Baier-Walther Compendium: Krauss’s book review

     I have previously published in 2012 a pre-publication book review by Franz Pieper on the book series Baier-Walther Compendium I have recently discovered that another review was published for Volumes I and II in Lehre und Wehre at a later time by Prof. E. A. W. Krauss after some of volumes were completed in 1879.  He was not yet a professor in St. Louis at this time, but was the Director of the Teacher's Seminary in Addison, Illinois. As I translated this review, I was struck by the insight that Krauss had for the importance of this series in the instruction of Lutheran Dogmatics.  

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From Lehre und Wehre, vol 25, no. 8 (August 1879), p 242-243); translation by BackToLuther using mostly DeepL and Yandex.  Highlighting and bolding are my emphasis. 

Joh. Guilielmi Baieri Compendium Theologiae Positivae, adjectis notis amplioribus, … denuo edendum curavit Carol. Ferd. Guil. Walther, ss. th. Doctor et Professor. Editio auctior et emendatior. In urbe Sancti Ludovici ex officina Synodi Missouriensis Lutheranae. MDCCCLXXIX.  Vol. I. II.

The new edition of the Compendium of Baier, which is now being delivered, has, by the grace of God, progressed so far that volumes I and II of it now lie before us in a stately, elegant half-French binding. It is a pleasant task for us to be able to communicate this to the honored readers of Lehre und Wehre. For there is no doubt that many who for various reasons have refrained from purchasing the individual deliveries until then will now gladly take the opportunity to take possession of the precious expanse which is now half completed.

It is true that the reader has already been informed of the internal arrangement of the latter, as well as of how it differs from the earlier editions of the Baier Compendium; but we shall be permitted to emphasize once more the characteristics of the new edition.

First of all, it offers the readers a text that is as clean as possible from printing errors. The errata inherent in the older editions and especially the most recent, often disruptive errata provided by Preuss, have been carefully corrected, so that in this respect the new edition may brazenly be described as the best of all that has been published so far. 

But what gives the former great value above all are the new additions made by the esteemed editor, Dr. Walther. Well, it is his well-known and well-tried way of not expressing his dogmatic conviction with his own words but with the words of our Lutheran fathers. And that the dear man did not find the leisure to write a dogmatic according to his own design in his own words is something we, together with our honored theological readers, and indeed with the entire Lutheran Church of this country, regret with all our hearts. 

But the additions from the fathers which Dr. Walther added to Baier's arguments were chosen with such astonishing dogmatic meticulousness, with such detailed expertise, with such a surprising consideration of what must be brought back into the consciousness of the Church, especially in our time, that the reader has in them, together with Baier's text, not only a complete compendium of the dogmatic work of our Church, but at the same time also an armor [πανοπλία, Eph. 6:11] of the orthodox doctrine with which he can confidently enter the struggle with the proud spirits of modern theology without having to fear defeat. 

There is no question in which our so-called Missouri theology is consciously opposed to modern “theological science”, which is not touched on in the new edition of Baier and which would be answered satisfactorily from God's Word either with the simple, edifying words of a Gerhard, or in the ingenious manner of a Dannhauer, or with the transparent logic of a Quenstedt. Even on open questions, proper secondary questions [quaestiones adnatae], insofar as they are of any importance, Walther brings rays of light from God's Word; he conscientiously juxtaposes pros and cons with the words of orthodox teachers, but never leaves the reader in the dark as to which opinion he himself is inclined to hold and which he therefore considers to be the more Scriptural.

Particularly valuable are the antitheses added by Dr. Walther, in which the contrast to the developed doctrines is expressed. Older, later, and the latest false teachers — the latter, if they claim the name “Lutheran” for themselves — fill this catalog of heresies [Catalogus haeresium], and especially with regard to modern theologians it is of great value that they thus are revealed and judged as Pseudo-Lutherans by their own words. At the same time, the antitheses also offer interesting dogmatic-historical material.

Thus this precious work, which of course is predestined for the use of our students, is warmly recommended to all lovers of thorough dogmatic studies. For most of our dear readers, the difficulties of studying it have long since disappeared, and for others they are all the easier to overcome, since the difficult technical terms [termini technici], where they occur for the first time, have been explained by a quotation from Scharff, Walch, or others. A foundation and fortification in the saving doctrine will be the rewarding success of all the effort put into Baier's Enlarged and Corrected Edition [Editio auctior et emendatior].

