# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Juli 1859_S216
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

216 Prayer and Speech by Laymen in Public Devotional Meetings Is, etc.

4) On the remaining historical books; Psalm 78:1-7. — 5) The book of
Job; James 5:11. — 6) The Psalter; Psalm 81:1-5. 7) The writings of
Solomon; 1 Kings 3:5-14. — 8) The major prophets; Acts 10:43. —
9) The minor prophets; Sirach 49:12. — 10) The four Gospels; Acts
1:1-8. — 11) The Acts of the Apostles and the epistles of Paul; John
15:26-27. — 12) The epistles of Peter down to the Revelation of John;
2 Peter 1:15. — 13) The apocryphal books of the Old Testament;
1 Corinthians 3:11-15.

May the gracious God, who besides his beloved Son has given us no
greater gift than his holy Word, awaken and increase the desire to
diligently hold and hear such Bible sermons, for the faithful offering and
willing acceptance of the otherwise hidden treasures of all sound
exposition of Scripture; may he renew its blessing upon preachers and
hearers for this life and for that life, to their joy and to his praise!

———

Prayer and Speech by Laymen in Public Devotional
Meetings Is Against God's Word,
set forth in nine theses and proved from Scripture and the Church Fathers
by Jakob Aall Ottesen *).

Thesis 1.

In baptism all Christians are anointed and consecrated as spiritual
priests, who are to proclaim the Lord in word and deed, and thus have
the right and the power to teach, admonish, comfort and strengthen one
another with God's Word and the Sacraments, which the Lord has given
to Christians directly.

Thesis 2.

If all were to exercise this power publicly, confusion would result. But
what is the common right of all, none may arrogate to himself alone on
his own authority; precisely because all hold this power in common, an
order is therefore necessary, whereby one person is called, with the will
of the others, to exercise this power publicly in place of all.

Note. Only necessity, or being among heathen, makes an exception here.

Thesis 3.

Such an order, which thus follows from the spiritual priesthood, is
called the public preaching office, which is accordingly the service, in

*) These theses Mr. Conr. Schick has had the kindness to translate for Lehre und
Wehre from the Norwegian. They are taken from: Kirkelig Maanedstidende, and are a
precious fruit of sorrowful occurrences among certain Norwegian Lutherans, which have
roused the truly Lutheran Norwegian Synod in Wisconsin and Iowa to earnest struggle
against all manner of unchurchly, separatistic principles undermining the [preaching]
office.
L. u. W.