# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Mai 1863_S160
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

160 Church and Contemporary History.

and in fellowship of love. If We are not mistaken, it now depends on rightly taking to heart everywhere that the praiseworthy fear of denying the evangelical truth, as the Lutheran church confesses it, must never be allowed to lead into "wrangling over trifles," in which, imperceptibly, zeal for one's own honor takes the place of zeal for the divine truth; that far more, above all else, heed must be paid to "amendment toward God in faith"; that the weak in faith wish to be borne and spared with patience, so that the smoking flax may not be wholly quenched; and that the apostolic exhortation, to be "gentle, not contentious," applies to the clergy before all others. Whether and how far it is necessary or advisable, within the district of each individual consistory, to lay this or similar things to heart for the clergy by a general decree or by particular directives on special occasion, We leave to the judgment of the royal consistories, who are better acquainted with local conditions than We are. That, on the other hand, the conduct of individual clergy — whereby, out of weakness or vanity, they have stirred up and furthered unwarranted claims and reproaches of the congregations, yielding to or courting the opinion of the day — deserves earnest censure, We regard as self-evident." To this the Freimund makes the following fitting remark: "So much for the Ministry of Culture. It first metes out blame to both parties in the church controversy, and then states what conduct it demands of both sides. As for the blame, it is faint, very faint toward the foes; they are handled gently; strong and earnest and ever recurring is the rebuke of the zealous pastors. Whether, in such a moment, rebuke or the strengthening of the faithful men was needed, everyone may judge for himself. But — put not your trust in princes and the mighty. As for the other point: the conduct demanded amounts to this: keep peace and quiet at any price. On both sides! We are indeed doing the party of progress everything it wants; the revolution is going forward on its regular course — therefore now keep, you men of Celle, peace and quiet! But the pastors are to keep silent and engage in no "wrangling over trifles," not to "contend for their own honor," and so forth. Great God, is it then wrangling over trifles when the godparents at the font say: we do not believe that there is a devil, and so forth — while our catechism nevertheless says that the Lord has redeemed us from the power of the devil, and Scripture testifies that for this very purpose he came into the world, to destroy the works of the devil? Is it then wrangling over trifles when the very ABC of Christianity is called into question, and the servant of Christ turns such unbelievers out of the sanctuary? Whither, then, have we come, on what precipitous slope do the servants of God stand — will they run down together with the rabble, or, if they themselves cannot restrain them, will they even run ahead of them? Is that the right zeal, is that peace? From this preserve us, dear Lord God. And may He strengthen in us the resolve that we may, in spite of the power of this world, defend the Lord's word; for here is the point at which obedience toward the powers that be becomes disobedience toward the Most High. Kyrie eleison."

Fillers.

"Truths seem crude to us, like the drawings of nature, without being so; lies, on the other hand, are turned and polished for the eye, like the works of art, and are unrefined." Hamann I, 358.

"Faith is no work of reason and therefore cannot be subject to any attack of reason; for believing comes as little through reasons as does tasting and seeing." The same, II, 36.

"God is a being whom only a blind man can look upon with fixed eyes, and whose manner of thought and moral character only a vain man presumes to know." The same, I, 518.