# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_August 1864_S255
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Church-Contemporary Affairs. 255

century, as a consequence of the fact that an entirely new intellectual
movement broke forth, independent of the church and without entering
into any mutual relationship with it. It began with the creation of a
national literature, then spread over the wide field of a science that
was ever more variously branching out, produced a mighty upsurge of
philosophy, and threw itself, ever more energetically as time went on,
upon the domain of civic life as well — the expression taken in its
widest sense, expressly including also the so-called social domain. Quite
as the nature of the case brings with it, it concentrated itself more and
more pronouncedly, by degrees, in this civic sphere. In the same measure
in which this took place, however, it also became ever clearer what its
real meaning and its ultimate goal were. Its impulse lay, from the
beginning, in this: that a new sense had opened up for the human race
which had until then still slumbered — the sense for the earthly world.
This had until then been held to be something base, toward which man,
conscious of his full dignity — the Christian above all — was to enter
into a merely negative, defensive relationship; now it began to present
itself, precisely to the noblest minds, in a quite different light. The
eyes of the new generation were opened to its spiritual substance and its
spiritual significance; it began to perceive in it a wealth of means for
the purposes of the spirit, an inexhaustible object for its knowledge in
nature and history, and a no less inexhaustible material out of which,
through its formative labor, it could fashion for itself a wonderful
apparatus of tools for its use. Accordingly there also gradually
established itself a clearer consciousness of the goal of the mighty
urge that moved the new generation. This appeared, namely, ever more
unambiguously as this goal: to conquer the earth for man, to make it
completely subject to him as a means for his purpose, and thereby
precisely to install man in his true dignity — to transform the earth
into an actual kingdom of man." The joyful union and the hearty handshake
of the "Protestants" with the devil, the prince of this world, the
church councillor describes in the following words: "This ground,
formerly outlawed as profane, our Christians — who are at the same time,
as is fitting, children of their age — no longer shrink from treading as
children of God; rather, joyfully resolved to conduct their Christianity
not within the narrow walls of the church alone, but in the, though at
times sharp, yet alone fresh and healthy free air of world history, they
reach out their hand, sincerely and courageously, to the vigorous
cultivators of modern culture, in the hope of meeting, on their side, an
understanding of what they want." Well, there is no danger in that; these
two will understand each other well enough. B.

In Swedish church legislation the following important changes have
recently been made. The Sacraments Act of the year 1855, which condemns
anyone who administers the sacraments without being ordained to a fine
or even imprisonment on bread and water, has been repealed. Likewise the
law of 1686, by which every confirmed person, especially if he was a
state official, was compelled to partake of the Holy Supper at least once
a year. Finally, by a separate law a General Synod has been created for
the Swedish state church, in which the twelve bishops of the realm sit ex
officio, while alongside them the clergy and laity will also be
represented by elected deputies. The decision on liturgy, catechism,
hymnal, and so forth, which until now belonged to the political
representation of the country in the Riksdag, is henceforth to be
transferred to this ecclesiastical Convocation, as it (that is, the
synod) is called. (Kirchl. Zeitbl.)

In England the highest court of the English church, the Privy
Council, which is composed of 4 lay and 3 clerical members, has acquitted
the Essayists on the following grounds: the Privy Council had only to
examine the extracted propositions on account of which the appeal had
been brought, regardless of whether further heresies were to be found
elsewhere in the book. The extracted propositions it had simply had to
compare with the legally