# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1846 03 21_S60
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

needs mentioning for anyone, that whoever receives the keys of the kingdom of heaven on behalf of others thereby naturally obtains the power to open and to shut the kingdom of heaven to others.

If, then, we are not to twist the words of Christ in the three statements cited, nor to read into them some meaning of our own that is not actually contained in them, but rather to draw out of them the sense they must necessarily have, then those words teach us, first of all, this incontrovertibly: that Christ gave the holy apostles the power to forgive sins and to leave them unforgiven, to open and to shut the kingdom of heaven, to pronounce loosed or blessed and to condemn — and indeed in such a way that whatever they would do on earth in this regard should be valid and certain also in heaven, as though our dear Lord Christ himself were acting. It goes without saying here that the apostles, and those who bear their office, were not thereby made into gods by these words, nor did they thus receive the power to forgive sins as though they were lords over heaven and hell, over salvation and damnation; no — as Lord, God alone forgives and retains sin, for it is he who is offended by every sin. In that it is said that Christ first gave the apostles the keys of the kingdom of heaven, it is precisely thereby indicated that the apostles were to absolve and place under the ban only as those commissioned, as servants of Christ, as stewards and administrators of goods belonging to another and only entrusted to them — not in their own name, but in Christ's name; not according to their own will, but according to the precise instruction otherwise given to them. But just as a pardon which a criminal condemned by the king receives from the lowest state official, in the name and by the commission of the king, is just as valid as one the king pronounces with his own mouth, so too, by that commission of Christ, the absolution of the apostles, when given according to Christ's instruction, was just as valid as if Christ himself had spoken it in person.

Christ says plainly to Peter: "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven," etc.; he says plainly to all the apostles: "Whosesoever sins ye remit, they," etc. Now whoever wishes to be a Christian must be ready to suffer a thousand deaths rather than depart from these words of the living God. Or should he be called a Christian who, when a word of God yields a sense contrary to his natural thinking, twists and turns this word like a waxen nose and quibbles over it until Yes becomes No, and Black becomes White? Does not God say: "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word"? (Isa. 66:2; cf. Ps. 119:161.) And how did Christ himself deal with Scripture? When he, the eternal, personal Word, was tempted by Satan, he himself used no other weapon than the written Word, and repelled every fresh attack by saying: "It is written."
60
And when the Jews accused Christ of blasphemy because he had made himself God, what did Christ do? Even then he appealed to the very letter of Scripture, from which one may not depart, and said: "The Scripture cannot be broken!" (John 10:35.) What! The most highly praised Son of God fought with the sword of the written Word and declared himself bound by the expressions of the prophets, so that he could not yield and could, so to speak, move neither backward nor forward — and shall we wretched human beings refuse to let ourselves be taken captive by the words of Scripture? Shall we despise such divine boundaries, refuse to stand still at them, and instead boldly leap over them? Shall we call ourselves Christians and yet not conform our thinking to the words of Scripture, but rather bend the words of Scripture to our own thinking? God forbid! No — even if the Methodists possessed a thousand times more glorious a semblance of holiness than they spread about themselves; even if they stood in the world like angels of light (2 Cor. 11:13–15); yes, even if all the prophets and apostles rose from their graves and all the angels came down from heaven (Gal. 1:8) and declared that no human apostle has the power to forgive and retain sins in Christ's name — even then an upright Christian should answer them, with Christ: "It is written: Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained — and the Scripture cannot be broken!!" I stand by this; let others rely on their own heart and reason — I rely on the word of my God, and with it I intend one day to appear confidently before his judgment seat. "For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar" — the Methodists included. Rom. 3:3–4.

Let this suffice for now. In the next number we intend, with God's help, to resolve whatever doubts may arise against the literal understanding of Christ's words, and to thoroughly refute the objections already raised.

(To be continued.)

Luther's House Postil.
To the Subscribers of This Work and to the German Lutherans.

The undersigned promised, in an announcement issued on July 3, 1845, to begin printing a German edition of the above-named work as soon as one thousand good subscribers had been gathered. It was further noted at that time that the book was to be printed in 624 royal-octavo pages, in small pica type, at $2.00 for the bound copy and $1.50 for the paperbound copy, and that subscribers and agents (because of the low price) would need to send in the amount for each copy in cash as soon as the work was nearly finished; agents were to receive one free copy for every ten copies so paid for.

The undersigned now has the pleasure of announcing that, having heard the remarks and views of the friends of this undertaking, and having obtained about six hundred subscriptions, he has resolved to have the work stereotyped and to use coarser type (pica) than originally intended, and to have it printed in double columns on super-royal paper; moreover, an excellent artist from Dresden has produced a superb portrait of Luther after Lucas Cranach, in the format of the book, which will be included with it. All these changes and additions have considerably increased the expenses, without any increase in the subscription price taking place. The undersigned thought that, if every devout-minded German Lutheran in our country would purchase a copy at the modest price noted here, he might perhaps cover his increased expenses. He is pleased to be able to announce to his German-Lutheran brethren that the stereotyping is now more than half finished and is progressing rapidly, that the work is being executed in a neat and elegant manner, on fine paper and with new type, and will certainly be completed between the 1st and 15th of April of this year.

The undersigned therefore requests kind orders from new subscribers under the above terms, and asks those agents who kindly supported him in making the undertaking known to collect the subscribed monies at once and send them without delay by mail during the month of March, so that he may be in some measure able to cover the heavy costs he has already incurred and will still incur before the work is completed.

To give some idea of the expenses, he notes that the cost of the stereotype plates, paper, printing, and binding of the first thousand copies will amount to more than $2000, so that at least three thousand copies must be sold in order to cover the costs and provide a reasonable return on the capital laid out.

At present about eight hundred subscribers have been registered. The undersigned hopes that, through God's blessing, this undertaking will be crowned with favorable success.
Heinrich Ludwig,
No. 70 and 72 Vesey Street.

New York, February 25, 1846.

Subscriptions are also accepted by Wilhelm Radde, No. 322 Broadway, New York; C. L. Rademacher, No. 49 North Fourth Street, Philadelphia; C. F. W. Walther, editor of the "Lutheraner," and Franksen and Wesselhöft, St. Louis, Mo.; and the editor of the "Lutheran Standard," Columbus, Ohio.

Notice. On February 22, M. Stephan, formerly a Bohemian-German preacher at Dresden in Saxony, died in Illinois of a tumor.

Paid:
2nd half of Vol. 1: Mr. Frahs.
1st half of Vol. 2: Messrs. P. Bürger, Altenburg, Bocker, Roßwage, Heidorn, N. Frahs.
Vol. 2 (in full): Messrs. Dr. Hunger, M. Wege ($10.00), P. Kunz, P. Schladermundt, J. Föllinger, Altenburg & Geißler.

Received $1.00 for the Seminary in Altenburg from Mr. Langner in Buffalo. Heartfelt thanks!

To the office of the "Lutheran Church Gazette." Several months ago, Messrs. Koch and Spielmann each sent a dollar here as a subscription payment for the Church Gazette; why do they not receive it?

Printed by Weber and Olshausen.