# Der Lutheraner_Frankfurt am Main_September 1950_S67
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Number 9                              September 1950                              Page 67

Severe internal struggles arose in the young church between unionistic, laxer, and stricter Lutheran currents. Missouri refused pulpit and altar fellowship and testified earnestly against the Wisconsinites. Then God raised up faithful, soundly Lutheran-minded men, such as the second president of the synod, Pastor J. Bading, and the learned and resolute professors A. Hoenecke and A. Ernst, who turned with holy zeal and courage against everything unlutheran. The young President Bading laid the damages open before the synod with deep repentance and candor and concluded: "These absurdities, worthy brothers in office and fellow believers, must cease." Prof. Hoenecke, similarly to Prof. Walther in Missouri, testified to God's Word and Luther's teaching with glorious clarity in his dogmatic lectures and his dogmatics. Thus these faithful men succeeded in leading their synod to clarity and firmness. One consequence was that on October 22, 1868, a doctrinal colloquy took place in Milwaukee between representatives of the two churches, at which full agreement was established, and with praise and thanks to God mutual recognition and church fellowship were declared. In the year 1872 the Synodical Conference was founded, likewise in Milwaukee, in St. John's Church.

So now the two sister churches have worked together in faithful bond for over 80 years. They did not merge organically — that was not the main thing for them — but each church did its work in its own place. Later they also took up joint works, such as the richly blessed heathen mission in Nigeria, Africa. They vied with one another in the difficult pioneer work among the scattered German immigrants, in home and foreign mission.

After 100 Years.

A century has passed since those German Lutherans built their first churches in the new homeland. The time of the old ones is past; the new generations no longer speak the mother tongue of the fathers. They have become "American." They build large, splendid churches, extensive educational institutions and colleges, charitable homes and publishing houses. They have a tremendous zeal for the spread of the Kingdom of God and their church; they send missionaries into all the world; they preach in the "Lutheran Hour" on the radio, on over 1000 stations, to many millions of people the salvation in Christ.

But do these Lutheran churches in America still have the old, unadulterated Word of God in its power and crystalline clarity? The history of the Lutheran church, including that in Germany, shows how quickly the devil can succeed in producing a clouding and weakening of sound doctrine. Today is a dangerous time for the church of Luther. The great battle cry of the churches of the world is: unification at any price — expansion of the church and its influence in the world — political Christianity — ecumenical Christianity! Here lie so many skillfully disguised false slogans, so much mixture of truth and lies, that it is difficult to remain sober and on the true Lutheran baseline. The larger a church becomes, the more it steps into the public eye out of a certain isolation, the greater the danger. This temptation is also experienced by the Missouri Synod. How should it not be? One of the most recent visitors to America from Germany, Lic. W. Schmidt, Munich, praises the Missouri Synod for having preserved both faithfulness in doctrine (verbal inspiration, position on the confession) and the strong vitality of the congregation, but believes that, for example, the doctrine of verbal inspiration will not be able to be maintained in the long run in a growing church. Also practical questions touching on the confession, such as the merger of all Lutheran synods, or at least cooperation in external matters, show a number of points of danger, where even within the Missouri Synod different opinions come to light and there is hard dispute.

In this situation we perceive something very beautiful: the Wisconsin Synod, which due to its smaller size and greater previous isolation seems to be less exposed to these dangers, helps the sister church through faithful counsel and warning. In the journal of the Missouri Synod, "The Lutheran Witness," one of the editors writes under the heading: "A Brotherly Warning by a Brother of the Wisconsin Synod," concerning an essay by Prof. Lehninger in the congregational paper of the Wisconsin Synod, among other things:

"Prof. Lehninger commendably recalls the salutary influence that Missouri's firm standpoint in doctrine had on the fathers of the Wisconsin Synod, whereby they were guided from their earlier unionistic ties to a sound Lutheran position ... Professor Lehninger's brotherly warning to his brothers of the Missouri Synod is indeed appropriate; it is our Christian duty to warn our brothers whom we believe to be in danger of falling into error. Moreover, it is one of the purposes of the Synodical Conference according to its constitution: the mutual strengthening in faith and confession; the promotion of unity in doctrine and practice, and the removal of any threatening disturbance of the same."

Thus we see how these two Lutheran sister churches have rendered and still render to one another the invaluable service of intercession, of encouragement on the right path, and of warning against wrong paths. This is the deepest meaning and the most precious fruit of every true fellowship of faith and church.

May this service, among all our churches bound together in fellowship of faith in America, in Germany, and wherever it may be, be rendered to one another in humility and firmness, and be gratefully accepted, as Luther prays in his catechism hymn on the Lord's Prayer, on the fifth petition:

"to serve make us all ready in true love and unity."                          Hch. St.

Enemies of God as Witnesses of God

Should one consider that possible? And yet there are, again and again, moving testimonies to God from wholly godless, unbelieving, indeed God-denying people. In the Bible we hear the enemy of Jesus, Caiaphas, say: "It is better that one man die for the people..." and John thoughtfully adds: "Being high priest that year, he prophesied." — The well-known word of the enemy of God, Nietzsche: "The Christians would have to look more redeemed if I were to believe in their Redeemer!" has been called the deepest, most fitting critical word in 2000 years on the common life of Christendom.

Now in a remarkable, rousing book, the biography of an English missionary, Karl Studd (Karl Studd, ein Bote Gottes [Karl Studd, a Messenger of God], published by Friedrich Reinhardt, AG, Basel), who worked with blessing in China and in the African Congo region, there is a testimony of an atheist (denier of God) which made a deep impression on the young Studd. The words, which are worth taking to heart today as well, read: "If I firmly believed what allegedly millions believe, that our fate in the life to come depended on the religion we had in this life and proved by deeds, then religion would simply mean everything to me. Then earthly joys would be refuse, earthly cares folly, earthly thoughts and feelings vanity. I would cast all that away. Religion should be my first thought upon waking; my mind should be occupied with religious ideas until the moment when sleep submerges consciousness. For religion alone would I work. On eternity alone would I direct all my thoughts. If I could win a soul for eternal life, I would consider that a gain outweighing in value all the sufferings of this time. The thought of what earthly consequences my speaking or acting might have should never paralyze my hand or seal my mouth. The earth with its joy and its grief should not occupy my soul for a single moment longer. I would strive to look only toward eternity and toward the immortal souls around me, who would soon be either blessed forever or lost forever. I would go into the