Hoe2: Evangelical Handbook, now in English (Another BTL book); no change in Rome

      This continues from Part 1 (Table of Contents in Part 1) in a series on Matthias Hoe von Hoenegg, and Lutheranism in south Germany and Austria. — With Walther's wish for an English translation of Hoe's popular work, I was encouraged to spend some weeks polishing a machine translation and adding many reference and navigational hyperlinks. As I worked, I was refreshed in my Christian faith. I particularly like Hoe's use of a question-and-answer format, and his handling of many objections. Here are a few highlights:

2: "not the old, but the very oldest faith is right… Therefore, we do not deny that the papal doctrine is ancient, but we are content to know that it is not the most ancient"

12: "Is it not allowed to base an article [of faith], or to make decisions, on traditions and statutes of men? By no means…" [Catechism of the Catholic Church: § 100 "The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him."]

18: "Why is it called catholic? Not, as the popes think, because most of the world adheres to it: for Christ calls his army a small army, Luke 12:32. Sin would be much more catholic…"

33: Justification: "According to the Jesuits, it is the righteousness by which we are justified by our own works and obedience. This is poured into us by God…"

44: "Why did Luther add the word alone, Rom. 3 [:28], since it is not in the Greek text? … He has hereby declared the … the emphasis of the Greek language." [No reference to this verse in Catholic Catechism]

60: Sacraments "can bear no fruit, nor be useful for eternal salvation, if faith is not present"

66: Lord's Supper: "the popes call themselves Creatores Creatoris, Creators of the Creator"

77: "but the Popes mean something else by the Mass, namely their supposed sacrifice"

93: "a matter of preference, of the tiresome pride… the arrogance of the clergy"

98: "Fathers… had not held a propitiatory sacrifice for the departed souls… as happens in the papacy"

111: 1 Cor. 3:15: "some of the Fathers… have brought purgatory into the passage, not drawn from it" [Cp. to Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1030-1031]

129: "The Holy Spirit… does not direct us to the Pope, but to the Holy Scriptures"

140: Question: "…the popes are many, therefore the popes cannot be Antichrist. [Answer:] …the Scriptures [2 Thess. 2:3} use the term 'one man' to mean many people." 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

The following is a "Table of Contents" to give an overview of the contents (the hyperlinks direct one to a separate online publication).

1: Of the Holy Scriptures        11

2: Of the Church        17

3: Of Justification        33

4: Of the invocation of the saints        49

5: Of the Sacraments        58

6: Of the Holy Supper        63

7: On Reserving, Enclosing, Adoration of the Sacrament        68

8: On the Feast of Corpus Christi        71

9: Of the Mass        74

10: Of One or Both Kinds in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar        85

11: On Sacrificing and Praying for the Dead        96

12: Of Purgatory        102

13: Of Celibacy or Priestly Marriage        116

14: Of the Roman Pope and thus of the Antichrist        127

    I. First part: What does Pope want to be: Universal head        128

    II. Second part: What does the Pope not want to be: Antichrist        137

Luther’s Open Letter on Translating “Alone” in Rom. 3:28        142

The original German publication used the margins to provide helpful Scripture references. Because many page numbers are linked to their respective Google Books page, one may immediately find what these Scripture references are by clicking on the page number. 

      The following makes a good supplement to Luther's Small Catechism, and the Lutheran Confessions. An appendix of Luther's letter explaining his use of the word "alone" when translating Romans 3:28 is most helpful to once again have Luther's explanation to encourage readers in their Christian faith. Although this translation is far from perfect, and suffers from a lack of understanding of some Germanisms, may the following provide a resource for those wanting to learn more, or be reminded of, why the church of the Reformation, the Lutheran Church, had to come about.

      Because Hoe's Bible references were only to the chapter and not the verse, I have inserted the verse numbers in red text for the convenience of the reader. Full navigational links are provided:

A DOCX file of the above may be downloaded here, PDF on the Internet Archive here; the original German text here.

