love your neighbor as yourself.”
• “Whatever you would have others do to you, do also; this is the law and all the prophets; indeed, all natural law also says this. Now it is certain that I would like people to give to me, to lend to me, to help me in my need. Again, it is certain that no one should give, lend, or help me where I have no need of it, am lazy, am a rogue, want to splurge, do not want to work…”

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In the next Part L07…

L02a: Luther on Slavery: "revolting"; "inequality"?

      This continues from Part L02 (Table of Contents in Part L01) in a series on the instruction of the Law by C. F. W. Walther and Martin Luther. — Although the subject of Slavery has been dealt with previously at some length, I was struck by the following comment in my recent reading on "Natural Law". It came from Prof. Roland Ziegler's essay on “Natural Law in the Lutheran Confessions” in the 2011 CPH book Natural Law: A Lutheran Reappraisal (Internet Archive copy) and it caused me to stop and research it.  He stated, footnote #27, p. 78:

“As  revolting  as  it is to  our  modern  sensibilities,  for  the  reformers  the  right  to  individual  freedom  grounded  in  the  fact  of self-possession  (as opposed  to  forms  of slavery  of serfdom)  was  not  part  of natural  law. Thus,  Luther's  critique  of the  demands  of the  peasants  in the  Peasants’  Revolt  in  1525.”

"Revolting"? Ziegler used a strong word to describe modernists' mindset on slavery. He even seemingly included himself, stating "our modern sensibilities". With a statement like this, I wanted to find out exactly what Luther said on the institution of Slavery, The background to this is the peasants' Third Article which one may be tempted to think of as exhibiting a Christian attitude in their pleas, referencing several Bible verses (see p. 12). Then came Luther's answer and oh!… did I get the definitive Luther, and Christian, response to "our modern sensibilities":

“You [peasants] assert that no one is to be the serf of anyone else, because Christ has made us all free. That is making Christian freedom a completely physical matter. Did not Abraham [Gen. 17:23] and other patriarchs and prophets have slaves? Read what St. Paul teaches about servants, who, at that time, were all slaves. This article [of the peasants], therefore, absolutely contradicts the gospel. It proposes robbery, for it suggests that every man should take his body away from his lord, even though his body is the lord’s property. A slave can be a Christian, and have Christian freedom, in the same way that a prisoner or a sick man is a Christian, and yet not free. This article would make all men equal, and turn the spiritual kingdom of Christ into a worldly, external kingdom; and that is impossible. A worldly kingdom cannot exist without an inequality of persons, some being free, some imprisoned, some lords, some subjects, etc.; and St. Paul says in Galatians 5 that in Christ the lord and the servant are equal.” (AE 46, 39; StL 16, 66; WA  18:326.14–327.10)

Did Luther really say that?… beyond declaring that the peasants' demand to be a contradiction to the gospel, he went a step further and spoke of the worldly kingdom:

"A worldly kingdom cannot exist without an inequality of persons"

Inequality is necessary in the world? I was struck when reading Luther's forceful Biblical teaching that refutes all modernist theologians of today who would teach that Slavery, as an institution, was sinful. There is perhaps no more direct writing of Luther on this subject than when he addressed the peasant demands against their rulers. 

      If there was ever a statement of Luther against Communism and Socialism, this is it. All Christians would do well to study this to overcome the rhetoric of the world, the wisdom of the world today. Walther, in his writing against Communism and Socialism reported on the above statement of Luther where he "tells the peasants the truth, and shows by name that they have no right to call themselves Christians if they want to overcome violence by force and take the sword that God has not given them." — The series on Walther's teaching of the Law continues in Part L03.

