# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1911 06 27_S211
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

211

On the other hand, many well-to-do people are too lazy to take the trouble themselves, but believe they are doing a great deal when they hand over part of their surplus indiscriminately, and often not even very willingly, to some society or institution or other. That is entirely wrong. . . . Everyone should use his income according to God's will, or, if he does not understand that well enough, should seek out people he trusts to do it in his place. Then, if all the wealthy wanted to do this more or less, far more would be accomplished than before, and they themselves would be happier in the process than they are."

Can you also give thanks in affliction?

In our hymnal stands the beautiful hymn of praise and thanksgiving: "Oh that I had a thousand tongues!" It is a pearl among hymns and a jubilant song of praise. Every heartbeat and every blade of grass in the field is summoned to give God the glory. You would therefore suppose that the man who composed it must have been an exceedingly happy man, and that it must certainly have been a wholly uplifting, joyful moment of his life in which he wrote it down. But no! In one hymnal edition we find beneath this hymn the brief but telling note: "Composed in the year 1704, when the author's house had burned to the ground." Out of smoking ruins such praise and thanksgiving arose. If God takes something from us in one place, he gives us rich compensation in another. And whatever he takes from a Christian, he nevertheless heals him of the leprosy of sin and says to him again and again in absolution: "Stand up, go your way, your faith has made you well!"

God's Word.

It is with the dear Word of God as with a shining gold coin. As long as it lies in the chest, it certainly has its value. But only when it comes out and is exchanged with the merchant for all sorts of useful goods does one discover how great it is. Only when the beautiful sayings and hymns take shape and reality in living people can one rightly recognize their meaning and truth; for they are spoken only for life. In time of need the gold comes out of the chest, and in affliction God's Word turns into nourishing bread.

New publications.

All books, music, pictures, etc. announced in this place can be obtained through the Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo., at the prices listed. Where another source is given, please note whether it should be ordered, in case it is not in stock.

Life-pictures from the history of the Christian church. Selected and prepared for Lutheran readers of North America by E. A. Wilh. Krauss, Professor at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Mo. Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. 1911. 800 pages, 7x10, bound in cloth with red edges, gilt title, and cover and spine decoration. Price: $2.50.

We can introduce this excellent book no better than by letting the honored author himself speak first. Professor Krauss says in the preface, concerning the plan and execution of his work, among other things: "In publishing this 'Life-pictures from the history of the Christian church' I was not concerned with completeness, nor with giving equally thorough treatment to the various periods of church history. My chief intention was to place in the hands of Lutheran readers, especially of our own country, a book in which the most important events of church history are conveyed to them in such a way that they can form a correct judgment about them. A Christian should learn to apply the standard of God's Word to all events; he should judge not by success but by Scripture. This book does not intend, on the basis of new research, to illuminate historically obscure areas; but wherever Roman and otherwise biased historiography denies, distorts, veils important facts, or seeks to mislead judgment, it seeks to enable the reader to recognize the deception. For this reason I have often let the sources speak for themselves. This was also often done because their vivid language and depiction produce a more vivid picture in the reader than my own words could have done. Whenever I found some reliable witness had described and judged an event so aptly that I could not have said it better, I let him speak and appealed to him. A reader familiar with church-historical literature will nevertheless notice that there prevails no uncritical adoption either of source material or of others' presentation. — The history of the Christian church from Pentecost until now, and henceforth to the end of the age, is nothing other than the triumphal march of the Lord Jesus and his kingdom in the midst of his enemies. Among these enemies of Christ, however, the most dangerous is the Antichrist at Rome, the most dangerous precisely because he has set himself up 'in the temple of God as God, and claims that he is God,' 2 Thess. 2. I have regarded it as part of my task to put my finger, wherever the proof of this truth comes to light, on that spot, and the awareness of this task has also guided me in selecting the material to be included in these 'life-pictures.' Who must hold, and does hold, the victory and the field in the struggle between Christ and the Antichrist, we know. Therefore, among us Lutherans too, as with the psalmist (Ps. 119:52), our view of history issues in the praise-filled confession: 'LORD, when I remember how you have judged from of old, I am comforted.'" — The whole work is divided into 42 larger sections, and everywhere it keeps what it promises. It is a vivid, lively presentation of the leading figures and events of church history, written in generally understandable language from a confessionally faithful Lutheran standpoint. It is a book from which our congregation members in particular ought to draw instruction and enjoyment, and we know of no historical work we would rather see in their hands. Among other things it tells them of the apostolic age and of the first persecutions of Christians, of the worship life of the ancient church and of Anthony the hermit, the forerunner of monasticism, of Winfrid Boniface and of the monastic system of the Roman church. It depicts the Crusades and the popes of the Middle Ages, above all the blessed work of Dr. Luther's reformation of the church, but also the activity of Zwingli and Calvin. It reports on the Jesuit order, the Thirty Years' War, on Protestantism in England and France, on the evangelical hymn, on the Salzburg Protestants, etc. At the close of the whole work are found three life-pictures from the Lutheran church of America: Muhlenberg, Wyneken, and Walther. An excellent, rich content! And finally we must praise one more thing: the many beautiful illustrations — 148 pictures in the text, 43 large full-page plates, and among these 5 color-printed plates, for example a leaf from the first printed Bible, a copy of which recently sold for $50,000, a leaf from a New Testament of the year 1523, and one from Luther's catechism of the year 1529. In sum: take it and read it!

L. F.

Second synodical report of the South Illinois District of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States. St. Louis, Mo. Concordia Publishing House. 1910. 72 pages. Price: 15 cents.

Forty-third synodical report of the Western District of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States. St. Louis, Mo. Concordia Publishing House. 1910. 52 pages. Price: 10 cents.

It is the story of Samuel, the "reformer of the people of the Old Covenant," which the reporter, Pastor J. Andrea, has set before the South Illinois District up to the point where the story of Saul begins. Samuel's parental home, his training under Eli, his call, his faithfulness in office as prophet, priest, and judge, are vividly brought before our souls. — In the synodical report of the Western District we find, on pages 11-31, how Pastor M. Kretzschmar sets forth the task of the church to care for confirmed youth in every way and as vigorously as possible. — Both reports also give, besides this, an overview of the work of inner Lutheran missions in the respective districts.

K.

Homiletical encyclopedia together with Index Rerum, by E. Eckhardt, Blair, Nebr. Volume 4: H-L. Price in paper covers: $1.95 and 23 cents postage; bound in cloth with gilt title: $2.35 and 21 cents postage.

The compiler of this valuable reference work is tireless, and he has now completed more than half of his labor. In two years