# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1850 09 17_S9
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Der Lutheraner.

"God's Word and Luther's doctrine shall pass away now and nevermore." (Rev. John, Chap. 14, v. 6, 7.)

Published by the German Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States.

Edited by C. F. W. Walther.

Vol. 7.  St. Louis, Mo., September 17, 1850.  No. 2.

Terms: Der Lutheraner appears once every two weeks, at the yearly subscription price of One Dollar for out-of-town subscribers, who are to pay it in advance and bear the postage.—In St. Louis each single number is sold for 5 Cents.

Only those letters which contain communications for the paper are to be addressed to the editor; all others, however, which contain business matters, orders, cancellations, moneys, etc., are to be sent hither under the address Mr. F. W. Barthel, care of C. F. W. Walther, St. Louis, Mo.

Testimony of John Arndt
against
the blasphemous errors which have always been current in the Reformed Church and were taught even by its founders.

The reader will remember that a correspondent, signing himself B., in the 21st number of the previous volume of this paper, reminded the Missionsbote, which had spoken in favor of the false union between the Lutherans and the Reformed, how horrible, yea, blasphemous errors are professed by the Reformed Church, and what a great sin it would therefore be if we Lutherans should enter into a union with the Reformed before they have renounced these errors, publicly condemned them, and given room to the truth. This sharp testimony to the truth has so put beside himself the editor of the "Reformirte Kirchenzeitung" of Chambersburg in Pennsylvania, Mr. Schneck, that the good man, who otherwise shows himself so moderate, declares our correspondent a "villain," and all who still share his opinion "ignorant visionaries and bigoted sectarian chieftains." Since Mr. Schneck has hitherto always appeared to us an honest man, we can scarcely believe that he would cover with his scolding and raging merely his own evil, smitten conscience, of which such raging is so often a sign. We rather feel obliged to suppose that Mr. Schneck is so unacquainted with the doctrines of his own church that he really thinks our dear correspondent B. has done it a shrieking wrong; otherwise he would hardly have been so bold as to demand proofs, since, as every informed person knows, the proof for all the charges made by the Lutherans against the Reformed Church is so easy to furnish.

Well, Mr. Schneck has demanded proof; what he desires shall be granted him. But since the Reformed gentlemen have always made use of the artifice of making the people misled by them believe that only dead, quarrelsome, malicious, bigoted, fanatical people charge the Reformed Church with blasphemous doctrines, for it never professed such things but itself abhorred them, we will in this matter let a Lutheran speak, one whom surely even the worst enemy of Lutheranism will not count among that class of people, namely the godly John Arndt, the well-known author of the six books "On True Christianity" and of the unctuous "Paradiesgärtlein." We, however, will add to the assertions of this dear man only the proofs from the public confessions and from the writings of the most renowned and most esteemed theologians of the Reformed Church.

Arndt writes, namely, in the year 1614, after he had already published his "True Christianity," seven years before his death, in the second dedicatory epistle prefixed to his Postil on the Gospels (from which we omit only what he testifies therein against the papacy), as follows:

"Just as man has been created by the almighty, gracious, merciful, most faithful God, our most beloved, kindly, friendly, eternal, heavenly Father, together with God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, for His knowledge, for His honor, praise and glory; from which true divine knowledge our highest comfort, life and salvation springs as from a living fountain, as our dear LORD and Redeemer says, John 17, 3: 'This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent': so also must our faith, doctrine and life be directed to this one end and goal, namely to the true knowledge of God, the honor of God, our comfort and eternal salvation. From this then follows amendment of life, knowledge of oneself, and the love of the neighbor. For this is the end and goal of the whole Holy Scripture, from which ground it is irrefutably concluded that all faith, doctrine and life which is not directed to this goal and end must necessarily be