Volumes I and II contain the Introduction [Prolegomena] and the first two parts; the third volume will contain the third part of the Compendium together with Indexes. The price of the present volume, for its excellent features in every respect, is justly $3.50. E. W. K. [E. A. W. Krauss]

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      Unfortunately I could not find a review of Volumes IIIa and IIIb in Lehre und Wehre.  But the above comments would certainly apply for the whole series.

      It is a sad failing of the LCMS Christian Cyclopedia, in its description of Prof. Krauss, that it did not carry forward the full history of him from Old Missouri's The Concordia Cyclopedia of 1927.  Krauss shows not only his scholarly understanding of theology, he also understood the great spiritual value of Walther’s undertaking for this book series. The 1927 Cyclopedia even pointed out Krauss's "stupendous learning" and that his work was "highly edifying to the lover of Lutheranism" – high praise indeed, especially for Old Missouri!  We found a brief mention of him in Hochstetter's History (p. 176), and then we saw him grow greatly in his spiritual understanding in the Predination Controversy on p. 377, just 1-2 years after this book review was written.  That experience mimics Hochstetter's own experience of coming out of darkness by the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions.

Hist22b: Critical: Suelflow, Schmelder, Peperkorn, etc.

      This concludes from Part 22a (Table of Contents in Part 3), a series presenting an English translation of Pastor Christian Hochstetter's 1885 496-page book entitled (abbreviated) The History of the Missouri Synod, 1838-1884. — This concludes the final installment to the series. 

Roy Suelflow.  It was troubling to find this name among those who would criticize a portion of Hochstetter's work.  But there it was, in his 1946 ThD thesis "The History of the Missouri Synod During the Second Twenty-Five Years of its Existence 1872-1897".  On p. 177, candidate R. Suelflow states:

Hochstetter in his History of the Missouri Synod gives a very distorted picture of the events of 1881 because he presents the action of the Ohio Synod of 1881 without giving first the preceding action of the Missouri Synod at its Convention of 1881. 207 (207. Chr. Hochstetter: Die Geschichte, der Evangelisch lutherischen Missouri-Synode in Nord Amerika. Heinrich J. Naumann, Dresden, 1885, p. 341 ff.)

I was quite saddened to see this criticism, "a very distorted picture", because of Dr. Suelflow's later self-published independent translations of Walther's formerly unpublished letters in translation.  This critical attitude can be explained in part by discovering that the faculty signatories of this dissertation, and presumably Suelflow's advisors, were William Polack, Theodore Graebner, and William Arndt.  These prominent St. Louis faculty members had also signed the infamous "Statement of the 44", a syncretistic manifesto, at about the same time!  It is no wonder that a critical attitude against an Old Missouri history would find a sympathetic ear, maybe even encouragement, among all three of these faculty members because of their doctrinal weakness and demise.  Let the reader search my blog for evidence of this.

William Schmelder. It was again troubling to find this name as a criticizer of Old Missouri historians.  While he seemed generally favorable in his assessment of Walther, yet in his 1960 STM Thesis "The Altenburg Debate" he states on p. 48-49:

“In the first place, some of the writers of this period have tried to picture Walther as the serene student, calmly and quietly searching for a solution to the problems which faced the colony; Koestering and Hochstetter (27) seem ["seem"? Schmelder admits he is conjecturing.] to convey this picture to the reader. However, …(27) Hochstetter, op. cit., pp. 20-21. ”

I have thoroughly read and studied Hochstetter's history and find Schmelder's subjective charge against both Koestering and Hochstetter to be baseless, in the footsteps of Walter Forster. — As with Roy Suelflow, we find that Schmelder's faculty Advisor Carl S. Meyer and Reader Erwin L. Lueker were products of their forefathers, the "Statement of the 44", and ended up in the 1974 "Walkout" crowd. They too would practically encourage criticism of Old Missouri historians by Concordia Seminary candidates.

