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 HEADING, PA.: 
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 (A. BENDEL). 
 
 

 CONTENTS. 
 
 I. THE APOSTOLIC ERA, 33—100. 
 
 1. The Twelve Apostles. 
 
 2. The Apostle Paul. 
 
 3. The Apostles' Assistants and Co- 
 laborers. 
 
 The First Christians. 
 
 The Destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 II. THE ERA OF PERSECUTION, 100—325. 
 
 6. Under the Roman Emperors. 
 
 7. Faithful unto Death. (Ignatius, 
 
 Polycarp, Pothinus, Blandina, 
 Perpetua, Laurentius, Cyrillus.) 
 
 8. The Last Persecution. 
 
 9. The Church in her Period of 
 
 Bloom. 
 
 III. 
 
 THE ERA OF EXTERNAL QUI^T, 323—600. 
 
 12. Monks and Hermits. 
 
 13. The Gospel in Germany. 
 
 10. The Emperor Constantine the 
 
 Great. 
 
 11. Controversies & Curch Fathers. 
 
 IV. ERA OF THE CHURCH'S DECLINE, 600—1500. 
 
 14. Mohammed. 622. 
 
 15. The Papacy. 809. 
 
 16. The Crusades. 1100. 
 
 17. The Waldenses. 1100. 
 
 18. Wyckliffe in England. 1400. 
 
 19. John Huss in Bohemia. 1400. 
 
 V. THE REFORMATION PERIOD, 1500—1648. 
 
 20. Dr. Martin Luther, 1500. 
 
 21. Indulgence and the 95 Theses. 
 
 1517. 
 
 22. The Diet at Worms. 1521. 
 
 23. The Augsburg Confession. 1530. 
 
 24. Luther's Domestic Life and 
 
 Death. 1546. 
 
 25. 
 
 26. 
 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 
 The Reformation in other Coun- 
 tries. 
 
 Assistants of the Reformation. 
 Gustavus Adolphus and the 30 
 Year's War. 
 Church Song. 
 
 29. 
 30. 
 
 VI. 
 
 The Pietists 
 Missions. 
 
 THE MODERN ERA, 1648—1880. 
 
 31. The Period of "Illumination." 
 
 32. The Church in America. 
 
 Religious Denominations. 
 
 3 
 
 33. 
 
* 
 
 I. THE APOSTOLIC ERA. 
 
 (A. D. 33-100.) 
 
 1. THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 OKTY DAYS after Easter, the day of resurrec- 
 tion, our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 ascended into heaven. Before His ascension, He 
 had given the command to His Apostles to go 
 into all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
 creature, to make disciples of all nations by bap- 
 tizing and teaching them. Before beginning this work, however, 
 they were to remain at Jerusalem, until the Holy Ghost, whom 
 He had promised, should be poured out. This occurred on Pen- 
 tecost, or Whitsun Day. Pentecost is therefore the birthday of 
 the Church of Jesus Christ. The congregation, gathered on 
 this day at Jerusalem, was the first Christian congregation upon 
 earth. The Lord had chosen twelve Apostles, viz. : Peter, An- 
 drew, James (the son of Zebedee), John, Philip, Bartholomew, 
 Matthew, Thomas, James (the son of Alphseus), Simon Zelotes, 
 Jude (also called Lebbseus) and Judas Iscariot. Judas, becoming 
 an apostate by betraying the Lord, and dying a violent death, 
 (see Mat. 27 : 3-5) the eleven chose Matthias to fill his place. 
 
 The sermon of Peter on Pentecost penetrated into many hearts, 
 so that three thousand became believers in Christ and were added 
 to the Church by holy baptism. The Apostles now began to labor 
 with great earnestness in accordance with the commission given 
 them by the Lord (see Mat. 28: 19, 20; Mark 16: 15, 16; Acts 
 1 : 8) and soon congregations were gathered in Judaea and Sama- 
 ria and the surrounding countries. The vicissitudes in life and 
 the fate of the Apostles is partly shrouded in mystery. 
 
1. Simon Peter was the son of a fisherman named Jonas, a native of 
 the town of Bethsaida in Galilee. His name was originally simply Simon, 
 but Jesus gave him the surname Peter, which means rock. He had at first 
 become a disciple of John the baptizer, but when John pointed out Jesus 
 as "the Lamb of God" in the presence of Andrew, Peter's brother, Andrew 
 brought him to the Lord and they became His disciples (see John 1 : 35- 
 42). Being afraid of the people, Peter denied his Lord in the night in 
 which He was betrayed, but being sorry for his sin, the Lord graciously 
 forgave him. He preached the first sermon on Pentecost, which led to 
 the conversion of so many, and he continued for a time the head of the 
 congregation at Jerusalem. Afterwards he preached the Gospel among 
 the scattered Jews in Syria and Asia Minor. Fearless in danger, at all 
 times ready to obey God rather than men, he preached the Gospel of the 
 Crucified One, glad even to suffer reproach for the sake of Christ. In 
 Csesarea he baptized Cornelius, the Roman centurion. He was cast into 
 prison by Herod in Jerusalem, but the angel of the Lord delivered him in 
 a miraculous manner. (See Acts 12: 4-11.) In the last year of his life 
 he came to Rome where he suffered martyrdom by crucifixion under the 
 Emperor Nero in the year A. D. 67 or 68. 
 
