Conversion and Election: A Plea for a United Lutheranism in America

In the late nineteenth century, a debate surrounding the doctrine of election erupted within American Lutheranism. One party held to the intuitu fidei approach to election, arguing that God’s election unto salvation occurs in view of the faith of his people. C.F.W. Walther and others in the Synodical Conference argued, against this, that God’s election is unconditional. Francis Pieper’s book Conversion and Election is the most detailed defense of the doctrine of unconditional election unto salvation from the Lutheran tradition. He demonstrates, throughout the work, that God predestines sinners by grace alone. Yet, he also demonstrates that God’s grace is universal, and thus rejects double-predestinarian Calvinism.