Book: American Lutheranism Vindicated; or, Examination of the Lutheran Symbols, on Certain Disputed Topics

S >> Samuel Simon Schmucker >> American Lutheranism Vindicated; or, Examination of the Lutheran Symbols, on Certain Disputed Topics




Baptism in _adults_, is a means of making a public profession, of
previous faith, or of being received into the visible church, as well
as a pledge and condition of obtaining those blessings purchased by
Christ, and offered to all who repent, believe in him, and profess his
name by baptism.

Baptism in _infants_, is the pledge of the bestowment of those blessings
purchased by Christ for all. " As in Adam all die, even so in Christ
shall all be made alive." And "The promise is to you and your
_children_," Acts ii. 39. These blessings are forgiveness of sins, or
exemption from the penal consequences of natural depravity, (which would
at least be exclusion from heaven on account of moral disqualification
for admission,) reception into the visible church of Christ, grace to
help in every time of need, and special provision for the nurture and
admonition in the Lord, to which parents pledge themselves.

The language of the Saviour to Nicodemus, John iii. 6, "_Unless a man be
born of water and the spirit_" doubtless refers also to baptism, which
had been known to the Jews, and practiced by John the Baptist, before
the ministry of Christ, as a mode of _public reception_ of proselytes,
who were then said to be new born. Its import is to inform Nicodemus,
that he must _publicly_ profess the religion of Jesus by baptism, and
also be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, if he desired to enter the
kingdom of heaven. Thus, also, the words, Acts xxii. 16, "_Arise and be
baptized, and wash away thy sins_," were addressed to Paul _after_ he
had surrendered himself to Christ, and signifies: "Arise, and publicly
profess Christ by baptism, and thus complete your dedication of
yourself to his cause, the condition, on the sincere performance of
which, God will for Christ's sake, pardon your sins."

Baptismal regeneration, either in infants or adults, is therefore a
doctrine not taught in the Word of God, and fraught with much injury to
the souls of men, although inculcated in the former symbolical books.
At the same time, whilst the doctrine of baptismal regeneration
certainly did prevail in our European churches, and is taught in the
former symbolical books, it is proper to remark, that the greater part
of the passages in the symbols relating to this subject, are explained
by many in the present day, to signify no more than we above inculcate,
and therefore a not teaching baptismal regeneration.

Note 1. Luther's Works, Vol. xii., p. 339.

Note 2. Ibid.

Note 3. Ibid. Vol. xxii., p. 139.

Note 4. Melanchthon's [sic] Works, Koethe's edit., Vol. iv., p. 234.

Note 5. Ibid. pp. 251, 242.

Note 6. Died in 1643.

Note 7. Gottheil's Translation, p. 187.

Note 8. Ibid. p. 188.

Note 9. Ibid. p. 193.

Note 10. Loc. Com. Vol. iv., p. 260.


EXAMINATION OF THE LUTHERAN SYMBOLS.
CHAPTER X. THE LORD'S SUPPER.

That the doctrine of the _real presence_ of the body and blood of the
Saviour in the eucharist, is taught in the symbolical books, is
acknowledged by the Plea of the Rev. Mr. Mann, and indeed generally
admitted, though variously stated and explained. It would therefore be
unnecessary to quote those symbols in proof, were it not that many of
our readers have not access to them elsewhere, and that the
completeness of our representation, as well as the plan of our work
require it. The following passages will suffice to explain this view:--

_Augsburg Confession_, Art. X.

OF THE LORD'S SUPPER.

"Concerning the holy Supper of the Lord, it is taught, that the _true
body and blood_ of Christ are truly present, under the form of bread
and wine, in the Lord's Supper, and are there administered and
received."--_Symb. Books_, p. 112.

_Apology to the Confession_, Art. VII., VIII. (IV.)

"Our adversaries (the Romanists,) do not object to the tenth article
(of the Augsburg Confession,) in which we confess that the _body and
blood_ of Christ our Lord, are _truly present_ in the holy supper, and
administered and received with the visible elements, the bread and wine,
as hitherto maintained in the (Romish) church, and as the Greek Canon
shows."--_Symb. Books_, p. 227.

_Smalcald_, Article VI.

"Concerning the Sacrament of the Altar, we hold that the bread and wine
in the Eucharist, are _the true body and blood_ of Christ, which are
administered and received, not only by pious, but also by impious
Christians."--_Symb. Books_, p. 384.

_Luther's Smaller Catechism_.

"_What is the Sacrament of the altar?_

"_Ans_.--It is the _true body and blood_ of our Lord Jesus Christ, with
bread and wine, instituted by Christ himself, for us Christians to eat
and drink."--_Symb. Books_, p. 124.