 2. John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, was a son of the fisherman Zebe- 
 dee, residing near the Sea of Gennesaret. He was the only one of the dis- 
 ciples of our Lord who stood by the cross on Good Friday and witnessed 
 His sufferings and death. He took Mary, the mother of Jesus, under his 
 own care and protection, and afterwards went to Asia Minor and labored 
 in Ephesus. The Emperor Domitian exiled him to Patmos — an island in 
 the Mediterranean Sea — where he wrote the book of Revelation. Under the 
 reign of the following emperor he returned to Ephesus, where he wrote the 
 Gospel which bears his name. He died here A. D. 100 at the age of 94 
 years. He is the only one of the apostles of whom it is positively known 
 that he died a natural death. 
 
 3. James the elder, was a brother of John. He was one of the three 
 disciples (the others being Peter and John) who were present at the Lord's 
 transfiguration and during His agony in Gethsemane. There is little 
 known of his life and activity. He was killed with the sword by com- 
 mand of King Herod at Jerusalem, A. D. 44. (See Acts 12 : 2.) 
 
 4. James, the son of Alphseus, also spoken of as the Less, is said to have 
 been, upon command of the high priest Ananus, cast from a pinnacle of 
 the temple at Jerusalem, and afterwards beaten to death with a fuller's club. 
 
 5. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, is said to have preached the 
 
 6 
 
-4 
 
 Gospel to the Scythians at the Black Sea, and to have suffered martyrdom 
 by crucifixion at Patrae, in Achaia, 62 or 70, A. D. 
 
 6. Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. He is said 
 to have labored in Phrygia and to have died there at a good old age. 
 
 7. Bartholomew, — which means, the son of Tholomai — whose name was 
 also Nathanael, was a native of Cana, in Galilee. When he was brought to 
 Christ by Philip, the Saviour testified to his character by saying : " Behold 
 an Israelite, indeed, in whom there is no guile." (See John 1 : 17.) He is 
 said to have preached the Gospel in India, and afterwards to have suffered 
 martyrdom by being flayed alive. 
 
 8. Thomas, who is called Didymus, i. e., twin, is also said to have done 
 missionary work in India after laboring for some time in Persia. Ancient 
 Christian congregations have been found in India who call themselves 
 Thomas Christians. He also suffered martyrdom, being killed by a lance. 
 
 9. Matthew, who at first was a publican named Levi, is the author of 
 the Gospel according to St. Matthew. He labored for a number of years in 
 Palestine, and afterwards is said to have preached the Gospel in Ethiopia 
 and also in Persia. 
 
 10. Simon the Canansean, or Zelotes, as he is also called, — because he 
 had belonged to a sect called Zealots — was a native of Cana, in Galilee, and 
 is said to have labored in Persia, where he suffered martyrdom by being 
 crucified. 
 
 11. Jude, called Lebbseus and also Thaddseus, is the author of the 
 Epistle which bears his name. Nothing certain is known of the death 
 of this Apostle. Tradition connects him with the founding of the Church 
 at Edessa. 
 
 12. Matthias, was chosen by the eleven to nil the place of the traitor 
 Judas Iscariot. His life is hidden in obscurity. Having been with Christ 
 from the beginning, according to Peter's testimony, (see Acts 1 : 21-23) he 
 no doubt also labored in fulfilment of the Saviour's commission: "Go ye 
 into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." 
 
 2. THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 The name of Paul was originally Saul. He was not one of the 
 twelve original Apostles, but was called of the Lord — after His 
 ascension — to the office of apostle. Saul was born in Tarsus, in 
 
 I 
 
 T T 
 
M- 
 
 the province of Cilicia, in Asia Minor. He received his educa- 
 tion at Jerusalem, where he sat at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the 
 most renowned Jewish teachers. He was a most zealous pharisee 
 and violent enemy of the Christians. After the death of Ste- 
 phen (see Acts 7: 54-83) he persecuted the Christians with 
 great vehemence, but on the way to Damascus (see Acts 9: 1-19) 
 he was wonderfully arrested in his work of destruction and con- 
 verted unto Christ, after which he became the most energetic 
 of the Lord's Apostles. He made three important missionary 
 journeys, which are described in the "Acts." 
 
