# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_September 1856_S278
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

278 On the Rhenish Palatinate Church Struggle.

...into Lutherans. — Lutheran congregations were found especially in the formerly knightly territory in and near the imperial city and fortress of Landau, and in those parts of the country bordering on Alsace. The union which came about in the year 1818 is an exact prototype and copy of the Baden and Nassau unions, which were made at about the same time, shortly before and after it; and the Rhenish-Bavarian union is accordingly drawn precisely after the portraits which the "Freimund" has already earlier furnished of the Nassau and Baden unions. — Promptly, as a result of this union, a new hymnal and a new catechism were made, and of the confessional writings it was said in the Rhenish Palatinate act of union: "they shall be held in due honor!" What "due honor" these were, one could not learn. For they had been quite thoroughly forgotten among the people and the entire body of the territorial clergy.

But even the Bavarian Rhenish Palatinate could not remain wholly closed to the religious life newly awakened these twenty and these last ten years. Many younger clergymen, who in part, and finally all, had studied at Erlangen, brought with them theological earnestness and love for the Lutheran confession and the Lutheran Church. The consistory at Speyer was reinforced with fresh strength in the person of the former Reformed pastor and professor Rust of Erlangen.

Now there first arose a bitter struggle of rationalism against the religious life newly awakening in the consistory and among the clergy. Every expression of the latter was combated by rationalism, which, not without some show of right, appealed to the act of union and the introduced catechism in order to ground its human claim in the land. Nevertheless rationalism lost more and more of its credit among the people as well, and among the believing clergy a great activity showed itself in the establishment of mission societies, all of which, however, paid tribute to Reformed and United Basel.

Then came the storm years 1848 and 1849, and these seemed to procure for sinking rationalism one more transient victory. Consistorial councillor Rust, whose removal had long been pressed for, was now indeed recalled altogether from the Rhenish Palatinate, and through complete separation from the supreme consistory in Munich the union, just as it once was, was to be made secure.

The storm years had quickly rushed past, and the years of quiet reflection, indeed of repentance, came. The Reformed professor Ebrard of Erlangen, formerly of Zurich, was sent to Speyer as consistorial councillor. His first endeavor was to give the united Church of the Rhenish Palatinate a certain confession, which was to set up a dam in the way of rationalism, without making the Church confessional or indeed Lutheran. Good counsel was now, to be sure, hard to come by, and so one hit upon a rather bad counsel and bargain. That was dear indeed. For the congregations,