"Negro suffrage" after Civil War; "Christian" testimony

     It never ceases to amaze me how Walther was so well read in all kinds of publications of his time. I suspect that Missourian pastors from across the United States sent articles to him for his consideration for news items in his Der Lutheraner and Lehre und Wehre publications. In the following blurb he references articles from four different publications and gives us a view into the thinking of these parties just after the American Civil War. These cover the intersection of religion and politics in the matter of "Negro suffrage". Along the way, Walther comments only on the matter of religion. "Negro suffrage" in the United States was a matter of politics. From Lehre und Wehre, vol. 11 (Dec. 1865), pp. 375-376:

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Negro suffrage and the Church. The Independent, the Puritan organ of the well-known politician Henry Ward Beecher, writes:

“Nearly every large religious body that has met since last spring has declared itself by an overwhelming majority in favor of Negro suffrage. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, representing every Northern State, has done so unanimously. The Congregationalists, the Methodists and Baptists, and other church denominations, representing baptizing pulpits and hundreds of thousands of church members, are steadfastly on the side of Negro suffrage. The Republican party cannot possibly ignore this Christian (!) testimony! It has owed all its successes hitherto only to the support given it by the moral and religious convictions of a free people, and if it conflicts with these convictions, its defeat and ruin are certain.” 

Just as the northern newspapers extolled the fervor of the northern churches in abolitionist and socialist politics, they, on the other hand, portray the spirit of the southern churches as an opposition, although equally political, spirit in the blackest colors. The Louisville correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette, in his report of Oct. 18, exclaims:

“It is a mysterious enigma, which only eternity can solve, whence it comes that the church is the last refuge of secessionism and proslavery. Whence is it that, while the rebel-soldiers, rebel-statesmen, and rebel-infidels of the former rebel States are abandoning the doctrines and institutions which have been subjected to decision by arms, the church of the various evangelical denominations of the South still cling with desperate tenacity to the causes of all our recent calamities?” 

Further, a correspondence from St. Louis to the Chicago Tribune states: 

“The greatest band of traitors that has been assembled in this State since the surrender of Jeff Thompson's army, is the Old School Presbyterian Synod, now assembled in this city.” 

As to the judgment of the Northern press on the sentiments and conduct of the Southern churches, one may confidently subtract a good part, for the Northern abolitionist, socialist zealotry does not agree with it, is testimony enough to the abolitionist fanatics for highly treacherous reaction, and these heroes of liberty are now naturally becoming all the more ungenerous, the more clearly they realize that the golden age is drawing to a close, when in this land of freedom only those were allowed to speak their mind who hold with them. [as documented also of the recent Democratic presidency of Joe Biden] Of course, the Roman Church is rubbing its hands with glee at the current state of the so-called Protestant communities in this country. The Friend of Truth [Wahrheitsfreund; Catholic newspaper] of the 25th writes: 

“While the Catholic Church knows no North and South, no East and West and embraces all its children with equal love, and is thus the true religion of the Union, there is the greatest disunity and discord among the various [Protestant] sects.” 

Here, of course, Römling conceals the fact that in recent years there has also been the greatest political strife in his church [as with Catholic Vice President J.D. Vance and radical Catholics] in this country and that his Friend of Truth itself, as a representative of radicalism, was so badly attacked by his own co-religionists that he declared it beneath his dignity to communicate and refute such crude attacks to his readers. [As with today’s liberal radicals.] It is true, however, that the Roman Church has this advantage over all other religious communities, that despite all the “disunity and discord” that prevails within it, it always finally comes together again in the confession: “We all believe in – One Pope.” W.

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      Walther identifies Beecher as a politician, while the Wikipedia article calls him a "Congregationalist clergyman". His newspaper considers itself a voice for "Christian testimony" but Walther clearly disputes this with his inserted exclamation point "!". Walther is more correct, and puts Beecher in the camp of "the Northern abolitionist, socialist zealotry". This ideology has in many ways governed the United States since the end of the Civil War. 

