Thoughts on CFW Walther's Lectures on Communism, and How They Might Apply to Us Today

By Joseph D. Klotz

Most Missouri Synod Lutherans don't know it, but CFW Walther, first president of the LCMS, lectured against communism in St. Louis. He gave a series of four lectures to his congregation in response to a German-language newspaper in St. Louis that was advocating communism, called "Volksstimme des Westens" (Voice of the People of the West). The lectures were edited and published in English in 1879. The English translation was revised in 1947 by the Lutheran Research Society.

These lectures are certainly relevant for us today. We don't talk about the ideas Walther addressed in the same way he did in the 19th Century, and so some of his warnings sound strange and outdated to us. However, we are still contending with the same dangers, most notably the indoctrination of the masses into atheist and collectivist ideas through the work of private, semi-public, and public institutions.

Walther begins with and focuses on labor unions as a front for indoctrinating the masses with communistic ideas. Walter makes it clear that he is not advocating a new monasticism. Christians are to engage with the world. They are to be, as the Bible says, in the world, but not of the world. Walther identifies labor unions as not just a means for advocating for worker's rights but mechanisms for spreading atheistic communism. This is the case for the labor movement in general, but also in the particular case of the labor supporting paper "Volksstimme des Westens" in St. Louis. Walther is unequivocal: Christians cannot in good conscience be a part of such movements or groups.

Walther demonstrates from examples in "Volksstimme des Westens" that the editor of that newspaper advocates for atheistic communism, and that this ideology characterizes the labor movement. Walther shows from examples taken from "Volksstimme des Westens" that the editor supports the abolition of religion, the abolition of private property ownership, the suppression of marriage, and a broad-based, wide-scale worker's revolt. Walther says that all of the international labor movement can be shown to have these tenets as their foundational principles. The labor movement and communism are inextricably wed.

The anti-family, anti-western, and anti-Christian ideas of the modern American Left are direct descendants of the 19th Century Communism that Walther was addressing.

Antifa looks a lot like what Walther warns against. They are violent revolutionary urban communists who are being encouraged by the agitators to rise up. They are the ones who have been indoctrinated with cultural Marxism, what some call "woke," or "woke-ism," (usually without a precise definition). Whatever you call what those who identify with Antifa have learned, they are heeding the Marxist call to stop kissing the hand that hits them, and to smash the greedy capitalistic monster into "atoms".

The basis of cultural Marxism are the ideas developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles in the 19th century. Marx said that in terms of economics, society was divided into two classes: the bourgeoisie (those who controlled the means of production), and the proletariat (the workers who were exploited by the bourgeoisie to make a profit). Marx believed this was the basic struggle of society, and can be used to explain other sociological and anthropological issues. (Cooper, 2018)

Later thinkers applied Marx's ideas to other aspects of society besides economics. Thinkers in Frankfurt, Germany known as "the Frankfurt School" used Marxism to come up with what they hoped would be a theory of all reality. This new theory was based on the concept of oppressor/oppressed classes. It divided individuals into groups by race, class, or gender, and was critical of historical western civilization. Critical Theory was born. (Cooper, 2018)

Cultural Marxists look at all aspects of life through the lens of the oppressor/oppressed class dynamic. This philosophy found widespread acceptance among post-modern thinkers. Marx's philosophy called for a violent revolution to overthrow the oppressor class and usher in the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Depending on the thinker, Cultural Marxism may or may not contain the element of violent revolution. (Cooper, 2018)

To be "woke" means to have been awaked to these ideas of cultural Marxism, particularly to the radical inequity said to be inherent in the socio-economic and political systems of America; to understand that those systems are utterly corrupt. This is particularly true for the criminal justice system, education, and health care. The woke man works for the destruction of the racist systems; the replacement of those corrupt systems with new ones built on the principles of social justice, and the redress of previous injustice through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Walther says that even the organizations which do not actively promote those ideas help the cause of those that do. A man cannot believe in the omnipotent creator God, the inerrant word of God, or the Fall and Redemption of mankind through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and at the same time be a part of an organization that denies and opposes those things. Communism says religion is a fantasy; that it is designed by the oppressor class to keep the masses under control.