_Form of Concord_, Pt. I., Art. VII.

"We teach that the _true body and blood_ of our Lord Jesus Christ, are
truly and essentially, or substantially, present in the Lord's Supper,
administered with the bread and wine, and _received with the lips by
all_ those who use this sacrament, be they worthy or unworthy, good or
evil, believing or unbelieving; being received by the believing unto
consolation and life, but by the unbelieving unto judgment."-_Symb.
Books_, p. 570.

"We believe, teach, and confess, that the words of the testament of
Christ, are not to be understood otherwise than according to their
_literal_ sense, so that the bread does not signify the absent body of
Christ, and the wine the absent blood of Christ, but on account of
their sacramental union, _that the bread and wine_ ARE _truly the body
and blood of Christ_." (Sondern dass es wahrhaftig um sacramentlicher
Einigkeit willen der Leib und Blut Christi sei. Sed ut propter
sacramentalem unionem panis et vinum _vere sint corpus et sanguis
Christi_.)--_Idem_., p. 571.

"We believe, teach, and confess, that not only the truly believing and
the worthy, but also the unworthy and the unbelieving, _receive the
true body and blood of Christ_."-Page 572.

"In addition to the above clear passages, incontestably teaching the
real presence, it deserves to be ever remembered, that only fourteen
years after the Form of Concord was published, when Duke Frederick
William, during the minority of Christian II., published the VISITATION
ARTICLES OF SAXONY, in 1594, in order to suppress the Melancthonian
tendencies to reject this and other peculiarities of the symbols, the
Article on this subject which was framed by men confessedly adhering to
the old symbols, and designing to re-enunciate their true import, and
which was enforced upon the whole church in Saxony as symbolic, gives
the most objectionable view of this doctrine, viz.: I. 'The pure
doctrine of our church is, that the words, '_Take and eat, this is my
body: drink, this is my blood_, are to be understood _simply and
according to the letter_.' II. That the body (which is received and
eaten,) is the _proper_ and _natural body_ (der rechte natuerliche Leib)
of Christ, _which hung upon the cross;_ and the blood (which is drunk)
is the _proper_ and _natural blood_ (das rechte natuerliche Blut) _which
flowed from the side of Christ_.' Mueller's Symb. Books, p. 847. Now we
cannot persuade ourselves, that this is the view of a single minister of
the General Synod, or of many out of it; and yet these are the views
that those are obligated to receive, who avow implicit allegiance to the
former symbolical books of our church in Europe. If any adopt the
modification received by many of our distinguished divines, such as
Reinhard Storr, Knapp, and others, they do not faithfully embrace the
symbolical doctrine, and cannot fairly profess to do so."

In regard to the arguments against this view of the _mode_ of the
Saviour's presence, we shall merely add an enumeration of the principal,
and refer the reader for a more full and detailed discussion of the
subject to Discourse IV. contained in our History of the American
Lutheran Church, pp. 120 to 154, 5th edition.

The Reformers justly rejected the Romish error, that the bread and wine
were transformed and transubstantiated into the body and blood of
Christ. But they still adhered to the opinion, that the real body and
blood of the Saviour are present at the Eucharist, in some mysterious
way, and are received by the month of every communicant, worthy and
unworthy. This view of the subject appears inconsistent with the Word
of God, for various reasons:-

(_a_) When Christ uttered the words, this (bread) is my body, his body
was not yet dead, but living and reclining, at their side at the table.
It was therefore certainly not received by them into their mouths. The
language must, therefore, have been figurative, such as Jesus was
accustomed often to employ. Thus, when he said, "I am the _door_" John
x. 9, he certainly does not mean a literal door, such as a door of wood
or stone or brass or of any other material. He means that the
acceptance of the atonement and mediation by the sinner is the
appointed condition of salvation to him. Thus also when he says, "I am
the _true vine_" John xv. 1; or "The field is the world," "The seed is
the word," &c., he evidently is speaking figuratively and communicating
important moral truth, by images drawn from physical nature, as is
naturally done by nearly all writers and speakers of all ages and in
all languages.

(_b_) The blessed Saviour himself exhorts us, "Do this in remembrance of
me;" but we can remember only that which is past and absent. Hence when
he admonishes us to do this in remembrance of him, he teaches us, that
he is not personally or bodily present at the eucharistic celebration.

(_c_) Paul also represents the design of this ordinance to be, "To show
or publish the _Lord's death_," until he comes. But the Lord's death
upon the cross occurred about eighteen hundred and twenty years ago.
Therefore, according to Paul, the object of the holy supper is to
commemorate a _past event_, and not a present person.

