# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Juli 1858_S221
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Church and Contemporary Notes. 221

...sermons, as well as in many treatises of the later books of True
Christianity, finds a good many things which, as they are stated, do
not agree with the confession of our church and thus with the pure
word of God: then we, as Lutheran teachers, are obligated to say so
wherever we have but a calling to do it, and by this we shall not
diminish the blessing that Arndt still bestows on the church today,
but only increase it. Arndt's writings, which are indeed full of
spirit and true devotion, nevertheless lack sharp precision in the
exposition of doctrine — not because Arndt was a false teacher, but
because this otherwise so richly gifted man of God was, precisely in
this respect, not granted the theological acuity of a Chemnitz or a
Johann Gerhard, and therefore was not always able to distinguish, with
hairsplitting exactness, between the genuine and the spurious among
the ideas current in his time, as would have to be required of a
theologian who is to be held up as a model in doctrine. In short,
Arndt's writings contain, alongside an abundance of pure gold, also
dross. We, however, wish to found our faith on the pure gold, that is,
on the pure doctrine of the word of God, and if the Kirchenbote
therefore declares to us: "The Missourians seem to have a different
spirit than we do" — then it is his own affair, if he wishes to build
his faith on the dross. We hold, then, to this: that in regard to the
pattern of doctrine, our watchword is and will be: Not Arndt, but
Luther!

Church and Contemporary Notes.

I. America.

The Missionary Institute, according to a definitive resolution passed
by the Board of Managers, is to be located at Selin's Grove, Snyder
Co., Pa. The Synod of Pennsylvania, assembled at Easton, Pa., on May 31
of this year and the following days, passed, among other things,
resolutions in honoring memory not only of the pastors J. N. Hoffmann
of Reading and Dr. P. E. Mayer of Philadelphia, who died in the past
synodical year, but also of our unforgettable A. Biewend. The proposal
to place the English language on an equal footing with the German was
adopted unanimously, almost without discussion. For hitherto the
language of the synod had been German. The synodical proceedings, the
minutes, etc., had to be conducted in the German language according to
the constitution. And although for some years members had received
the privilege of speaking English, this happened only by virtue of a
certain tolerance and courtesy. Every member who is not conversant
with the German language can now demand, as a constitutional right,
that an English translation of all resolutions, minutes, etc., be
prepared. The proposal to strike out everything found in the
ministerial order concerning licensed candidates, so that henceforth
the ministry should consist solely of ordained clergy and all worthy
applicants should be admitted to ordination, was carried, after
lengthy discussion, by 44 yeas against 22 nays. The proposal to
disapprove of the practice of pastors instructing young men who intend
to enter the ministry