Todd Peperkorn (Chairman, Bd. of Regents, Concordia Seminary)

      I have already mentioned Rev. Peperkorn in a previous post in this series.  He also made specific charges against Hochstetter in his 2001 Logia "Book Review" (vol. 10, no. 4, p. 44-45, text) of August Suelflow's Servant of the Word  (comments set apart in red): 

Suelflow calls Hochstetter’s 1885 history of the Missouri Synod “a comprehensive history of the Missouri Synod,” (144), and said, “the book continues to be the most reliable source available from that time.” This is complicated. [Oh? Well, us readers had better listen to Peperkorn because "this is complicated"!] Hochstetter was originally J. A. A. Grabau’s deacon in Buffalo, New York. He left in 1867 and came to the Missouri Synod. [Some might say this puts Hochstetter in exactly the right place to present this history.  Will Peperkorn?] His history was actually a recounting of the Missouri Synod’s doctrinal controversies, not a history per se. [We see by this statement what "Historical Theology" is to Peperkorn – it is not about doctrinal issues, not about what they teach.] Hochstetter does not even mention Walther’s Kirche und Amt. [False. See pages 218 and 262. Why would Peperkorn promote this false idea? Surely it is not because he is a poor scholar.] Furthermore, Hochstetter was a disgruntled ["disgruntled?" – not enlightened by Scripture's teaching?] former Buffalo Synod pastor. He can hardly be expected to present a balanced or reliable treatment of Grabau and the controversy over church and office in the mid-nineteenth century. (Besides, if Hochstetter is the most “reliable source” from that time, why has a full translation of Hochstetter been sitting in CHI waiting publication for seventeen years?) [This is quite a pointed question by Peperkorn! Why indeed!  Surely Peperkorn knows the true answer to that question, for CHI is not in the business of publishing books – that is left to CPH.  So the real question is: "Why did CPH knowingly ignore this Kramer translation?" —  If Rev. Peperkorn had not made this revealing comment of an existing English translation, I may never have known about it, and therefore would never have tackled this project of publishing Hochstetter in English.  My thanks to Rev. Peperkorn for his revelation, but not for his misleading, and caustic, "Book Review" of Suelflow… and Hochstetter. We see now what the qualification is to be the Chairman of the Board of Regents in today's LCMS!]

Matthew Harrison published in his House of My Fathers book, p. 569-570 an 1887 private letter from Franz Pieper to an unknown "President".  Unfortunately among the topics covered was a criticism of "Hochstetter's petition" for which Harrison could give no background or outcome.  He could not even confirm that it was Pastor Christian Hochstetter.  While I have little doubt that this is authentic, it was poor judgment to include this portion without the surrounding details and so causes the reader to question Hochstetter's overall theology.  But no reason is revealed and no outcome of this supposed criticism of Hochstetter is given. — It may be added that Harrison gives no basis for saying that Hochstetter's book contained "a history of the Stephanite immigration written by Walther". There is no hint of Walther's authorship within Hochstetter's book and this statement appears to be an error on Harrison's part.  If this were true, it would refute those, like Forster, who charge Hochstetter with "imagination" in his history of the emigration.

John Wohlrabe Jr. mentions Hochstetter in his essay "Walther's Doctrine of the Ministry: A Distinctly Mediating Position" in the anthology Soli Deo Gloria: Essays on C.F.W. Walther, p. 205, fn # 415:

A detailed analysis of the Stephanite Emigration from Saxony to the United States is set forth in Walter O. Forster, Zion on the Mississippi: …. Also see Christian Hochstetter, Die Geschichte der Evangelische-lutherischen Missouri Synode in Nord-Amerika und ihrer Lehrkaempfe (Dresden: Naumann, 1885), 1-18.

Although one could take comfort that Dr. Wohlrabe seems to give some credit to Hochstetter, yet he subordinates him to Forster. Does Wohlrabe not know that Forster made serious charges against Hochstetter's History using multiple pejorative terms… rendering Hochstetter's History to be untrustworthy?

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      Most of the criticisms by these LC-MS writers apply to all those historians "in the [Old!] Missouri Synod".  That is reason enough to translate and publish them again… as a testimony against today's LC-MS, the Lutheran Church—"Missouri Synod", so-called.  Enough from the LC-MS! Scholars may scoff at this, but I would conclude this listing by quoting the words of author Stella Wuerffel, with a substitution. The LC-MS theologians' writings against Hochstetter are only an 

"opinionated interpretation of these events and people"

and Hochstetter's History is a testimony for true Church History.

Hist22a: LC-MS critical of Hochstetter's History: Forster, Mundinger, Rosin

[2025-08-31 updated link to Wuerffel book]

      This continues from Part 21 (Table of Contents in Part 3), a series presenting an English translation of Pastor Christian Hochstetter's 1885 496-page book entitled (abbreviated) The History of the Missouri Synod, 1838-1884. — This final installment to the series has the unpleasant task of exposing the many criticisms made by LC-MS theologians and leaders against Hochstetter's History.

