# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1844 09 01_S2
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

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and rightly pursue it. For this point is the chief article and the cornerstone, which alone begets, strengthens, builds up, sustains, and protects the Church of God; and without it the Church of God cannot stand for a single hour; as you yourself, dear Brenz, well know and are agreed with me on this, and for this reason you press this article so forcefully. For no one in the Church can rightly teach anything, or well withstand any adversary, who has not rightly grasped this point—or, as St. Paul calls it in 2 Timothy 4:3, "sound and pure doctrine"—or, as Paul himself says, who does not "hold fast to the doctrine."

Finally, Luther says in his incomparable commentary on Christ's discourse in chapters 14 through 16 of the Gospel of John: "The knowledge of God and of Christ is not an idle, loose thought or dream, such as reason may think and hear said of God and of Christ, and according to which it paints for itself its own picture of God and deals with him accordingly; rather, it is the true, living faith which grasps the Word of the Gospel and thereby knows him, and knows the Father's will and heart, that he sent his Son, Christ, to help the world by his blood and death from sins, from the wrath of God, and from eternal death; and that Christ has accomplished all this, has obtained forgiveness of sins and eternal life, and truly bestows it on all who believe in him, so that the knowledge of Christ and of the Father are bound together and are one single knowledge; as has often been said above, that the Father is known only in Christ, and neither wills nor can be attained and met, nor worshiped and called upon, outside of this Mediator.

Therefore everything depends entirely on this article concerning Christ, and everything hangs upon it; whoever has this has everything, and the Christians must stand in the utmost struggle over it and contend continually that they may remain steadfast in it; for this reason also Christ and the apostles, not without cause, press upon this everywhere. For the other articles, although they too are grounded in Scripture (such as that Mary, a pure virgin, bore Christ), nevertheless he does not press them so hard that St. Paul (when he contends over this article) even troubles to name the mother, or to bring up the honor of the virgin, but simply says plainly in Galatians 4:4, natum ex muliere: born of a woman. But in this he is wholly and entirely earnest, that we obtain grace and salvation with God not through works and law, but alone through this Mediator, Christ.

For this is also the one article that must at all times suffer persecution from the devil and the world. As indeed was proclaimed of it already at the beginning, in the first divine sermon that was addressed to man after the Fall: Genesis 3:15: "I will put enmity between your seed and the serpent, and it shall crush your head, and you shall bruise its heel, etc." That is precisely the enmity of which Christ here (John 16:3) speaks, that his Christians, for the sake of his knowledge and because they preach of him, must both be banned and put to death. Other articles have also had their trials, but none has caused as much bloodshed and martyrdom as this one. For it began already this early, in the two brothers Cain and Abel, that the one had to die at the hands of the other because of it, and it will not cease as long as the world stands. Where this article arises, there the devil becomes mad and foolish, and sets the world ablaze in sheer fire and flame with wrath and raging.

And one sees in all histories that all heresy and error arose where this article fell into neglect, once people became overconfident, as though they understood it very well; and thus fell from this to other matters and began to dispute about the person of Christ, whether he was true God or merely man, and through such speculation and questioning brought in every kind of misfortune, in that one denied the deity of Christ, another his humanity, likewise some the person of the Holy Spirit, some the virginity of Mary: but all of them together, however many there have been, erred and were led astray also in this chief article. For upon this everything hangs and depends, and it draws all the others along with it, and everything comes down to this: that whoever errs in the other articles surely also does not have this one right, and even if he holds to the others and does not have this one, it is all in vain nonetheless.

Again, this article also has the grace that, where one remains with diligence and earnestness by it, it does not let one fall into heresy, nor run counter to Christ and his Christendom. For it certainly brings with it the Holy Spirit, who thereby enlightens the heart and keeps it in right, sure understanding, so that it can give and render a pure and clear-cut distinction concerning all the other articles of faith, and can uphold and defend them mightily. As one may also well see in the ancient Fathers; where they remained with such articles, and grounded their teaching thereon and derived it therefrom, they remained fine and pure in all points; but where they departed from it and disputed apart from it, they too went astray and stumbled in some measure; as also happened at times even to the oldest, Tertullian and Cyprian. And what is lacking, not only in the Papists, but in all our fanatical spirits who rage against baptism and other articles, but that they have already fallen from this article, have not concerned themselves with it, and have instead raised up other matters, and thereby lost their understanding, so that they can teach nothing right about it and can maintain no article with certainty? as one may well see in their books; after which they fall further from one error into another, until at last they lead themselves and other people into ruin.

For where this knowledge of Christ is gone, there the sun has lost its light, and it is sheer darkness, so that one understands nothing more, and cannot defend oneself against any error or false doctrine of the devil. And even though one still keeps the words about faith and Christ (as they remained in the papacy), yet there is no foundation of any article in the heart, and whatever else remains is mere froth and uncertain persuasiones or conceit, or a painted, colored faith. As they themselves call their faith fidem acquisitam et informem, that is, a loose, idle, empty thought, which does nothing and is worth nothing, which neither holds nor fights when it comes to the encounter where it should hold fast and prove itself. And indeed, that their boasting about faith and Christ is wholly false and a lie, they themselves prove by their deeds, in that they will not tolerate this article of the knowledge of Christ and true faith, but rage against it with banning and murder.

Again, where this sun shines and gives light in the heart, there is a right, sure understanding of all things, so that one can stand firm and hold fast in all articles, as that Christ is true man, born of the Virgin Mary, and also true, almighty God, begotten of the Father from eternity, Lord over angels and all creatures. Likewise he also believes and rightly teaches concerning the Holy Spirit, concerning baptism, the sacrament, good works, and the resurrection of the dead; he thus walks simply in faith, does not dispute or quibble over God's Word, and stirs up no wrangling or doubt. And if someone comes who attacks one or more of such articles, a Christian can defend himself and beat back the same; for he has the right Master, the Holy Spirit, who alone reveals this article from heaven, and is given to all those who hear and accept this Word or preaching concerning Christ. Therefore such a one will not let himself be led astray into heresy and error; and even if he sometimes errs or stumbles, yet so long as he does not fall away from this, he soon comes back onto the path. For this light consumes and drives away the clouds and darkness, and points him back and sets him upright again. But if he loses this light, then there is no helping him. For where this knowledge is gone, it takes everything with it, and one may thereafter still profess and confess all the articles (as indeed the Papists do), but it is not earnest, nor right understanding, but as one gropes in the dark, and as a blind man hears tell of a color which he has never seen. This is what even the best and most pious among them do."

On the Name "Lutheran."

A. Is it not wrong to call oneself thus?

We have not shrunk from giving our paper the title "Der Lutheraner" [The Lutheran]; we therefore consider it our duty,