      At least some teachers and pastors in the LC-MS will object that Hoe's Evangelical Handbook no longer applies to today's Catholic Church, especially after Vatican II.  But the core doctrines of the Catholic Church have not changed! Even LC-MS theologians stated in 1971 that “The pope did not propose that the [Vatican II] council revise or change Roman Catholic doctrine.” [p. 271] — Even with their offering of both kinds in the Lord's Supper, they maintain, in their Catholic Encyclopedia, that "communion under one form only is the reception of the whole sacrament." In other words, they still maintain, by their decrees, that they can go against Christ's institution of both kinds, bread and wine. — 

      I had to laugh out loud when I read Hoe's defense of the true doctrine of the Antichrist on pages 140-141. Even in his day, as with today's LC-MS teachers, leaders, and pastors, the objection is heard that no individual Pope can be identified as "the Antichrist". Hoe gives the perfect answer, and proves that individual Popes, not just the office of the "papacy" must be identified as "the Antichrist". It is written into the Smalcald Articles of the Lutheran Confessions. And defended again by Hoe von Hoenegg in 1603. — I had to laugh again when I read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church § 675 of the "Antichrist" that he is "a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies him­self in place of God." Of course their Bible reference of 2 Thess. 2:4-12 says nothing about this type of "pseudo-messianism."

      Has the Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation changed since Hoe's day? No. Their Catechism states on p. 346, § 1375: "It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament."

      Now that Walther's wish that this little book be translated into English has come true, may it once again become popular as it was for 200 years after it first appeared. May it provide the same defense against the same errors of the Pope's Church, the Roman Catholic Church.

      But this story does not end here, it leads into much more Church history for the lands that Hoe came from — south Germany, Bavaria, Austria, Salzburg.  In the next Part 3, we go into the remarkable history of the Jesuit turned Lutheran, Jacob Reihing, the one whom Walther dramatically highlighted for his American Lutheran readers. I wanted to find out all that I could of this remarkable man. 

Walther on Hoe von Hoenegg's little book: polemic converts Jesuit; a 200-year favorite (Part 1 of 9)

 
    C. F. W. Walther was always ready to promote good Lutheran books to his people. And so his emphatic recommendation of the following book, by an author unknown to me and with a somewhat odd name, caught my eye, and oh! I had to dig deeper into the story of the author, the book itself, and the great effect it had for Lutheranism in his day when the Reformation was undergoing great stress from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1600s, also in the 1700s. (Although I have already posted a blog 2 years ago on a portion of this, I am now publishing the full text.)

     Who was Matthias Hoe von Hoenegg (or Hoë von Hoënegg, 1580-1645)? As Walther describes him below, he was the chief court preacher in Dresden, Saxony, in North Germany. But he was originally from South Germany. In the 2016 CPH book Lives and Writings of the Great Fathers of the Lutheran Church he is only mentioned a few times, and not featured as many other orthodox theologians. Dr. Robert Kolb makes the point that he "wielded a great deal of political influence", p. 18, a favorite subject for him. Another writer points out that Hoe held a high regard for the Lutheran theologian John Gerhard.  And finally, his association and influence on Balthasar Meisner, who was another great Lutheran theologian, is mentioned by essayist David R. Preus. Preus goes into more detail on Hoe in his 2018 PhD dissertation stating (p. 132): "His many sermons, advisory opinions (Gutachten), and polemical writings made for effective propaganda and exerted a tremendous amount of influence on public opinion". Walther, however, focuses on Hoe himself and on the tremendous influence of his powerful polemics against the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church.  How glad I was to have Walther's judgment so that I may get true Church History, something the "objectivists" seem unable to fully comprehend. — From Der Lutheraner, vol. 27 (March 15, 1871), p. 111: 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Evangelical Handbook, 

in which it is irrefutably proven from several passages of Holy Scripture how the so-called Lutheran faith is truly catholic, but the papal doctrine is fundamentally erroneous and contrary to the bright Word of God. By Matthias Hoe von Hoenegg [Wikipedia, ADB, PRDL]. Dresden by Heinrich Naumann. 1870.

