# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1855 01 30_S95
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

95

it is bound up, that especially as soon as it is practically assailed and acted against, the whole edifice of doctrine is destroyed, the right life hindered, and the Church delivered into the arms of her arch-enemy, the Roman Antichrist. The strife is no longer the subject merely of scientific discussion or friendly conference, but has become a matter of life and action. The spirits have actually collided. It burns within the congregations, at least of those directly touched by it and more remotely affected. In the congregations the doctrine, as a part of the counsel of God, is preached upon, as also the counter-doctrine, — the strife itself is dealt with in the congregational meetings so frequent here. At home people converse about it, and in the closet they bear it before the Lord with sighs and supplications. Naturally the Franconian colonies in particular are involved on account of their relation to Mr. Pastor Löhe. What could Mr. Pastor Löhe, in such a state of things, promise himself otherwise than that by the founding of a seminary with an enthusiastic adherent of his person and doctrine at its head, thrust into the midst of these colonies, which until now stood in hearty concord with the Synod, the spirit of discord would be sown in them, and they themselves, or at least a part of them, would be drawn away from the Synod and led over to him. For if he maintains that the question is still an open one for him, and that he therefore does not come out against us, one would like to ask him first: "if with thee the matter is not yet decided, why dost thou act as if it were decided, while at the same time thou demandest of us that we, who have long held it decided, should act as if it were not yet decided?" Then one would like to show him that his opinion contains a deception in several respects. For first, he cannot deny that he inclines quite decidedly to the side of our opponents; secondly, even he for whom a doctrinal question is really still an open one, if he finds himself on the battlefield itself, and the question itself occupies his conscience, must guard against the defense of the one's own as well as against the attack upon the counter-doctrine from those for whom the question is no longer open, must contend against it, and at least defend the standpoint of his neutrality by adducing counter-arguments against the doctrine maintained, that is, he must strengthen the opponents, keep the weak in anxious suspense, and finally seek to win them for himself. Even an armed neutrality gives up its character as soon as it betakes itself from its own territory with troops upon that of one of the contending parties, in order to obstruct their operations. And this Mr. Pastor Löhe has plainly done with the founding of his institution, and that he should not have done it intentionally is hard even for charity to believe, since the consequences of his step lay too plainly at hand to escape his keen sight. Whence Mr. Pastor Löhe could conclude that he had the call to this must remain, in our opinion, a riddle to everyone who has even a superficial conception of divinely willed churchly order. In vain Mr. Löhe reproaches us that we wished to force him to give up his position between us and Mr. Pastor Grabau, and to take sides for us. Although we had cause to think that Löhe was at one with us, yet, when the contrary appeared, we were indeed deeply grieved, but we simply confined ourselves to asking him not to plant his banner against us at least in the midst of a district which the Lord of the Church has once for all assigned to the care of our synodical body. Would not every church authority, for example the Prussian Lutheran Church Consistory, under like circumstances have acted in like manner? But to be sure, who bids us poor Americans imagine that we may found an independent churchly corporation of our own, maintain it, and accordingly act independently? — Well! since we alone have the responsibility before God, we have indeed lived in the opinion that we also have the call and grace thereto. And even at the risk that this word also, like everything we say and do, may be construed by the dear brethren in Germany as the presumptuous arrogance of churchly inexperienced, immature, and therefore thoughtless stormers, we cannot refrain from denying Mr. Pastor Löhe most decidedly the call and the right to set up, by the erection of that institution in the midst of our synodical congregations, "a warning-pole and barrier for our presumption." We also do not acknowledge that he has labored for us, but only that he has labored with us for the common Zion, as becomes a fellow-servant. We thank him with the Church for the toils and labors which he, as her member in the service of the Lord, has undertaken for her, we honor and esteem his glorious gifts and his person, which the Lord has adorned with them, we retain him in our love, give his wisdom, so far as it can and will counsel us, willing hearing, would rejoice if he fought with us for the common faith, and would also gladly anticipate him with all reverence, but human considerations must cease where God's Word and conscience compel us to take steps that seem opposed to all this. For more closely than with Löhe are we bound with the Lord and His Church, to Him are we higher, yea to Him alone obligated, to Him alone answerable. And although we cannot convince ourselves that with Löhe all our former friends in the dear old fatherland have turned from us, or approve Löhe's manner of acting toward us, yet we would rather see ourselves forsaken by the whole world than yield anything of the truth and the right. For the Lord is after all in the end our only refuge, our rock, our helper and deliverer.

