The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1879, Page 18

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18 The Lutheran Pioneer.

Luther himself protested against the use of his
name for any party or part of those on his side.
He never desired our church to be called after
his name, least of all did he wish it for the sake
of honor. ‘I pray,” he wrote in the year 1522,
‘not to use my name and to style one’s self a
Tntheran, but a Christian. What is Luther?
After all, the doctrine is not mine. Nor have
I been crucified for any. St. Paul (1 Cor. 3,
4. 5.) would not suffer Christians to call them-
selves Paulinians or Petrinians, but Christians.
Now, how could I. . . acquire the privilege of
having Christians to call themselves after my
...name? Not so, dear friends; let us do away
with all party names and be called Christians,
for our doctrine is of Christ... Iam not, nor
do I desire to be the master of any one. I have

its special aim and purpose will be to aid, asa
true ‘Pioneer’, in the establishing and sustain-
ing of the Lutheran Church among those who,
till now, are still outside of it. The very name
of this paper tells you this and calls your atten-
tion at the outset, in behalf of what church and
belief its labors shall tend, what views and doc-
trines shall be set forth therein, so that you
may know by its name in what light you are to
receive and read its contents. Fairly and
squarely it carries the Lutheran flag at its mast-
head, in order to deal honestly with its readers.
Now, dear reader, it is possible that you
never heard before that there were such people
as Lutherans until a copy of this paper was
placed in your hands. Or if you did, you may
still know very little about them. You would,

perhaps, like to know something more about
them, what kind of people they are and why
That they
are Christian people you suppose, but why they
bear that strange and queer name you cannot
tell. Some book, which you search for inform-
ation, tells you that they are named after
Luther, the great reformer, born in the year
But why is it, that they
are called after that man, you ask. What does

they call themselves Lutherans.

1483 and died 1546.

that name imply? It seems strange to you

also, that to your knowledge no other denom-

ination is named after aman. The Lutheran
Church alone bears the name of a man.
Let me tell you right here, that people

generally do not understand, why we call our-

selves Lutherans. There are some, even, who

accuse us of committing a great wrong by styl-

ing ourselves Lutherans and naming our church
after Luther. ‘‘Naming your church after a

man! Your church cannot be the Church of

Christ, as it proves by.its very name, that it is
only the production of a man, a mere sect com-
posed of followers of a human being called
Luther. Paul condemns you 1 Cor. 1, 12. 13.
where he says: ‘Now this I say, that every one
of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos;
and I of Cepbas; and I of Christ. Is Christ
divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were
ye baptized in the name of Paul?’ And 1 Cor.

8, 4. he says: ‘For while one saith, I am of

Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye

not carnal??” ‘The assertion and argument of

our enemies are very bold, indeed, an out-
growth of pitiable ignorance. It is mere non-
sensical twaddle and amounts to nothing.

In the. first place, the history of our name
proves that in no wise did the Lutheran Church
adopt her name from free will and christen her-
self to this name. ‘The term ‘‘Lutherans’’ was
first applied to our church by some of its ene-

mies. It was forced upon her as a name of

ridicule and insult to those thinking and beliey-
‘ing with Luther, and at that time known as
Protestants. Dr. Eck, a most zealous Roman
Catholic and bigot, who was defeated and loaded
with disgrace and shame by Luther in the fa-
mous disputation at Leipzic, A. D. 1519, was
the first to apply the term ‘‘Lutherans’’ to
those who believed and taught as Luther did.

with the Church the one common doctrine of
Christ, who alone is our Master. Matth. 23, 8.”

And our Church is of the same mind with
Luther. For centuries she has unwillingly
borne his name, originally intended for ridicule
and insult. The honor and glory, the safety
and welfare of our church do not depend upon
its name. It would gladly relinquish the name
“Lutheran” and adopt the name ‘‘Christian’’,
did not other valid reasons compel it to retain
Luther’s name. Before we examine and ex-
plain these reasons, however, we shall first ex-
plain to the kind reader in the next issue of
this paper the claims our Church makes by its
name ‘‘Lutheran’’, and how it desires its name
to be understood. From this we can learn,
also, what the Lutheran Church pretends to be

and really is.
(To be continued.)

