Cicero (and Der Lutheraner) on: Theater and Comedy (or "shame and vice")

      Following a previous quote on this subject, I discovered another pithy quote from Cicero that the Der Lutheraner editor inserted as a brief blurb, from vol. 30 (Feb. 15, 1874), p. 30:

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Theater.

 

Even the heathen Cicero mockingly exclaims to those who declared the theater to be a school of virtue, “O, the comedy, that is to me an excellent improver of life, which would not exist at all if one did not approve of shame and vice.” (The Latin reads as follows: “O praeclaram vitae emendatricem, comoediam, quae, si flagitia non probaremus, nulla esset omnino.”)

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      The "comedy" presented today by the media is only deepening our "approval of shame and vice".  And so all laws in America against shame and vice are being not only removed, but reversed! — Der Lutheraner is making the point that even unbelieving heathen can have worldly wisdom.  But in today's America, and indeed worldwide, "shame and vice" are not only promoted, but are actually taught in its universities, also according to a North Korean refugee, one who has, so far, not claimed to be a Christian: "Columbia University reminded her of the oppressive regime".

Truth or fiction? Rationalist and Theater (Der Lutheraner 1848)

      From a short blurb in Der Lutheraner, May 16, 1848, p 152:

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Teller               ——                   Iffland    

The difference between a rationalist church

 and a comedy house.

When the rationalist [Wilhelm Abraham] Teller once asked the theater director [August Wilhelm] Iffland in Berlin: how is it that our churches are getting emptier every day, and your theaters are getting fuller every day? – Iffland answered: that's why you give truth as fiction, and we give fiction as truth.

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      Most of the times that I research the persons referenced in Der Lutheraner I get much information from Wikipedia and other sources.  But they don't give the full story… like Der Lutheraner does.

Walther's Dance and Theater online (on Higher Things)

With my recent experience of embedding larger documents within my blog posts, I want to return to the subject of an earlier blog where I introduced Walther's Tanz und Theaterbesuch book.  I had translated it, commented on it, and provided download links to it then.  But now I consider this book important enough for today that I want to put the whole document online, not just a download link, so that it can be easily read anytime.

The difference of the version below from my previous download is that this is not in PDF format, but rather text only; and I have added internal hyperlinks to easily jump to certain sections from my Table of Contents.
I have also added several hyperlinks throughout the document – [ToC] – to easily jump back to the Table of Contents.  As before, underlining is in the original,  highlighting is mine.
Pagination from the original German has been retained and many page references have been hyperlinked (e.g. (page 16) ) to the original pages in Google Books.
My apologies for the rough translation work... even some German words were left untranslated.  Some might call the quality of my work laughable.  But this material is clear enough that even with some stumbling during reading, Walther's clear message comes through.  Hmmm.... did Walther really teach that the spirit of Shakespeare is the same as the ancient heathen? (See page 71)


There is a youth conference going on now of "Higher Things" (affiliated with LC-MS) in Indiana (at Purdue University) called "From Above 2013".  I do not know what all is taught at these conferences — they say they are "cultivating, encouraging, and promoting a distinctively Lutheran identity among their youth and young adults."  They also say they

are convinced that youth need solid teaching and experiences that will nurture lasting Christian faith. Rather than treating youth as an adolescent subculture and confusing them with once- in-a-lifetime “mountaintop” experiences that cannot be replicated outside the conference events, Higher Things believes in challenging youth to learn the pure doctrine of the Christian faith.  By teaching them the same message that they are already hearing at home and at church, youth grow in the fullness of the Christian faith as they come to appreciate historic liturgical practice and its unique focus on God’s gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation for us delivered in Word and Sacrament."