Fr. Wyneken.

The Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary.

Not long ago a so-called Council was assembled at Rome, which had among other things the purpose of deciding the point designated in the heading. In Oertel's "Kirchenzeitung" it says about it as follows:

"It is not a question whether Jesus Christ was conceived of Mary without original sin (for that is understood of itself), but the question is whether the already generally believed proposition: Mary herself, although she descends only in a natural way, like us, from Adam, was, on account of Christ, whose mother she was to become, and on the ground of His infinite merits, conceived without the stain of original sin, shall, I say, this hitherto freely believed proposition, now be established as a formal dogma or commanded article of faith. This doctrine was hitherto only a pious opinion generally believed in the Catholic Church, but not a formal doctrine of faith, so that all Catholics would have been necessarily bound and obligated to believe it also inwardly. After the holy Father, however, was besieged with petitions from all parts of Christendom to impress upon the doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary, by a solemn decision and resolution, the seal of churchly confirmation, so that no one should any longer be entitled to call it in question, Pope Pius IX. saw himself some years ago constrained to demand from all bishops of the Catholic world an opinion in this matter, and after this doctrine had been examined, confirmed with irrefutable grounds and proved from the holy teachers and Fathers of the Church from the oldest times of the Church (!), the spiritual Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth, Pope Pius IX., now wills to establish the generally believed pious opinion, to the greater honor of God and to the special glorification of Mary, whose intercession is so exceedingly needful especially in our time, as a formal article of faith, so that all Catholics, if they do not wish to cease being Catholics, are strictly obligated to believe it. — Forthwith our beloved holy Father on the last feast day of Mary's Conception (the 8th of December 1854) has solemnly established and declared the doctrine that Mary was conceived immaculate and without original sin, in the presence of the bishops assembled at Rome, as a formal and binding article of faith."

Behold, dear reader, so must the poor Papists accept as new articles of faith whatever the Pope ever pulls out of his conjurer's bag, be it ever so clearly contrary to Scripture and even to the Church Fathers and the earlier papal theologians. For the latter also is the case here, as we purpose to prove in another place.

Idolatry with the Cross here in America.

So writes Mr. Oertel in his "Kirchenzeitung" of the 14th of December of last year:

"From Albany we are written: Subsequently I must report to you something further about our last mission: For the glorification of Mary the altar in our holy Cross Church was very beautifully adorned and about 200 lights were seen burning upon the altar; at the planting up and adoration of the holy Cross, however, the preparations were truly magnificent; nothing was spared on the part of the congregation to give full effect to the glorious ideas of the venerable missionary."

Behold, dear Lutheran Christian, the papal church is still the same as she was 300 years ago when Luther came out against her and attacked her idol-priests with the zeal of Elijah. Yea, she now comes forth with her idolatry, if possible, still more boldly than then, when she, after long undisturbed repose suddenly struck by the lightning flash of the Word of God, sought only to excuse herself and would gladly have withdrawn from the gaze of enlightened Christians falling upon her. The wound which the beast then received is, however, healed (Rev. 13, 3). It has gathered its strength again; what it once excused, it has now proved right and divine with the help of hellish logic (art of reason) and practices it now without shame or shyness.

(Sent in. Belated.)

Church Dedication.

On the 23rd Sunday after Trinity, the 19th of Nov. 1854, the Lutheran St. John's Congregation at Long Green, Baltimore Co., Md., with thanks to God and in great joy, dedicated its newly built little log church. It is the same