# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_October 1859_S299
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Correspondence to Germany. 299

judge our circumstances without bias, and see through completely the consequences of our opponents' positions. Following a resolution of our local District Conference, our reply to his most recent letter now follows below, partly to let our dear readers, who have after all been drawn into the matter, know at the same time what kind of misgivings he has, and partly to show them once more, by a living example, how hard it is even for German brethren who are well disposed toward us, but who are once entangled in the conditions over there, to rightly understand and fairly appreciate our churchly circumstances, in which we find ourselves so well off and in such flourishing growth. Indeed this is altogether fit to encourage us all to give thanks to God for the undeserved grace by which he has removed us from the manifold entanglements of our German mother church and transplanted us here onto a soil where, under the shelter of the most unrestricted religious freedom, our dear church of pure Word and unadulterated sacraments can unfold freely and unhindered and build upon the foundation of our most holy faith.

Here, then, follows our reply, which may the LORD again bless in grace, and thereby let the bond of unity between us and our German brethren become ever firmer and more intimate.

"Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
"and our LORD Jesus Christ."

Dear, beloved brother in Christ!

As sincere as was the longing of us all to receive from you a few lines of friendly reply to our letter of March of last year, and as ardently as we wished to learn what reception it had found, under God's gracious guidance, in your heart, and how far the LORD had owned our weak effort with an effect corresponding to our brotherly intention — all the more had our hearts to be filled with fervent praise and thanks toward the gracious God when at last, after long waiting, your heartfelt reply of October of last year came into our hands, and we saw with joy from it that you had received our words — however somewhat blunt at times, yet meant in good faith — not only in love, but that your whole standing toward us had thereby become only the nearer and more closely bound. Truly, in this time of utmost division it is doubly needful that those who are of one mind in the truth should join more closely together, and so, through faithfully cultivated fellowship, mutually ease the heavy afflictions of our days and encourage and spur one another on to the struggle that has once been appointed to us. For this reason we hasten, in turn, to answer your brotherly letter with an equally brotherly, sincere reply, and ask only that God, for Christ's sake, bless these lines too, so that we may draw ever nearer to one another and become ever more intimately bound together. —

Believe now, dear brother, that we