      There is much history surrounding this story and one can spend considerable time learning about the people involved. For example, the history of Confederate General Jeff Thompson, a handsome, rugged, respected military figure of the Confederacy, was fascinating to me. But Walther passes over all political and military matters and focuses solely on spiritual matters. One will understand the separation of Church and State in the practice of the old Missouri Synod, certainly not from "Northern abolitionist, socialist zealotry"!

SoT1: Walther’s “Signs of the Times”> “The Lord is near!” (1851) Part 1 of 7

      The world was in turmoil in the mid-19th century, largely stirred up by socialists. A notable event during this time was the German government’s success at holding back the socialist instigators, so many of these went abroad, also to America, to start newspapers, for example the Illinois state newspaper, etc. (search “american newspapers started by the forty-eighters”) And during this time C. F. W. Walther did not shy away from addressing not only the anti-Christian nature of their ideology, but also the political fallout. 

      In 1878, Walther gave an extended series of lectures on the topic of this blog. These were assembled into a book, Communism and Socialism. And in 1881, Walther warned against the secular newspapers who were “fierce enemies of the Christian”.

      But decades before those warnings, in 1851, Walther found the perfect vehicle to relate the political side of the socialists from a political newspaper published in Washington D.C. This article is a prelude to the later ones. In fact the bulk of this article is an uninterrupted direct quote from this newspaper, with only a few footnotes added by Walther. The report is rather chilling, and shocks one to think that the turmoil of today, in America, was practically exceeded by the turmoil emanating from Europe, especially Germany, and planted in America. — This 2-part Der Lutheraner article was split across 2 issues. Walther introduces this to his Christian readers, then gives an extensive quote from a political newspaper, the bulk of the article. To give us the proper perspective as Christians, Walther tells us why we should be watching for the “Signs of the Times”… today. — From Der Lutheraner, vol. 7 (1851), pp. 83-85 (Jan. 21), 92-93 (Feb. 4) [EN]:

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Signs of the Times.

[by C. F. W. Walther]

“When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red; and in the morning you say: It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and cloudy. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” 

Thus says our Lord, as we read Matt. 16:2-3. From this we see that although the Christian's true fatherland is heaven <page 84> and he wanders through this world as a pilgrim, as through a foreign land, his very calling as a Christian demands that he should not be indifferent to what is going on around him in the world, but should keep his eyes open to the great events of his time as he makes his way to his heavenly home. Holy Scripture, just as it has preserved for the Christian the whole past of the world with its course of development from the first day of its creation, has also opened up for the Christian the whole future of the world with the course of its activity until the Last Day of its existence. The Christian therefore has the sacred duty to observe attentively the state of things in this world and to compare it with the image of the future which is already held before his eyes in the mirror of the divine Word; in a word, it behooves him to seek out the "signs of the times" and to judge them wisely according to God's Word.

But if there has ever been a time that is rich in strange events, by which even the most stupid Christian eye can see in which time one lives according to God's Word, then this is the present time; and indeed rich in such events that call out loudly as with a voice of thunder into the hearts of Christians: “The Lord is near!” For centuries the faithful have been filled with ever more vivid hope that the great glorious day of the Lord is at the door; for centuries, as never before, the longing of Christians that the Lord will soon put a complete and eternal end to the ever increasing and ever more terrible ruin and misery in the world has become ever more burning; for centuries the cry of all God's children: "Yes, come, Lord Jesus!" has become ever more ardent and louder and more powerful. Who among our readers should not have heard words like these from one or the other old, pious member of his family: "If we do not experience it, then you, our children, our grandchildren, will experience it, that the last decisive, terrible battle of the kingdom of Hell and the world will break out against Christ and His own?"

