# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Juni 1859_S190
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

190 Church and Contemporary History.

and shuns the light; moreover it proceeds from circles and places where Luther's faith
and confession are despised; it is meant to be a sign and a demonstration against Rome,
and Rome will only smile at such demonstrations; it serves only to give rich nourishment
to the corrupting phraseology of our age, and to supply rich material to the heroes of
Enlightenment; it strengthens the self-admiration and self-seeking of the
age, which aims only at making a name for itself. The Reformer would,
if he could, dismiss the matter with earnest words, and, looking at the circles
and at the half- and wholly radical papers agitating for it, would let his mighty Word
resound against it."

Statistics of the Lutheran Church in Baden. — There are at present
three Lutheran parishes in Baden: Durlach, Ispringen, and Ihringen-Weil, the last of
which lies in the highlands on the Swiss border and even extends into Switzerland. To the
pastorate of Durlach, where Pastor Eichhorn serves, belong five congregations; to Ispringen,
the pastorate of Pastor Frommel, belong nine congregations; the auxiliary pastorate
of Ihringen-Weil, where Pastor Ludwig serves, comprises six congregations. The number of souls
in the Durlach parish district amounts to 422, in the Ispringen district 350, in the Ihringen district 103; the total
number of souls in all the Lutheran congregations of Baden thus amounts to 875. In the year
1858, 24 souls were received in Durlach (among them Pastor Frischmuth), in
Ispringen 9, and in Ihringen 5 souls, thus 38 in all. Excluded in
Durlach were 6 members of the congregation, of whom, however, three, as a result of the ban pronounced upon them,
came to repentance and, after a solemn confession of penitence before the congregation
and public administration of the Holy Absolution, were received back again. Defections
occur, according to the above, no longer as frequently as in former years.

Theology Students in Prussia. — In Prussia, according to exact
reports, there are now said to be 940 students of theology (Protestant) — 400 more than six
years ago. The number of evangelical preachers is 6000, and on average 200
positions falling vacant need to be filled each year. Six years ago there were
only about 200 new preachers a year found; now, however, about 300 enter candidacy
in a given year.

The Hymnal Crisis in Thuringia. — We take from the Gotha
hymnal a baptismal hymn (No. 351) which, in only slightly modified form, has also
passed over into the Arnstadt hymnal. It reads:

V. 1. Welcome into humanity's arm,
Beloved child, welcome!
Oh be, with joy, gentle and warm,
Received unto formation!
You are, like us, the Highest's child,
And here you train and learn yourself,
And are, like us, immortal.
V. 2. Received into the realm of morality,
Upon the paths of refinement,
You ward of immortality,
The devout blessing of mankind;
Oh may faithful love, comfort, and counsel,
And teaching, be found in it upon your path,
Even to the end.
V. 4. May you rejoice in life,
It is a human life,
And should you not, raised to a higher
Being, exalt yourself;
So sink, when your God calls you,
So calmly, hoping, into the grave,
As to the breast of a mother! (Starke.)

What is one to say to this? Certainly nothing other than what is written, Amos 5:23:
Take away from me the noise of your songs; for I will
not hear the melody of your viols! David would break his harp, if he were meant to play it for this.
(Freimund.)

Chiliasm. — Against an explanation of Prof. Delitzsch in the Saxon Church
and School Gazette, Assistant Preacher Anacker in Dresden remarks excellently in the same
paper: "First: Chiliasm believes it has demonstrated its legitimacy within the Lutheran confession
when it has come to terms with Article 17 of the Augsburg Confession;
but it would have to come to an understanding with the Small Catechism, which rests on an unambiguously
anti-chiliastic view, before it could secure itself a position within the Lutheran
confession. Second: The undersigned (Anacker)