Walter O. Forster: Zion on the Mississippi 

    Rather than list all the many criticisms and innuendos by Forster against Hochstetter (and others), I will repeat a comment by Stella Wuerffel († 1994, Find-A-Grave), author of the 1980 book Two Rivers to Freedom [2025-08-31 updated link] (see here), concerning Forster's reliability as a historian of church matters.  Wuerffel, in her book which is descriptive of the 1838-39 Saxon Lutheran Emigration and contains a surprisingly laudatory "Foreword" by CHI Director August Suelflow, states her "Preface", p. iii [2025-08-31 added link] (my emphasis):

"Walter Förster's opinionated interpretation of these events and people"

"Opinionated"? – I had to laugh out loud when I read this comment by the dear Ms. Wuerffel, for she is the only writer I have found who publicly pronounced the proper judgment of Forster's work.  Needless to say, Ms. Wuerffel would hardly judge Hochstetter the same as Forster. — Dr. August Suelflow stated of author Wuerffel that "she undoubtedly knows the events described more intimately than any other living person."

Carl S. Mundinger: Government in the Missouri Synod, p. 17-18:

The traditional way of describing the spiritual side of life in Saxony during the early decades of the nineteenth century is to call it the Age of Rationalism. Usually such adjectives as “dark,” “bleak,” “sterile,” and “oppressive” are added to make the picture supposedly complete. Writers, particularly those in the Missouri Synod, assume that rationalism was exclusively dominant [a misleading, or false, statement, otherwise what was the Prussian Union about if rationalism wasn't dominant?; exceptions were pointed out: Rudelbach, Harless, Guericke, Brunn, Zorn, Scheibel, even Loehe, and others are specifically pointed out as welcome exceptions], that it was growing in power during this decade and that it was making life progressively impossible for those who wished to maintain a Bible-centered faith. (Hochstetter, Die Geschichte der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Missouri Synode… ) … p. 18: Aside from the fact that it is frequently misleading and quite often inaccurate and unhistorical to call a certain number of years that have been deftly dated at both ends an “age” of something, rationalism in Saxony during the fourth decade of the nineteenth century was lacking in vigor. It was definitely on the decline [Ms. Wuerffel's book is another testimony against Mundinger's false judgment].

Mundinger may be less caustic than Forster in his criticism's, but he is essentially in the same camp. We see this in his Springfielder essay “Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther Churchman” where he states of Schieferdecker’s exclamation over the Altenburg Theses, p. 28-29: “Whether it was really the 'Easter Day' of the bedeviled colony, as one of the participants, the exuberant Schieferdecker, later called it, may be questioned.” Leave it to an LCMS historian, Mundinger, to kill the "exuberance" over Walther's great work! Mundinger echos the comments of the opponents of the Old Missouri. Sad for the LC-MS. Mundinger's history also "may be questioned".

Wilbert Rosin, in his "Preface" to Dr. Fred Kramer's 1987 English translation of Walther's The Congregation’s Right To Choose Its Pastor said (p. VI) :

     Parenthetically we might note that a half century later Christian Hochstetter in his history of the Missouri Synod speaks of differences between Stephan and Walther even before they came to America, differences which allegedly [Rosin follows Forster's  "opinionated" questioning attitude] caused Stephan to suspect Walther and even assign a roommate to spy on Walther. No proof is supplied. [Hochstetter's "imagination"?] Walther approved this writing. [Walther would not approve slander against Stephan. Neither did Stella Wuerffel.] Walther offers no hint of this. [Walther cared primarily about the doctrinal issue, "doctrine vs. life".] That Walther was chosen to go from Saint Louis to Perry County to confront Stephan in 1839 may have stirred Hochstetter's imagination and influenced his memory and interpretation five decades later. [Where is Rosin's objectivity now?? Rosin has already passed judgment by airing this conjecture. The "opinionated" spirit of the LC-MS and Forster…]

     Consider that Hochstetter wrote just two decades after Leopold von Ranke attempted to write his history of the papacy wie es eigentlich gewesen [how it actually was] and historians were just beginning to stress the importance of objectivity in historical writing. [Rosin values so-called "objectivity" over spiritual understanding, over doctrine? See Pieper on "Historical Theology"]

It should be noted that Prof. Rosin also stated in his Preface to this 1987 translation: 

"We were overjoyed when Dr. Kramer volunteered to translate Walther's Das Gemeindewahlrecht just when we were finding it impossible to carry out the project in time for a graduate course. Dr. Kramer worked swiftly but carefully, thereby making our task much easier." 

