Rev. C.F.W. Walther (1811-1887 AD) is well known by many Lutherans. Not only was he the first president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, but he was a professor and the first president of our seminary that came to be called Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO. Learn more about Walther at the Concordia Historical Institute.
While he is better known for his lectures on the “Proper Distinction Between Law & Gospel,” he also lectured on Communism and Socialism. We have included the PDF file of these lectures, which were translated into English in 1879 and last published in 1947. The download link and file embed has been included as a resource to equip your mind against the Marxist ideals that are currently influencing so many aspects of our lives today.
Pastor Bramwell created some quote pics for you as well (scroll down. If you’re on social media—get off! If you aren’t going to do that, then you might as well share content that will benefit your neighbors. Snag ’em at your leisure.
Lecture One
Walther asks the question, “Why should and can no reasonable man, much less a Christian, take part in the efforts of communists and socialists?”
He then provides a four-part answer:
“Because these efforts are contrary to reason, nature, and experience for
- it is a fact that men are not equal;
- it is a fact that men are naturally selfish;
- it is a fact that happiness does not consist in external advantages;
- it is a fact well established by experience, that the communists have never attained their professed end, and only introduced sorrow and suffering.”
1. It is a fact that men are not equal
“Throughout the creation everything differs from everything else. God is accordingly not an equalizer, but one who creates dissimilar things.”
1. It is a fact that men are not equal
“They have lost God and with Him, the noblest good; this is why they have no comfort. And now the world is to be improved, and that by means of an equalization.”
2. It is a fact that men are naturally selfish
“The communists must admit that men will indeed never peacefully suffer themselves to be reduced to equality…. It is a truth which no one can deny, dreadful as it is, that man is naturally selfish, and a selfish person will not be made equal with others…”
St. Mark Lutheran Church 