Now it would seem commendable that they aren't focusing on "mountaintop" experiences such as  Pentecostal-like experiences outside God's Word.  Hmmm... just what is the "Lutheran identity" they speak of?  I wonder... do they teach like Walther in this book?  Or are they more influenced by Berthold von Schenk who claimed he started "Liturgical Renewal"?  Is the "Lutheran identity" they speak of the same as that of Berthold von Schenk (who was confused on the Doctrine of Justification) or that of C.F.W. Walther?  If their "Lutheran identity" is the same as that of Berthold von Schenk, then I have spoken on this before where I "thanked" von Schenk because

he explains more details of why my faith from my youth faltered, faded, and was ultimately lost... the emphasis on "Liturgical Renewal", the demand for Holy Communion at every service (as also Prof. David P. Scaer)... all these were at the expense of the "museum theology" of Walther and Pieper, i.e. the Gospel message.

So to assist the organizers of "Higher Things" in figuring out what material might be suitable, I dedicate this book of Walther to "assist parents, pastors, and congregations" for the training of not only the youth, but also for themselves.  Walther speaks of worldly dance, fashion, women's makeup, Shakespeare, unchastity, baudy novels, comedians, circuses, music, etc.  Walther ends his talk on worldly dance thus:

Well, dearly beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, ye fathers and their mothers, their sons and their daughters, so I urge you and ask for the conclusion: For the love of God who has given us the law of chastity, for the love of the Son of God's sake who has redeemed the whole sinful world so dearly and so does not want anyone angry, deceived and lost, and for the love of the Spirit's, the same will, that all should come to the knowledge of truth, abstain a desire of the world, with this love, which may make whatever your flesh for not absolutely true. 

Listen to Walther for truly "Higher Things"!  To God Be The Glory! Soli Deo Gloria!

Was Walther too strict warning against the Theater? Part 2

In Part 1, I gave the full section of Ewald Plass' book This Is Luther on the subject of Theater. I have attempted to verify Plass's sources but have been frustrated on his first reference about theatrical presentations presenting the Gospel in Lower Germany.  Even though I found the book by Julius Koestlin on Google Books, it seems that Mr. Plass must have erred because the page that he references, page 504, does not speak about the theater but about the Mass, papists, and the power of God's Word.  So I must take his assessment at face value.
But I did find his reference for "secular drama" or comedy by cross referencing the Erlangen citation with the St. Louis edition:
Erlangen Edition 62: 336 f. <<==>> St. Louis Edition 22: 1558-1561
And here is what Luther says:

2. On the Comedies.

(Cordatus. No. 1709)

Comedies need to be recited by the boys mainly that they have practice in the Latin language:  after that people will be trained by the fictitious persons and everyone is reminded of his duties.  In addition they set out the wiles of immoral women, and how the parents should receive their children with honour, and how the children should obey their parents. And if the comedies should not be performed because of some objectionable [obscoena] things for Christians, even the Bible would not be read. But anyone who takes offense at such things, takes the scandal where no one gives it.
(This paragraph in Lauterbach, 29 May 1538, p. 89)
I like the comedies of the Romans very well, the main purpose of which was that they want to appeal to the young people to enter the marriage estate. For the government of the world cannot exist without matrimony. Therefore, those insightful people attracted the youth by comedies, just as through images, in the best way to marriage, for fornication and celibate life are the bane of the state.

Let us examine what Luther says here.  What does Luther identify as the purpose of these theater comedies?
1) for student boys to learn Latin language
2) to warn against immoral women
3) parents should receive their children with honor
4) children should obey their parents
5) young people should enter marriage estate rather than fornication and celibacy

Now let us see how we can quote Luther against Luther.  The perfect example of this Luther's position on the Jews: he changed from sympathizing with the Jews to blasting them for their unbelief.  In the same way, one can quote the Bible against the Bible, but it is all the devil's play since Jesus said: "... the Scripture cannot be broken". (John 10:35)

Luther admitted in his later years that he was naive in his younger years concerning the papacy and other matters.  And he showed that he would seemingly change his position on Dance when the circumstances showed the practice had become worldly.

And so I, BackToLuther, must say that even though Walther did not take the time in his book to explain Luther's comments on the theater, yet Luther's pro-theater comments in no way impair Walther's warnings against the theater. I would say that Walther's warnings are the voice of a later Luther who would fully understand Goethe when he said the plays can neither promote or want to promote morality (see Walther pg 106).