It is true that what our pious fathers already expected to happen in the near future has still not happened; people are still eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting and building, so that it looks as if the world is only just beginning to live and have a good time on earth. Therefore the mocker of the Christian who still hopes and waits for the soon coming of the day of universal and perfect redemption laughs as a fool; yes, even not a few among the Christians have become drowsy since the bridegroom departed, have given room in their hearts to the thought: "Our Lord is not coming for a long time yet," and have not provided themselves with a sufficient supply of oil, so that when it should soon be said: "Behold, the bridegroom cometh," they can go to meet him with decorated lamps. But how? are they not among the foolish virgins? Is it not a cruel delusion to think of the Lord's promised return for the judgment of his enemies and the eternal glorious redemption of his own, because he has been awaited in vain by his own for so long? Must He not be all the closer now, the longer time of waiting for Him has already passed? 

And if all believers have already stretched out their arms to Him with trembling joy when they saw the signs of their time, what are we to do now that these signs are being joined in our days by ever more distinct and ever clearer ones? According to Scripture, one of the most important signs of the last days is complete apostasy in the midst of Christendom, reckless mockery and denial of God, the overthrow of all divine order in the world and the breaking of all holy bonds. The dear reader should only compare the following passages: 2 Pet. 3:3-15; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-4; Jude 17-21. etc. As, however, many of our readers, in their seclusion, may not suspect how dreadfully these prophecies of the Holy Scriptures are now being fulfilled, we may be permitted, in this and the next number, to communicate some of a correspondence contained in the political paper Der Zuschauer am Potomak, [The Spectator on the Potomac], published in Washington, District of Columbia, and edited by Mr. F. [Friedrich] Schmidt, which has already been advertised and recommended by Der Lutheraner. There, among other things, it says the following:

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      The only writing from Walther in the balance of this article comes in a few footnotes and a brief introduction to the second Der Lutheraner installment. Walther gave the floor to this political newspaper. — In the next Part SoT2…

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Part 1: this introduction; Walther’s “Signs of the Times” → “The Lord is near!” (1851)

Part 2: Socialist proposes to blow up entire cities; there is no God! Burn prayerbooks…

Part 3: Christ "the first Democrat”; “Christians now called Communists”

Part 4: Weitling and Marat: 'Peasant war' theology; "the next presidential election"

Part 5: Worker associations…transplants from Germany; “I am an atheist!”

Part 6: Weavers’ Song agitates; God, country, property — exterminate; list of U.S. newspapers

Part 7: Socialists: abolish country, religion, property, marriage

Popes, French, Communists & Socialists, "Science": spiritual obsession

      While reviewing the third volume of Dr. Franz Pieper's Christliche Dogmatik, I ran across his comment on certain persons and groups of his time.  He was speaking of special cases of "spiritual obsession", beginning with Judas. And it rang true for much of America today. — Excerpt from CDk I, 614-615 fn 1528; CD I, p 509, fn 18:

"All who do not believe the gospel of Christ think and do what the devil wants because they are in his power, ἐξουσίας (Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13). Also, that they do not know this, indeed, deny the existence of the devil, is an effect of the devil. It is scriptural terminology to call the status of all those who do not believe that Christ's blood alone makes us clean from all sin obsessio spiritualis. If we want to reserve this expression for special cases and persons, namely for an increased effect of the devil, which we perceive in individual persons (Judas) and at special times,1528),…" 

     1528) In addition to Judas, each time the Pope as the man of sin and the child of perdition in his function as the κατ' εξοχήν [Preeminence] who sits down in the temple of God as a god and pretends to be God (2 Thess. 2). The French Revolution at the end of the 18th century, which is often cited as an example of the heightened obsessio spiritualis, is matched by recent events (the activities of the Communists and many Socialists, also of the deliberately untruthful statesmen and their accomplices, the newspaper editors during and after the World War I). As examples of the increased obsessio spiritualis also such representatives of "science" are considered rightly, who storm as furiously against the Christian church and the Word of God.

      In America today, we see the Communists and many Socialists, "untruthful statesmen" (the current federal Administration, Pres. Biden and his circle), "newspaper editors", i.e. the major media outlets, "Science" falsely so-called — all are in the power of the Devil and in his service. Lord, have mercy on us!