# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Juli 1860_S199
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

The Struggle within the Prussian Lutheran Church. 199

tension and the open outbreak of the struggle: "There existed among us differing conceptions of the church, and that has probably been so since 1834. But this was little discussed. Many also thought it would be natural, and would go without saying, that we should all agree completely, and that any differences should rather be papered over or passed over in silence than that one should admit them, bring them to light, and deal with them in the light. A certain worldly party-spirit wanted to take hold of us in this, which does not befit the party of pure truth. We may have no secrets, either from one another or from the world outside; we may give ourselves no other appearance before others than what is really the case with us, so that no one thinks more highly of us than what he sees in us or hears of us. We must not paper over emerging differences in doctrine, but discuss them most diligently in love and settle them through God's Word. This we owe to Christ, the eternal truth, who went into a bitter death for us; and what we owe Him, we also owe to the souls among us and around us. There are differences among us, and indeed not insignificant, superficial ones, but ones touching every soul, which each has the sacred duty to concern himself with according to his capacity, for each will have to give account for his own soul and cannot burden this account upon other people. Our difference from the Union people, however, consists in this: that we do not simply calm ourselves coolly regarding the differences at hand, but take them up and deal with them again and again according to the firm, clear Word of God, which gives a sure answer to all spiritual questions, once one really asks. We would be acting after the manner of the Union people if we simply denied or covered up the differences. No — honesty lasts longest. Truth has the victory, even when it is crucified; after three days it will rise again, of this we are in glad confidence. — If we view the state of our affairs with outward eyes, it seems utterly confused, for there are not simply two sides present; rather, those who seem to go together on one question fall apart again on another. But such is always the life of this world, and therefore one need not yet despair, so long as one does not close oneself off from the word of Christ, from the spirit of truth and love. In our opinion there are, after all, only two main currents present, although they break into many waves. The one side maintains — and on their side we stand — that Christ's church, as the kingdom of grace and truth, is so inward, spiritual, and heavenly a thing that, just as it came into being here solely through the Holy Spirit and not through human authorities, institutions, and the like, so too it can only be maintained, again and again, through the Holy Spirit in Word and Sacrament . . . Against this we believe we perceive in our opponents, from their own words, a striving after more, and therefore after something other than the pure word of grace, although this expresses itself very variously." "Some