This was 3 years after Kramer had finished his translation of Hochstetter's History in 1984.  Could it be that Dr. Kramer was strengthened greatly by Hochstetter so that he "volunteered" to translate Walther's writing, having learned of the truthfulness and very real orthodoxy of Old Missouri?  (Where are the volunteers to translate Walther today?)

       In the next Part 22b, more criticisms of Hochstetter by other LC-MS theologians.

Hist21: Full texts of Hochstetter's History

[2020-10-11: fixed 1 download link]

     This continues from Part 20 (Table of Contents in Part 3), a series presenting an English translation of Pastor Christian Hochstetter's 1885 496-page book entitled (abbreviated) The History of the Missouri Synod, 1838-1884. — Up to now this book has been serialized by chapter. This post now presents a full complement of downloads for the full text content of both languages, German and English.

Advantages of digital electronic copy:

• Fully hyperlinked for ease of navigation from any page.
• Hundreds of reference hyperlinks for further information on a subject/person.
• Instant searching for words, subjects, persons, places, etc. (although there is no index - yet)
• Each page corresponds exactly to the original German page so that references can be made to the same page in both the German book and this corresponding English translation.
• Added many items to Table of Contents for each chapter to enable quick reference to each major topic within the chapter.
• Jump links at "Top" for every interval of 10 pages.

German language original text, download >> HERE <<. (fully corrected, fewer hyperlinks)

English language downloads:

With highlighting: >> HERE <<;  No highlighting: >> HERE <<;  DOCX:  >> HERE * <<
Download PDF for printing: >> HERE <<

The printable PDF version is on Internet Archive which provides hyperlinking to each page of the English language book.

      I am including below an embedded window of the full text with highlighting for those that land on this site and want to browse it before downloading (LARGE FILE - allow time for downloading 496 page book):

In the next Part 22a, the critical LC-MS.

Hist20: Hochstetter's obituary; “mouth of Walther”

      This continues from Part 19 (Table of Contents in Part 3), a series presenting an English translation of Pastor Christian Hochstetter's 1885 496-page book entitled (abbreviated) The History of the Missouri Synod, 1838-1884. — I have been informed of an obituary printed in the December 19, 1905 issue of Der Lutheraner, p. 403-404, and consider it worthy of inclusion in this series on Hochstetter's History. In it we hear that our author was imminently qualified to write his book, using "his own experience, as well as on accounts from the mouth of Dr. Walther and other credible witnesses." We hear that his book was well read in the Old Missouri.  This is one more testimony for all Lutherans to consider reading this book, now that it is fully available in the English language, free of critical "scholarly" comments by modernist LC-MS writers. Translation by BackToLuther, highlighting is mine. — In the next Part 21, the full texts of the book.

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† Christian Hochstetter †

Pastor Christian Hochstetter, this faithful servant and witness of Jesus Christ, has long been known and loved by probably most readers of Der Lutheraner especially from his History of the Missouri Synod. He has now gone home. After a long period of severe kidney disease, he passed away in Jordan, Canada, (p. 404) on June 12 at the age of 77 years, 2 months and 11 days. His tired body was laid to rest two days later in God's field [or cemetary] in Wolcottsville, N. America., next to his first wife. At the funeral service, which was held in the church of Wolcottsville, the local Pastor Lohrmann preached on the text John 17:6 which was chosen by the deceased himself. Pastor Senne then gave a short address on Luke 2:29-30., and P. Michel officiated at the tomb. The congregation was all present at the funeral service of their former pastor. The schoolchildren, all of whom had probably been baptized by Pastor Hochstetter, sang a fitting farewell song at his coffin.

The deceased was born on April 1, 1828, in Lorch, Kingdom of Württemberg. After completing his studies in Tübingen, he was first active in the old Fatherland as a tutor and pastor. But because he could not participate in the unionism that had eaten through everything, he moved to America after only a few years. Here he served for several years the congregations belonging to the Ohio Synod in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Toledo, Ohio. In 1857, he followed a call as a deacon to the congregation of the Pastor Grabau in Buffalo, N. Y. and at the same time joined the Buffalo Synod. He remained in this position until this congregation was divided. In 1866, the Buffalo Synod on the one hand and representatives of the Missouri Synod on the other held a doctrinal discussion. The result of this so-called colloquium was that Pastor Hochstetter with a large part of the congregation of Pastor Grabau’s renounced the Buffalo Synod for the sake of doctrines and joined the Buffalo Trinity Church of the Missouri Synod. At this now significantly enlarged congregation he officiated together with the then pastor of the congregations, Pastor Ruhland, for about half a year. In the fall of that year, he accepted a calling from one of our congregations in Pittsburgh, Pa. He then ministered in turn to St. Paul's parish in Indianapolis, Indiana, the congregations in Frohna, Mo., in Stonebridge, Can., in Wolcottsville, N. Y., where he administered the Ministry for eighteen years, and finally in Jordan, Canada.

