# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1852 08 31_S2
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

2

After this had just taken place, Pastor Grabau sent us a so-called "Hirtenbrief," which he had issued at the end of the year 1840, first of all to the congregations connected with him, on account of disorders that had occurred in them. At the same time the said person requested us to express ourselves on this "Hirtenbrief." When we read this "Hirtenbrief," we were not a little alarmed; for we found set forth therein the errors of whose ruinous consequences we had but shortly before made only too sad experiences, and from which we had only just been rescued by God's exceeding grace and patience. Had that "Hirtenbrief" reached us at the time when we still did homage to Stephanist principles, we should of course have signed it without more ado, and on the strength of it have forthwith entered into an intimate church fellowship with its author and his congregations; but now, after God had all but forcibly opened our eyes, this was not possible. We read here what we had shortly before recognized in ourselves as an abominable error, had secretly with tears of repentance asked God's pardon for, and had publicly and humbly retracted before the whole Church. We therefore recognized in the demand made upon us, to sign the "Hirtenbrief," a temptation and trial, whether we would now once more let ourselves be overcome by error, or would faithfully keep the light that God of His grace had given us. True, we were at that time so counselless and helpless, and withal so despised and reviled, that the temptation was great with us to keep silent about the errors of Pastor Grabau and to enter into the church fellowship offered us by him: but if we had formerly paid homage to his errors in ignorance, and they had nevertheless led us to the brink of destruction, we could now nevermore with knowledge and will assent to them again. Rather, we came together for an oral conference in St. Louis, compared the Grabauian Hirtenbrief with God's Word, the symbolical writings of our Church and especially the writings of Luther, and thereupon commissioned the blessed Pastor Löber in Altenburg, Perry County, Missouri, to draw up a criticism of the said letter, which we other Saxon preachers then signed along with him, and sent to Pastor Grabau in July, 1843, as the judgment of us all. However mild and brotherly this our judgment was drawn up, it nevertheless made upon Pastor Grabau an altogether different impression from what we had expected. Pastor Grabau, namely, instead of retracting his gross errors so strikingly proved against him, defended them not only, but accused us, in order to avenge himself on us for the attacks upon his orthodoxy, of no fewer than seventeen errors, which he pretended to have found again in our criticism. The consequence of this was a still further exchange of letters on both sides. Whoever wishes to become acquainted with the same in its whole extent, and to convince himself of the truth of what we assert, that the controversy was conducted on our side without any bitterness, but on the side of Pastor Grabau from the very beginning with great passionateness, let him read a little book which the blessed Pastor Löber published under the following title: "Der Hirtenbrief des Hrn. Pastors Grabau zu Buffalo vom Jahre 1840. Nebst den zwischen ihm und mehreren lutherischen Pastoren von Missouri gewechselten Schriften. Der Oeffentlichkeit übergeben als eine Protestation gegen Geltendmachung hierarchischer Grundsätze innerhalb der lutherischen Kirche." This little book (101 pages, large octavo) is to be had at the price of 15 Cents at the Expedition of the "Lutheraner."

As it seems, however, the hostility of Pastor Grabau toward us and the Synod of Missouri (which later publicly made known its agreement with the doctrine defended by us against Pastor Grabau) would perhaps not have become so great, had we, and later the Synod also, not been compelled, little by little, to take in charge a considerable number of people and to help them to obtain preachers, who (these people) had formerly belonged to the congregations of the Grabauian party. For in consequence of the hierarchical principles prevailing in these congregations, not a few of their members have from time to time been unjustly put under the ban, that is, repelled from the Holy Supper and excluded from Christian fellowship; and others, who have indeed not experienced this, but have come to the knowledge of the false doctrine and practice of their preachers, have been compelled in their conscience to withdraw themselves, since these their preachers obstinately held fast to it. These, partly expelled by the Grabauian party, partly withdrawn from it for conscience' sake, have then applied, at first to us Saxon pastors and later to our Synod, with the request that they be provided with the preaching of the pure Word of God and with the administration of the holy Sacraments, and that the blessings of the holy ministry be generally imparted to them. This, however, we could not refuse to those who asked. It is indeed true, we have not hitherto declared or regarded the Grabauian party as a sect or faction, since we have never given up the hope that it will yet in due time, overpowered by the testimony of the truth, turn back from the way it has entered. But how should we have excused it before God and His Church, if we had thrust from us those unjustly expelled by the Grabauian party, or those who for the sake of the errors current in it, and so for conscience' sake, could not remain in it, and had denied them the Means of Grace that were offered to be administered? Would we not thereby have made ourselves partakers of all the errors and sins by which these people had been robbed of the enjoyment of the Means of Grace? Must we not, if we had the mind of JESUS, have had compassion on the poor souls who were as sheep having no shepherd? Or were these perhaps to wait and languish so long until their preachers should perceive their errors, take back the unjustly banned, and proclaim again the Word of God, God's Word, pure and clear, and were they therefore, if this should not happen, to die without the blessings of the ministry, merely that no loss of honor might befall their teachers who persist in error? Whoever believes this must of course think that the shepherds are there not for the sake of the sheep, but the sheep for the sake of the shepherds. We for our part have been able neither to accept nor to follow such ungodly principles, but have believed according to God's Word and acted accordingly, that rather an erring teacher should lose something of his honor than that the bread and water of life should be withheld from the hungry and thirsty. It is, further, indeed true: so there has come to be more and more of dividing and separating. But we ask: who is the author of the division? He who teaches falsely and unjustly bans, or he who flees from him on account of this false doctrine and this unjust ban? Not the latter, but the former; for to flee and avoid false doctrine and teachers God's Word commands us on pain of God's wrath and eternal disfavor. It may, finally, indeed be true that among those who have renounced the party of Pastor Grabau for conscience' sake some dishonest persons have also mingled. But did not once many thousands of knaves from the papacy sneak over with the rest into the Lutheran Church? Did the Reformation thereby become an ungodly work, and the Lutheran Church a faction and sect through these wicked deserters?— If, therefore, Pastor Grabau and Pastor Winkler could prove of a still greater number of those separated from them that they are dishonest people: if they wish to prove from this that the separation from them is an ungodly work, and that our Synod must be a faction, then they place themselves beside the Jesuitical opponents of the Lutheran Church, who likewise seek to prove from the wicked life of many Lutherans who have departed from the papacy that the Reformation is an ungodly work and the Lutheran Church an ungodly sect.

True, our opponent, and especially Pastor Grabau himself, has for a long series of years done everything to make a union ever more difficult, indeed, at last almost impossible; we, on the other hand, have continually left room for it. Already in his Antikritik of July 12, 1844, Pastor Grabau wrote to us Saxon preachers in Missouri: "Finally I assure you that I cannot recognize you as such Lutheran pastors as still hold and confess with earnestness to God's Word and to the Symbols of the Church," after