# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_August 1864_S254
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

254 Church-Contemporary Affairs.

Christian church in this way: that the office-holding authority of its
representatives is transferred to them by the individual Christians
perhaps only for the sake of order, as a right that belongs to them all
as the royal priesthood — then indeed the Old Testament law of the tithe
falls away, since it is left to each individual to pay his authorized
representative according to preference or agreement. If, on the other
hand, we hold fast, as the Lutheran church rightly does according to
1 Cor. 12:5 and 28 and Eph. 4:11, that the spiritual office in the
Christian church is a divine institution, an institute of Christ in His
church on earth, ordained by Himself, then the Old Testament law of the
tithe has thereby been carried over into the New Testament as well and
still holds good for us too. That this is also the teaching of the
Irvingites will, it is hoped, be no reason for anyone to shrink from
making this view his own."

II. Abroad.

Renan Removed by Emperor Napoleon. The Frenchman Renan, notorious
for his blasphemous "Life of Jesus," whose disgraceful book has already
appeared here too in two German translations and unfortunately finds far
too great a sale, had been relieved by the Minister of Instruction of his
functions as professor at the Collège de France and demoted to a lower
position. Since Renan protested against this and disputed the minister's
right to such a proceeding, Napoleon issued the following definitive
decree of removal, which we take from a political newspaper here:
"Napoleon, by the grace of God, etc. On the recommendation of our
Minister of Public Instruction: Whereas, by the decree of June 1, 1864,
Mr. Renan, professor at the Collège de France, was relieved of his
functions and called to the position of curator and associate deputy
director in the manuscript department of the imperial library; whereas,
by the letter of Mr. Renan, who declines this position and demands to
retain his original functions; whereas, by the decree of March 9, 1852,
by which the Emperor appoints and removes the professors of the Collège
de France, we have resolved and do resolve as follows: Art. 1. The
appointment of Mr. Renan to the imperial library is withdrawn. Art. 2.
Mr. Renan remains removed from his functions at the Collège de France.
Art. 3. Our Minister of Public Instruction is charged with the execution
of the present decree." — A new, striking proof of the eminent
statesmanship of Napoleon, who recognizes by the mere light of reason
that to undermine the foundations of positive religion means nothing
less than to tear down the very foundations of the state as well. — C.

The Catholic Vincentius Societies, poor-relief societies in the sense
of the Catholic church, have been dissolved in Lithuania, because an
investigation revealed that the board had given over the funds at its
disposal to support the Polish revolution. (Pilger aus Sachsen.)

Assembly of German Protestants at Frankfurt a.M. on September
30 of last year. — When the devil said to Jesus Christ, "All this will
I give you, if you will fall down and worship me," Jesus answered the
devil, "Get thee behind me, Satan." The prince of this world has put the
same question to Christendom at all times, and true Christians have
always rejected the glory of the world, "all this"; they were crucified
to the world and the world to them, they did not love the world nor what
was in the world. The present-day "Protestants," who also call
themselves Christians, do not, however, wish to place themselves in "a
merely negative, defensive relationship" toward the world; they want to
enjoy the "earthly" world too, and have for that reason made a pact with
the devil at Frankfurt. Naturally our "Christians" do not say this so
crudely; they are too cultivated for that; they speak only "of the
renewal of the evangelical church in harmony with the entire cultural
development of our time." The Baden church councillor Dr. Rich. Rothe
was the "Christian" spokesman in this transaction; he speaks of cultural
development, or of the devil's offer, thus: "There will soon be a