 The First Journey (A. D. 48-50). Antioch, in Syria, was the scene 
 of Paul's first labors. Here he, together with Barnabas (see Acts 13: 2-3), 
 was specially called by the Holy Ghost for the work of carrying the Gos- 
 pel to the Gentiles. In company with Barnabas and John — surnamed 
 Mark — he set out from Antioch and went to the Island of Cyprus, where 
 they began to proclaim the Gospel. They passed through the island and 
 then sailed to the main land, and arrived at Perga, in Pamphylia, Asia 
 Minor. Here John left them, and returned to Jerusalem, whilst Paul and 
 Barnabas pursued their journey, visiting numerous cities and establishing 
 churches. At Lystra, Paul was stoned almost to death. From Derbe they 
 returned to Antioch (see Acts 14: 19-26). (The first Synod at Jerusalem, 
 Acts 15.) 
 
 The Second Missionary Journey (A. D. 51-54). From Antioch 
 Paul again set out, taking Silas with him, and went to Asia Minor. At 
 Lystra he took Timothy into his company. From Troas he sailed into 
 Europe, where the first congregation was gathered at Philippi. (Lydia; 
 The Jailor — see Acts 16: 11-34.) He passed through Greece and spent a 
 year and a half at Corinth, after which he returned by way of Ephesus to 
 Antioch. 
 
 The Third Missionary Journey (A. D. 54-58). Paul, in company 
 with Luke, Titus and Timothy, set out from Antioch for Ephesus, where 
 he labored for two years and six months, and then journeyed into Greece. 
 Here he exhorted and confirmed the churches. From here he returned by 
 way of Miletus, where he took his departure from the elders at Ephesus, 
 (see Acts 20: 17-38) to Jerusalem, where bonds and afflictions awaited him. 
 
 The Journey to Rome, etc. (A. D. 60-63). In Jerusalem Paul was 
 taken prisoner and was kept in confinement for two years in Caesarea. (See 
 Acts chap. 24-26.)' Appealing unto Csesar, he was sent a prisoner to Rome, 
 8 
 
f 
 
 where he remained in confinement for two years longer, when he was set 
 at liberty. After this it is supposed he visited Spain and other parts of the 
 Roman Empire, when he was again apprehended, and after spending some 
 time in prison, was executed by the sword under Nero (A. D. 68). From 
 Rome he wrote a number of letters (Epistles) to the churches. 
 
 3. THE APOSTLES' ASSISTANTS AND 
 CO-LABORERS. 
 
 Among the most important of the assistants and co-laborers 
 with the Apostles, mentioned in the New Testament, were Bar- 
 nabas, John Mark, Luke, Timothy, Titus, Silas and Apollos. 
 
 Barnabas was a Levite from the Island of Cyprus. He preached with 
 much power at Antioch and was Paul's companion during his first mission- 
 ary journey. 
 
 John Mark resided at Jerusalem. His mother's name was Mary, and 
 her house was the place where the Christian congregation often assembled. 
 He accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey, but left him when 
 they reached Perga, and returned home. We find him, however, at a later 
 period, with Paul in Rome. He wrote the Gospel which bears his name 
 (St. Mark) under the direction of Peter, and is said to have died a martyr 
 at Alexandria, in Egypt. 
 
 Luke was a native of Antioch, by profession a physician, often styled 
 the beloved physician. He accompanied Paul even into prison at Rome. 
 He wrote the Gospel of "St. Luke" and the "Acts of the Apostles." 
 
 Timothy was a native of Lystra. His father was a Greek, and hence a 
 gentile or pagan. His mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois had taught 
 him the Holy Scriptures. He was Paul's travelling companion, his most 
 beloved scholar, most faithful co-laborer, and finally became bishop (that is, 
 pastor) in Ephesus. Paul addressed two epistles to him, I. and II. Timothy. 
 
 Titus was of gentile birth, but became a Christian through the influence 
 and teaching of Paul, who consigned to him the supervision of the Church 
 on the Island of Crete. Whilst there he received a letter from Paul — 
 "the Epistle to Titus." He carried the Gospel to Dalmatia, where he la- 
 bored for some years. Afterwards he returned to Crete, where he died at 
 the age of ninety-four years. 
 
 Silas, also called Sylvanus, was a teacher in Jerusalem. He was ap- 
 pointed a delegate by the Synod held in Jerusalem (A. D. 51), to accom- 
 10 
 
pany Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, with the decree of that body. He 
 accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey and with him was im- 
 prisoned at Philippi. We finally find him with the Apostle Peter (I. Pet. 
 5: 12). 
 
 Apollos, of Alexandria, was no doubt one of the most learned Christians 
 of his time. At Ephesus he became acquainted with Aquilla and Priscilla, 
 a Christian couple, who had been obliged to flee from Pome. By them he 
 was more fully instructed in Christian knowledge. He labored for some 
 time at Corinth, as is seen from I. Cor., 3 : 6. Nothing is definitely known 
 of his later labors. It has been supposed by some that he is the author of 
 the "Epistle to the Hebrews." 
 
