# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_October 1855_S315
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Miscellaneous Church News. 315

...grace of God in Christ, that through him they had become rich in all manner of teaching and in all manner of knowledge — although indeed many of them had been led astray by the false apostles and did not believe that there would be a resurrection of the dead, etc. Just as we nowadays, in our own time, call the Roman churches and all their bishoprics holy, even though they too have been led astray and their ministers are godless. For our Lord God rules in the midst of his enemies, Ps. 110:2. Therefore, although the Church or Christendom is in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, as St. Paul says to the Philippians 2:15, and though it lies in the midst of wolves and murderers, that is, in the midst of spiritual enemies and tyrants, yet it is nonetheless, and remains, a holy Christendom, a congregation and Church of Christ. For indeed there still are, and remain, in the city of Rome (however much worse it is than Sodom and Gomorrah) holy Baptism, the Sacraments, the Word and text of the Gospel, holy Scripture, the office and the name of Christ and of God. Whoever has these, has them; but whoever does not have them is nonetheless not excused, for the treasure is indeed present there. Therefore the Roman Church is holy, since it has the holy name of God, the Gospel, and Baptism, etc. For where these things are present among a people, that people is rightly called a holy people; just as this our city of Wittenberg, and we who dwell in it, are also certainly and rightly holy, because we are baptized, have received the Sacrament and the teaching of the Gospel, and have been called by God; in sum, we have God's works among us, which make us holy." (See Luther's great commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians of the year 1535, on chapter 1, verse 2.) From this pronouncement of Luther's it is, we believe, clear enough to see how far certain so-called Old Lutherans nowadays depart from Luther's teaching, and how they ought rather to be called New Lutherans. These gentlemen frequently seek by this means to make our teaching — that is, the true old Lutheran doctrine of the Church — suspect, by imputing to us that we teach that the Papacy and all the sects as such are Christian churches, and that taken together they constitute the Christian catholic Church, whereas we, together with Luther, have again and again declared the Papacy to be the devil's synagogue, and call the Roman and other erring churches "churches" only by a kind of synecdoche — namely, only insofar as they still have within them the pure Word of God and true believers. God alone knows whether this misrepresentation flows from misunderstanding and blindness, or from ill will. One day it will indeed come to light, when the counsels of the hearts shall be made manifest. It is also frequently pointed out that the Church is called an assembly, so that one cannot properly speak of a Church where, though there be believers, they are not so bodily assembled around an orthodox pastor as in the visible Lutheran Church. As though those could not be assembled who are united as members of his body, namely of the spiritual body of Christ! Luther says: "Christendom is not found only under the Roman Church or the Pope