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Walther’s Works

“A figure who dare not be ignored.”

Called “The American Luther,” C. F. W. Walther (1811–87) was an eloquent preacher, church organizer, and a keen theologian. His areas of specialty included systematic and historical theology, especially the writings of Martin Luther and post-Reformation Lutheranism. He served as pastor in Perry County and St. Louis, Missouri, and was the first president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Walther also served as the first president of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference. He was a co-founder, professor, and the president of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and an editor and author of theological journals; and books.

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walther's works predestination

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Latest Release: Predestination

In the early years of the LCMS, the issue of predestination was debated extensively. Still today, predestination remains a confusing and often misunderstood concept: Does God predestine some to salvation and others to damnation?

C. F. W. Walther believed that the doctrine of predestination was meant to be a great comfort to the children of God. He held fast that predestination was intricately related to other doctrines such as faith, justification, conversion, and the Means of Grace, and it was key for the Christian confession of the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit on behalf of sinners.
“C. F. W. Walther was called ‘the Luther of North America’ by those outside the circle of his own church body, but scholars in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have largely neglected him. The effort of Concordia Publishing House to promote the study of his writings and to encourage new attempts to evaluate his significance . . . on the American ecclesiastical scene is an important step toward opening up discussion of this figure who dare not be ignored.”

—Dr. Robert Kolb, Emeritus Missions Professor of Systematic Theology, Concordia Seminary

“Walther is often thought of as a theologian, professor, seminary president, synodical president, author, leader among Lutherans, etc. What is frequently overlooked is that he was first and foremost a pastor. From 1841 until his death in 1887, at the same time he accomplished all the things associated with the above titles, he was the pastor of the St. Louis joint congregation—first, Trinity, then also Holy Cross, Zion, and Immanuel.”

—Foreword, C. F. W. Walther’s Law and Gospel (2010 translation), by William J. Schmelder, Professor Emeritus, Concordia Seminary

About C. F. W. Walther

Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther (October 25, 1811–May 7, 1887) immigrated to the United States of America from Saxony (a German territory) in 1839. With others, he formed The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in 1847 and became its first president, as well as a professor and president of Concordia Seminary (now in St. Louis). He is remembered as “the American Luther” due to his defense of distinctively Lutheran doctrine and practice in the midst of a culture that opposed these.
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