In this episode, we talk with Peter Prange about the third volume in his series, Wielding the Sword of the Spirit, in which he gets into the details and nuances of the Election Controversy that rocked the Synodical Conference.

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• About the Host
  • Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College with a Bachelor of Arts with a German emphasis. From there went on to graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.
    Ben loves all things history and enjoys traveling. A descendant of over a dozen Lutheran pastors, Ben has an interest in his family roots, especially 19th-century Lutheranism, and has written several papers and journal articles on the topic. His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of two awards of commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute.
    Ben is currently a doctoral student in historical theology through Concordia Seminary's reduced residency program in St. Louis.

In this WELS 175th episode, Tim Grundmeier and I talk about who Johannes Muehlhaeuser was, Christmas trees, and the founding of the Wisconsin Synod.

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• About the Host
  • Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College with a Bachelor of Arts with a German emphasis. From there went on to graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.
    Ben loves all things history and enjoys traveling. A descendant of over a dozen Lutheran pastors, Ben has an interest in his family roots, especially 19th-century Lutheranism, and has written several papers and journal articles on the topic. His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of two awards of commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute.
    Ben is currently a doctoral student in historical theology through Concordia Seminary's reduced residency program in St. Louis.

Image: JP Koehler at Wauwatosa Seminary, candid photo taken by a student.


While going through some old boxes in my grandfather's basement, I stumbled upon something truly remarkable: my great-grandfather’s diary. He was a student at the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary from 1910 to 1912 and had the unique opportunity to learn from the famous Wauwatosa theologians of that era. As you can imagine, this diary could be a treasure trove of insights into the life of a seminary student over a century ago.

But here’s the thing—the handwriting is challenging to decipher. It’s very different from what we’re used to today, and to do it justice, I need to hire professional transcribers who can carefully decode its contents. Only then can I start the process of translating and studying it. This project isn’t just personally meaningful to me; it could also provide valuable historical insights, and I plan to use it as the basis for an article in the Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly Journal.

Here’s where I’m asking for your help. The cost of professional transcription is about $1500. To make this project a reality, I’ve set up a crowdfunding campaign. If this story resonates with you, if you’re passionate about preserving history or just love a good discovery, I’d be incredibly grateful for your support. Whether you’re able to contribute or just share the campaign with others, every bit helps.

https://patreon.com/tlhp?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

Support the show

• Youtube ( even more behind-the-scenes videos available for certain patron tiers)
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• email: [email protected]
• About the Host
  • Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College with a Bachelor of Arts with a German emphasis. From there went on to graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.
    Ben loves all things history and enjoys traveling. A descendant of over a dozen Lutheran pastors, Ben has an interest in his family roots, especially 19th-century Lutheranism, and has written several papers and journal articles on the topic. His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of two awards of commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute.
    Ben is currently a doctoral student in historical theology through Concordia Seminary's reduced residency program in St. Louis.

Link to the service and hymns: https://trinitylutheransd.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Reformation-Hymn-Festival-2024.pdf

The first evangelical hymnal—which in retrospect we can also call the first Lutheran hymnal—rolled off the presses around the middle of January 1524. But interestingly, it did not roll off the presses in Wittenberg, even though the title page gave that impression, or even at Luther’s instigation. It was printed by Jobst Gutknecht in Nuremberg, well over 200 miles to the south of Wittenberg, and apparently on his own initiative. Gutknecht compiled four hymns that had been individually published in Wittenberg on broadsheets in 1523 and 1524. He also obtained the texts of three additional Luther hymns, which were already being sung in services in Wittenberg. (There were no copyright laws back then, and printers regularly copied, reprinted, and sold works they obtained from elsewhere.) To these seven hymns he added one more anonymous one, which was possibly given to him in the composer’s own manuscript. He published these eight hymns under the title:
Some Christian Songs, Hymns of Praise, and Psalms, Produced in 
Conformity with the Pure Word of God from Holy Scripture by Various 
Well-Educated Men for Singing in Church, Just As Is Already Being Done 
with Some of Them in Wittenberg

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• Youtube ( even more behind-the-scenes videos available for certain patron tiers)
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• email: [email protected]
• About the Host
  • Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College with a Bachelor of Arts with a German emphasis. From there went on to graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.
    Ben loves all things history and enjoys traveling. A descendant of over a dozen Lutheran pastors, Ben has an interest in his family roots, especially 19th-century Lutheranism, and has written several papers and journal articles on the topic. His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of two awards of commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute.
    Ben is currently a doctoral student in historical theology through Concordia Seminary's reduced residency program in St. Louis.

Timothy Plichta is a WELS homeschooled high school student living in Germantown, WI. He loves Lutheran history in general and is especially enthralled with anything related to the CELC.

Support the show

• Youtube ( even more behind-the-scenes videos available for certain patron tiers)
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• email: [email protected]
• About the Host
  • Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College with a Bachelor of Arts with a German emphasis. From there went on to graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.
    Ben loves all things history and enjoys traveling. A descendant of over a dozen Lutheran pastors, Ben has an interest in his family roots, especially 19th-century Lutheranism, and has written several papers and journal articles on the topic. His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of two awards of commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute.
    Ben is currently a doctoral student in historical theology through Concordia Seminary's reduced residency program in St. Louis.

This episode is a fuller version of my presentation given at the 2024 Lutheran Historical Conference in Baltimore. Link to the full video of this episode.