(_d_) The doctrine of the real presence of the true body and blood of
Christ, contradicts the clear and indisputable testimony of our senses,
for as the body and blood are to be received by the mouth of the
communicant, they must be circumscribed by space, and the reception must
be a local and material one, which if it did occur at sacramental
occasions, could be observed by the senses.

(_e_) It contradicts the observation of all nations and all ages, that
every body or material substance must occupy a definite portion of
space, and cannot be at more than one place at the same time.

For these and other reasons the great mass of our ministers and
churches, connected with the General Synod, reject this doctrine, as
inconsistent with the word of God. The disposition to reject this error,
or at least to leave the mode of the Saviour's presence undecided, was
manifested by Melancthon himself, as is evident from his having stricken
out the words which teach it from the Augsburg Confession, and from his
having inserted others in their stead of a general nature, leaving room
for different opinions on this question. The same disposition prevailed
extensively in Germany in the latter third of the sixteenth century.
But during the first quarter of the present century, the conviction that
the Reformers did not purge away the whole of the Romish error from this
doctrine, gained ground universally until the great mass of the whole
Lutheran Church, before the year 1817, had rejected the doctrine of the
real presence. During the last twenty years the doctrines and writings
of the Reformation in general have been the subject of extensive study
by the reviving church in Germany, and as is natural, a small portion
of the churches have embraced the symbolic view of this doctrine in
full, and have become known as Old Lutherans, whilst others, both there
and in this country, have embraced various modifications of it. But the
great body of the ministers and churches regard the real presence of
the _body_ and _blood_ of the Saviour, in any proper sense, which the
words convey, as a misapprehension of the word of God.

_The supposed special Sin-forgiving Power of the Lord's Supper_.

On this subject, important as it is, especially to the masses of the
less educated, who are most liable to these erroneous views, but little
need be said in addition to the principles established on the subject
of the sacraments in general. The word of God clearly inculcates the
doctrine, to which Luther and his coadjutors gave such prominence, that
no one can be justified or pardoned except by a living faith in Christ,
and such a faith is found only in the regenerate mind. And whenever the
sinner exercises this living faith in Christ he is justified, that is,
his sins are pardoned, he is in a _state of justification_, and
continues in it, until by deliberate, voluntary violation of God's law,
he falls from grace. Now, every communicant either possesses this faith,
or he does not. If he does, he is justified or pardoned before he
communes; if he is destitute of this faith, his communing cannot justify
or pardon him; for man is justified by faith alone. Yet are there
thousands of church members who afford no satisfactory evidence of
regeneration, or of that faith which works by love, and purifies the
heart, and overcomes the world; who, because they approach the
sacramental table with seriousness and sincerity, and perhaps with some
sorrow for their sins, believe that they obtain pardon for their
transgressions, and yet still continue in their unregenerate state. It
cannot be said that the symbolical books clearly teach the above error,
but they are not sufficiently guarded, and are understood by many as
inculcating the doctrine, that a sincere and devout participation of
the Lord's Supper secures the pardon of sin, even where satisfactory
evidences of regeneration are wanting, the persons referred to
mistaking a mere historical belief for a living faith. Hence, as the
_Scripture nowhere connects the forgiveness of sins with the duty of
sacramental communion_, any more than with the performance of any other
prominent christian duty, it is not proper that we should do so. The
design of the Holy Supper is to show forth the Lord's death, to profess
the name of the Redeemer before the world, to confirm the previous
faith of the communicant, to bring him into closest spiritual communion
with his blessed Saviour, and to secure his special spiritual blessing:
but not to bestow forgiveness of sins upon the unregenerate, however
serious they may be. Against this dangerous error all should therefore
carefully guard, and ever remember the declaration of the Lord Jesus
when he said, "_Unless a man be born again_ (become a new creature in
Christ Jesus) _he cannot see the kindom [sic] of God_."


CHAPTER XI.
EXORCISM.

This superstitious practice, which consists in a prescribed formula of
adjuration, accompanied by various menacing demonstrations, by the use
of which the priest professes to expel the evil spirits from an
individual, of whom they are supposed to have taken possession, was
practised in the Romish Church, principally before the baptism of
infants. The rite was retained, with an altered interpretation, in
various parts of the Lutheran Church in Europe, for several centuries.
In the American Lutheran Church, it was never received by the fathers
of our church, and is regarded as unscriptural and highly objectionable,
under the most favorable interpretation that can be given it.

