# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1847 12 08_S67
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

open battle, and prefers to shoot secretly from ambush.

it was commanded that they alone submit their confession of faith on June 24. They asked for some delay for the better composition of the Confession, but could obtain nothing. The next day they came together again at the Elector of Saxony's, where the Confession was read out once more, approved by all, and signed. The signatures are the same ones that are still printed today with every copy of the unaltered Augsburg Confession, namely: John, Elector of Saxony; George, Margrave of Brandenburg; Ernst, Duke of Lüneburg; Philip, Landgrave of Hesse; Wolfgang, Prince of Anhalt; the city of Nuremberg; and the city of Reutlingen. During the Diet, four more cities signed, namely: Kempten, Heilbronn, Windsheim, and Weissenburg. On this occasion several remarks were made which show forth the fidelity to the faith of these noble confessors. For when the theologians offered to the elector to conduct the matter before the emperor alone, should he have misgivings about standing on their side, he answered: "God forbid that you should exclude me; I too will confess Christ. They should do, to God's honor, what was right, and have regard neither for him nor for his land and people." Prince Wolfgang of Anhalt said at the signing: "I have taken many a fine ride to please others; why then should I not, if it be necessary, saddle my horse also to the honor and obedience of my Redeemer, and, at the risk of my body and life, hasten to the eternal crown of glory in the heavenly life?"

On June 24 the Protestants appeared with this Confession before the imperial assembly at the town hall, and now hoped that it would be read aloud. But the emperor first heard the papal legate Campeggio, and afterward the Austrian envoys concerning the Turkish war; when thereupon the protesting princes came forward with their confession of faith, the emperor refused to have it read, because it was already too late in the evening, and demanded a copy of the Confession. They objected that, since they were most grievously accused and defamed on account of their faith, they wished, for God's sake, to be heard publicly before the whole empire. But the emperor was unwilling, and insisted on the immediate handing over of the Confession. Then the chancellor Brück spoke in the name of his fellow believers, and represented to the emperor that in far lesser and less important matters he had never yet refused his gracious hearing — and would he now refuse it in so weighty a matter, which concerned the salvation of his subjects' souls? By this representation the emperor was at last moved to permit the Protestants to read their confession aloud on the following day, but wished nevertheless to take the copy of it at once. This was declined, with the excuse that it was not written cleanly and legibly enough.
(To be continued.)

(Submitted.)
The Norwegian Lutherans in Chicago.

The dear readers of Der Lutheraner will surely be very pleased to learn that in Chicago, alongside the German Lutheran congregation, the Norwegian Lutherans have formed themselves into a congregation and have called as their pastor, to proclaim to them the Gospel in their mother tongue, the Danish, a man named Johann Gustav Schmidt, to be their pastor. Hereby a long and painfully felt need has, by God's grace, been met, since the number of Norwegians here is estimated at about 500, of whom many, for lack of a pastor of their own, have gone over to the Presbyterians, and others have thrown themselves entirely into the arms of the world. God, the faithful Savior, has thus far given His blessing abundantly, so that the little flock of at least 120 members who have so far joined the congregation courageously confess the Lord and His Word, despite all the raging of Satan! For the Presbyterians, hoping in this crafty way to draw many more of the Norwegians to themselves, had sent a young Norwegian to one of their theological seminaries, who, upon the (now soon approaching) completion of his studies, was to preach here to his countrymen. Now, however, their plan has been thwarted; they would therefore all too gladly, through slander of the person of Pastor Schmidt and through newspaper articles against the decidedly Lutheran constitution of the congregation, hinder the work of the Lord. But the Lord has thus far graciously brought their evil counsels to shame. At present the Norwegian brethren still hold their worship services in the German church, but hope to be able to move into their own house of God by the holy Christmas feast, for which the pastor of the congregation, together with the undersigned, laid the cornerstone on November 29 of this year in the name of the Holy Trinity, on which occasion Christ, as the true cornerstone, was preached to the congregation in Danish and English. The church is to be built spaciously of frame construction and adorned with a tower. Let us pray that here too the Word of the Lord may not return empty, but accomplish that for which He sent it, and prosper in that which is pleasing to Him.

August Selle,
German Lutheran Pastor in Chicago.

(Submitted.)
Methodism.

Besides his usual business of twisting the Word of God, the Apologist has for some time now been practicing another art as well, namely falsifying the history of the Christian church. One man in particular is the target on whose name and work he pours out the full measure of his hatred — Luther, the man of God, the faithful witness of the Lord, this precious instrument through which God overthrew the papacy and restored Christian doctrine to its original purity. It was Luther who translated Holy Scripture into our dear German mother tongue, who in many lovely hymns sang so powerfully and so movingly to his people of the free grace of God in Christ, and who raised the German language to a grace it had not known before — merits for which his grateful fatherland called him "Germany's best son." It was Luther through whom God accomplished the Reformation of His church, wherefore to him alone belongs the name "Reformer," and thereby he ushered in a new and glorious age in the kingdom of God; whatever pure doctrine all the Protestant peoples possess, they have received through him, by God's grace, wherefore he stands in high esteem among them all. It is Luther whom the Methodists among the Germans of America seek, through falsification of history, to bring into contempt. Their plan is this: "It is good fishing in troubled waters; the greater the ignorance, the better for Methodism. The Germans of America are for the most part not accurately acquainted with the history of the Reformation, yet they still have great reverence for Luther. Let us now cast suspicion on Luther's character, defame his work — in short, leave nothing good about him. The Germans will not notice our cunning; they will become ashamed of Luther and his doctrine; we will then make them all Methodists, and — whatever we dream up, they will then have to believe." The plan is cunning; only one thing is forgotten in it, namely that our dear Lord God still lives, still Himself governs the world, and has from of old been an enemy, beyond measure, of all lies. To Him be eternal praise and thanks that He has given us His dear, precious Word and has revealed the truth; this we will not let the Methodists rob from us, nor will we suffer them to seek so venomously to rob Luther and many other pious Christians of their honor. Even the most degenerate son of a pious father is still wont to have a certain reluctance to strike him in his noble face with his own hand; he prefers to hire someone else to do it in his place. A similar reluctance seems to have moved the Apologist as well, not to revile Luther and the Reformation himself. He looks about instead for a kindred-spirited accomplice, and finds him in — d'Aubigné. This man, a French Reformed [theologian], has written a book in which he seeks to demonstrate that Zwingli was actually the chief hero of the Reformation. Frivolous and superficial, yet possessed of a brilliant gift for narration, he knows how to distribute light and shadow so artfully that Luther recedes into the deepest background — indeed, appears altogether contemptible. This is the ally whom Mr. Nast has taken into his