Lehre und Wehre St. Louis, Missouri — November 1908, Seite 516

German transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

Cited in Eckhardt's Reallexikon (1907) under: Kirche und Staat 13

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516 Kirchlich⸗Zeitgeschichtliches.

put to the test before the greatest nation on earth, and that we cannot
afford, no, not if we have to sacrifice our fathers' political heritage, to
take sides with him or those who do not count Christ as the factor-in all
national issues. — Extracts from a letter by Rev. William M. Carr, of New.
Vork City, in the October number of The Homiletie Revie: We are pre-
eminently a Christian nation. The overlordship of Jesus Christ has char-
acterized the actions and spirit of our people from the beginning of our
national history to the present day. The Supreme Court of the United
Stateés, every judge in his place on the bench, has rendered a unanimous
decision respecting this matter, and that decision reads: This is aà Chris-
tian nation.“ The distinctively Christian Sabbath is upheld by our laws;
how, then, can the members of the Church of Christ in our land consistently
and conscientiously place at the helm of State one who professedly, as
a Unitarian, rejeets the divinity of ou²r Lord, as does William H. Taft?
How can we as men who have pledged our fealty to Jesus Christ as our
divine Lord and Savior, support a man for the position of Chief Magis-
trate of this Christian nation who professedly denies to Jesus Christ His
rightful position as Lord of all'? Other things being equal, Christian
men will preéfer to votée for professedly Christian candidates, and we will
find several such candidates this year, and one who has uttered his testi-
mony for the Prince of Peace' the world around. I recall, as many of
the readers of The KRevieu will, the great meeting of the Federation of
Churches in Carnegie Hall in this eity some time ago. Just before the
vote was taken as to what denominational bodies should be ineluded, some
one raised the question as to the admission of the Unitarians into the
Federation, and referred to the Rev. Dr. Edward Everett Hale as a mem-
ber of that body; nevertheless, the Unitarians were excluded. It was
voted that the basis of the Federation should be the inelusion of all bodies
of Christians who accepted the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
manifestly could be the only rational basis of union. The meeting closed
with the doxology, All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name, sung by thousands
of voices mingling in a great volume of praise. Though personally my
predilections would favor Mr. Taft, I agree with Mr. Boyer that voters
loyal to our Lord Jesus Christ in this Christian land should neither vote
for, nor encourage others to vote for, a man as President who rejeets the
divinity of Jesus Christ.“ Daß diese religiöse Propaganda gegen Taft
unter den Sekten, die fast allgemein Staat und Kirche vermengen, keinen
größeren Umfang angenommen hat, kommt daher, daß sie teils ihrem Prin⸗
zip in der Praxis, wie so oft, untreu, teils den Unitariern gegenüber liberaler
geworden sind. Halten die Sekten doch vielfach jetzt Gemeinschaft mit Re⸗
formjuden! Gewiß folgt aus der Tatsache, daß Taft, der Unitarier, von
unserm Volk erwählt worden ist zu seinem obersten Beamten, entweder,
daß die große Majorität unsers Volkes keine Christen sein wollen, nämlich
alle, die für Taft gestimmt haben, oder daß nach ihrem Urteil unsere Re⸗
gierung (Staat) als solche nicht die Aufgabe hat, das Christentum zu pflegen
und zur öffentlichen Anerkennung zu bringen. Das erste Entweder ist offen⸗
bar falsch und somit das zweite wahr, und dies ist auch die Stellung der
lutherischen Kirche. Aber weder die Sekten noch die Papisten stimmen ihr
darin zu und längst nicht einmal alle Lutheraner. Die Generalsynode
3. B. hat sich auch in diesem Stück vielfach identifiziert mit den Sekten und

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