As exorcism is not touched by the Augsburg Confession, it is also not
discussed by the Rev. Mr. Mann, in his Plea. But as others have
objected to the Platform for representing it as in any degree a part of
the Symbolic system, we will adduce evidence enough to satisfy every
impartial and reasonable reader, that it was so regarded for several
centuries, by a considerable portion of the Lutheran Church in Europe;
and that the assertion of the Platform, "_that this rite was retained,
with an altered interpretation, in various parts of the Lutheran Church
in Europe, for several centuries_," (p. 23,) is even more than
sustained.

As our church, in common with the other state churches of Europe, is
controlled by the civil government, the ministers and members of the
church were never invited or permitted to deliberate and decide on the
question what books they will receive as symbolical or binding. This
work the political rulers or princes determined for them, in
consultation with some leading divines. Still we may fairly regard those
confessional writings as symbolical, which have been prescribed by the
government, and received and _practiced_ on by the churches. Now, if the
"Taufbuechlein," " Tract or Directory for Baptism," of Luther, _in which
Exorcism is commanded_, was thus prescribed and received [tr. note:
there is a space here which could be meant to contain the word "by"] two
or three principalities or provinces of Europe, the position of the
Platform is vindicated; but the truth is, it was received by entire
kingdoms and provinces, and retained in practice for centuries; so that
the Platform is more than sustained. Let us _first_ hear the testimony
of the best authorities of Germany on the subject, and _then_ sum up
the results.

(_a_) _Dr. Guericke, [Note 1] Professor of Theology at Halle, the author
of a well-known Church History, testifies: "Moreover, the Smaller
Catechism (of Luther) contained, even in the oldest known German
edition, (Wittenberg, 1529,) several forms of prayer, the Family
diretory [sic] or selection of Scripture passages on the
duties of all orders and conditions of men, and the Directory for
marriage and _baptism, all of which supplementary tracts were also
received into the_ FIRST _authentic edition of the German "Book of
Concord_." The baptismal directory was therefore received into the very
first authentic edition of the symbolical books.

(_b_) _Dr. Koellner_, Professor of Theology at Goettingen, in his
excellent "Symbolik," p. 501, states: "There was a Latin Directory for
Baptism extant, (in the Romish church,) which Luther translated into
German unaltered in 1523. It is found in Vol. II. of his works, Jena
edition, pp. 248-252, and Vol. II. All, pp. 304-327. But in 1524 or 1526
he wrote the Baptismal Directory, and brought it into the form in which
it was added to the Catechism. Thus it is found Vol. II. of Altenb. ed.
p. 227. It was therefore added to the Catechism by Luther himself, and
at the earliest period (of the Reformation.) [Note 2] The directory for
the solemnization of matrimony was also added by Luther in the 2d
edition. Both those Tracts were usually published together with the
smaller Catechism; and were also received into the Corpus Thuring. and
into _the first edition of the Book of Concord_, June, 1580."

Again, we see that this Directory for baptism in which exorcism is
prescribed, was not only the production of Luther, but also added by
him to his Catechism, and introduced into the very first collection of
the symbolical book.

(_c_) _Dr. Baumgarten Crusius_, Professor of Theology at Jena, in his
History of Christian Doctrines, Vol. II. p. 322, thus testifies: "By
means of the religiously energetic language of Luther, _exorcism_ was
introduced among his party, and established itself amid much opposition,
(amongst others from the Papists) in rigid opposition to Calvinism, and
as is the case amongst us _at present_, (1846,) from attachment to
ancient, stern orthodoxy, and their idea of genuine Lutheranism, as well
as from the superstitious belief of a magic influence over the kingdom
of evil spirits."--"The liturgic formula (for exorcism) retained in the
Lutheran church, was first zealously espoused by the populace, when the
Crypto-Calvinists especially in Saxony, raised opposition to it; and
since then it has been regarded as a _criterion of Lutheranism_,
although exorcism is not mentioned in the Saxon Articles of Visitation,
and from an early period it was defended by the Lutheran theologians
merely as a free matter of indifference, with only a figurative
meaning." Here we find not only that exorcism has extensively prevailed
in the Lutheran church of Germany, but that as late as 1846, it still
was adhered to by some in Saxony: and that for a long time after the
rise of Crypto-Calvinism in the latter part of the sixteenth century,
adherence to this rite was regarded as a _test_ of genuine Lutheranism.
How vain therefore the attempt to deny that it was regarded as a part of
symbolic Lutheranism in some parts of the church!