 Philip was one of the seven deacons chosen by the congregation at 
 Jerusalem. (See Acts 6 : 1-6.) By the persecution which followed the 
 martyrdom of Stephen, he was compelled to flee from Jerusalem. He 
 preached the Gospel in Samaria and baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch. (See 
 Acts 8). He labored in Ashdod and dwelt at Caesarea (Acts 21 : 9), where 
 Paul and his company, on their way to Jerusalem, found shelter and rest 
 for some days. 
 
 Phoebe was a deaconess at Cenchrsea. She was the bearer of Paul's letter 
 to the Romans. He praises and commends her for her labors of love. 
 (See Eom. 16 : 1, 2.) 
 
 4. THE FIRST CHRISTIANS. 
 
 The first Christian Church was most intimately connected with 
 the twelve men whom the Lord had chosen. The teaching of 
 the Apostles was very simple. They testified to what they had 
 seen and heard of Jesus, to His love, His sufferings, His death 
 and resurrection. They exhorted all with the greatest earnest- 
 ness, not to despise the salvation offered to them, to repent and to 
 believe in Jesus. Daily there were added to the Church such 
 as should be saved. The multitude of them that believed were 
 of one heart and one mind. These first Christians constituted 
 a true and pure congregation of believers, and proved by their 
 walk that a change had taken place in them, that they were new 
 creatures in Christ Jesus. Wealthy members of the Church sold 
 their houses and lands, and put the money thus received into the 
 
 » ii I 
 
 f ♦ 
 
treasury to assist in supporting the poor and needy. Particu- 
 lar men called Deacons were chosen to take charge of the alms 
 and of their proper distribution. As long as the Apostles were 
 present with the congregations they had sole charge of the office 
 of teaching. They ordained special assistants to this office, who 
 were called Elders or Bishops. Church discipline was exercised 
 for the purpose of preserving pure doctrine and true Christian 
 conduct. This was necessary, for even in apostolic times we 
 see evidences of corruption. Hypocrisy (see Acts 5) and dis- 
 cord (see Acts 6) crept into the mother congregation at Jeru- 
 salem ; but the former was punished by the terrible judgment 
 of God, and the latter was overcome by the exercise of true 
 Christian love. Whoever openly gave offense and would not 
 repent when admonished of his wickedness, was excluded from 
 the congregation; on the other hand, such as were sorry for 
 their sins were again restored. The public services of the Church 
 were at first held in the halls of the temple, and afterwards 
 in private houses. Every day they assembled to hear the Word 
 preached and to unite in prayer. But especially on "the Lord's 
 day," the day of the resurrection, (our Sunday), did they assem- 
 ble with one accord, celebrating the holy Sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper and strengthening each other in the faith. They were 
 called by the Jews "Nazarenes," because they believed in Jesus 
 of Nazareth, and the Gentiles in Antioch gave them the name 
 Christians, because they professed to be followers of Christ. 
 
 5. THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM (A. D. 70). 
 
 As the Gospel began to spread more and more, that which the 
 Saviour had foretold His Disciples was fulfilled; the followers 
 of Christ were persecuted by both the Jews and the Gentiles. 
 Moreover, the other prophecy of our Lord, concerning the terrible 
 judgments of God upon Jerusalem, was also fulfilled. 
 
 The Jews regarded themselves as God's chosen people and de- 
 
 12 j 
 
 : . , ♦"«-« 
 
spised the Gentiles. Hence their being under Roman rule became 
 to them more and more an intolerable burden which led to re- 
 peated revolts. Finally a general uprising against the Roman 
 power occurred. The Christians, being forewarned, fled to the 
 town of Pella beyond Jordan. The Roman Emperor Nero sent 
 General Vespasian with an army to Palestine, who soon sup- 
 pressed the insurrection in Galilee and Samaria. 
 
 When, after Nero's death, Vespasian was himself proclaimed 
 Emperor by his army, he delivered up the chief command of the 
 army to his son Titus. Titus besieged Jerusalem and demanded 
 of the Jews to surrender, but was refused. As a very large num- 
 ber of Jews had previous to the siege come to the city to celebrate 
 the Passover, a most horrible famine soon ensued. On several 
 occasions the humane Titus offered peace, but in vain, — the Jews 
 were determined not to surrender. Thereupon he stormed and 
 destroyed the city, and also the beautiful temple, which Titus de- 
 sired to save, was burned to the ground. This occurred on the 
 10th of August in the year A. D. 70. 
 
 The prophecy of Christ was fulfilled. About one and a half 
 millions of Jews were killed during the siege ; about one hundred 
 thousand were sold into slavery, and many left their wasted 
 fatherland. 
 
