Franz Pieper

Franz August Otto Pieper (June 27, 1852 – June 3, 1931) was a Confessional Lutheran theologian who also served as the fourth president of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, known at that time as the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States.

Franz Pieper
Franz Pieper at the LCMS convention of 1923 in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Born	(1852-06-27)June 27, 1852 Karwitz, Pomerania
Died	June 3, 1931(1931-06-03) (aged 78) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Education	Northwestern College (1872) Concordia Seminary (1875)
Religion	Lutheran
Church	Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS)
Ordained	July 11, 1875 at Centerville, Wisconsin[1]
Writings	Christian Dogmatics, Der Lutheraner (periodical)
Offices held	President, LCMS (1899–1911) President, Concordia Seminary (1887–1931)

Life

Pieper was born at Karwitz, Pomerania, (85 miles (137 km) west of Danzig) and died in St. Louis, Missouri.^[1] After studying at the gymnasium of Kolberg, Pomerania, he emigrated to the United States in 1870.^[1] He graduated from Northwestern College in Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1872 and from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in 1875. He was a Lutheran pastor from 1875 to 1878, serving first at Centerville, Wisconsin, and then at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. He became a professor of theology at Concordia Seminary in 1878, and served as president of the same institution from 1887 until his death in 1931. He also served as editor of Lehre und Wehre, the faculty journal of Concordia Seminary.^[2][3]

From 1882 to 1899, Pieper served on the Board of Colored Missions for the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America. He also served as the fourth president of the Missouri Synod from 1899 to 1911.^[1]

As a systematic theologian, Franz Pieper's magnum opus, Christliche Dogmatik (1917–1924), provided the modern world with a learned and extensive presentation of orthodox Lutheran theology.^[4] Translated into English as Christian Dogmatics (1950–1953), it continues to be the basic textbook of doctrinal theology in the Missouri Synod.^[5] He was also the main author of A Brief Statement of 1932, an authoritative presentation of the synod's doctrinal stance.

Works

• Christliche Dogmatik. 4 vols. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1917–1924) [English translation: Christian Dogmatics. 4 vols. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950–1953)]
  (In German, public domain) Vol I Vol II Vol III

• The Synodical Conference, an essay in The Distinctive Doctrines and Usages of the General Bodies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States (Philadelphia, 1892), 119-166.
• Gesetz und Evangelium (1892)
• Das Grundbekenntnis der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1880).
• Lehre von der Rechtfertigung (1889)
• Unsere Stellung in Lehre und Praxis (St. Louis, 1896)
• Lehrstellung der Missouri-Synode (1897)
• Christ's Work (1898).
• Das Wesen des Christentums (1903)
• Conversion and Election : a Plea for a United Lutheranism (1913, HathiTrust Digital Library)
• What Is Christianity and Other Essays. John Theodore Mueller, tr. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1933)

References

1. "Franz August Otto Pieper: Fourth President of the Missouri Synod: 1899-1911". Lutheran History. Concordia Historical Institute.
2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication in the public domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). "Pieper, Franz August Otto". New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Vol. IX (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls. p. 52.
3. Lenski, Gerhard E. (1965). "Pieper, Franz August Otto". In Bodensieck, Julius (ed.). The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church. Vol. III. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House. p. 1898. LCCN 64-21500.
4. Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 4 vols., (St Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950–1953), 1:v.
5. Robert D. Preus, ed., Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics, 13 vols. (St. Louis: The Luther Academy, 1989–2008), 6:viii.

External links

• Concordia Historical Institute
• Franz August Otto Pieper, The 20th Century Luther
• Our Position in Doctrine and Practice by Dr. Franz Pieper
• Lectures on the Evangelical Lutheran Church, The True Visible Church of God on Earth by Dr. Franz Pieper, trans. by Bryce L. Winters
• The Glorious Blessing of Brotherly Fellowship in Faith by Dr. Franz Pieper
• Theses on Unionism by Dr. Franz Pieper
• The Witness of History for Scripture (Homologoumena and Antilegomena) by Dr. Franz Pieper, (from Christian Dogmatics, Vol I, page 330-38.)
• The Distinction Between Orthodox & Heterodox Churches by Dr. Franz Pieper, (from Christian Dogmatics, Vol III)
• C. F. W. Walther as a Theologian, by Dr. Franz Pieper, Studium Excitare, Issue #8.
• Franz August Otto Pieper (1917). Christliche Dogmatik Vol. 2. Concordia publishing house. Franz Pieper.
• Franz August Otto Pieper (1920). Christliche Dogmatik Vol.3. Concordia publishing house. Franz Pieper.
• Zur Einigung der amerikanisch-lutherischen Kirche in der Lehre von der Bekehrung und Gnadenwahl by Dr. Franz Pieper (1913)
• Lehre und Wehre 8 Vols. of the faculty journal from Concordia Seminary

Religious titles
Preceded by H. C. Schwan	President Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod 1899–1911	Succeeded by F. Pfotenhauer