# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1854 09 26_S21
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

21

holy Sacraments were concerned, and since the council at Münster had asked the Landgrave for orthodox teachers from Hesse, the Landgrave in November appointed Johannes Lening of Melsungen and Theodor Fabricius of Allendorf on the Soden, two preachers, to go to Münster, in order to put out again the fire that had been kindled by the Anabaptists, and to check in good time the dreadful consequences.

The preachers from Hesse arrived in Münster about Martinmas, to the great joy of the council and the citizenry, for they hoped that through the two new preachers the growing evil would be handsomely met. Lening drew up a fine church order, which pleased the council very well also, and it would gladly have kept both as preachers in its city and opened two churches to them. But Lening perceived that a wild and dissolute life and conduct prevailed there, saw that he would accomplish little good, and with the Landgrave's leave soon traveled home again; Fabricius, however, remained there, preached in the Lambertus church, and persevered with the utmost diligence and exhortations, until he was afterwards driven out of the city by the Anabaptist rabble.

Now the Anabaptists had grown bolder, so that they challenged the evangelical preachers to a new disputation before the council. The council consented, yet with this express condition, that the disputation should be conducted solely by clear testimonies of the holy Scripture. In addition, pious and learned men were to be appointed as arbiters, according to whose judgment it should henceforth be held without any further delay. But Rottmann and his companions would not dispute on such terms, and because they refused, the common man began to despise them. Now things looked bad for the rabble, and the council would have been rid of them, had the Anabaptists not taken a shorter way in hand, in order to give their cause a semblance and gloss with the mob. It was shortly after the holy Christmas festival that the first great uproar of the wicked rabble began. For one of the companions had to run through all the streets of the city, as if he had been inspired by the Holy Spirit, and cry: Repent, and be baptized anew, otherwise the wrath of God will fall upon you. Thereupon a great outcry and tumult arose among the common people, for all who had let themselves be baptized anew ran senselessly through the streets like the first, and cried out at the top of their voices: Repent, and be baptized anew, otherwise the wrath of God will fall upon you. One fool makes a hundred fools, and folly begets folly. The mob was seized, honest and dishonest people were swept away by the ever higher and higher swelling stream. Some truly feared God's wrath, others however feared the lust for plunder, for already some of the confederates began to take away goods and property from those who would not join them. The rabble now ran together in the marketplace and cried that all those should be put to death as heathen and godless who would not let themselves be baptized again, broke also into the town hall and carried off the artillery, with which they did violence to many. But some sensible citizens, to protect themselves and their families against such outrage, occupied a place that was somewhat strong, and captured many of the Anabaptists' following. And this struggle lasted until the one party gave the other hostages, and at last they came to an agreement on both sides that each party should remain in its religion, go home, and keep the peace. Thus the year 1534 ended in Münster.

(To be continued)

The Question of Church and Ministry.

In the Rudelbach-Guericke Zeitschrift, in the third quarterly number of this year, there are found two reviews of Harleß's treatise on Church and Ministry. From the second of these reviews we communicate the following:

"According to the testimonies of ancient and modern times we may regard this question, in respect to the Lutheran Church, as settled. The testimonies and proofs of the older and newer writers are so clear that the question, what has the Lutheran Church taught about it, is fully answered. Nothing new can be added here. Harleß also, in this small but important treatise, did not wish and was not able to bring forward anything new. The old doctrines of the Church he has shown in his own manner in a new light. That Harleß always cites the sayings of Luther as notes is very helpful. Unsought and unaffected, one sees the dear teacher of the present walk hand in hand with Luther: it is just one Church, and what she taught centuries ago, that they must still teach now, if they have the same faith of the Church. Of a repudiation of many of Luther's earliest writings, as has shown itself, to be sure with misgivings, today among many Lutherans of the opposite view, there is nothing to be found in Harleß. He uses without hesitation the earliest writings of Luther. And in this he has certainly done quite right. There is one spirit that lives in the first principal writings of Luther as in his last, at least in regard to the questions of Church and Ministry that concern us here (or where are Luther's recantations?), and in this spirit the Symbols were composed. It is therefore as wrong as it is useless, on account of Luther's disagreeable views of the Church and of the Ministry, to lay aside this or that writing of the Reformer which seems not to suit one's own stock in trade. Rather should one openly lay aside the whole principle (the supreme foundation) of the Reformation, as it expresses itself in Luther's writings and in the Confessions; but the principle from the beginning was: the right, the invisible Church must according to Scripture be set over against the false and visible Church according to the Roman doctrinal prescriptions. One should openly confess that one has given up the article of the invisible Church as the Reformers conceived it. But let us once begin on our part to lay aside this or that writing of Luther as erroneous, and followers, in case the predecessors do not satisfy us in this, will certainly not be lacking to us. One will soon see the whole Luther thrown overboard. We are of course not bound to Luther's words, but whoever belongs to the Lutheran Church will also have to acknowledge the Lutheran principle of the Church, which was clearly expressed from the beginning of the Reformation. This contentious attitude of the opponents toward Luther and the Symbols and toward the old Protestant teachers is, however, not the only thing in them that displeases us. Their denial is as distasteful to us as what they themselves set up. Only ask around: Those who do not hold the old Protestant view of Church and Ministry all teach differently. First there was to be a presbyterial succession in the ministry" (that is, first it was asserted that the ministry is propagated by the pastors in unbroken succession), "that is now to be past; then the ministry was to arise in ordination, it was to be given here immediately. Quite recently it has now been asserted that the keys were indeed given to the whole Church, but not the exercise of the power of the keys, which only the ministry possesses. As regards this last view, it seems to have failed quite especially. If we add to these various views also the various doctrines which have been put forward on the opponents' side concerning the visibility of the Church, concerning the alleged divinity of church orders and their necessity to the essence of the Church, we truly do not know what we are actually to hold fast as the firm modern doctrine over against the old Protestant. It will probably soon come to this, that everyone in this circle will have his own particular view of Church and Ministry. This recalls that difference of doctrine at the time of the Reformation concerning the holy Lord's Supper. Zwingli, Calvin, Oecolampadius, etc., had their particular views, each thought he would hit upon the right one, they were agreed only in rejecting the true churchly interpretation, which unanimously held bread and wine to be actually present, but thought the body and blood of JESUS Christ present also in the bread and in the wine. Likewise the old Protestant Church, down to Harleß, unanimously maintains the universal priesthood in its reality and truth, but at the same time in it the ministry of divine