# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1850 01 08_S77
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

...or even to be able to appear merely as an outward reformer or champion of the Church over against her enemies, requires more than the beginning of a so-called believing awakening to repentance and a lively sense of being a poor sinner .... namely, a faith that is armed not only against the power and cunning of brazen unbelief, but also against the false holiness and false learning of a degenerate pietism, and thus also quite especially against the extremely dangerous snares and temptations of such pious flatterers, who are able to hide their claws and horns behind the shining garment of a false so-called mediation of faith — that is, of a self-clever, cleverly-foolish, cross-shy fashionable Christianity — whose inner spiritual substance is portrayed to the life in Psalm 50:16–18, compared with verses 9–13. Suffice it to say: whoever in our time wishes to work for a blessing as a true David and Hezekiah must set his eyes not merely on the altars of Baal belonging to open antichristian unbelief, but above all on the dangerous, falsely pious high places of a fashionable Christianity that is eager to convert the world while itself being conformed to the world. He must therefore already have progressed so far in the overflowing knowledge of Christ (Phil. 3:8–10) and of his high-priestly work for us and in us — and consequently also in true self-knowledge and renunciation of the world — that he is able not only to ward off from himself, with the shield of faith, the fourfold dangerous conceit — namely, the learned, the clever, the fashionably-pious, and the Berlin kind of conceit — but also to banish it victoriously in his immediate surroundings with the sword of the Spirit and with the world-overcoming power of God. But whoever dares to conjure up the demons of the age without this armor of the cross and without these preliminary victories in his own nearest circle — of him, Acts 19:13–16, compared with Luke 14:31–33, may perhaps be verified all the more strikingly, the more powerful the means employed in such conjuring."

"A third ground for the judgment stated above lies in the fact that, in high places, the actual substance of faith — and hence also the Christian core, as well as the truly theological, that is, scholarly, character — of those persons is not yet known at all who have offered themselves as the most zealous helpers in carrying out ecclesiastical union and liberation schemes. Indeed, it also takes a deep experience of life, as well as long study, and consequently a certain calling, to be able to judge — not merely by dim intuition, but from one's own thorough examination — the poisonous lie that has already penetrated into the inner marrow of the Church's life, put forth by the currently ruling so-called believing scholarship, that is, by a vain, sanctimoniously clever, fashionable and cosmetic theology. The writer of this piece has for a considerable time now spared no effort in examining, precisely and diligently, both the field of old Protestant theology and the labyrinth of modern scholarship for himself, and his writings will infallibly convince the reader that he is not guilty of any vain self-praise in this. In these writings the conviction has been established that from the present spokesmen of so-called believing scholarship, for the wounds of our time and especially of our Church, no salvation whatever is to be expected, but on the contrary greater dangers and greater calamity than from the most open enemies of our most holy faith. Would it not, then, under such undeniable circumstances, be more advisable for one to work out one's own salvation with fear and trembling, to confine oneself to the faithfulness in small things to be exercised in one's own nearest calling in life, and to leave the true deliverance of our poor Church — which, according to the divine promise, is infallibly to be expected — to the Lord himself?"

After de Valenti has thus grounded the judgment expressed above, he answers the question: "what might be advised for the Church of Prussia amid the crying needs and dangers of our time?"

"The first thing to be considered here," he says, "is the restoration of the Lutheran Church to her old historical right, which has been trampled underfoot by the violent introduction of the so-called Union now in existence. That the Old Lutheran congregation existing in Prussia has meanwhile experienced toleration is indeed to be acknowledged with high praise; but this is only a provisional, transitory act of justice, which by itself cannot make good the injustice committed against the Lutheran Church and the harm thereby caused. In order to avert the grave consequences and penalties of this act of violence, and likewise to help the existing Old Lutherans out of their present position — which, though not separatist in the strict sense, is nevertheless cut off from the general standing of the law and therefore dangerous — there is no other means than a legally valid restoration of the Lutheran Church in Prussia itself. In what way this can best be brought about, however, is left to those to whom the Lord first grants the willing and then also the accomplishing."

Next he advises granting the Dissenters a public toleration that is indeed most necessary. "As far as the Lichtfreunde in particular are concerned," he says, "this prodigal son can scarcely be kept in the father's house any longer; let him therefore be released in peace and be permitted to eat his husks to his heart's content — he will soonest come to his senses again in this way, that is, the separated congregations will, for their better part, return to the father's house. Yet these dissenting congregations should be required to give not merely a religious but also a political confession of faith, so that one may learn whether they acknowledge the divine right of the civil authority or not." He gives the same advice with regard to the Gustavus Adolphus Association, of which he remarks: "A society which, amid the present confusion of concepts and of language, can lay down neither a religious nor a political confession of faith is to be regarded as a blind, destructive world-power, which sooner or later will follow, without resistance, the current of the unleashed, wild elements of the age, and will serve it."

"Let special and earnest attention," he continues, "be given to the poor. Further, one should content oneself with such improvements of ecclesiastical deficiencies as do not essentially alter the existing constitution and form. More preachers should be appointed, false teachers removed from office, and a well-ordered, scriptural church discipline introduced, from which, understandably, the apostolic ban must not be lacking. Against all civil disturbers of the peace, on the other hand, the sharpness of the sword of the authorities should be used with all power, to the punishment of evildoers and the praise of the godly. If the king and his faithful servants would thus utterly despair of all their own strength, especially of their own wisdom, and be thoroughly healed of all dangerous, self-indulgent lust for reforming, then the Lord would mightily stand by them."

Incidentally, de Valenti remarks: "Even the most exact outward observance of all the counsels given here regarding the particular office of the prince could by no means lead to the goal — that is, to the glorification of Christ and the overcoming of the enemies of the cross — without a preceding, thorough self-judgment." — "It is therefore presupposed that in such self-judgment the conviction should arise that, for example, my complaints against a Göschel, a Nitzsch, and others, as well as against the short-sighted Hengstenberg, puffed up with undigested erudition, are well founded in truth." — De Valenti accuses the gentlemen Göschel, Nitzsch, and Tholuck, namely, of "outrageous pantheistic poison-mixing and dabbling, and of having long since fallen away from the fundamental articles of the Protestant faith." Page 433. In general, however, he describes the fashionable Christianity of our time as a "pious monstrosity" — namely, a heart- and marrow-rotten pietistic wicked servant, who either dissolutely squanders the spiritual gifts and goods of his forefathers, or of his own earlier experiences of grace, or buries them in a napkin.

(Submitted.)
"When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own." John 8:44.

In No. 30 of the "Protestantische Zeitblätter"* an "evangelical Protestant," who thought it best to leave out his name, has written against me with great impudence and rather confusedly. It is said that a Protestant preacher in C. did it at the instigation of my enemies. But could a preacher really write in such a foolishly impudent and confused manner? Now, whoever the author, or authors, of the piece in question may be, this much is certain: that they are Protestants who protest against the truth.

*) We have not yet had the honor of making the personal acquaintance of this paper; nor do we have any desire to, for, judging by the few samples of it which the "Lutheraner" has produced, this periodical, apart from its slanderous tendency, must be an arch-gossip-shop. We would almost ask our dear brethren to leave further gossip of this kind unheeded; after all, these are only withered leaves, which the wind of the "age" blows away of itself. The Editor.