# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1848 01 25_S82
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

this: that the person, after preceding repentance, feels an overflowing joy; which joy, again, is indeed bound up with the assurance, but is by no means the assurance itself. Their joy, however, often expresses itself through such loud crying out, such wild leaping up and clapping of hands, that in many cases it is very much the question whether it is a working of the Spirit, or whether it is produced by a fire of quite another kind. What is frequently the true state of affairs with Methodist conversions will become clearer through the following story.

I conversed with a class leader about a certain family in which so bad a relationship exists between parents and children that the latter, one after another — and recently also the youngest daughter — have separated themselves from their parents in discord. He told me that this daughter had, some time before, been at a Methodist meeting, had begun to weep over her sins, had come entirely into repentance (all in one evening), and finally, after they had prayed with her for a long time at the mourners' bench, had arrived at a full breakthrough. But very shortly afterward, he continued, it was all gone again; she married with her parents' consent, but then secretly left her parents' house together with her husband, whom the parents had taken into their home as their son. I have nothing further to add to this story except the question: was what happened with this girl on that evening indeed conversion? — No less is the Methodist doctrine of perfection a departure from evangelical truth. For they maintain that many of them have attained to the state of perfect love (1 John 4:18) and commit no more sin; further, that this state is essentially different from that of the merely justified, in that the grace of sanctification has come upon those persons so powerfully (again, often at some exciting meeting, amid shouts of rejoicing, etc., etc.) that they have obtained something which they did not possess before. According to the Word of God, however, the grace of sanctification is always granted at the same time as the grace of justification, and is likewise, together with it, either bestowed ever more abundantly, or, when unfaithfulness occurs, again withdrawn. — The setting up of self-made forms of worship, and of statutes above God's commandments, has likewise already begun among the Methodists. Let anyone simply read their Book of Discipline, which is found in every Methodist household and which not only the preachers but all Methodists are earnestly enjoined to read through repeatedly and impress upon themselves — let him read it with the thought that he ought to bind himself to comply with it in every particular, and then let him ask himself whether, in willing to do this, he would not be setting the Word of God behind the man-made statutes of the Book of Discipline. Indeed, matters have already reached the point among the Methodists that quite simple and clear precepts of the Word of God are directly transgressed by their church arrangements. Thus, at their love-feasts, before the whole congregation — sometimes consisting of several hundred members — they call upon everyone to bear testimony to what the Lord has done for their soul. Thereupon there are found, alongside the men, not a few women and girls also, who overcome the reluctance of feminine feeling, speak publicly of the experiences they have had, and even, at the close, address an exhortation to "the brothers and sisters." And yet the apostle Paul says so clearly and unambiguously: "Let your women keep silence in the churches; for it is not permitted unto them to speak, but to be under obedience." Still more. When it is examined among the Methodists whether this or that person is in a good state, the first questions are: does he attend our meetings regularly, does he confess and pray in them with proper zeal, etc., etc.? Whether he does right and practices love — those questions come afterward. In Germany one hears, as everywhere, not infrequently reproach and mockery directed at the living members of Christ. But alongside this one also hears it acknowledged, even by their declared enemies, that among them an uprightness and honesty, a doing of good and a helpfulness, a domestic discipline and order are to be found which one does not find among other people. Almost never have I heard here that recognition of this kind was granted to the Methodists. A lack of honesty and of benevolence toward one's fellow man, on the other hand, is often laid to their charge, and part of the blame for this is placed on their preachers, because they press so little upon this point.

"In the year 1843 the Episcopal Methodist Church numbered 1,068,525 communicants, with 4,268 traveling preachers and 7,730 settled preachers. Besides it there are in the United States six other church parties of Methodist tendency, one of them German and four American. The latter have all separated from the Episcopal Methodist Church on account of its hierarchical constitution, have introduced equality of preachers and lay representation, but have otherwise retained the Methodist character. The most numerous among them are the "Protestant Methodists," who were formed in 1830 and by the end of 1843 numbered about 60,000 communicants with 1,300 preachers. The "true Wesleyan Methodists" (True Wesleyan Methodists) were formed only in May 1843, and at the close of that same year already numbered 20,000 communicants with 600 preachers. They differ from the Protestant Methodists in that they reject slavery. For although in the General Rules of the Methodists "the buying and selling of men, women, and children, with the intention of making them slaves," is expressly forbidden, there are nevertheless Methodists in large numbers, and even Methodist bishops, who hold slaves. The true Wesleyan Methodists also seem to have found that the prohibition contained in the General Rules (which derive from Wesley) against "the drinking of spirituous liquors, unless in cases of necessity," is not being observed strictly enough. They have therefore founded a new church communion, "free from episcopacy, intemperance, and slavery" (a telling combination!). The separation of the Episcopal Methodist Church into a northern branch, which declares itself against slavery, and a southern branch, which does not, is said to have been occasioned largely by the rise of the true Wesleyans, and to have taken place for the purpose of setting a limit to their further spread. For they spread only in the northern states, and the Methodists living there could thenceforth say to them: why do you wish to separate yourselves from us? we too are free from the guilt of slavery, since we no longer stand in one church communion with any slaveholders. That separation of the Episcopal Methodist Church was, incidentally, carried out fairly peacefully, and will probably last only for a time. — The "Methodist Society" and the "Reformed Methodists" have both existed for some time already and are not numerous. The latter insist especially on a pure, earnest walk before God. They also maintain that this walk must, even now, produce the same effects not only in spiritual but also in temporal matters as in the time of the apostles. They affirm that they have experienced this in the healing of many sick persons through the prayer of faith alone, and declare "that they would rather (in the judgment of others) be fanatics in faith and love than heartless worshipers of a God who is as motionless as the rocks and as merciless as the waves of the sea — a God who has bound himself by the laws of nature." — The two German Methodist church parties are the "Evangelical Association," commonly called the Albright people, and the "United Brethren in Christ." The former was founded in 1803 by the Lutheran preacher Albright, who, having been awakened within the Episcopal Methodist Church, wished gladly to remain within it and to bring into it the Germans who attached themselves to him; but the leaders of that church at the time were unwilling to agree to this. The Albright people have the same confession of faith and the same Book of Discipline (with the exception of a few, not very important points) as the Episcopal Methodist Church. They appear to be free of that church's inclination toward Roman superstition and toward the pride of holding itself alone to be the church that brings salvation. On the other hand, they are charged — not without reason — with conducting themselves at their meetings even more wildly and loudly than the English Methodists. In 1843 they numbered about 15,000 communicants, with 100 traveling preachers and 100 to 200 settled preachers. The United Brethren in Christ (United Brethren in Christ) are on very friendly terms with the Albright people, so that the two sometimes hold joint camp meetings. They carry on the work of conversion in a Methodist