# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_November 1857_S322
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

322   On the Use of Church History for Preaching.

...Confession and of the life of Dr. Luther, etc., the subject of sermons. To the sermons preached by Dr. Löscher at Dresden in the year 1717 we owe the most complete collection of materials for the history of the Reformation from 1517 to 1519, which appeared under the name Acta reformationis in 3 volumes and was originally planned for 29 quarto volumes.

This threefold model, which we find in the Bible as well as in the practice of the ancient Christian and of the Lutheran church, teaches us that church history can be used for preaching in two ways: first, in special sermons through the narration of individual portions of the history, and secondly, through the occasional mention of individual examples, especially from the life and sayings of the fathers and quite particularly of Dr. Luther, as also from the history of the martyrs, etc. For the latter way one finds sufficient examples in Dr. Luther's sermons, and with regard to the teaching of the catechism in Caspari's Geistliches und Weltliches. For the former way, and especially as to how church history, and in particular the Lutheran, is to be distributed over the several seasons of the church year, I will give here a short survey of the practice I have followed in this for 13 years.

1. On the Sunday after the Circumcision of Christ, Gospel Matthew 2:13–23: on the occasion of the murder of the children at Bethlehem, the Christian martyrs are to be treated, especially those among the children, whose history Collin has described in a special book. One might also draw in here the pericopes for the day of Stephen, as belonging to the Christmas text and yet not suiting the festival itself. The little book of Benckendorf on the 10 chief persecutions offers rich material. One might also preach on it at the next weekday service.

2. On the day of Epiphany. On this day, to be sure, according to the model of the ancient Christian church and according to Dr. Luther's counsel, the preaching ought chiefly to be on the baptism of Christ, as a still far more glorious revelation than the one that took place to the Wise Men and through them; but if, as usually happens, the latter is preached on, then one must wonder that this festival is often celebrated, with an unwarranted setting aside of the exposition of the text, only as a mission festival and as an awakening to mission activity, and not as a festival of thanksgiving for the conversion of our German forefathers, for which manifold hints are to be found in Dr. Luther's postils. One might perhaps give a survey of this in the festival sermon and develop it further in a weekday sermon.

3. Dr. Luther's day of death — see later under 10, Dr. Luther's birthday.

4. On the Sunday Invocavit, Gospel Matthew 4:1–11. A survey of the whole church history of the New Testament down to the revealing of the papacy, after the model of the 2 sermons preached by Dr. Luther at Schmalkalden. One may preach on this in a part of the Sunday sermon, or more fully on a weekday.

5. On the Sunday Exaudi, John 15 and 16. Here the contin-