# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1848 05 24_S172
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

the decision for the Lord and his kingdom, when someone comes publicly to the anxious seat; for there can indeed be many at the anxious seat who have this outward appearance of decision while no sincere inward decision is present in them, and again, this decision, or at least the willingness for it, can be present in quite a few who decidedly avoid the anxious seat. Nevertheless, in the latter there can arise many a needless scruple of conscience, as though their decision for Christ were still not truly in earnest so long as they have not yet accepted this new circumcision-law of the Judaizing Methodists; and conversely, in the former there can easily arise a new and terrible delusion of conscience, as though they were now truly converted because they have been at the anxious seat.
(To be continued.)

(Contributed.)
Franz Leopold von Reising's own account of the dreadful inquisition trial which he endured at Rome on account of stirring up certain controversies and possessing and reading forbidden books.

(From the Latin.)

I was born — so Reising writes in his account of March 20, 1700 — at Graz in Steiermark, of distinguished parents. In my seventh year I was handed over to the Jesuits for instruction, and from that time devoted myself to learning. My teachers at the noble college in Graz took pains to convince me of the advantages of monastic life, and portrayed to me, a still inexperienced boy, the society of Ignatius Loyola in particular in such glowing colors that I promised to consecrate myself as an offering to Loyola. Meanwhile, when the usual vacation time came, I went with my parents to our castle, near which resided the canons of Seckau, who, after repeated invitations, lured me into their college. After a three-day stay there, the prelate asked me what I thought of their college. I praised, according to my youthful understanding, its dignity and its riches. The prelate heaped gifts upon me, arranged hunts, and prepared a thousand kinds of amusements, so that in the intoxication of these I became forgetful of the vow I had made to the Jesuits, and, against the express will of my parents, agreed to become a canon — in which office I in fact remained for eighteen years. After the novitiate year had passed, I was sent to the universities of Graz, Vienna, and Olmütz. There I studied philosophy and theology until I became a Bachelor of Theology. Upon reaching my twenty-fourth year I was ordained a priest and at the same time charged with administering the office of preacher and confessor in the chapter.

I took up my office and now read the holy Scripture with greater zeal. And as I went more closely through the epistles of St. Paul, especially that to the Romans, I felt, at the article of the justification of a sinner before God, such rays of evangelical truth in my heart that I devoted all my remaining time to this holy study. From that time on I was also troubled by various scruples of conscience. As a preacher I had permission to read forbidden books, which were kept locked away in a special place in our library, but under the bishop's restriction that this be done only one hour each day, and in the middle of the public library, and that after each reading the key be returned to the dean; to take such a book out of the library was forbidden under pain of the greater excommunication. At first I came upon Luther's works, both in the Jena and in the Wittenberg edition; but because they were so extensive, they could not, on a hasty glance, give me full satisfaction. At last, by the guidance of divine grace, I came upon the Examination of the Council of Trent by the very famous, blessed Dr. Martin Chemnitz.*

* This book is a refutation of the principal confessional writing of the Roman Church, namely the decrees drawn up at the Council of Trent.

Through reading this book I was seized by such a longing for the truth that I could not be content with the allotted time in the public library, but secretly took the book, against all permission, from the library to my chamber, and there used every free moment to search in it. I compared the sayings of the fathers with the words of holy Scripture, and took no small delight in their wonderful agreement. I set down the principal points of controversy on paper in orderly, logical arrangement. Whenever an opportunity presented itself, I disputed with the doctors and professors of theology. While I relied more on the proofs from holy Scripture than from the old fathers and church councils, the others built everything on the infallibility of the pope, of the councils, and of the church, and decided accordingly. I could not rest content with such a decision, since within the papacy itself a thousand questions and opinions could arise. I pointed to France, which holds that the church councils alone cannot err; to Italy, which ascribes this property to the pope; to Germany, which grants this authority to both at once. At last, at a public wedding banquet, I brought the Jesuit Sies, the chief disputant in all of Austria, into such confusion over the article of communion in both kinds that he could not bring forth another word, but with foaming mouth railed against me: "It would be impossible for me to know this without being in friendship or scholarly contact with the Lutherans" — to have any dealings with them.

From that time on everything was full of fury against me; I was accused before the bishop of the most shameful heresy, and the bishop, incited by the Jesuits, fell into a great rage. While this Jesuit intrigue proceeded in secret and I knew nothing of it, I was invited the next day by the dean to take part in an outing. In this way I was brought from the college to a castle two miles distant. Meanwhile the provost, together with two older canons, searched my quarters and found the Examination of the Council of Trent with the notes I had made in it. When I returned to the college, I was informed by the doorkeeper that I should come to the superior as soon as possible. He had the forbidden book in his hands and, with the older canons called in, pronounced upon me the sentence of the greater excommunication, and ordered that I, as one excommunicated, be separated from association with the canons and placed in special confinement; for in this case, he said, he could not decide alone, and the whole matter must be reported to the bishop. Four days later the bishop himself appeared and had me called before the chapter. After a sharp rebuke he asked what I thought concerning the controversies that had so far been raised, and whether I had received no enlightenment about them. I replied that I had carried on no controversy except concerning the infallibility of the church, and that I desired the bishop to go through with me the individual papal writers, one by one, so that, if he brought me one who spoke absolutely and definitely on this matter, I could subscribe to his opinion; but, I added, the bishop would not be able to do this, since the pope himself, for fear of a new schism, dared not decide this question. Enraged, the bishop rose and declared that he would most certainly resolve these doubts, and charged the dean to have me placed at once back in my former confinement. For ten days I was kept confined, and no soul came to me.

At length, on the tenth day, the prelate and the dean come to me in the name of the bishop, and the prelate brings, against all my expectation, the bishop's resolution. With flattering words he says that he marvels at the graciousness the bishop has shown toward me. Since the bishop had noticed that I had a particular inclination for the study of controversies, and since it would bring me — who had already so long been a preacher and canon — more shame than honor to begin my studies over again in Germany, he had therefore resolved to send me to Rome, so that, once I had devoted a year or two to this study there among more distinguished men, he could confer upon me higher offices in his own college. As soon as the word Rome sounded in my ears, I recalled also the pit which they had dug for my soul; yet I had to obey blindly, and I even had to render my thanks to the messenger.