OUR LUTHERAN CHURCH AND THE SURROUNDING

DENOMINATIONS.

By the Rev. J. L. Neve, D. D., Atchison, Kan.

66

'Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed it in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."-Matthew 13:31-32.

The special thought that our Lord wants to emphasize in this parable is the wonderful growth and development of the church which he was about to establish. The Christian Church was indeed insignificant in its beginnings. Those twelve disciples, men of no standing in society, with but little learning, one of them unfaithful, others in need of reproof at frequent occasions, all leaving the Master when the enemy came-such were the beginnings! But soon this parable of the mustard seed began to be wonderfully fulfilled. At Pentacost these disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost, and a power from the most high took possession of them. They went forth as witnesses. Before them and the preaching of those who followed the false gods of the nations sank into the dust. Centuries of terrible persecutions

failed to check the victory of the cross. And during the following ages until this hour all the powers of darkness have been at work to overthrow the Church. But in vain. She stands before us to-day as a tree, the birds of the air, that is the immortal souls, lodging in the branches thereof.

A large tree with many branches-this is the picture we want to hold before our eyes while we speak of “Our Lutheran Church and the surrounding denominations."

I realize the fact that this is a rather delicate subject. But if there should be members of other churches present here, I wish to assure them that not a single word of this address is intended to hurt their feelings. I am speaking to the Luther League Associations in the State of Iowa. It is the special mission of these Luther League societies to cultivate a denominational spirit. The Lutheran Church being of the conviction that it stands for truths of fundamental importance has not only the good right, but the sacred duty to cultivate in its members a consciousness of the fact that their church differs in genius, doctrine and practice from the denominations surrounding them. We can speak of such differences with all due respect for the convictions of others, with acknowledgement of the divine hand in their history, and with an appreciation of the good they are doing.

In starting let us return to the simile in our parable: The Christian Church a large tree with many branches. You all have observed that sometimes a strong and healthy tree can have among its vigorous and well developed branches some that are exceedingly crooked and deformed. They are considered by the gardener so useless that he at once decides to cut them off and cast them aside. Let me mention a few associations-I purposely do not say denomi

nations or churches-that may be likened to such crooked and deformed branches. The Mormons call themselves by the beautiful name: The Latter Day Saints, and us, with all the rest of Christians, they call gentiles. But we insist that an association such as this, with such fundamental errors, with a genius so demon-like, such a caricature of the communion of saints, be not counted among the Christian churches. So it is with the followers of Swedenborg. They adorn themselves with the beautiful name: The Church of the New Jerusalem. But there is hardly a doctrine of the Christian Church that under their mysterious interpretation by which they try to trace a correspondence between the visible and the invisible world does not appear in the most distorted features. Another very peculiar association are the people of "Christian Science." We have all heard so much of that system that I need not describe it. I only say it is a queer science and a wild theology. As a rather odd branch on the tree of the Christian Church I mention the Seventh Day Adventists, an association that may be mentioned here because of its exceedingly proselyting spirit. The hobby of these people is the Saturday as the Sabbath. If they had the right conception of the Gospel they would not put so much weight in the observance of the day, a question so subordinate in the New Testament dispensation. All these associations which I have mentioned ride their hobbics. Christ as the Saviour of sinners is pressed out of the center and their hobby takes his place. The way of salvation is obscured to such an extent that it becomes our duty to warn the souls not to fall into the snares of these sects.

Here a word about the Unitarians and kindred spirits. The Unitarians as a denomination are very weak in America, but Unitarianism is strong because of its many adher

ents in other churches. What is the attitude of our Lutheran Church to Unitarianism? Our Church papers say with pride that modern theology in its radical forms as higher criticism and denial of the fundamental truths of Christianity, has not yet received any recognition in the Lutheran Church. We can say, the genius of the Lutheran Church stands against all forms of Unitarianism. In America all Lutheran synods, no matter of what type their Lutheranism may be, and what language they may use, form a united front against Unitarian tendencies. If this can not be said of Germany and other countries, it is because the Lutheran Church there exists as State Church, linked together with other spirits who demand their part of the influence upon legislation. What is it that offends the Lutheran Church in Unitarianism? Here again Christ is pressed out of the center. In place of Him they have put a kind father, but one who exists only in the imagination. Harnack, the most prominent interpreter of Unitarianism in Germany, says with plain words in his "Essence of Christianity," that Jesus does not belong to the Gospel, only the Father belongs there. They speak of Him in words of highest praise, but he is not needed as Saviour any more. Atonement for sin is not necessary. There is no wrath of God against the sinner. God is a kind father and forgives without atonement. We must simply take courage, believe in His kindness and under all adversities trust in Him. In this Jesus can teach us. He was, of course, not God, but a most superior man, who has set us an example and showed us how we should trust and believe in God as our father. Do you see how they have robbed Him of His Godhead, of His place as a Mediator and Saviour, and then with empty compliments shown Him His place outside, near the door,

where He may serve as teacher and example? Now what is our attitude towards Unitarianism? As Lutherans, with a system of doctrines that gives Christ the central place, that declares Him to be the source of all spiritual life; as Lutherans of the Augsburg Confession who believe in original sin and the wrath of God against the sinner, in the atonement through Christ and justification by faith, we are in our very existence a protest against Unitarianism. And guided by the Bible which we regard as God's revelation, we say, if the Unitarian tendencies embody themselves, as they have done, in denominations with a negative creed, then such denominations do not belong to the churches that have a right to exist. They belong to the crooked and deformed branches on the tree of the Christian Church.

There has been, in the Lutheran Church of our country, a great deal of discussion on the fellowship question. How far can we go in holding common services with other churches without being disloyal to the truth for which our church stands? I am inclined to warn against, at least. an unqualified acceptance of the so-called Galesburg Rule as far as the denominations are concerned who believe with us in the fundamental doctrines of the Christian Church. But I believe that we all agree to this: If we as Lutherans would hold church fellowship with religious societies of the kind such as I have enumerated, we would sin in a two-fold way. First, we would mislead our own people to believe that the differences were of no fundamental character. And second, thus acknowledging these societies as legitimate parts of the Christian Church we would strengthen them in a position by which they do incalculable harm to immortal souls. In either we would fail to do our duty as professing Christians.