One church historian observed that “ It would require pages and pages to report Wyneken's work during his pastorate [in Baltimore].”  
This episode will examine one specific topic- how Wyneken contested for a genuine Lutheran identity and practice in the following arenas in Baltimore:

• 2nd German Evangelical Lutheran Church
• Evangelical Lutheran General Synod
• Forming the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, etc.
• The IOOF, Red Men, and other lodges
  
  https://youtu.be/T9m8usSbwSE

Support the show

• Youtube ( even more behind-the-scenes videos available for certain patron tiers)
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• Interview Request Form
• email: [email protected]
• About the Host
  • Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College with a Bachelor of Arts with a German emphasis. From there went on to graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.
    Ben loves all things history and enjoys traveling. A descendant of over a dozen Lutheran pastors, Ben has an interest in his family roots, especially 19th-century Lutheranism, and has written several papers and journal articles on the topic. His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of two awards of commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute.
    Ben is currently a doctoral student in historical theology through Concordia Seminary's reduced residency program in St. Louis.

Image: Johannes Bugenhagen

During the Reformation Martin Luther restored many Christian teachings to its proper biblical understanding. One of the men who worked with Luther in communicating those teachings was Johannes Bugenhagen. This episode explores one specific way Bugenhagen communicated the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms in The Christian Order of the Honorable City of Braunschweig. His answer to the question is especially evident in the section of this Kirchenordnung that deals with relief for the poor.

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• About the Host
  • Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College with a Bachelor of Arts with a German emphasis. From there went on to graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.
    Ben loves all things history and enjoys traveling. A descendant of over a dozen Lutheran pastors, Ben has an interest in his family roots, especially 19th-century Lutheranism, and has written several papers and journal articles on the topic. His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of two awards of commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute.
    Ben is currently a doctoral student in historical theology through Concordia Seminary's reduced residency program in St. Louis.

Image U.V. Koren

 “How is our America doing?” That is the poignant question that C.F.W. Walther (1811 1887), the President of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, asks in his Synod’s theological journal, “Lehre und Wehre” in 1863. In a series of articles written in the Spring of that year, on the eve of the Civil War, Walther addressed topics such as slavery, abolitionism, the nature of America as having been founded on “Enlightenment” principles, as well as how Lutherans can remain faithful to God’s Word in the face of fiery political debates in a democratic context. Of course, Walther was grappling with a much broader question that endures to this day among Lutherans living in America, and that is, what does it mean to be both an “American” and a “Lutheran”? 

Rev. Andrew Soule discusses the views of Clausen, Koren, and Walther.

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• Youtube ( even more behind-the-scenes videos available for certain patron tiers)
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• About the Host
  • Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College with a Bachelor of Arts with a German emphasis. From there went on to graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.
    Ben loves all things history and enjoys traveling. A descendant of over a dozen Lutheran pastors, Ben has an interest in his family roots, especially 19th-century Lutheranism, and has written several papers and journal articles on the topic. His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of two awards of commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute.
    Ben is currently a doctoral student in historical theology through Concordia Seminary's reduced residency program in St. Louis.

Image: city of Brunswick (Braunschweig) in the 16th century

In Becoming Lutheran, Dr. John Maxfield discusses several key aspects of Lutheran culture that shape the identity and practice of Lutherans as the Reformation grew and developed outside of the center of Wittenberg.  The story of Brunswick engages with Reformation historiography in a way that takes genuine religious convictions seriously as pamphlets and preaching spread the Gospel to every level of society.

Support the show

• Youtube ( even more behind-the-scenes videos available for certain patron tiers)
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• email: [email protected]
• About the Host
  • Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College with a Bachelor of Arts with a German emphasis. From there went on to graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.
    Ben loves all things history and enjoys traveling. A descendant of over a dozen Lutheran pastors, Ben has an interest in his family roots, especially 19th-century Lutheranism, and has written several papers and journal articles on the topic. His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of two awards of commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute.
    Ben is currently a doctoral student in historical theology through Concordia Seminary's reduced residency program in St. Louis.

We welcome back Pastor Scott Henrich, a WELS pastor serving in Knoxville, Tennessee.  His experiences reading historic Lutheran sermons inspired him to research Lutheranism's homiletical heritage in a way that may challenge some contemporary assumptions about the historic perception of Lutheran preaching. (See TLHP 39)

You can contact him here: [email protected]

Today he offers further thoughts and research after studying Walther's Pastoral Theology.

"While C. F. W. Walther needs no introduction for conservative American Lutherans, his Pastoral Theology does. Originally published in 1872, it was not translated into English in its entirety until 2017. (An abridged version, found under various titles, was published in 1995.) In it, Walther condenses a tradition of over 300 years of Lutheran pastoral practice. In a purely historical sense, it is a contribution of great interest, without which the non-specialist would be cut off from centuries of his heritage. Walther’s project, however, goes beyond remembrance, or even repristination. The “American” in the book’s original title (Americanisch-Lutherische Pastoraltheologie) was no accident (3). His intent was to help pastors apply that heritage, mined from God’s Word and initially expressed in the state churches of Europe, to their own time and place. To that end especially, this book is a gift to the Lutheran pastor." -S.H.

Support the show

• Youtube ( even more behind-the-scenes videos available for certain patron tiers)
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• email: [email protected]
• About the Host
  • Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College with a Bachelor of Arts with a German emphasis. From there went on to graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.
    Ben loves all things history and enjoys traveling. A descendant of over a dozen Lutheran pastors, Ben has an interest in his family roots, especially 19th-century Lutheranism, and has written several papers and journal articles on the topic. His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of two awards of commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute.
    Ben is currently a doctoral student in historical theology through Concordia Seminary's reduced residency program in St. Louis.