(_d_.) _Dr. Augusti_, Professor of Theology at Bonn, and more recently
at Berlin, the celebrated author of numerous works, bears the following
testimony: "At the close of the sixteenth century the vindication of
exorcism was considered a proof of _Lutheran orthodoxy_ in opposition to
the Reformed and Crypto-Calvinists. In the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries there was much contention for and against it; and even in the
_nineteenth_ century its retention or rejection was not yet regarded as
a matter of indifference." p. 350.

(_e_) In _Siegel's_ Manual of Christian Ecclesiastical Antiquities, (a
learned and excellent work in four volumes, published in Leipsic, 1836,)
vol II. p. 64, 65, 67, we find the following testimony: "Inasmuch as he
(Luther) pronounced this rite not indeed as necessary, but yet as
_highly useful_, in order to remind the people very impressively of the
power of sin and the devil; it was not remarkable that the zealous
adherents of Luther were also unwilling to abandon his views on this
subject. Hence we find that _in all countries in which the views and
example of Luther were rigidly adhered to, as in Saxony, Wuertemburg,
Hanover, Sweden, and other places_, a strong attachment to exorcism
prevailed, which was often regarded _as the criterion of orthodoxy_."
"Some Lutherans cherished exorcism with a kind of _passionate
fondness_." "In the sixteenth century exorcism was alternately defended
in one place and disapproved in another; and in the latter half of the
eighteenth, attention was again directed to the subject partly by
accidental circumstances, and partly also by the great changes in the
department of theology. The result has been that exorcism has been
entirely abolished in different individual towns; and in several
countries. This, for example, was the case in Regensburg in 1781, in
Hamburg in 1786, and since 1811, in all Sweden." "In other Protestant
Lutheran Stales, it is still left to the choice of the parents, whether
they will have their children baptised with or without exorcism." "The
author (says Siegel) was himself placed in the unpleasant predicament
in the year 1836," of having been requested to perform baptism with
exorcism!!

(_f_) _Dr. Sigismund J. Baumgarten_ of Halle, one of the most learned
and profound divines that ever adorned the Lutheran church, who himself
published one of the best and the most extensively circulated editions
of the symbolical books in 1747, not only inserts the Directory for
Baptism (which inculcates exorcism) among the symbolical books, but on
p. 637 bears the following testimony: "The Directory for solemnizing
marriage, as well as the following _Directory for Baptism_, are found in
the _oldest Corp. Doctrinae_, in the _Thuringian, Julian, Brandenburg_,
and first DRESDEN EDITIONS, and also subsequently, in the Leipsic and
Reineccian," p. 637.

From these historical testimonies the following points are clearly
established:

1. That the Directory for Baptism, in which _exorcism_ is prescribed,
was certainly received into the first and authentic edition of the
German Book of Concord, or collection of symbolical books. This is
attested by Drs. Guericke, Sig. Baumgarten, and Koellner. It was
subsequently republished in various other editions, down till the recent
editions of Mueller, and also of Ludwig in our own country. In other
editions [Note 3] it was omitted, because in some portions of Germany
exorcism was rejected at an early day, as stated in the History of the
American Lutheran Church.

2. It is proved that the _practice of exorcism_ was for a long time
regarded as a _test of orthodoxy_ in many Lutheran territories of
Germany. Attested by Drs. Augusti, Baumgarten Crusius and Siegel. In
these countries editions of the symbolical books containing the
Baptismal Directory were in use, and the rite was regarded as
symbolical.

3. The rite was received and practised throughout Sweden, the entire
kingdom of Wuertemberg, Hanover, Saxony, &c., &c. Siegel and others.
[sic]

4. It is established incontestibly [sic] that the practice was continued
for centuries in some of these countries, and was but recently renounced
by others. Siegel and others. [sic]

We may therefore well affirm, that the position of the Definite
Platform on this subject has been established beyond the possibility of
serious doubt, namely, "_That this rite was retained, with an altered
interpretation, in various parts of the Lutheran Church in Europe for
several centuries_." p. 23.

As to making the symbolic character of a book depend on its being found
in any particular number of editions or in them all, it is inadmissible,
because, as Dr. Hase remarks, and the respected author of the Plea
admits, the Augsburg Confession is the only one of the Lutheran
symbolical books which has been universally received throughout the
church. These editions, moreover, have been published, some by the civil
governments, and others by private individuals; and the Lutheran church
as such, has never been called on to decide which books are symbolic.
The practice of different portions of the church is different, therefore
the distinction must be made as to the extent to which each book was
received; and as it is certain that exorcism was in some countries and
periods even regarded as a _distinctive test_ of orthodoxy, _then
and there_, this rite must have been regarded as symbolic in the
highest degree.

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