# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1844 09 29_S12
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

remains held captive in his conscience by his error, he will look down upon us with sighs, as upon a man who lacks spiritual experience of the heart. But we can truthfully assure, from our own experience, that we know that all self-generated effort is lost, and that all human striving must wither and burn up in the fire of temptation, however precious and splendid it may appear before men; but that holding fast to the Word alone, and to the grace proclaimed in it, alone rescues from despair and leads to a blessed victory. If the Methodist has a sweet feeling of grace, he indeed mocks, as has now often happened, the Lutheran's holding fast to the Word; but if he comes into severe temptation, he will find out well enough what it was he was mocking.

It is indeed certain that no one comes to faith without the terrors of repentance, and that this faith is not a dead thought of our heart, but a living confidence which the Holy Spirit alone can work; but it is truly all the same whether one trusts in outward works of penance, as the papist does, or places one's confidence in the inward labor of one's own soul, and thereby wishes to force one's own state of grace; both are a pitiable monkery, and with both one loses Christ.

We must break off here once more and ask our readers to await the promised conclusion in the next number.

Luther's Prophetic View into Our Time.

"Whoever pays diligent heed to the word of Christ and the Apostles sees clearly that before the Last Day the world will be full of scoffers and Epicureans. It will accordingly also happen, as is to be feared, that itching-ear preachers will occupy the pulpit, who preach as people like to hear (for the world wants such teachers); then the drunken will perish along with the thirsty. For it cannot come to a good end that people take the matter so foolishly and receive the dear truth so badly — indeed, blaspheme and defile it in the extreme — and not only have love and desire for lies and error, but even wish to defend and maintain them as truth. Therefore the world, because it will not have the light, will be struck with greater blindness than before under the papacy, and it will go according to the word of Christ: The last shall be worse than the first." — (Luther's second sermon at the funeral of Duke Frederick, Elector of Saxony.)

A Forced Explanation.

Mr. Koch has seen fit, in the recent numbers of his Antipfaffe, to come out against us; but since he has not even attempted, with so much as plausible arguments, to refute the principles we have set forth, but has instead occupied himself with dragging what is dear and sacred to all Christians of all confessions

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through the mud in a manner as blasphemous as it is base, we hope no reasonable person will expect any justification from our side to such attacks. Should Mr. Koch perhaps in the future actually attempt to bring forward proofs against our confession, we shall not fail to give him, for the sake of those too weak to see through sophistries and who might thereby be led astray, the necessary answer. For the present, however, since we cannot bring ourselves to fight with such weapons as Mr. Koch uses, we shall follow the counsel which the famous poet Young gave for such cases, when he writes: "One might as easily try to silence an echo by the strength of one's voice, as to silence a witty head by the power of reason. Both only begin to shout the louder because of it."

If, moreover, Mr. Koch seeks thereby to turn our fellow citizens against us by portraying us as unreasonable zealots for a conscience-burdening, strict, universal observance of Sunday, he is merely beating the air, which can have its intended effect only on those to whom the Lutheran doctrine on that point is unfamiliar. But so that Mr. Koch, in his ignorance of our actual principles, may not continue to confuse everything, we refer him, as regards our doctrine of the observance of the Sabbath, for his better instruction, to: Augsburg Confession, Article 28, and Luther's Large Catechism, First Chief Part, Third Commandment.

Should anyone, finally, imagine that the manner of attacking the Christian religion which Mr. Koch employs is something new, one that gives good reason to fear the imminent, final downfall of the Gospel, we take the liberty, in closing, to share the observations which, as far back as the year 1768, an old Lutheran librarian at Königsberg made on this subject, after he had read with great attention almost everything that has ever, at any time and in any language, been brought forward and written against Christianity by its enemies. He describes a certain class of such opponents as follows:

"The enemies of religion gather all their wit together to make divine revelation an object of ridicule and to make sport of the most solemn truths. This manner of proceeding is already old, since Minucius Felix, writing around the year 220 after the birth of Christ, already says: 'No biting mockery, no scornful laughter was spared by the heathen, to expose Christianity to contempt.' They scatter jesting quips over the abridged history of Moses and the other sacred writers, dress up the wondrous events in comical descriptions, and promise themselves more advantage from playful puns and the sallies of a false wit than from serious reflection. This peddler's trade in silly notions gives them, with many, the appearance of strong minds. Their treasury of wit consists of twisted proverbs, foolish comparisons borrowed from low and contemptible things; of lively sallies from old and newer poets and playwrights, ambiguities, and amusing allusions. This is the equipment which many make use of. The greatest buffoon is the most skillful at arousing contempt for religion, and of this many contemptible examples have so far been given, of which one could compile a great catalogue of books. By this means they have drawn the frivolous to themselves, just as showmen draw the rabble by music, monkeys, and tricks."

Here, too, we again have confirmation of that Solomonic saying: "There is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9-11.

The Last Word.

A distinguished gentleman, who happened to meet Pastor N. in company, told him that he himself, whenever he had time, also occasionally attended his sermons. But one thing about them struck him in particular: that these sermons, for so many years, always had but one main content; always, and in every one, he spoke of the sinfulness and natural misery of man and of redemption through Christ. Since the Gospels and Epistles offered such fine material for variety and such manifold themes, he often wondered quietly to himself how the pastor managed it, that in every sermon — even if only at the close — he always arrived back at this favorite subject of his, and how he managed to bring it in, even where one would hardly have expected it.

To this N. replied that he recalled once having read of a pastor who, likewise, in every sermon of the many he preached, proclaimed the way of life, the salvation offered to sinners in Christ, and warned against the way of death and hell. "For," said that pastor, "this sermon might be the last that either I preach, or that this or that person near his departure from my congregation might hear. So I do not want to miss the last opportunity to call the sinner to repentance and point him to Jesus Christ, so that none of the souls entrusted to me by God might one day accuse me before his judgment seat and say: 'I was once, I was for the last time, in your sermon, with the quiet question in my heart: What must I do to be saved? But you did not answer me this question.'" These words, N. continued, I have taken to heart, and I act accordingly. I do not, as you said, attach the foundation stone of the Christian faith to each of my sermons only in passing; rather, all my exhortations and instructions are grounded upon it. It is said of certain people who always want to be right that they must always have the last word. But I, at least, wish to do what I can to bring it about that he who alone is right — while all men are liars — may keep the last word upon the heart and ear of the dying sinner. For one need only go to a deathbed to learn what, in the end, is the final sting and the final comfort.

The distinguished gentleman fell thoughtfully silent, and was from then on seen more often, and with much greater attention, at N.'s sermons.

The "Lutheraner" may always be obtained at the residence of the distributor, Mr. Gräber (South Fifth Street, opposite the oil mill), further at Mr. Quast's (Olive Street, between Second and Third, below the theater), and at the publisher's.

Printed by Weber and Olshausen.