# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1847 03 23_S79
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Der Lutheraner.

"God's Word and Luther's teaching shall not pass away, now nor ever."

Published by C. F. W. Walther.

Volume 3.

St. Louis, Mo., March 23, 1847.

No. 15.

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

(Submitted.)

"I Am a Lutheran."

I am a Lutheran, a member of the true church,
which under Christ's cross presses on, warring, toward heaven.
Many are indeed the enemies gathered on the field,
yet I remain undaunted: my captain goes before me.

Immanuel, my King, you mighty victorious hero!
Your arm has overcome death, sin, the devil, the world.
You have redeemed me at so dear a price with your blood,
taught me with your Word, and baptized me with your Spirit.

You have founded a kingdom that knows your name,
firmly grounded in faith through Word and Sacrament:
that is the holy church, built upon the rock,
which confesses you with heart and hand and mouth.

And every true Christian is a citizen of this kingdom,
who believes with all his heart in God's holy Word,
even though he may go grievously held captive by a false sect,
even though he may stand alone and solitary in the most distant land.

That is the true church which bears Luther's name,
not because she places her trust in the words of men:
freed by God, through Luther's service, from the abomination of the pope,
she is the ancient church and remains so for eternity.

As long as the sun travels across the high vault of heaven,
as long as the moon still moves through the blue field of stars,
yes! when the heavens give way, and when the world passes away,
then it is the one pillar — the church — that still stands.

She rests on the word of the prophets and the apostles;
Christ himself is the cornerstone; grace is her refuge:
upon this eternal foundation rises the house of God,
in which the Savior goes in and out with his gifts.

The stones are the Christians, governed by the Holy Spirit,
all of them holy priests, richly adorned with freedom:
Jerusalem, city of God, you bride of my Jesus!
you mother of us all, how blessed is he who beholds you!

Yes, blessed is he who holds the pure doctrine in faith;
his heart grows neither weary nor faint, even in suffering;
no! as though on eagles' wings, he soars mightily upward,
when he has opened heart and ear to the teachings of heaven.

I thank you, my Father, that you have incorporated me
into the church of your Son, which remains forever and ever.
Oh, arm me with faith, give me the sword of the Spirit,
hand me the helmet of salvation, so shall I be well armed.

Help me to confess you freely before all people,
so that they too may learn where your church is;
so will I fight faithfully, Lord Christ, for your glory,
until you call me to yourself into the eternal sanctuary.

H. Fick.

Does the Old Lutheranism Lead to Rome?
(Continued.)

We now come to the answering of the question: is it truly beyond all doubt that, according to God's Word, it is permitted to make, to have, and to use images?

It is, first of all, established that we Christians, who live under the New Covenant, are bound no longer by the civil and ceremonial law of the Jewish people with its shadows and types (Colossians 2:16-17), but only by the moral law. This, however, is nothing other than the natural law written by God into the hearts of all people, the eternal, unchangeable norm of God's will. If, therefore, we find that God himself has done something, or commanded it to be done, that cannot belong among the things forbidden by the moral law. Now God, as is well known, has often himself made images in part, in part commanded them to be made, and in part confirmed images already made. According to Exodus 25:40, God himself designed a representation of the tabernacle and showed it to Moses. According to Numbers 21:8, God further himself commanded that the image of a bronze serpent be set up, and according to Exodus 35:30ff. filled Bezalel and Oholiab with his Spirit for this very purpose, that they might be skilled in all manner of work, to work artfully in gold, silver, and bronze, and the like. According to Exodus 25:18, God further himself ordained that images of cherubim be made and set up in the Most Holy Place. Here also belong the images found in Solomon's temple — cherubim, lions, oxen, pillars, flower-work, pomegranates, and the like, 1 Kings 6-7; for that all this, even if not ordained by God, was nevertheless not displeasing to him, he testified by wonderfully filling, at the dedication of this temple adorned with all manner of images, that same temple with his glory, 1 Kings 8:11. Who, then, may declare unlawful what God himself has done and commanded to be done, or has at least confirmed? That cannot possibly be contrary to the moral law engraved into the hearts of all people; it must therefore, without any doubt, be free, or permitted, to the Christians of the New Covenant.

But we conclude further, also, in this way: what God himself has already placed into nature likewise cannot possibly be sin in itself. But what is the whole of creation other than a great stage on which countless images are set up? We look into the mirror of water, or onto some smooth surface of a stone, a mass of metal, etc., and everywhere the image of a person, and of the whole world surrounding him, presents itself. The temple of nature, which God himself has built, has altars everywhere; every mountain and hill is indeed an altar; and as often as the sun rises and sets, it adorns, with images in glowing colors, the vault of the cathedral built by God himself, in which all the children of God daily gather for worship under every sky. Indeed, does not our imagination unceasingly design images of all manner of objects in the temple of our hearts? The Reformed gentlemen must therefore, whether they wish it or not, being compelled by nature itself, tolerate images in the temple built by God himself — indeed, even in the temple of their own hearts — in thoroughly Lutheran fashion. Is it not foolish, then, to want to make it a sin for Christians, indeed even to waste a word over it, when they adorn the meeting-houses they themselves have built with images that can afford a godly remembrance? Luther writes against the heavenly prophets on this matter, among other things, as follows: "So I also know for certain that God wills that his work be heard and read, especially the suffering of Christ; but if I am to hear it and think on it, it is impossible for me not to form images of it in my heart. For, whether I will it or not, when I hear of Christ (the Crucified One), there forms in my heart the image of a man hanging on a cross, just as my own face is naturally cast back to me in the water when I look into it. Now, if it is not sin, but good, that I have an image of Christ in my heart, why should it be sin if I have it before my eyes? — seeing that the heart counts for more than the eyes, since it is the true seat and dwelling place of God!"

It is finally placed beyond all doubt that, when God forbade images, memorial stones, etc., it was not these things themselves, but only their idolatrous use, that was condemned, since we see that these same objects were in one case rejected by God and in another case confirmed by him. The calves at Bethel and Dan, which were venerated, the Lord hated; the setting up of oxen in Solomon's temple, to which no veneration was paid, he confirmed. And when once the tribes of Reuben