 At a later period the Jews made still another attempt to throw 
 off the Roman yoke. After about half a million of men had 
 lost their lives, this revolt was also suppressed, and the Jews were 
 forbidden, upon pain of death, to enter the Holy city, A. D. 132. 
 
 Two hundred and thirty years after the time of this last upris- 
 ing, the Emperor Julian, who was a bitter enemy of the Chris- 
 tians, desired to frustrate the prophecy of our Lord concerning 
 Jerusalem (Mat. 23 : 37, 38), by permitting the Jews to return 
 and rebuild the temple; but the building was destroyed three 
 times by earthquakes and fire. The Jews, terrified by the phe- 
 nomena, were finally scattered abroad. 
 
 14 
 
Triumphal Arch of Titus in the City of Rome. 
 
 When, seventy years after Christ's birth, Jerusalem was destroyed by 
 the Romans, Titus, the Roman General, carried away some of the sacred 
 vessels of the temple, and caused them to be sculptured on the triumphal 
 arch of stone which he erected on his return. There they are still to be 
 seen as in the illustration above. The golden candlestick, the table of 
 shew-bread and the trumpets can be distinctly recognized. 
 
II. THE ERA OF PERSECUTION. 
 
 (A. D. 100—325.) 
 
 6. UNDER THE ROMAN EMPERORS. 
 
 ;HE persecution of Christians by the heathen began 
 as early as the year A. D. 64. Since the Chris- 
 tians worshiped neither visible Gods, nor offered 
 sacrifices, they were looked upon by the heathen 
 as despisers of the gods. For this reason they 
 were persecuted even by some of the best and 
 noblest of the Emperors of the Roman Empire. 
 
 The first persecution began under the Emperor Nero in the 
 year 64. This bloodthirsty tyrant (A. D. 54 — 68), who had 
 caused his tutor, his mother and his wife to be put to death, is 
 said to have set fire to the city of Rome. The conflagration 
 continued for nine days, and laid two-thirds of the city in ashes. 
 When the bitterness of the excited populace was at its height, he 
 threw the whole blame upon the Christians and persecuted them 
 with diabolical fury. He conceived the most terrible tortures with 
 which to punish them. Some were sewn into bags, covered with 
 wax and pitch and fixed in the ground in long rows, and set on 
 fire to light the way of the Emperor as he passed by. Others, 
 similarly covered, were nailed to long sharp poles fixed in 
 the imperial gardens, and set on fire to illumine them at night. 
 Others were sewn into the skins of wild beasts and thrown to the 
 dogs to be torn in pieces for the amusement of the people. The 
 greater number of Christians willingly submitted to all this, 
 being ready to yield up this miserable earthly existence that they 
 might gain that which is eternal. This blood of the martyrs 
 
 16 
 
V 
 
 became the seed of the Church which was destined to yield a 
 glorious harvest. 
 
 Nero incurred, by his deeds of violence, the hatred of the Romans. In 
 A. D. 68, a large portion of the army rose against him to make Galba em- 
 peror. Finding himself almost entirely forsaken, he fled for concealment 
 to a country seat about four miles from Rome. Here he learned that the Ro- 
 man Senate had declared him to be an enemy of his country and condemned 
 him to death. Upon receiving this startling intelligence he attempted sui- 
 cide, but hesitated with fear. Hearing the clatter of hoofs and the noise of 
 horsemen searching for him, he hurriedly placed a dagger to his throat and 
 an attendant helped him to thrust it in. Thus ended the life of this miser- 
 able man. 
 
 Tespasian was one of Nero's successors. He reigned as Em- 
 peror from A. D. 69-79. He embellished the city of Rome with 
 magnificent buildings, among which is the Amphitheatre called 
 
 The Colosseum at Rome. 
 
 the Colosseum with seats for one hundred thousand spectators. 
 This gigantic structure, long since in ruins, is still admired by 
 all visitors to Rome. During the several persecutions many 
 Christians here suffered death by being compelled to fight with 
 
 17 
 
 •4 
 
wild beasts in the presence of vast audiences, who took great de- 
 light in witnessing such spectacles. At the least provocation, as 
 well as in case of a public calamity, the cry of the heathen citi- 
 zens was, " To the lions with the Christians." 
 