Pastor Hochstetter was also almost constantly active in the literary field. When he was a member of the Ohio Synod, he wrote a treatise on Holy Baptism in which he defended this sacrament against the despisers of it in and outside of his Synod. He also wrote a booklet on Holy Communion, also in defense of this sacrament. While he was a member of the Buffalo Synod, he was active in the publication Informatorium and was editor of the Historisches Zeitblatt. As pastor of our Synod, while standing in Stonebridge, Can., he was editor of the Lutherisches Volksblatt for several years. In this paper he published a long series of articles, titled “Erinnerungen an Dr. C. F. W. Walther” (Memories of Dr. C. F. W. Walther), which are currently appearing in the "Zeugen und Anzeiger", as Hochstetter himself elaborated. In Wolcottsville he wrote the extremely interesting book:History of the Missouri Synod, which he wrote based on his own experience, as well as on accounts from the mouth of Dr. Walther and other credible witnesses. [Balance in "Read more" below]

Hist19: Chp 13c– Schwan's address; Hochstetter reviews

H. C. Schwan

         This continues from Part 18 (Table of Contents in Part 3), a series presenting an English translation of Pastor Christian Hochstetter's 1885 496-page book entitled (abbreviated) The History of the Missouri Synod, 1838-1884. It concludes the text of the book — One might wonder that the effects of the Predestinarian Controversy would have been dispensed with by now, but instead we are treated to a magnificent address by President H. C. Schwan on the blessed victory in the Truth won by the Missouri Synod.  Anyone who still finds themselves a little confused over the doctrine of the Election of Grace, or Predestination, (like me) would do well to read Schwan's address for a plainly worded explanation of it, and why the Missouri Synod had to be right. It had to do with the "general promises of grace in the Gospel". This address shows why his famous "Schwan's Catechism" became so popular in the Old Missouri Synod. — Following this, our author Hochstetter then spoke for the whole Old Missouri Synod as he surveys the history to his time.  He begins with the statement that it was "a story full of church battles".  This echoes Walther's statement from his sickbed to Pieper that "the dispute was hard, very hard. We have experienced a lot of opposition. But I could not help it. When the Lord Christ asks me on the Last Day why I taught thus, I will answer: Thou, O Christ, with your clear Word hath taught me and seduced me.”  The battles were not Walther's or the Missouri Synod's battles, they were the battles of the Lord, fought with "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17). 

Some quotes from Chapter 13c: (458-480)

461: Schwan's address: "For only those to whom the Lord grants victory are victors."

463: "For the more… the dear simple-minded people are concerned about the general promises of grace of the Gospel, the easier it is to persuade them that only from these passages can the doctrine of God's eternal election be taken or explained."

464: "No, if we sincerely believe that it is the Lord… then our joy must be… the joy in the Lord."

466: Hochstetter's Review: "Are we to watch idly when the Pope, as the real Antichrist, fights against Christ with his servants?"

467: "Those err grievously who think that it is best for the church to live quite peacefully, without struggle."

470: "…convinced that Luther was… the angel with the eternal Gospel… to fly through the midst of heaven"

470: "…while we do not… accept such open questions as the Iowans prefer"

471: "but we accept the Lutheran Confessions without reserve, because… thoroughly Scriptural confession"

473: Luther: "Contradict the willful spirits, otherwise your confession will be merely a mask, and of no use."

474: "one read in a radical public paper… these Old Lutherans would also be driven out of America!"

476: "… church property insurance, with which other synods… chain the congregations to themselves"

477: "whether the world despises or praises us for it… we will not be judged according to its standard"

479: "United States… which had made the separation of church and state and complete freedom of religion"

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The following is an English translation of C. Hochstetter's Geschichte… by BackToLuther utilizing the DeepL Translator with minor assistance from Dr. Fred Kramer's translation.  All hyperlinks, highlighting and red text in square brackets [] are mine. All internal hyperlinks are active in this embedded window, external links should be opened in a new tab or window.