Marx and the Frankfurt School were critical of religion in general, and Christianity in particular. This is partially because the Christian worldview, with it's concept of original sin, denies that man is inherently good. This means that the world is not naturally progressing upwards toward communist utopia for, as Jesus says, "The poor you will have with you always." (Cooper, 2018)

Moreover, in the cultural Marxist system people are not looked at as individuals, but as groups. This leads to the concepts of collective guilt and collective salvation. No matter how "good" a member of the oppressor class is, they are still guilty of the evils of society because they belong to the oppressor class. This is directly opposed to Christianity, which teaches that men are redeemed from sin and death by the death and resurrection of Christ; they are called as individuals to repent, and believe the Gospel. (Cooper, 2018)

Walther makes a difference between communism and socialism. He says that communism is more radical than socialism. He summarizes communism as a system in which all goods are divided equally. He summarizes socialism as a society in which there is no private property ownership, and all property is owned by the government through what he calls "united labor." He sees socialism as less egregious than communism. The problem is, as Walther sees it, the more radical movement always wins out. Walther points to the French Revolution to illustrate his point. It wasn't long before those who had fomented the rebellion were sent to the guillotine by those more radical than themselves. We can see this at work also in the Russian Revolution. If this principle is true, it has grave implications for the United States and the socio-political revolution we are entering.

The movement for social justice is not the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. It is not the civil rights movement of Martin Luther King Jr. It is a movement of cultural Marxism. Social justice does the opposite of what Martin Luther King Jr. called for, namely that we should judge people based on the content of their character rather than on the color of their skin, and all people should have equal treatment under the law.

Ibram X. Kendi, one of the thought leaders of the social justice movement, says, however, that we must fight discrimination with more discrimination. What he means is, we must fight the institutional discrimination built into our societal systems against people of color by the white oppressor class with the discrimination against the white oppressor class. This is the implementation of equity.

Equity means more than just creating a level playing field for all people. It means equality of outcome. The woke Left argues that, for people of color to prosper in our racist system, the beneficiaries of privilege must be handicapped. (Miliken Institute School of Public Health, 2020)

Related to this idea of equity, the woke Left argues that racism is a white phenomenon. Thinkers like George Yancy say that racism is inextricably linked to the white systems of power. Yancy argues that white people have been in power for 400 years, and that the systems of society were created by them specifically to oppress black people. (Yancy, 2021)

Walther noted that the radicals ruled in France until God ended their rule. (Walther, 1879) God is sovereign. He is ultimately in charge of all the kings of the earth. We do well to remember that in America today. We desperately need to bring our concerns, requests, and laments to Him in prayer as he directs us in His word.

Because of man's fallen, selfish nature, communism can never progress beyond this phase, generally known as the Dictatorship of the Proletariate. This has been demonstrated time and time again throughout the world where communism has been tried. Man is naturally selfish. He will not submit to the communistic worldview willingly. Ironically, he will need to be forced into the equality of communism, which goes against the claimed ideals of Communism. The only man who willingly submits to the principles of communism, Walther writes, are those who think they would be better off. (Walther, 1879)

Walther's point seems obvious. This is the reason that communism is always imposed at the point of a gun. It is, perhaps, why the radical Leftists had to abandon class warfare rhetoric in America, and transition to the cultural Marxist rhetoric of social justice to advance their cause. Most people in America believed they could improve their economic situation. In the case of European immigration, that is why they came here in the first place. Moreover, in America there was no established class structure as there was in many European countries, particularly Germany and Great Britain. In America, however, there was the problem of racism and racial inequality which could be exploited to the advantage of the radical Left.

Walther says that only Christians are truly capable of putting others ahead of themselves. He says that the unregenerate man is not motivated to work except by profit. The Christian isn't working for money at all, but understands that God will provide him with his daily bread. The Christian serves in his vocation because God has given it to him to do, and by it he loves and serves his neighbor.

Walther acknowledges the difference between real and false Christians. He understands that what he says about selflessness applies to true Christians, not those who merely profess Christ with their lips, who are part of a so-called 'cultural' Christianity.

Happiness is a condition of the heart, not the bank account. It is part of our fallen condition to think that acquiring money and possessions will bring happiness. People do not want to accept this, even though they experience it in their lives every day. (Walther, 1879) This covetous nature of fallen man is what communists exploit to their advantage.

When Walther asserts that the Christian is always happy he isn't being trite or naive. What he is talking about is this: The Christian understands that he has the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation by the grace of God, through faith in Christ. Walther distinguishes between the bigger concept of happiness, and mood - something many in the LCMS today talk about in terms of "Joy." Moods change and should not be mistaken for a person's broader disposition. Christians are often sad. Walther says that the deeper one's Christianity, however, the more he will be troubled with feelings of sadness. Walther says such feelings are triggered by the Christian's awareness of his sinfulness and sinful actions.

Walther conjectures that even professed atheists don't believe their own arguments. Secretly, they know there is a God, and that they will be judged by Him. God has written His law upon the heart of man. Man's conscience is silenced inside him only by his stubborn refusal to believe, aided by the working of Satan, which Walther calls hardness of heart.

As long as Christ tarries, this will be most certainly true. We Christians are called to proclaim the message of the cross to a hostile world, for that message is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. And, eventually, with the sounding of the last trumpet and the return of Christ, communism, Marxism, woke-ism - all the "isms" - will pass away.

And the Word of the Lord will endure forever. ###

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