 Ten great persecutions of Christians are recorded, viz., un- 
 der the Emperors Nero, Domitian, Trajan and Hadrian, Marcus 
 Aurelius, Septeminus Severus, Maximums, Decius, Valerianus, 
 Aurelian and Diocletian. Lactantius writes (about A. D. 300) : 
 "If I had a hundred tongues, and a hundred mouths and the 
 most powerful voice in the world, it would still be impossible for 
 me to describe all the deeds of violence which were committed, 
 or to make mention of all the tortures which the ingenuity of the 
 government contrived against the great mass of innocent Chris- 
 tians." Men and women, young and old, maidens and matrons, 
 persons of distinction, soldiers and mechanics, were compelled to 
 suffer for the sake of Christ. Some secured the victor's crown by 
 means of scourging and fire, others were at once executed by the 
 sword, or after a brief period of torment. Everybody was at 
 liberty to insult the Christians. Some struck them with clubs, 
 others with rods ; they were beaten with thongs and ropes. Some- 
 times Christians, with hands tied on their backs, were fastened to 
 a wooden machine and all their limbs torn asunder. The torment- 
 ors often lacerated the bodies of their victims with sharp nails. 
 Others were hung up by one hand and all their joints wrenched 
 apart ; still others were hung up in chains in such a manner that 
 their feet could not touch the ground, in order that the chains might 
 be continually drawn tighter by the weight of the body. The bodies 
 of many, even after death had ended their sufferings, were dragged 
 about on the ground by the maddened heathen. A Governor re- 
 marked : " Let no one care for these Christians ! they do not de- 
 serve human treatment." After a certain martyr had endured the 
 rack, and been tormented with heated iron plates, the judge had 
 him smeared over with honey, and with hands tied on his back 
 laid in the hot sun to be tormented with flies. Sometimes ten, 
 
 1 8 
 
thirty, sixty, and on one occasion one hundred men and women 
 together with their children were executed, in various ways, in a 
 single day. But the Christians suffered with the greatest stead- 
 fastness and patience. Yea, many rejoiced and sang hymns of 
 praise even with their last breath. It cannot be denied, how- 
 ever, that some Christians, in their vain self-confidence, crowded 
 themselves into the ranks of the martyrs, and many found it an 
 easier matter to die for the Gospel, than to live according to its 
 precepts. 
 
 The efficient Emperor Trajan renewed the interdict against 
 secret associations. This was soon applied to those of Christians. 
 Finding, however, that a great number of persons were accused, 
 who belonged to every rank and age, and to both sexes, and partly 
 convinced that Christianity was morally pure and politically harm- 
 less, he commanded that Christians should not be sought out, and 
 that no notice should be taken of anonymous accusations, but that 
 if parties were formally accused and found guilty, they should be 
 put to death if they obstinately refused to sacrifice to the gods. 
 In accordance with this command, Symeon, Bishop of Jerusalem, 
 at the advanced age of 120 years, was cruelly scourged for several 
 days in succession, and, because he would not forsake Christ, put 
 to death by crucifixion. (A. D. 107.) 
 
 We will yet look at several examples of those Christians, who 
 by their cruel death gave joyful testimony concerning Christ. 
 
 7. FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. 
 
 1. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, a pupil of the Apostle John 
 and an aged man, was put to death under Trajan. On one occa- 
 sion he testified before the Emperor that the gods of the heathen 
 are nothing, and that there is but one God who created heaven 
 and earth, and only one Saviour, the only begotten Son of God. 
 Upon command of the Emperor he was sent in chains to Rome, 
 there to atone for his faith in the Crucified One by suffering death. 
 
 19 
 
He writes in one of his letters : " On the whole way from Syria 
 to Rome I fought with wild beasts, being tied to ten leopards 
 (soldiers) who, the more I sought to do them good, were all the 
 more filled with madness against me. Neverthless, though they 
 cast me into the fire or to the wild beasts, though they nail me to 
 the cross or tear all my limbs asunder, what does it all amount 
 to if I can only enjoy Jesus!" In Rome he was thrown before 
 wild beasts. When he heard the lions roaring he said, "I am 
 Christ's grain of wheat which must first be crushed by the teeth 
 of wild beasts before it can become pure bread." The lions soon 
 finished their work. The few bones which remained were buried 
 in Antioch (A. D. 116). 
 
 2. Polycarp, a pupil of the Apostle John was bishop in 
 Smyrna. The heathen populace clamorously demanded his 
 death on the plea that he was the misleader of all the people. 
 Upon the urgent request of his friends he retired to a country 
 seat. Here, surrounded by his friends, he spent his time in 
 prayer day and night to the Lord. When the deputies discov- 
 ered him he said: "The Lord's will be done." He spoke kindly 
 to them, and commanded that food and drink be set before them. 
 They then brought him into the city of Smyrna. The proconsul, 
 being deeply impressed with the venerable appearance of Po- 
 lycarp now ninety years of age, said to him : " Think of your 
 great age ; give honor to the gods, swear by the Emperor, curse 
 Christ, and I will set you free ! " But Polycarp replied : " Eighty- 
 and-six years have I served Him, and He never did me wrong ; 
 and how can I now blaspheme my King and Saviour?" The 
 governor threatened him with every manner of torture ; but he 
 replied : " Do whatever may be your pleasure." The judge now 
 made proclamation : " Polycarp has confessed that he is a Chris- 
 tian." The people fairly roared with madness : " Polycarp to the 
 lions." The judge, however, condemned him to be burned at 
 the stake. Upon his own request, Polycarp was not, as was cus- 
 tomary, tied to the stake. With folded hands he stood erect close 
 20 
 
