Cyberbrethren: A Lutheran Blog

Reclaiming Walther

A post from a week or so ago about church polity elicited two interesting reactions: One, I heard from those who regard the historic episcopate to be the "magic bullet" fix to all woes and ills facing the Lutheran Church here in America. They are wrong, of course. Second, I heard from a person who claimed I had, with my post, fallen from the one, true faith because I denied that "Supreme Voters' Assemblies" were divinely mandated. And he was wrong, of course.

It is always a dangerous thing to read Walther selectively. In his first presidential address CFW Walther makes the point that there is no one divinely instituted way for a congregation, or church, to choose to govern itself. In such things, there is freedom. He make it clear that there are times and circumstances in which a church, or congregation, may choose, in Christian freedom, to hand governance of the church over to representatives. Read it for yourself and than ask yourself how it is that anyone who has spent time reading Walther could ever conclude that Walther regarded so-called "Supreme Voters' Assemblies" to be the one and only and truly divine mandated form of church governance. I have no problem with voters' assemblies. They are fine. They have worked well and can work well. They are however no more "divinely mandated" than any other form of congregational organization and governance. There were no "voters' assembly" as we have them today during the Reformation era. Luther's congregation in Wittenberg had no "voters' assembly." It was governed by a small council of educated townsmen with the clergy.

Walther's whole point is that there is FREEDOM in such issues and no congregation can claim, over against another,

'We know how you need to organize yourselves and unless you do it this way, you are not Lutheran."

The key is the Word. Only faithfulness to the Word, not even Supreme Voters' Assembly, can assure the orthodoxy of a church body or congregation.  It is tragic to notice the extent to which misinformed individuals are now even making an argument that it is the voters' assembly that establishes the Real Presence in the Sacrament.  We must reclaim Walther from those who misrepresent him. Walther said:

"Undoubtedly our congregations were free to follow this example and to invest the synod   meeting in their name with a power beside the power of the Word; but it is a different question whether it would have been wise if they had done so. I say no, because under the prevailing circumstances we can confidently hope for auspicious success of our work, or rather of God's work which we are promoting, if we use only the power of God. This is the   second reason why we should and can carry on our work with joy, although we have no power but the power of the Word.

"Perhaps there are times and conditions when it is profitable for the church to place   the supreme deciding and regulating power into the hands of representatives. Who, for   instance, would deny that at one time the consistories in our German fatherland were an   inestimable blessing, especially when the prophecy of Isaiah was being fulfilled in the   German Lutheran Church: "And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy   nursing mothers" (ch. 49, v.23)? Which person acquainted a bit with history would   deny that the Swedish church grew splendidly under its episcopal constitution, especially   so long as men like Laurentius Petri, the famous Swedish translator of the Bible and   student of Luther, bore the episcopal dignity, and so long as men like the two Gustavuses   wore the royal crown of Sweden? If, however, we glance at the conditions in which the   church finds itself here, we can hardly consider any other constitution as the most   salutary except one under which the congregations are free to govern themselves but enter   into a Synodical organization such as the one existing among us with the help of God, for   enjoying fraternal consultation, supervision, and aid to spread the kingdom of God jointly   and to make possible and accomplish the aims of the church in general.

It is true, if our congregations had granted us full power to decide and decree in   their name, it apparently would have been easy for us to give all of the congregations of   our territory the form of truly Lutheran congregations, whereas with our present   constitution our hands appear to be tied. But this only seems to be the case. Even though   some congregations may use the liberty they possess of rejecting our recommendations even   if they are salutary; thereby they indeed deprive themselves of a blessing. But what would   be the result if such congregations by their entrance into our organization had obligated   themselves to submit to all of our orders? The exercise of our power would have laid the   foundation for constant dissatisfaction, for constantly reviving fear of hierarchical   efforts, and thus for endless friction. In a republic, as the United States of America is,   where the feeling of being free and independent of man is nourished so strongly from   childhood, the inevitable result would be that any restriction beyond the limits drawn by   God Himself would be empty shells, and our apparent growth would often be nothing but a   process of becoming stiff and dying in a great mass of lifeless forms. Our chief battle   would soon center about the execution of manufactured, external human ordinances and   institutions and would swallow up the true blessed battle for the real treasure of the   church, for the purity and unity of doctrine. In a word, we would lose sight of our   beautiful aim of building the true church, which is not an external scaffold, but the   kingdom of God in the heart of men and at best ourselves bring about our early   dissolution. To be sure, there are religious organizations in this republic which in spite   of their strictly representative form of government are being built without antagonism and   are prospering in their manner, but why? Because the congregations are not permitted to   come to a knowledge of their liberty and their consciences are bound in favor of their   form of government by false doctrine. In our Evangelical Lutheran Church, however, we must   preach to our congregations that the choice of the form of government for a church is an   inalienable part of their Christian liberty and that Christians as members of the church   are subject to no power in the world except the clear Word of the living God. There the   above mentioned disastrous results are certainly to be feared from any restriction of the   liberty of the congregations, especially in a republic such as ours is."

Source:
http://www.reclaimingwalther.org/articles/cfw00001.htm

   

Dedication of C.F.W. Walther's Mausoleum

Address at the Dedication of the Walther Mausoleum
By Francis Pieper
1892
Translated by Matthew Harrison

Yesterday at the Bates St. cemetery of the local Germany Trinity and Holy Cross congregations the sepulcher commemorating the departed Dr. C.F.W. Walther was dedicated. The mausoleum was devoted to the memory of the departed by the local Evangelical Lutheran congregations. The service began about 4:00 p.m. and in brief and impressive fashion lasted three quarters of an hour. Many many members of the local Evangelical Lutheran Congregations came by way of the Oak Hill Branch of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Also present were many Germans who are not members of the congregations yet hold the memory of the departed in high esteem.

After Pastor Hermann Bartels spoke a few introductory words, the gathering sang the beautiful church hymn “Jesus, meine Zuversicht” [Christ My Sure Defense], after which the aforementioned pastor read the Bible text 1 Corinthians 15:12-23, 55, 57. Another hymn by the congregation, glorifying the eternal life won through Christ, led to the following festival address delivered by Professor F. Pieper.

Dear Brethren in the Faith!

It was on May 7 in the year 1887 that God called out of this life the blessed Dr. Walther, professor of theology at the local Concordia College and Pastor of the local Lutheran Gesammtgemeinde. Ten days later, on May 17, we buried his body here. After five years the same death has given us occasion to assemble at the same place and in like numbers. We have not forgotten the departed one, and we do not want to forget him. This finished sepulcher should also be an external support for our remembrance.

Some months ago, in another place, we also had opportunity to think about his great and faithful teacher. We have erected his statue, hewn of marble, in the aula of our theological institution. And justifiably so! Dr. Walther was a great theological instructor. Indeed, he was – and I well know what I am saying – the greatest theologian of this century. It’s not that there were not men in this century who have acquired a greater external knowledge in the disciplines which contribute to the study of theology. But there is no known theologian of our century who had exceeded Walther in that which forms the very essence of theology, namely the clear and certain knowledge of the doctrine revealed in the scriptures, and in the ability to present this doctrine convincingly. God also used Walther to exercise a wide ranging salutary influence upon the church at large. Even those who found themselves opposed to him acknowledge this.