# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1911_S200
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

200 Proceedings of the 28th General or

Scripture exhort us: "Remember your teachers, who have spoken
to you the word of God!" But among these, towering head and
shoulders above the rest, is Dr. Walther, that chosen, richly blessed
instrument whose hundredth birthday we joyfully celebrate today.

To God alone the glory! That holds true at this celebration as
well. For it was not he himself, but God, who made Walther into
what he became for the Church, and who fitted, enabled, and
equipped him with splendid gifts for the work to which He called
him — equipped him with a clear mind, sharp judgment, a straight
and wide-ranging view, a lively imagination, a rich memory,
thorough learning, a magnificent speaking voice, powerful oratorical
gifts, indefatigable capacity for work, vigorous energy for action and
creation, tough perseverance, and quick, sure, decisive initiative.

To God alone the glory! For in order to make these splendid
natural gifts useful to the Church, He also richly endowed Walther
with the gifts of His Holy Spirit — endowed him with childlike faith,
fervent zeal in prayer, heartfelt humility, unfeigned piety, burning
love for the Savior and for the brethren, and with an ardent longing
for the salvation of immortal souls; endowed him, in particular, also
with a truly spiritual and wonderfully clear grasp of Lutheran
doctrine and deep insight into its distinctive character and
significance, above all the doctrine of justification and the
distinction between Law and Gospel — that especially glorious light
which became, for Walther too, the key to the right understanding
of the whole of Holy Scripture.

To God alone the glory! For He led Walther to America, set him
here in the right place, and set this noble instrument to vigorous
work for the blessing of thousands. Walther was blessed as preacher,
pastor, leader, and governor of his congregations; blessed as chief
founder of our Synod, of our school system, of our missions, of our
periodicals, and of Concordia Publishing House; blessed as president
of our Synod, as essayist at its conferences and synodical
conventions, as leader in its work, as spokesman in its struggles, and
above all as teacher of its students; blessed as counselor in difficult
cases of conscience, as peacemaker in disputes, as a true man of
peace at free conferences, and as a vigorous promoter of church
fellowship and synodical union on the basis of truth; blessed as editor
of *Der Lutheraner* and *Lehre und Wehre*, and as publisher of
splendid books of sermons as well as other writings and tracts;
blessed overflowingly, too, as a zealous distributor of old-Lutheran
literature and an enthusiastic advocate of publishing the complete
works of Dr. Luther through our Concordia Publishing House. In all
these and other positions, streams of blessing have flowed from
Walther upon thousands, not only in America, but throughout the
whole world.

To God alone the glory! For He has blessed His instrument in a
way that can be seen and grasped directly. Walther is no lonely
preacher in the