♦ 
 
 ■♦■♦ 
 
 to the stake and praised 
 Almighty God, the 
 Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, that he 
 was deemed worthy to 
 have a part in the cup 
 of suffering of His Son. 
 But it seemed as if the 
 fire refused to touch this 
 faithful confessor. The 
 i flames rose about him 
 on every side like a sail 
 filled by the wind. Be- 
 coming impatient on 
 this account, a soldier 
 thrust him through with 
 a sword and threw his 
 body into the fire (A. 
 D. 166). Poly carp was 
 held in such high esteem 
 by his fellow Christians, 
 for his almost perfect 
 graces of character, that 
 the Jews (who had been 
 particularly zealous in 
 gathering wood and 
 straw to burn him) in- 
 stigated the proconsul 
 not to give up the corpse of the martyr to his co-religionists, " lest 
 abandoning Him that was crucified, they should begin to worship 
 this one;" this clearly shows his Christ-like character. 
 
 3. Pothinus. Already at an early period numerous congre- 
 gations of Christians flourished in southern France. With com- 
 merce and trade the Gospel also was carried thither from Asia 
 
 21 
 
 (Poly carp.) 
 
4- 
 
 Minor, and took root particularly in Lyons and Vienne on the 
 Rhone. Pothinus was bishop of Lyons, and his successor was 
 Irenseus. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius in the year 177, 
 persecution began to rage against these congregations. The most 
 distinguished individuals were seized without any previous warn- 
 ing and cast into prison. Bishop Pothinus, who was ninety years 
 of age, was so terribly abused by the kicks and stoning and other 
 ill-treatment of the exasperated heathen, that he died after two 
 days imprisonment. 
 
 4. Blaildilia, a slave, having a constitution so delicate that 
 even the Christians doubted whether she would have strength to 
 remain steadfast, was tormented from morning till night with 
 every conceivable manner of torture, so that at last the torment- 
 ors themselves became exhausted, and declared they could not 
 conceive of any new torture to apply, and that they could not 
 comprehend how she could continue to live, as her whole body 
 was torn and lacerated. But the Lord mightily strengthened 
 her so that she could continue to confess : " I am a Christian, and 
 the wickedness which is imputed to Christians is slander." 
 
 5. SanctllS, a deacon, was also most barbarously tortured ; 
 but, strengthened by Christ, he replied over and over again : "I 
 am a Christian!" Exasperated at this, his tormentors caused 
 iron plates to be fastened to the most sensitive parts of his body 
 and heated red hot. Although his body presented one vast 
 wound and was so distorted as no longer to resemble the human 
 form, he remained faithful in his confession. Several days later, 
 his body, all inflamed and much swollen and most painfully sen- 
 sitive to the slightest touch, was tormented anew. But even this 
 could not move him ; on the other hand, by this second torture 
 his body again assumed its natural form. 
 
 6. Perpetua. About this time a number of Christians were 
 also imprisoned in Carthage. Among these was Perpetua, a 
 woman of noble birth, twenty-two years of age, whose babe had 
 been torn from her breast, and a slave named Felicitas. Perpe- 
 
 f- 
 
 

 tua's father was a pagan who did everything in his power to shake 
 her resolution. Finally he visited her in prison and addressing 
 her, said : " Have pity, my daughter, upon my gray hair ! Have 
 pity upon your father, if ever I have been worthy of that name ! 
 Have pity upon your child which cannot outlive you ! Relent 
 from the position you have taken, for if you are put to death, we 
 will be disgraced before all the people." He kissed her hands, 
 cast himself at her feet and called her no more his daughter, but 
 his commander, the mistress of his fate. What courage does it 
 not require in the Name of Him whom we are to love more than 
 father or mother to resist such affectionate appeals ! Perpetua and 
 Felicita were cast before a wild cow, and received the death-blow 
 at the hands of a gladiator, A. D. 202. 
 