The author of this little book, born in Vienna, died as chief court preacher in Dresden in 1645, was a theologian who was as learned as he was godly and spiritual. Proof of this is his Evangelical Handbook. It is undoubtedly the most thorough and beautiful of the short writings on the refutation of papism that are comprehensible to everyone. While it proves everything irrefutably from God's Word, it also gives the most convincing evidence for this from the Church Fathers, not only in Latin, but also always in German translation. The booklet has the particular advantage that it is written with great enthusiasm for the faith, not in a stiff, scholarly style, but in a highly lively, popular style. Since 1603, when it was first published, it has been a favorite book of the people in Germany for two hundred years and has therefore often been reprinted. For a long time, the papists did not dare to attempt a refutation of this little book, which was so unassailably entrenched in God's Word. 

Finally, the famous Jesuit Dr. Jakob Reihing set about against it and wrote his [Catholic] Handbook. But what happened? When this Jesuit was urged to refute the scriptural evidence given in the handbook [of Hoe] and to substantiate his own assertions with Scripture, the light finally dawned on him by the grace of God, he converted, became a Lutheran, revoked his own supposed refutation of the Handbook [see his explicit retraction on p. 17] and showed of himself what fallacies he had made. In 1628 he finally died as a Lutheran professor and superintendent in Tübingen, blessed and calm in his faith in his one Mediator. So, dear reader, if you want an armor for yourself against the papacy that always has victorious weapons against it  – you have them in the "Handbook". 

It is a booklet of 157 pages, and is to be had from our agent, Mr. M. C. Barthel, Corner of 7th & Lafayette Streets, St. Louis, Mo. well bound for 60 Cts. It would be very desirable that this delightful little book should be translated into English, and thus made accessible to Lutherans who only understand English. W. [Walther]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

(At right is the title page of Reihing's great "Retraction" of his own Jesuit Catholic Handbuch.)

     We took note of Walther's description that Hoe's little book was "not in a stiff, scholarly style", the style of indifferent German theologians of Walther's day, also like the style of LC-MS theologian Dr Robert Kolb. Walther's brief passionate announcement has sparked a great interest in one who was a bulwark against the errors of the papal doctrines, a scriptural defender of the truth. It also sent me on a journey into the history surrounding the land that Hoe came from, south Germany and Bavaria, its early Lutheran history, and its sad subsequent history of Catholic domination, even today.

      Less than one year after Walther's blurb appeared, his colleague Dr. Eduard Preuss departed and converted to the Roman Catholic Church. This book would then become especially useful to educate the people on why Catholic doctrine was poison.

      Walther's remarkable wish that Hoe's book be translated into English for later generations, like me, is about to come true, in the next Part 2… 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Table of Contents  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Part 1: Walther announces and reviews Hoe's book in 1871; reveals Jesuit Reihing's conversion

Part 2: Hoe von Hoenegg's Evangelical Handbook, now in English (Another BTL book) 

Part 3a: Walther on Jesuit convert Jacob Reihing; "a miracle", "still disputed today"

Part 3b: How Reihing, Jesuit, turned Lutheran; Rome now using Reihing's method

Part 3c: Jacob Reihing: 4 histories; pivotal figure in church history

Part 4: Hoe's book, 200-year favorite, for South Germany; Salzburg expulsion of 1731

Part 5: Salzburgers' emigration: "they went…singing hymns"; now in Georgia, a "reconciliation"?