Ewald Plass presumes too much when he says "There was certainly nothing prudish or puritanical about Martin Luther."  Indeed God's Word does speak plainly about the immoralities of people and about the human anatomy, but these are warnings and words from the Creator, the One who made them "male and female".  Indeed Luther was "prudish and puritanical" in the sense the modern world uses it.  Luther criticized Lucas Cranach for one of his paintings depicting a nude woman even though it was to attack the papacy.  His criticism was because of embarrassment over what was to be said to wives and mothers in view of this painting.

No!  Walther, not Ewald Plass (and the modern English LC-MS), must be listened to because Walther's warnings are the same as from Scripture:

...whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Romans 14:23

Flee fornication. 1 Cor. 6:18

Much more could be written about this but this is a "blog" and so I will end it here, at least for now. I have been on this subject since my post of December 29, 2011 where Pieper raised the subject again in 1927. May this be to the glory of the One who paid the price... that we might be free from sin. SDG.

Was Walther too strict warning against the Theater? Part 1

See my previous post regarding a comparison of Walther's quotes from Luther's writings where he vigorously condemned worldly dance. Walther beautifully shows Luther and Scripture guiding against the snares of the world... unlike Ewald Plass does in his book This Is Luther.

But what about the Theater?  Walther had no quotes from Luther in his book against the Theater but Ewald Plass gives comments from Luther that seemingly showed Luther even favored worldly theater.  Walther quoted other theologians, ancient and modern philosophers and a newspaperman against the Theater. But here is what Ewald Plass said concerning Luther's position on the theater, This Is Luther, pages 285 - 286:

ON DRAMATICS 

That the broad-minded, tolerant, and conservative Luther would not frown upon all dramatics and theatrical performances, was to be foreseen. He did not agree with those who found the dramatization of Biblical incidents and stories a profanation. He once pointed out that the Gospel had been diplomatically introduced by such presentations into a section of Lower Germany from which its public preaching had been debarred. (*) But even to secular drama Luther was sympathetic. Upon one occasion he was told of a teacher in Silesia who had given offense to some by proposing to perform before a Christian audience a comedy written by the pagan Terence. Luther was asked whether such (page 286) an undertaking were proper. He answered that the pupils should be permitted to present the drama. Such plays would be of great educational value to actors and audience alike. They are a mirror of life, said Luther. Nor ought Christians be held to avoid them because at times coarse jokes and objectionable love affairs are found in them. If a man insists upon taking offense, even the Holy Bible may give him occasion to do so, was Luther's realistic comment. (**) There was certainly nothing prudish or puritanical about Martin Luther.

(*) K-K, M II:504 [Koestlin, Julius. Martin Luther, sein Leben und seine Schriften, 5th edition 1903. Available from Google Books here.]
(**) Erlangen 62: 336 f. [Erlangen edition of Luther's works]

Here it would seem that Ewald Plass has successfully found an instance where he can prove Walther wrong in his strong warnings against visiting the Theater.  This is where the new, modern (English) LC-MS can really shine for it has proved the old (German) Missouri Synod wrong! Right?

So is Walther overstepping when he warns against visiting the Theater?  Because of the length of this subject, I am continuing it in my next post, Part 2.

Walther's book on "Dance and Theater" ("Tanz und Theaterbesuch")

[2019-05-19: appendix added below]
In the last post, the subject of Modern Dance was introduced.  C.F.W. Walther had a book published that addressed both Dance and Theater in great detail.  I have just spent some time getting the text of the German language book into digital format –a PDF file is here . The title page is here.
As far as I know, there is no published English translation of this text yet. But here is a rough partial translation using Google Translate and my best estimate of Walther's meaning:

     Dance and Theater  (<<--download)
by C.F.W. Walther
(or Tanz and Theaterbesuch)

This English translation can be read with discernment even with it's flaws.  A careful reading shows Walther's pastoral heart... something today's LC-MS would rather not face since it does not agree with Walther (or Luther or the Bible.)  See my next post about this.

(Translated all 118 pages of 118 pages total as of 1/18/2012)
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2019-05-19: added text box for direct viewing (w/ hyperlinks) of the full text of this translation:

Direct viewing of this translated document available >>> here <<<.