United States of America?

As joyful the Old Missouri Lutherans were over their new land of "North America's United States", so fearful are these times for this same country. They highly valued this country's “separation of church and state”, i.e. no Roman Catholic domination, and “complete freedom of religion”.  These principles are no longer defended widely anymore, perhaps even ridiculed.  As the German deacon Uhrlandt stated at the founding of America (Hochstetter, p. 479): 

“The Church of Jesus Christ should and will remain, even if He… should rebuild it outside Europe, and the political circumstances are becoming more and more conducive to this, especially since now in the West an independent Christian state has come into being.”  

One could substitute "America" for "Europe" in the above statement. Occasionally one reads of Christian strength in Africa… Lord, have mercy on us! — After the break below, the customary fine text version, then Part 20, Hochstetter's obituary.

Hist18: Chp 13b— St. Louis, America’s new Wittenberg; Walther's Sem. building addresses, greatest on USA soil

      This continues from Part 17 (Table of Contents in Part 3), a series presenting an English translation of Pastor Christian Hochstetter's 1885 496-page book entitled (abbreviated) The History of the Missouri Synod, 1838-1884. It also follows an Excursus on Pastors Brunn and Blechschmidt of Steeden, Germany. — This portion introduces no new names to us, but publishes two of the greatest addresses ever given on the soil of America. Walther's address at the October 1, 1882 cornerstone laying for the new Seminary building has, as far as I can tell, never been published in its entirety in an English translation (p. 440-446). That was a surprise to me because of its beautiful dedication, and striking warnings. Also August Suelflow's translation (Servant of the Word, p. 95-101) of the dedication of the new Seminary building on Sept. 9, 1883 (see p. 447-458) omitted significant portions.  Both of these addresses are now fully translated below. — I have said it before, but I will say it again:

“God did bless America… He sent C. F. W. Walther!”

Some quotes from Chapter 13b: (437-458)
443: Walther at cornerstone laying: "Our foundation-stone means Christ, … and His Holy Word…  the Concordia of 1580,  …the foundation of our institution, called 'Concordia' after this confession"
447: 1883 dedication: "I can testify that 44 years ago our little log cabin also appeared to us as a palace"
450: "In this house,… the main teacher shall be Christ, our one Master himself, and after the holy apostles and prophets shall be none other than Dr. Martin Luther, the Reformer of the Church, who was raised and sealed by God."
453: "To want to transplant the old Lutheran Church, which submits to every letter of the Word of God, to this new land of untamed lust for freedom, seemed indeed to be a quite hopeless…"

453-454: “When the congregations saw that the pastors of our Synod brought them… certainty of God's grace and of their salvation,… the knowledge of their glorious Christian freedom and their sacred congregation rights;… preferred to suffer hunger and sorrow, disgrace, persecution and expulsion, rather than give way in one letter to ‘God's Word and Luther's doctrine’”

456: “We Lutherans abhor the principle that the end justifies the means.”

458: “Bless this land and its government, under whose earthly protection this house now stands.”
Images of men and buildings appearing in Chapter 13b: (437-458) 

  Schmidt  —   Allwardt  —  Walther;      Concordia Sem.:       1844                       1850                     1858-1882                       1883

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The following is an English translation of C. Hochstetter's Geschichte… by BackToLuther utilizing the DeepL Translator with minor assistance from Dr. Fred Kramer's translation.  All hyperlinks, highlighting and red text in square brackets [] are mine. All internal hyperlinks are active in this embedded window, external links should be opened in a new tab or window.

After the break below the customary fine text version, then the concluding Chapter 13c, in Part 19. (There may be an intervening Excursus inserted.)

Steeden, Germany–then & now: Brunn & Blechschmidt

Orthodox pastors and teachers from Steeden, Germany:
         Friedrich Brunn (1860s)    —    Martin Blechschmidt (2020)

      This "Excursus" follows Chapter 13a (Hist17) of Hochstetter's History, a portion which included a report on Pastor Friedrich Brunn's (Find-A-Grave) activities in Germany. Brunn's institution in Steeden provided over 200 men to the still young Missouri Synod.  The story from Steeden in Germany is not over, for a congregation still exists in Steeden that is following in the footsteps of Friedrich Brunn. — It was Brunn in Steeden who gave the troubled missionaries Carl Manthey Zorn and others a platform to voice their concerns against the erring Leipzig Mission Society (Hochstetter p. 423). Today, Pastor Martin Blechschmidt teaches and defends true Lutheran doctrine in Germany and Europe, including that of the Doctrine of the Church and Ministry, in the land of Luther, in Germany and in other European countries. 

