# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_Januar 1933 ff. masthead not in scan _S347
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

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was indeed a great German; but it is not as a German that he lives in church history, nor as a prophet in the sense customary in the land, but as a confessor of JESUS Christ, as a preacher of the pure Word of God, which had been falsified and obscured by the Antichrist, as a Bible Christian. This must be said at our Luther celebrations, and from this point we want to make clear the significance of Luther for our present time of Christendom.

J. T. M.

Superstition and Idolatry in the Roman Church. The "Holy Year," which the Pope wants celebrated by all the world this year, is still in effect, although one hears less about it now. Just now there is a great exhibition especially in the Italian city of Turin. There, namely, until October 15 the "holy coat" of Christ is on display, "in which the Savior was wrapped when he was taken down from the cross." Exactly how this happened, the Roman historians give little thought to; yet the coat is said to have come in a wonderful way into the possession of the Italian royal family, in which it may be mended only by the queen and her daughters, and indeed in such a way that these must lie on their knees while doing so. No one may touch the coat on display; otherwise he is excluded from the Roman Church. The Roman worshipers must view it adoringly, lying on their knees, as it lies before them in its jewel-adorned box. In the year 1931 the coat was exhibited again for the first time in thirty-two years and was viewed by millions of people. This year the coat was put on display in the presence of many princes and princesses and twenty-eight archbishops and bishops, while thousands of people crowded into the great cathedral to see the miracle coat.

Let us Lutherans thank God that he has taught us again through Luther that the real sanctuary of Christ is his Word, in which we can see him and enjoy him. But while thousands crowd forward to see Christ's "coat," the Bible remains unread by so many; indeed, the Pope does not suffer his adherents to hear and believe the pure Gospel of Christ.

J. T. M.

"Many Sects and Much Fanaticism." Some time ago there died in India an ungodly woman who had become known throughout the world under the name of Annie Besant. God had granted her a long lifetime so that she could repent and be saved; but she trampled God's time of grace underfoot, despised his Gospel, and so went in unbelief to her place, with the great guilt on her conscience that she led thousands astray and in addition put the very greatest difficulties in the way of Christian missions in India. She was the wife of an English clergyman, but after some time became a freethinker, left her husband with her and his two children, and traveled about the world in order to combat Christianity in every possible way. Finally she went to India, where she became the leader of the so-called Theosophists or "God-wise," a sect that was founded many years ago by the spiritually utterly misguided Madame Blavatsky. What this sect believes is pretty much what the old heathen Hindu teachers have laid down in their religious books. In the interest of this heathen religion Annie Besant wrote some three hundred and fifty books and tracts. A few years ago she came again to the West with the announcement that she was bringing the world a new Messiah, namely the thirty-year-old Jeddo Krishnamurti. But this Krishnamurti was not very Messiah-like. He played tennis, dressed in the European manner, struck up relationships with girls, showed a considerable love for the world, and finally gave up playing the Messiah. Annie Besant also prophesied that she would live to be a hundred years old; but she did not quite reach the age of eighty-six. At her wish her body was cremated.

The bad thing about the evil work of Mrs. Besant was that thousands of deceived people in the West as well as in the East looked up to her as to a prophetess. Here in St. Louis alone four hundred "educated" persons attended a funeral service that was held in her honor. In it everything that could recall mourning was avoided; for the "prophetess" had asserted that she would soon return in the form of a young Hindu, in order to teach the world still more wisdom. We Christians know that she will let this go; for the rich man also did not return from hell, although he would gladly have preached repentance to his five ungodly brothers. In view of such fanatics as Annie Besant was, we all have reason to ask ourselves: What are we doing so that the Gospel may be preached in the whole world in this evil time before the Last Day?

J. T. M.

A Japanese Luther Scholar. A genuine Luther scholar, according to the report of the Japan Lutheran Bulletin, is Prof. Dr. Sato, the teacher of church history at the Lutheran theological seminary in Tokyo. For twenty years he has occupied himself with Luther's life and Luther's writings. In order to understand Luther and his work the better, he undertook a journey to Germany in the year 1924, where he not only studied the sources but also visited the Luther sites, which are indeed held in high honor there. His writings about Luther that have appeared in the Japanese language are very numerous. In January of this year he received from the Imperial University in Kyoto the title Bungaku Hakushi, which is equivalent to our American title Doctor of Letters. The subject of his dissertation was: "An Investigation of the Religion and Theology of Martin Luther on the Basis of His Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans." This was the first time that a Christian scholar received from a heathen university the title of a Bungaku Hakushi on the basis of a decidedly Christian treatise. For ten years Dr. Sato has been publishing a small monthly periodical bearing the title "Lutherstudien."

This is gratifying news, which ought to serve us also to read Luther diligently. Whoever eagerly studies Luther's glorious works celebrates the Luther jubilee best.

J. T. M.

"A Mighty Fortress."

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. Ps. 118, 8.

"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever," begins the 118th Psalm, the lofty song of victory of Israel, when the temple had been rebuilt and the walls of Jerusalem built again. Men wanted to hinder it; the builders had to work with sword and trowel; the Persian king promised help, but the help failed. In spite of the king, in spite of the enemies the building went on; for God built. Now the building was finished. "The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly," sang the priests in the temple. "I shall not die, but live," answered the choir. That is my psalm, Luther, the fighter of God, said later. It became his Reformation hymn, his comfort, his strength, "and if the world were full of devils." He knew on whom he could rely. The psalm says it: "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."

"It is better to trust in the LORD." Israel has ex-