# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1848 07 19_S202
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

resolved to make the attempt to found a quarterly suited to the needs of the church. — In this undertaking he claims the support and cooperation of the church in general, but especially of his brethren in the ministry; and so that they may act with due discernment, he lets follow herewith an account of the purpose of this journal, and of the principles to be observed in its conduct.

With each year we recognize more clearly how much the Lutheran Church in this country needs a literary organ, by means of which it may express its religious and theological views fully and openly. Our weekly papers are necessarily of a popular character, and the daily needs and news of the church, as well as all matters that fall within the peculiar but comprehensive field of a newspaper, offer them ample material for communications. Treatises of greater length find no room in such papers, or, where they are inserted, are unwelcome to the majority of readers. — Among all the quarterlies that appear in this country, our Lutheran writers and readers feel repelled in two ways — either articles in which the peculiarities of Lutheranism decidedly come to light are not admitted into those journals at all, or these journals are of so opposite a character — in some respect the sectarian tendency stands out so glaringly in them — that they are repugnant to our taste no less than to our principles, and this evil would only be made worse, or at least more conspicuous, by the occasional admission of an article written in a different spirit. And yet this kind of literature is of such importance that we cannot do without it, and so it comes, from year to year, increasingly into circulation among our preachers and church members.

We are by no means inclined to pass an unfavorable judgment on these journals, several of which are conducted by very talented and gifted men; but nevertheless we openly confess that we wish to displace them from our church and to free our church members from the currently undeniable necessity of subscribing to one or another of them. We believe we can achieve this purpose by offering them a publication of similar character which, instead of attacking or ignoring our views, will take them under its protection, defend them, and place them in their proper light. —

To this is added that there exists an immeasurable field which has the justest claims on the attention of our theologians and thinking men, but for whose cultivation very little has so far been done on our part. The theological literature of the Lutheran Church far surpasses that of all other churches in richness,

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variety, and thoroughness. Since the Reformer posted his ninety-five theses on the Wittenberg castle church door, up to the present day, almost every year has enriched the literature of our church through contributions, of greater or lesser importance, in the field of theology, history, and criticism. But this immeasurable treasure is almost entirely inaccessible to the Lutherans of this country, partly because they are unfamiliar with the languages in which those writings are composed, partly because the titles and nature of such works are unknown to them. And here it will be one of the foremost purposes of the "Evangelical Review" to draw attention to this literature, to pass an impartial judgment on its character, and to communicate some of it to our readers.

But the Lutheran Church in this country also has questions of the utmost importance to its special interests to consider and resolve, matters of great practical importance that are still unsettled, to establish, and sacred duties peculiarly incumbent upon it to fulfill. In opinions and in customs, in respect to church constitution and discipline, in matters of doctrine and also of many duties, we suffer, here more, there less, but everywhere decidedly, from indefiniteness and division. And here the publication in question shall contribute to the ascertaining of correct views and decisions, and shall in general call for and offer opportunity for an unbiased and thorough discussion of all points here under consideration. — In that the editor now intends to express his own views and to defend them to the best of his ability, he thereby secures, by what has just been said, the same right to representatives of different tendencies within the Lutheran Church of this country. For he is of the opinion that in this way the eventual union and merging of all divisions of the Lutheran Church can most effectively be promoted and hastened.

But as to the editor's qualification to fulfill the duties to which he will submit himself through the said undertaking, he wishes only to recall that he will rely not merely on his own diligence or his own knowledge, but rather on the recognized competence of an ever-widening circle of thoroughly educated men, intimately acquainted with the rich treasures of our church literature — especially that of our fatherland — whom he counts mostly among his personal friends, and who, as he is firmly convinced, will be of service to him in the present undertaking, both with translations and with their own productions. It is not, however, our intention to burden our benevolent friends and writers by leaving their efforts unrewarded; we have rather resolved not to proceed with the publication of this journal until its proceeds enable us to compensate our contributors for their contributions as generously as is done with other similar publications appearing in this country. — Where no such arrangement can take place, every literary undertaking must fail, for it must be clear to everyone that the "laborer" whose writings are worth publishing is, no less than the editor or any other laborer, "worthy of his wages."

In order that justice may be done to ourselves and to our contributors, as well as to our subscribers, we shall have to follow precisely the following rules:

Conditions.
I. The "Evangelical Review" shall appear in quarterly issues, handsomely printed on fine paper; each issue shall contain at least 150 octavo pages; the annual volume will thus form a volume of more than 600 pages: the price will be, per year, $3.00.
Whoever pays $5.00 receives two copies; and agents who remit funds in good notes, postage-paid, are entitled to an equally liberal discount.
All subscribers must pay in advance. All business letters, and all articles intended for this journal, must, where they are sent to us by mail, come postage-paid.
We shall not begin the publication of this journal until a sufficient number of subscribers has been found, which will be announced at once; until then no subscription monies will be accepted.

*All Lutheran ministers who approve of this undertaking are requested to collect subscriptions before the upcoming meetings of their respective synods; an agent will attend those meetings to receive names with proper addresses, and to forward them to the undersigned.

Those who need to write to the editors of the newspapers that take up this prospectus, and who are inclined to be helpful to us in this way, may indicate to them their wish to subscribe to this publication, so that their names may reach me.

Wm. M. Reynolds.
Gettysburg, Pa., June 23, 1848.

* *

We expressed our heartfelt joy when, in the ninth number of this volume, we were able to give our readers — and among them especially our dear brothers in the ministry — news of the plan of Professor Schaff to publish a learned theological journal. And how could we not have heartily rejoiced at such a plan? Even if the projected journal