Paul Edward Kretzmann (1883-1965) Papers

Paul Edward Kretzmann was born on 24 August 1883 in Farmers Retreat, Indiana to Pastor Carl H. E. and Elizabeth Polack Kretzmann. He was the third of seven children born to the Kretzmanns.

He graduated from Concordia College, Fort Wayne in 1902 and proceeded to Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, but after two years was forced to move out West for health reasons. After teaching at schools in Colorado and Kansas he was ordained in 1906. He served as pastor at Saint Peter in Shady Bend, Kansas until 1907 and at Emmaus in Denver until 1912. Until 1919 he taught science and math at Concordia College, Saint Paul. From 1919 to 1923 he worked for Concordia Publishing House, first as an editor and then as Production Manager. He joined the faculty of Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis in 1924, a position he held until 1946 when he resigned. He then served as pastor at Saint John in Forest Park, Illinois. Beginning in the year before his resignation from the seminary, Kretzmann was becoming increasingly disturbed about what he considered to be unionistic tendencies and a lack of doctrinal discipline within the Synod. The following years were ones of increasing disenchantment with the Synod reflected by the prodigious output of letters, flyers, and tracts protesting the direction of the Synod, all of which culminated in his resignation from the Synod on June 30, 1948. He later helped the Orthodox Lutheran Conference, which was organized in 1951. He was made President of Orthodox Lutheran Seminary in 1952 and Vice-president of the Conference in 1953. The Orthodox Lutheran Conference was received into WELS in 1963. P.E. Kretzmann died on 13 July 1965.

Kretzmann was a prolific writer. Besides a great number of tracts and essays, he wrote many books, a few of which may be mentioned here. He is perhaps best known among Lutherans for his four-volume Popular Commentary on the Bible. His pedagogical works, such as Education Among the Jews and A Brief History of Christian Education have also been items of interest. Other works include Toward Lutheran Union, co-authored with Theodore Graebner, and The God of the Bible and Other “Gods”. Kretzmann also served as Co-Editor of the Concordia Cyclopedia.

P.E. Kretzmann held a Bachelor of Divinity degree from the Lutheran Seminary, Maywood, Illinois. He received a doctor of divinity degree (honoris causa) from the same institution in 1922. He also held an M.A and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and Ed.D. degrees, as wells as the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. He and his wife, Louise, were blessed with one son and four daughters.