Part 6a: Missouri pastor, a "Salzburger": F. E. Pasche's personal account

Part 6b: Pasche, part 2: Germany —> America; to "the world-famous, truly Lutheran, Missouri Synod"

After the break below, for those that would like to read a (somewhat critical) biography of Hoe, the following is my translation of the 1880 article in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie by Adolf Brecher. This includes my highlighting and comments in red text within square brackets. [web]

Pieper to Sieker 2: "annoying lack of money!"

      This concludes from Part 1, presenting a short letter from Franz Pieper to Pastor J. H. Sieker in New York City.  In the latter part of the letter, the matter of an "annoying lack of money" is addressed. It was a subject that he had addressed before regarding the "Negro Mission", and it shows that he was not without frustration in his efforts. — The matter of monetary giving will also pertain to the newly planned Luther Classical College, as they seek funding for their enterprise. The method that Pieper advocates below should be helpful for their efforts, chiefly for Samuel Preus, their Director of Development.  — From Der Lutheraner, vol. 87 (Oct. 20, 1931), p. 347 [EN]:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A letter from Dr. Pieper to Pastor J. H. Sieker in New York.

[Part 2]

The annoying lack of money! But we Missourian Lutherans are foolish people. Why don't we put an end to the lack of money? We are a great body by God's grace. If we encouraged each other to give regularly, there would soon be an abundance of money. I strongly emphasize regular, consistent giving. This is nothing legalistic [Gesetzliches]. One thing remains certain: everyone, according to what he has and is willing through God's grace. But such free, regular giving has the apostolic example in its favor. 1 Cor. 16:2: "On every Sabbath day every one of you lays aside for himself and gather together what seemeth him good." It is strange that the Holy Spirit allowed this to come into the Holy Scriptures. He knew well that the gifts get stuck in very many cases when large gifts are only to be given every now and then, perhaps only once or twice a year. Therefore he admonishes: "On every Sabbath... what seemeth him good." This regular giving is also much more appropriate to the spiritual life. We regularly receive grace upon grace from Christ, not just once or twice a year. What is more natural than that we also give and share regularly. 

How little is given generally and regularly in our synod is evident from the fact that, if all contributions for extra-parish purposes are added up and divided among the number of those entitled to communion, each member accounts for about 60 to 70 cents a year, and this is a continual hustle! If we generally became accustomed to regular giving according to the apostolic model, not only would we collect much more for all purposes in the Kingdom of God, but we would also not be under the impression that we had exerted ourselves to the utmost. How easy it should be, for example, to raise about $40,000 for the immigrant house! One Sunday collection by the entire synod would produce the necessary sum.

But excuse me; against my will, I hastily went into more detail. But the matter has been close to my heart for years. I am so very sorry that due to lack of resources we have to refrain from doing so much that obviously should be done. And yet we have the abundant and superabundant means. If only we acted according to 1 Corinthians 16!

With kind regards,

Yours united in Christ

F. Pieper.

- - - - - - - - - - - -  End of series  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

      My father, a farmer, gave every Sunday, putting an envelope in the offertory plate as it was passed along in the pews. I do not know how much he gave, but I always figured that it was not a stingy amount.

      Concordia-Bronxville recently joined the list of Concordia school closures in 2021. It is so sad for me to see how far the LCMS has gone down in their educational institutions, not just because of their closures, but chiefly because of the demise of the religious instruction within these schools. The effect of the "Walkout" crowd was, and is, devasting. All the current sorrow and wrangling over Concordia University-Texas does not address the issue of the destructive teaching that goes on there. Previous blog posts have pointed this out.  How can God bless institutions and church bodies who become lukewarm over His Word? Rev. 3:16.

Pieper letter to Sieker, NYC: on education, money (Part 1 of 2)

St. Matthews, NYC (c. 1880s)
Broome & Elizabeth Sts.
(formerly First Baptist)

     An important letter in the history of the Missouri Synod was discovered while reviewing issues of Der Lutheraner. It was written by the young Prof. Franz Pieper to one of his favorite pastors, Johann Heinrich Sieker of St. Matthews in New York City, and it touched on topics pertinent to the matter of Lutheran education in the United States today. While the Luther Classical College ramps up for its first season in 2025, it would do well to follow the early history of what would become Concordia College, Bronxville. Although Casper, Wyoming is a very long way from Bronxville, New York, yet its circumstances otherwise are identical.

