# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1846 09 05_S1
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Der Lutheraner.

"God's Word and Luther's teaching shall pass away neither now nor ever."

Edited by C. F. W. Walther.

Volume 3.

St. Louis, Mo., September 5, 1846.

No. 1.

Terms: The Lutheraner appears once every two weeks, at a subscription price of one dollar for out-of-town subscribers, who must pay half of this in advance and must also bear the postage. — In St. Louis each single issue is sold for 5 cents.

Preface of the Editor to the Third Volume of the "Lutheraner."

With the present issue we begin the third volume of our paper. We do so with a joyfulness that, we confess, we did not have at the beginning of the first two volumes. Not that our confidence in our own powers has grown! What makes us so joyful is rather this, that we now quite plainly see the Lord himself furthering the cause which this our little paper would gladly serve, in its own small part.

For it is beyond doubt to us that God has set about clearing away the rubble under which our precious Evangelical Lutheran Church, here in America too, has already lain buried for some time. For how did things stand here only a few years ago, and how do they stand now? Very few of those who called themselves Lutheran knew the true Lutheran doctrine, and still fewer confessed and defended it. The Book of Concord, which contains the public confessions of faith of our church, was scarcely known even by name, let alone by content, to most Lutherans here. Of Luther's writings, very few had anything at all in their hands. Most of the preachers who still called themselves Lutheran had adopted the Zwinglian-Reformed false doctrines (for example, concerning the Holy Supper, Holy Baptism, absolution, original sin, etc.), and — at least many of them — the Methodist practice as well, the so-called "new measures." Most of our congregations were therefore held together not by the one Lutheran faith, but were mixed communities, that is, composed of Lutherans and Reformed together. In these, agendas (church-service books) and hymnbooks had accordingly in part been introduced in which an attempt had been made to satisfy the unbelieving and the false-believing just as much as the believing. In short, although the Lutheran Church in America had not fallen back into so gross an unbelief, so manifest a heathenism, as it had almost everywhere in Germany, it had nevertheless fallen away: it had faithlessly abandoned the banner of its fathers' confession, had thrown away the treasure of pure doctrine entrusted to it, had defiled itself through spiritual whoredom with every sect, and had kept almost nothing but — the name. Despite this appalling condition, most Lutherans in America still held to the opinion that everything here stood quite well; that the preachers, after all, were no rationalists; that many prayer meetings were held; that revivals were produced here and there, and the like. They spoke, therefore, with Laodicea: "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." Revelation 3:14–19. And despite the most varied diversity in doctrine and faith that prevailed among the so-called Lutherans, there reigned among them a peace as undisturbed (1 Thessalonians 5:3; compare Ezekiel 13) as among the dead of a churchyard. Each let the other go his own way; each might hold whatever views he wished — whoever only joined in the general tone was a dear brother.

That was, in general, the condition of the Lutheran Church here only a few years ago. Whoever finds this description exaggerated should read the letter which the so-called General Synod of the American Lutheran Church recently sent to Germany in the name of 320 Lutheran preachers and 726 Lutheran congregations; he will then find how shamelessly the falling-away here described is admitted in it, and even praised as progress.*

* Compare with this also the admission made in the "Lutheran Standard." (See the Lutheraner, Volume II, No. 14.) Further, the books: "Why Are You a Lutheran," by B. Kurtz, and the "Portraiture of Lutheranism" by S. Schmucker; and finally the "Lutherische Hirtenstimme," which under this name rails on ceaselessly and venomously against true Lutheran doctrine, and yet — a proof of the great decay of the American Lutheran Church — passes for the organ of a large part of it.

Yet what has happened? For some years now, more and more voices have again been raised for the abandoned truth and against the adopted error. It was first Professor Schmidt who, in his "Kirchenzeitung," raised his voice against the falling-away that had occurred, and pointed to the symbols of our church and to the most important controversial writings of Luther against the Reformed, from which he gave excerpts. Others soon followed him, who used the aforementioned Kirchenzeitung to testify in it against the corruption that had broken in, and to call for purification. The "Lutheraner" joined them two years ago, and likewise made it its task to expose the aberrations that had occurred in doctrine and practice, and to point to the necessity of a sincere return to the Reformation. Pastor Wyneken was driven, by the distress of the German Lutherans in America, to travel to Germany, to set forth there, both by word of mouth and in writing, the condition of our church here, and to issue a call for help to our brethren in the faith there. And behold! all this has not been in vain. The former lethargic (sleeping) condition has ceased; a wholesome movement has arisen. Many upright souls who had long secretly grieved in silence over the corruption that had become evident to them, but who had already despaired of any more general improvement, now take courage and come forward. Others, who until now had considered the condition desirable, now have their eyes opened to it with alarm, and joyfully place themselves on the side of those who desire a reformation. Others, overcome by the testimony of the truth, begin to be ashamed of their former position; though they still regard the witnesses who have come forward with suspicion, they are quietly beginning to put away the falsehood that has been censured. Others still stand undecided at the crossroads, but are already at odds with themselves and have been roused out of their former complacency. In general, moreover, interest in matters of doctrine, which until now had been almost entirely deadened, has again become active. Luther's writings are again being sought out from the dust, again reprinted, and placed in the hands of the people.† The confessional writings of our church are coming again into the light of day out of the night that concealed them; people are more and more ceasing to be ashamed of them; they are read again, the readers of our periodicals are again made acquainted with them, they are in part reprinted, and appeal is again made to them.‡ The carnal peace in which one [continued on Seite 2]

† That this year the House Postil of Mr. Ludwig in New York has been published, excellently produced, will be known to every reader. It is very gratifying, among other things, that the English Lutheran Tennessee Synod has reprinted Luther's important letter "On Rebaptism" and appended it to its last annual report.

‡ This is happening in the "Lutheran Standard." According to its reports, the Synod of Ohio is to unite with that of Tennessee for the publication of the entire Book of Concord in the English language.