# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1845 05 03_S70
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

has himself set the seal upon our assertion that the Methodists are a sect, because he sets up the truly antichristian principle that the conduct of Christians has a higher value than the holy sacraments. O disgrace! O shame! To boast so ostentatiously and so much like a huckster, on almost every page of the "Apologete," of the spread of the kingdom of Christ, and at the same time, on almost every page, to destroy the honor and glory of Jesus Christ through the self-satisfied exaltation of one's own doing and works! Truly, here the Methodist far outdoes even the most self-righteous papist. What upright Christian, who can pray from the bottom of his heart, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake," must not turn away in displeasure from such people, who pretend to abhor idols, and yet rob God of what is his own!

There are, indeed, still many other false doctrines of which the Methodists are guilty. They mock us for seeking the merit and satisfaction of Christ not only in his suffering and death, but also in his perfect obedience, and for not relying merely on what he suffered for us, but also on what he did for us, according to Matthew 3:15, 5:17, Romans 5:18-19. They blaspheme the Office of the Keys, saying that "the Lutheran key was forged in the smithy and workshop of the Roman mother church" (the Lutheran key, which we ground on the plain words of Christ, Matthew 16:19, 18:18, and John 20:23). They exalt human ordinances to the rank of God's commandments, by binding consciences through self-invented rules about food and drink and the like, contrary to Colossians 2:16-23. But where would we end, if we wished to spell out everything at length! Their false doctrine on the points mentioned is so evident that even one still very weak in the testing of spirits can recognize it. Their false doctrine does not concern secondary points, but chief articles of Christianity; for Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the Office of the Keys belong to the chief parts of the Catechism, as everyone knows; and the doctrine of justification is the sun, without which, as Luther says, we have nothing but sheer hellish darkness. Their false doctrine is stubbornly defended by them, even though it has already been shown to them plainly and clearly from God's Word many times over; they seek to spread their false doctrine at the expense of the truth; thus they cause division and offense alongside the doctrine we have received from the apostles, and — yet they deny that they are a sect! Well, let them go on boasting that their church is "built, just as well as the Lutheran, upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles"; this boast will fail them on the Day of Judgment.

So much, then, in answer to the demanded proof that the Methodists are a sect.

[70]

The "Apologete" has, moreover, incidentally also revealed its thoughts about the Lutheran Church, which are of a quite peculiar kind. It says, namely: "Luther probably never had the intention of separating from the catholic church, and for this reason he may well have held so firmly to this point (the Holy Supper)." Did Wesley, then, have the intention of separating from the catholic church? He would not have done well to do so. Luther never had this intention, and the Lutheran Church does not have it even now. We have separated ourselves from the papist church and still separate ourselves from it, but God forbid that we should separate ourselves from the catholic church. We thank the "Apologete" for the fine testimony that Luther did not separate from the catholic church, precisely because he believed the articles mentioned as firmly and faithfully as the catholic — that is, the universal Christian — church has believed them at all times. That the Methodists, through their false doctrine, have separated themselves from the universal, Christian church, we can only lament with sorrow.

Furthermore, the "Apologete" cannot understand how anyone can assert that "Luther cleansed the church of all the leaven of human ordinances and restored it to its apostolic purity." As grounds for his doubt on this point, he cites: "because Article 24 of the Augsburg Confession still teaches the holding of the Mass." If the good man who fabricated that essay in the "Apologet" had kept silent, he would not have made himself ridiculous through his gross ignorance. But it is irresponsible of the editors of such papers, who ought to know better, to print such testimonies of unparalleled ignorance, perhaps so as not to wound the literary self-esteem of the contributor. But if the contributor perhaps does not possess the Augsburg Confession, of which he nevertheless dares to speak, then we will copy out for him from that 24th Article just a few words, from which he will, we hope, be better instructed as to what our fathers understand by the Mass — namely, not the Roman sacrifice of the Mass, but, according to the usage of the ancient church, the Holy Supper itself. Augsburg Confession, Article 24: "Since now the (true Christian) Mass is not a sacrifice offered for others, living or dead, to take away their sin, but is to be a communion, in which the priest and others receive the sacrament for themselves (not for others), the practice is also kept among us that on feast days (and otherwise, too, when communicants are present) Mass is held, and some, who desire it, commune. Thus the Mass remains among us in its proper use, as it was formerly held in the church, as may be proved from St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 11, and also from the writings of many of the fathers." [Footnote: God grant that this unfortunate polemic by a man who lacks even the knowledge of the first elements of Christian scholarship may serve as a warning sign to others who, in like ignorance, might feel tempted to strive after the laurels of literary feuds. — The Editor.] — Another mighty flourish in the air is made by the "Apologete" when he asks us: Where does it say in Luther's Catechism, "I believe in a Lutheran church"? Are we, then, baptized and confirmed in Luther's name? No sensible person will see what this question is supposed to prove. Everyone would find it just as senseless if, in order to prove to the Methodists that they are not the true church, we were to address them thus: Where does it say in your catechism, "I believe in a Methodist church"? Are you, then, baptized and confirmed in Wesley's name? We are ashamed of such senseless and mindless argumentation, and therefore we let such absurdities go. But that the vow — "I believe in one holy catholic church" — which we take at Confirmation, is indeed broken by those who go over to the Methodist church, we need not prove again, since we have already shown above that the Methodists are a sect; and with respect to such sects the apostle admonishes all Christians: "Avoid them." Romans 16:17. When, furthermore, the "Apologete" advises us to cleanse our church of thieves and murderers, we declare to him that we have nothing whatever to do with thieves and murderers; but that some thieves and murderers assign themselves the name "Lutheran" can be laid to our charge no more than the Methodists would likely allow to be laid to theirs, if one reminded them of the many thieves and murderers, acknowledged as such even by their own people, who bear the name of the Methodists.

We further point out to the "Apologete," only quite in passing, that he has missed his mark with us when he charges us with preferring "the comfortable life of the city to a life full of toil and labor in the countryside." But that he regards the cities in general as so unfruitful a field for Christ's harvest — for this, at least, he finds no grounds in Holy Scripture; for it was precisely in the most populous cities that the apostles founded the fairest and most flourishing Christian congregations.

That the "Apologete" is opposed to Confirmation, "because children ought not to be bound by a confirmation vow unless it is their own firm inward will to serve God their whole life long," is something he will hardly be able to answer for before God. This is a statement that even the respectable secular world must abhor; it will, for instance, never hold it against a dying father if he gathers his children around him and has them take a vow to remain faithful to God their whole life long.

Furthermore, the "Apologete" calls it fanatical when we call out to upright souls who have been awakened by Methodist preachers, and who have thereupon joined the Methodist church, to leave the sectarian fellowship and return to the true church. What, then, will the Methodist say to a per-