(For the ‘‘Lutheran Pioncer.’’)

The Young Woman and the Jesuit.

Mrs. D—— is a young Canadian woman,
who was married not many years ago. Some
of her early years were spent in a nunnery.
Being mild and gentle, she submitted to all the
teachings of Romanism, and became a very de-
vout disciple of the pope. The first two years
after her marriage she was quite opposed to the
Scriptures, and when any of the missionaries
visited her husband—who was not a Roman-
Catholic and not opposed to the reading of the
Seriptures—she hid herself until they were gone.
But “God, who taketh the wise in their own
craftiness’’, accomplished his purpose in this
way: Though Mrs. D—— was determined not
to listen to the doctrines of the Gospel, she was
induced through affection and love to her hus-
band, to teach him to read, and would even
sometimes, to please him, read a chapter in that
Book he was so desirous to study (the Bible);
and God’s Word did not return void, but pros-
pered in the thing whereunto it was sent. As
she began to see the light, she was much dis-
turbed, and doubted the truth of all she had
hitherto believed. One day, being unusually
distressed in mind, she went toward the fields,

and there, alone with God, she prayed that her

eyes might be opened to discern the truth.

When this dear woman had thus poured forth
her heart unto God, who always hears the cry
of his people, darkness was dispelled, and she
was enabled to comprehend the value of Christ’s
atonement and mediation for believers. The
full assurance of salvation caused a stream of
peace and joy to flow into her soul. From that
time she sought the company of the people of
God, and her faith daily gained strength. No
sooner was this soul enlightened by the Word
of God and the Holy Spirit, than a host of ene-
mies ranged themselves against her. Her re-
lations—bigoted Roman Catholics—tried hard
to make her abandon what they termed her new
religion. They were very angry with her hus-
band, whom they accused of misleading her.
They took her to see the priest, and there, be-
fore a large assembly, God graciously honored
her by enabling her to confess His name, re-
gardless of much reproach and raillery. Her
relations might have been convinced that no
plant which our heavenly Father hath planted
shall be rooted up, and that it was by the grace
of God that she withstood with meckness and
firmness those whom she had hitherto honored
more than God. Since that time her family
almost ceased to see her, but a band of Jesuits
having arrived in the place, and commenced
their work, which is to turn away men from
the only way of salvation, her family thought

it a good opportunity for bringing her back to .

the pale of the Romish church, if they could
only induce her to have an interview with one
of the holy fathers (?), with whom she had been
acquainted for a length of time. She consented,
and a conversation began between the woman
and the Jesuit, as follows:

Jesuit: It is with pain that I hear of your
fall, and that you have allowed yourself to be
misled by strangers, who, by inducing you to
abandon the truth, will cause you to lose your
soul.

Mrs. D.: Sir, it is not the truth I have aban-
doned. I was entirely ignorant of the truth,
until those people you call strangers had the
charity to teach it to me from the Scriptures—
that book which the Romish church never gave
me, but which has led me to find peace, true
peace, from the assurance of pardon for all my
sins.

Jesuit: You read the Scriptures!!! You
should not read them; that book is not good for
you. It is only for those who are ordained to
understand and explain it.

Mrs. D.: But, sir, all sinners are invited not
only to read, but to ‘‘search the Scriptures’? (John
5, 39.). Jesus has also said John 5, 24.: ‘‘He
that heareth my word, and believeth on Him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life.’’” Now, it is impossible to be-
lieve that of which we are ignorant.

Jesuit: The priests alone are competent to
explain the Scriptures; for they are the only
representatives of God on earth.

Mrs. D.: Sir, I attended regularly all the
services and ceremonies of the Romish church

as