# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_August 1861_S236
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

236 Dr. Huschke against Pastor Diedrich.

The author says in his preface that he writes neither as director of the
Upper Church Council nor at its commission; yet it always remains of importance
that the director of the U.C.C. publicly expresses his opinion in the controversy that stirs among us
and rejects as false the view opposed to his own, and denies to those who agree with it
that they are truly Lutheran. For as director of the U.C.C. the author
can hardly act in any other spirit than that of his personal
opinion concerning church government. And it has come about through this writing
that men of the two sides — as the adherents of the two mutually
opposed opinions on church government were called at the last
general synod — publicly accuse one another of false doctrine
(not merely of erroneous opinions) and deny one another true Lutheranism.

This has happened; and whether it will be possible, now that it has happened,
to maintain church fellowship among those who accuse one another of false doctrine,
the future must teach, and that lies in God's hands. In the meantime, however, it is now unquestionably the duty of all church members capable of judgment
to gain insight into the disputed question in order to
be able to render a well-founded judgment. It is with precisely this intention that
the author too has written his book, which is intended not for the learned but
for the common people.

This writing will doubtless find a thorough reply.
In this notice I will restrict myself to giving my testimony
that the author has by no means succeeded in the proof
he had set himself to furnish, namely, that Pastor Diedrich's doctrine
of church government is a new doctrine. The proof from
Holy Scripture leaves the inquiring reader unsatisfied. I will note here only in
passing that the passage cited, Hebrews 13:17, "obey them that have the rule over you and follow them,"
was recognized in the doctrinal deliberations at last year's
general synod as wholly unusable for deriving from it the
duty of an obedience to be rendered to the church government in its ordinances, since it treats only of obedience toward the Word of God
which the public teachers of the Word preach. Likewise
those who attentively read through in the Bible the many scripture passages cited on p. 13
and weigh them without prejudice in simplicity will easily find that
they do not prove what they are supposed to prove.

But a Lutheran must above all be concerned to learn exactly
what the confessions of his church say about the controversy that is being carried on.
And I here urgently ask all readers of the book noticed to read the relevant
passages in our confessions with deliberation, and I deny
to everyone who will not or cannot do so the right to render
a judgment upon the present writing. Here I too will for once
give a command: read the confessions of your church, or give up
wanting to judge matters which, without doing this, you cannot judge—