The Forgotten Walther

The great majority of our theologians, Luther in the forefront, believe that the holy Supper should never be administered privately by one who is not in the public preaching office, by a layman. That is partly because no such necessity can occur with the holy Supper, as with Baptism and Absolution, that would justify a departure from God’s ordinance ( I Cor 4:1; Romans 10:15; Heb 5:4); partly because the holy Supper “is a public confession and so should have a public minister”; partly because schisms can easily be brought about by such private Communion…

C.F.W. Walther. Pastoral Theology. Trans. John M. Drickamer. (New Haven: Lutheran News Inc, 1995); p.134

Walther on laity using the Book of Concord

"The Book of Concord should be in every Lutheran home. If a person isn't familiar with this book, he'll think, 'That old book is just for pastors. I don't have to preach. After working all day, I can't sit down and study in the evening. If I read my morning and evening devotions, that's enough.' No, that is not enough! The Lord doesn't want us to remain children, blown to and fro by every wind of doctrine; instead of that, He wants us to grow in knowledge so that we can teach others." - Dr. C.F.W. Walther

Those Old Confessional Lutherans...

“It is a very common subterfuge of those who do not want to accept any single doctrine of the divine Word, that they first ascribe it to a person and then, under his name, reject it as a human doctrine. They act in no other way than as if they also certainly believed the Word of Scripture, but they are only loudly objecting against submitting to the authority of a person who is prone to error, and having to accept a human, uncertain interpretation. Through such a maneuver they hope to mislead others, who might notice that they do not unconditionally submit to the Word of God. So, for example, many now are saying nothing honorable since in their hearts they regard Christ as either a liar or a thoughtless babbler when he says: “This is my body, this is my blood.” But rather, in order to be allowed to not believe Christ, and to be able yet to retain their honor amongst Christians, they say: “Oh, we are not one of those Old Lutherans! We stick with the Bible! Those symbolical books were also written by men!” When they’ve said that, they think they must be excused by everyone for rejecting what Christ’s Words say. Will God also accept their excuse “Oh, I’m not an Old Lutheran”? ”

 

Source:

C.F.W. Walther

Der Lutheraner

Volume 2, Number 11, January 1846, pg. 42-43

Translated by Joel Baseley