      This letter exhibits a fondness that Pieper had for Pastor Sieker, a well known orthodox preacher in New York City. According to the Christian Cyclopedia, St. Matthews joined the Missouri Synod in 1886, the year of this letter, and was instrumental in founding what would become Concordia College, Bronxville, New York (a college recently closed). This is the background for why Pieper wrote this letter. 

      The letter was not published until 45 years after it was written, 4 months after Pieper's passing on June 3, 1931. The Synod was still remembering its greatest teacher since the passing of its founding father, C. F. W. Walther. So the son of the well-known Pastor Sieker, who succeeded his father as the pastor (who had passed way in 1904), dug out a letter from Dr. Pieper to his father to honor both men. Der Lutheraner editor Ludwig Fürbringer began this publication with a brief explanation. And what a lesson this letter provides for us today. — From Der Lutheraner, vol. 87 (Oct. 20, 1931), p. 347 [EN]:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

A letter from Dr. Pieper to Pastor J. H. Sieker in New York.

The letter, written forty-five years ago, was sent to us by the recipient's son, Fr. [Friedrich?] Otto Sieker.

St. Louis, Mo., January 20, 1886.

Dear  Pastor!

I have just read the last issue of the [Lutheran] Witness and I feel compelled to write a few words to you. They should be words of encouragement. I am very sorry that the Progymnasium ["pre-high school"] in New York still receives so little attention on the part of our Eastern District; but don't lose heart because of this. It seems that the importance of such an institution has not yet been recognized in New York. This knowledge must and will come through God's grace, and then more, indeed all hands will take hold. I hope to God that there will be a full high school in New York soon. 

  

Concordia College, Bronxville
(earlier years, now closed)

I am firmly convinced that a properly equipped high school (Realgymnasium [middle high school?]) would be filled from New York itself. Not only the children and young people from our congregations would attend, but also those parents who do not belong to our congregations but who recognize the value of a so-called classical education — and there are certainly a large number of such in New York — would entrust their sons to our high school. Watertown [of the Wisconsin Synod] has had very encouraging experiences in this regard. What an opportunity for us to evangelize among the educated! Even most of the outsiders are happy to take part in the religious instruction. A high school teacher who is a capable teacher and has a heart burning with Christian love has a tremendous influence on high school students [Gymnasiasten]. I say this partly from my own experience.

- - - - - - - - - - - -  Concludes in Part 2  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

      It was a surprise for me that Pieper would say that most outsiders were "happy to take part in the religious instruction".  That could be because the students attending were not entirely ignorant of the teachings of the Lutheran Church, more specifically of the faithful Old Missouri Synod.

      And it was surprising to me how Pieper promotes the idea of non-Missourian, even non-Lutheran students coming to a Concordia educational institution.  I sometimes have judged the LC-MS Concordia universities for their high percentage of non-Lutheran, even non-Christian, students.  Pieper does not.  He practically relishes these in order to “evangelize among the educated!” But what Pieper is assuming is that the “high school” or college will maintain a faithful “religious instruction”, and that pinpoints the heart of the downfall of the LC-MS higher educational institutions. When the theology in its flagship seminary, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, has fallen, how then could its lesser institutions maintain their orthodoxy? As their history has shown in recent times, they did not, and could therefor no more "evangelize among the educated".

      A search through 1885-1886 Lutheran Witness magazines in Google Books yielded only 1 reference to Pastor Sieker, but it was after the date of Pieper’s letter. So I could not provide a link to the article that Pieper references.  However Pieper gives enough details for us to follow the particulars. — The concluding Part 2, on monetary giving difficulties, follows next.