fell away on
Church & Ministry

      It was Friedrich Brunn who, although he had received comfort from Wilhelm Loehe in his early struggles, in contrast to Loehe, did not fall away from the truth and so defended the Lutheran doctrine of the Church, publishing a book upholding it (German text, English translation).  It teaches the Lutheran, Scriptural doctrine, just as C.F.W. Walther in Church and Ministry.  — According to a book by Brunn's grandson (p. 38), "when Prof. Walther of the Semin­ary again came to Germany in 1860, he visited Pastor Brunn in Steeden and personally asked his help in preparing young people for the American Ministry." Why was this? Because "the Association with Loehe had ter­minated".  And Hochstetter's History gives the details of why there had to be a separation.

      Martin Blechschmidt from Steeden presented a scholarly essay to an international gathering in 2016 regarding the errors of the Wisconsin Synod on Church and Ministry "The Wauwatosa-Theology in the light of hermeneutical principles" (German text, English text).  President Friedrich Pfotenhauer would be pleased with this essay!  On pages 3 and 8, Blechschmidt states:

The reason for the discrepancy in the teaching position seems to be primarily in the misled approach of Wauwatosa theologians to God's Word. They neglect hermeneutical principles. According to them the scripture is not clear enough. The way they interpret certain verses prevents dogmatic conclusions because they seem to believe that the degree of certainty in the respective verses is very low. With two premises they force themselves into an unbiblical, non-Lutheran direction.… the WELS has no biblical foundation against the abolishment of the ministry. 

Steeden - 1860s
Church & proseminary

Steeden - today

In both men of Steeden we find strength regarding the Scriptural doctrines of Church and Ministry. Both teachers agree with Walther's teaching, both defended against the errors that Walther defended against. — From the website of the Steeden Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel Congregation (translated, websites here and here; pic here)

“In the various regional churches and also in the existing Lutheran Free Churches, Bible criticism, stubbornly advocated false doctrines, unbiblical practice and false ecumenism have gained the upper hand. For this reason, the Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel congregation in Steeden is independent.”

The basis of these Steeden congregations, old and new, is essentially the same.  May European Christianity (German, French, Russian languages!), and Lutheranism be benefitted by their bold testimony to the truth.
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For Loehe, Neuendettelsau, Romanizing,
not Brunn, true Lutheranism

      Today Concordia Theological Seminary-Ft. Wayne honors Wilhelm Loehe in many ways more than C.F.W. Walther.  They may attempt to explain their basis for this, that he supplied many men for the ministry to the Missouri Synod.  If that reason was actually true, they would be honoring Friedrich Brunn just as much or more, for Brunn of Steeden supplied over 200 men!  But they rather honor Pastor Loehe for the errors he held to, his errors on Church and Ministry, especially his Romanizing tendencies.  Today they do not honor Brunn.  But it was not always that way – about 50 years ago, in the December 1971 issue of Concordia Theological Quarterly, Prof. E.F. Klug wrote a glowing essay and book review that spoke of the service of the dear Pastor Friedrich Brunn.  Although it can be read directly from the CTS-FW Media Resources online copy, yet I want to re-publish a quality text version here with some images added from the book he reviewed..  —  The next blog continues Hochstetter's History, Part 18, Chapter 13b.

The Springfielder — December 1971 — Volume 35, Number 3

“Triumph of Truth” —

A footnote to the History of Concordia Theological Seminary, Springfield, Illinois

E. F. Klug

Associate Professor of Systematic Theology (1960-  )

… Friedrich Brunn was not a mountain climber, but a man who moved mountains. The story of his remarkable life and service in the church is briefly and interestingly told by his grandson, Rev. August F. Brunn [† 1994 Find-A-Grave], who now lives in retirement at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Triumph of Truth, published during Epiphany, 1971, is a translation and adaptation from a German version, Zum Gedenken an Pfarrer Friedrich Brunn, compiled by a great granddaughter, Mrs. Gertrud Eikmeier Rücker. Printed in mimeograph form this memorial booklet marked the 150th birthday observance of Friedrich Brunn, in 1969, at Steeden (Saxony), Germany. [Balance of essay after Read More section below...]