Public Confession of a Stephanite: What Martin Stephan Was Really Like
Pastor Joel Baseley has recently completed the translation of a signficant document giving an important glimpse into what Martin Stephan was really like and what his high-handed authoritarianism meant for those who came to America, eventually to form The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. I regret that at the upcoming symposium on the Lutheran Confessions at Fort Wayne has given opportunity to a descendant of Stephan, an ELCA pastor turned counselor who, along with his radically lesbian feminist sister, have mounted a campaign to try to rehabilitate Stephan, making all kinds of ridiculous accusations about Walther and others. It is a shame that there are some in our circles who actually believe that Stephan was mistreated and that great evil was done to him by C.F.W. Walther and others.
Read this document and you will see for yourself that Martin Stephan was an evil shepherd, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, who was an authoritarian legalist, not a truly evangelical pastor.
Here’s the document Pastor Basely translated, click on the link and click on it again when it opens in a new window to download it as a PDF file: Keyls_Confession
Hey Pr. Mccain,
Not being Lutheran but constantly reading about it, who exactly was this fellow?
Thanks for this, I have been struggling on how to attend Thursday’s program at Fort Wayne and my current workload at my job. You helped me make my decision a little easier, I’ll wait till next year.
Even J. A. A. Grabau considered Stephan a tyrant.
Interesting that Keyl’s Confession was written by a pastor surnamed Keyl, a variant spelling of my surname! I was not really aware of Pastor Martin Stephan aside from a previous blog posted on this website, so this blog post is informative. A quick glance at Keyl’s Confession indicates a lot going on in the story so it will be worth reading. Even in the church of God, people’s sinful natures can play havoc!
I have a rather low opinion of revisionist history. I will be at Ft. Wayne and I am certain I will have a few questions for Dr. Stephan.
I honestly have to wonder if Dr. Scaer, who apparently is the one who wanted the man invited, realized just how weird and out-to-lunch Naomi Stephan is, the man’s sister and partner in this effort to “rehabilitate” Stephan. You know, the lady who wrote a choral piece in praise of a sex toy? Yup, that lady.
Robin,
Here you go:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Stephan
I don’t know if re-hashing the personalities of 150 years ago serves anything except for the academicians, and the usual politicians and book-sellers. It is probably relevant in the topic of church polity, whether the hierarchial or congregational model best represents Christ’s church on earth. The office of the pastor, and other ministries of the church is another topic the Stephan affair is related to. It will be interesting to see whether the LCMS ever gets into a clear, comprehensive discussion of ministries as they are needed for today’s missions. It seems to be unfinished business the Missouri Synod never gets to.
Ted, respectfully, that’s not really an appropriate attitude to take to history, particularly when there are now people trying to rehabilitate Stephan and make him appear to be a victim. When those being unjustly attacked are not present to defend themselves, the 8th commandment requires us to speak well of them.
@James
Some may take issue on one side or the other as to the content of the Wikipedia link. But, the first sentence is totally accurate. The name of the church in Dresden where Pastor Stephan served was (is) St. John Lutheran Church and not St. John’s. I asked my pastor about why some congregations are named St. John’s and others are named St. John. He said that historically the Episcopalians used the “‘s” and the German Lutherans didn’t. Why? Because there is no possessive apostrophe “s” in the German language. Hence, St. Paul Lutheran Church vs. St Paul’s Episcopal Church. I found that interesting, albeit only a “footnote”.
While only having read sections of the recent book published on Stephan, and reading bits here and there on Walther, it sounds like a bad situation all around. It appears Stephan sinned with women and that he was authoritarian. However, if the accounts from “his perspective” are to be believed, he was also then abused afterward. Granted, those who have been abused tend to vent their anger on the abuser, so such behavior wouldn’t surprise me, but an overstatement of said abuse wouldn’t surprise me either.
I think if anything positive is to be gained from any of this discussion, it is that God still uses sinners, whether their name is “Stephan” or “Walther,” but that the honest confession of someone such as “Keyls” here—where he admits he was afraid to confess, but that Holy Spirit hounded him until he did—this is central…and refreshing. It reminds me of someone recently elected in our synod who emphasizes confession and exalts Christ.
I sinned. I preached too much law and not enough Grace. I was led too much by a man and not by God. He asks for forgiveness and he points people to the Savior, away from sinful man.
Thank you. Refreshing read.