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Volume Three charts in careful detail the historical underpinnings and course of the Synodical Conference’s Election Controversy (Gnadenwahlstreit) and brings to light the often-underappreciated impact it has had on the Lutheran church in America, especially with respect to the doctrine and practice of church fellowship. Though the controversy is normally considered to have taken place between 1877-1882, this volume demonstrates that its true genesis reached back to before the founding of the Missouri Synod (1847) and Synodical Conference (1872).

Chapter One unearths the discussion on the doctrine of election that was taking place between C.F.W. Walther and his Saxon associates already in the 1840s.

Chapter Two deals with the first public outbreak of controversy in the late 1860s and early 1870s, particularly the back-and-forth debate on the language of election between Walther and Iowa Synod professor Gottfried Fritschel.

Chapter Three summarizes the thorough presentation Walther made on election at the 1877 Western District convention and the growing dissatisfaction with Missouri’s approach as it was articulated by Professor Friedrich A. Schmidt and his close associates. It also highlights a main cause of the fissure between Walther and Schmidt, namely, Walther’s insistence that any disagreement with his presentation not become a matter of public debate for the world to witness.

Chapter Four details the initial efforts made by synodical officials to douse the flames of controversy, the part that Walther played in further disrupting the public peace, and the advent of Schmidt’s controversial reply, Altes und Neues, first published in January 1880.

Chapter Five describes in detail the numerous abortive efforts made within the Missouri Synod and Synodical Conference to extinguish the controversy promptly and close ranks, while Chapter Six details the steadfast resolutions of the Missouri and Ohio Synods that resulted in the rather hasty breakup of the first Synodical Conference.

Chapter Seven tells the story of the consequential 1882 Synodical Conference convention in Chicago that refused F.A. Schmidt his delegate seat. Of special import is the reason given for the conference’s refusal to seat him–not because of any difference in doctrine–but because of Schmidt’s publicly divisiveness approach to this knotty theological question.

Finally, the Epilogue recounts the aftermath of the Gnadenwahlstreit for each of the first member synods of the Synodical Conference and offers some conclusions about the effect that the controversy had on the doctrine and practice of the Synodical Conference in the years that followed.

Volume Three Book Details
Publisher: Joh. Ph. Koehler Press (2023)
Language: English
Hardcover: 419 pages
ISBN: 978-1-387-98603-3

"Prange examines the historical background of the Election Controversy in detail. He follows its course through stages, providing a helpful analysis of why the conflict divided Lutherans and how it led to the disbanding of the Synodical Conference. He lays out well the viewpoints and arguments of the different parties. He notes the shifts in emphases, even retractions of former positions, and changes in alliances. The result is a thorough, even-handed study of a complicated doctrinal conflict, explained in a way that readers can grasp and understand."

-- Dr. Gerhard Bode, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis for the Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly

"One would think that the election controversy in the nineteenth century would be so well picked over that there is no need for another history. Prange proves this wrong in his superb retelling of it. ... Prange's knowledge of the material is such that we can easily imagine him as a delegate at the [Missouri Synod's] Ft. Wayne convention in 1881. He has an uncanny way to make history live."

-- Dr. Mark Mattes, Grand View University, Des Moines, Iowa for The Lutheran Quarterly