# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1845 09 06_S2
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

[continued from Seite 1] ...that those and other old, solid books are never forgotten, nor displaced by newer writings composed out of self-devised devotion, or not flowing from thorough experience.

It is different, however, with doctrine. This always requires fresh defense against ever new attacks upon it, against ever new corruptions, and against the old heresies that keep resurfacing, at least in new dress. We will therefore continue to keep in view, in publishing our "Lutheraner," the purpose of promoting chiefly the knowledge of right doctrine, and of serving our readers in this seductive age as a guide who walks at their side, warning them against the unbelief and false belief that the numerous false prophets of our day preach both by word of mouth and in writing. All the unloving judgments to which we have already fallen victim on this account, and to which we may perhaps still fall victim, will not move us from our goal. Not only do we recognize vividly, through God's grace, what a precious jewel pure, unadulterated doctrine is, and that it alone is the true foundation also for a genuine, unfeigned godliness; we are also aware that we write by no means out of contentiousness or ambition, nor with hatred in our hearts, but out of a pure love, worked in us by God, for his truth and for the salvation of our erring brothers. We also have, finally, the comfort that we do not stand alone, but that in our struggle we have as our forerunners and models all the holy prophets and apostles, and Christ, the most holy Son of God himself, since they, for all their supreme love, nevertheless showed the most sacred earnestness against false teachers and against every deviation, even the slightest, from revealed truths, and fought against it by preaching and writing even unto death. We therefore wish to continue joyfully following them, paying no heed to the unfavorable judgments of the world and of those who belong to it concerning our efforts, and seeking only to be found one day a faithful steward.

We repeat, however, that we will never lose sight of the fact that it behooves us, above all, to come forward in unfeigned humility and modesty, since we ourselves have formerly gone astray; but the more we ourselves have experienced what a ruinous influence an error—bound up even with a self-chosen humility and self-denial—can have upon our whole life for time and eternity, the more we consider ourselves obligated to testify against it wherever it is found, and wherever we can hope, through our modest testimony, to accomplish some good.

Should God grant further blessing, that through the "Lutheraner," in this age of indifferentism, the conviction of the importance of purity of doctrine be awakened in this or that reader, or strengthened in one or another who already holds it, then we will consider ourselves more than richly rewarded for our modest effort.

The Sacramentarian Enthusiasts Abolish the Article of Justification and Lead to Works.

Thus writes Luther:

"Behold, what do our new factions and enthusiasts do other than lead people to works? The Anabaptists—what do they do, what do they teach? They say that baptism is nothing; they remove grace entirely out of baptism, so that no grace and mercy of God, no forgiveness of sins, is in it, but only a sign that you are pious; and you must be pious beforehand, before you are baptized, or else baptism is a sign that you already have that same piety. They separate grace from baptism and leave me there only a bare outward sign; there is not a spark of grace in it, but it has been cut clean out. If, then, the grace of Christ is taken out of baptism, only a bare work remains. So too, in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the enthusiasts take out the promise that is offered to us, saying it is bread and wine when you eat and drink it. There, too, the grace that is offered to us in it is cut out and denied. For thus they teach: you do a good work in it if you merely confess Christ; and if you only eat and drink the bread and wine in the Supper, then there must be no grace present. This is how it goes when someone falls away from the First Commandment (and trusts in something other than God, who offers him his grace and mercy): he soon sets up an idol and a work in which he trusts.

The enthusiasts of today also all uphold the First Commandment, to be sure; they say: We too proclaim grace and mercy through Christ, and we do not reject the article of the First Commandment, and they say that I, Luther, am lying about them. But look closely at them: they confess the Christ who died, who hung on the cross and made us blessed—that is true; but they deny that by which we obtain him, that is, the means; the way, the bridge, and the path—that they tear down. — It is exactly the same with them as if I were to preach to someone: here I have a treasure, and yet I do not give him the keys to it; what good would this treasure do him? — That is why the enthusiasts also talk a great deal about God, about the forgiveness of sins and the grace of God, and also that Christ has died; but as for how I obtain Christ, and how grace comes to me so that I receive it, so that we come together—there they say: the Spirit alone must do it; they lead me off on a wild-goose chase, saying that the outward, spoken Word, Baptism, and the Sacrament are of no use, and yet they preach about grace. That is proclaiming the treasure to me and speaking nicely of it, but taking away the key and the bridge by which I am to reach the treasure.

Now God has so ordained that this treasure is given and offered to us through Baptism, the Sacrament of the Supper, and the outward Word. For these are the means and instruments by which we come to God's grace. This they deny. — "You must have the Spirit," they say; but how I am to obtain the Spirit, that they will not tell me. Now, how can I receive the Spirit and believe, if the Word of God is not preached to me and the Sacraments are not administered to me? I must have the means, for "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word [spoken]," Romans 10:17. In sum: no faction can arise that does not have to run counter to the First Commandment and take offense at Christ Jesus, and in this article all heretics, in one sum, are gathered together.

God has never willed to have worship in the world without outward means. In the Old Testament he gave the Jews a way by which he was to be found. But just as our enthusiasts now run away and depart from this way which God has given us in the New Testament, so too the Jews forsook that same way and sought other paths. God cannot be our God unless he gives us something outward by which we may find him—namely, the spoken Word and the two Sacraments. If I do not lay hold of God through outward things, how then can I encounter him? Therefore all heretics have stood opposed to the First Commandment, and have transgressed against it in all sorts of human works, cutting out the promise and the grace of God that is contained therein." Luther, on Deuteronomy 4:28.

From these important words of Luther, the beloved reader can see that the present-day sects falsely appeal to Luther. They often preach and write that if Luther were to return, he would highly praise them as his true successors, and would reject as degenerate sons the Lutherans who still today place their trust in Word and Sacrament. But they assert this either against their own conscience, or because they have never read Luther's writings. If they were to do so, they would soon discover that Luther fought not only against the Pope, but just as zealously against those who boast of the Spirit and disparage the letter of the Word of God and the holy Sacraments, and who slander trust in them as a dead Christianity. Be on your guard, therefore, dear Lutheran Christian, and do not immediately trust it when certain preachers extol Luther highly. The Pharisees, too, built magnificent tombs for the holy prophets!

(Submitted by Pastor O. Fürbringer.)

Rationalism and the Bible.

There has recently appeared a work: "Concerning Religion and Christianity, an Appeal [continued on Seite 3]