 7. LaurentillS. Persecution raged furiously during the reign 
 of the Emperor Decius, 249 — 251 ; yet in spite of the persecution, 
 the Church prospered. Decius fell in battle. His successor en- 
 deavored, first of all, to get rid of the clergy. The Governor in 
 Rome was informed that the Christian congregation was in the 
 possession of untold riches. He summoned the deacon Lauren- 
 tius before him and demanded from him the treasures of the 
 Church. Laurentius replied : " Let me have a little time that I 
 may bring all in proper order and to mark them one by one." 
 The Prefect then allowed him three days. On the third day 
 Laurentius gathered together all the poor who received their 
 support from the congregation, brought them to the Prefect and 
 said : " Come and see the treasures of our God : the whole court 
 is full of vessels of gold." The Prefect went out, and seeing only 
 poor people in the court he cast upon Laurentius a look of anger. 
 "What is it that displeases you?" said Laurentius. "The gold 
 which you so eagerly desire is only miserable metal which entices 
 to all manner of crime ; the true gold is the Light of which these 
 poor people are disciples. These are the treasures which I prom- 
 ised you ; and, behold, here also are precious stones : these vir- 
 gins and widows are the crown of the Church." "Are you 
 
 23 
 
mocking me?" cried the Prefect. "I know ye take pride in 
 despising death, therefore you shall not die suddenly." He 
 now commanded that. Laurentius be stripped of his clothing 
 and fastened on a grid-iron to be roasted alive over a slow fire. 
 After he had lain for a considerable time with one side exposed 
 to the fire, he said to the Prefect : " Have me turned around, as 
 my one side is sufficiently roasted." When turned he looked to- 
 ward heaven, prayed for the inhabitants of Rome, and gave up 
 the ghost, A. D. 258. 
 
 8. Cyrillus. We will also relate how even children patiently 
 suffered and died for the sake of Christ. Cyrillus was a youth 
 of Csesarea, who constantly called upon the name of Jesus, and 
 would not suffer himself to be prevented, by threats and beat- 
 ing, from loudly confessing his faith. Some of the children of 
 his own age persecuted him, and his own father drove him from 
 home. The judge sent for him and said: "My child, I will for- 
 give you, and your father shall again receive you into the family ; 
 it is in your power to be your father's heir, if you are wise and 
 consider your best interests." The boy replied, "I suffer will- 
 ingly, God will receive me; I am not sad that I was driven 
 from home, for I will receive a better dwelling place. I do not 
 fear death, for it only brings me to a better life." Having made 
 this good confession he was bound and taken to the place of ex- 
 ecution. The judge had secretly given orders that he should be 
 brought back again, for he hoped that a sight of the fire would 
 conquer his determination. Cyrillus, however, remained unmoved. 
 When he was brought back the judge, moved with pity, began 
 his representations anew. But the youthful martyr replied : 
 " Neither your fire nor your sword can harm me, for I am going 
 to a better home, kill me quickly that I may soon be there." 
 When he saw those present weeping, he said: "You should 
 rather rejoice ; but you know nothing of the city to which I go." 
 Thus, unmoved, he went to meet death, to the astonishment of all 
 the people, A. D. 260. 
 
 24 
 
8. THE LAST PERSECUTION. 
 
 The most violent of all the persecutions came upon the Chris- 
 tians during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian and his asso- 
 ciate rulers, A. D. 303, after a rest of about forty years had pro- 
 duced considerable effeminacy among them. The number of 
 Christians had increased to such an extent that the Emperor 
 feared a revolt if he should interdict their faith. But his son-in- 
 law and colleague Galerius prevailed upon him to command that 
 all soldiers in the army should take part in the sacrifices, — a 
 measure by which he obliged all Christians to leave the ranks. 
 Some time afterwards an edict was issued which forbade all 
 Christian meetings, and ordered that the churches be pulled 
 down, the sacred writings destroyed, all Christians deprived of 
 their offices and civil rights, and that all who would remain ob- 
 stinate in their profession of Christianity should be threatened 
 with torture and death. The result of this was that there were 
 many who proved faithless, but on the other hand there were 
 many wonderful examples of steadfastness. In Asia Minor fif- 
 teen thousand Christians were slain in the short space of one 
 month, a whole city, together with its inhabitants was destroyed 
 by fire. It is said that in Egypt 140,000 Christians were exe- 
 cuted, and that 700,000 died miserably in prison. Eusebius saw 
 such a large number executed in one day that the executioners 
 became exhausted and their bloody instruments were dulled. 
 
 Pancratius was the son of a noble Eoman who died as a witness for 
 Christ. When the son, who was but sixteen years of age, also confessed 
 himself to be a Christian, he was scourged until the blood flowed, and was 
 then brought to the Emperor Diocletian, who expressed sympathy for the 
 lad. But, in spite of all threats on the one hand and all promises on the 
 other, Pancratius remained unwavering in his faith. On the 12th of May, 
 305, more than one hundred Christians were cast to the lions in the am- 
 phitheatre at Rome. At last Pancratius was also brought forward ; the 
 ground of the amphitheatre was covered with blood and corpses, but he re- 
 remained steadfast. At this moment a form was seen pressing hastily 
 through the crowd. It was his mother, Lucina, who desired once more to 
 
 25 
 
 =«-»♦-—— _^ — 
 
 ♦ 
 
Pancratius. 
 
 see and bless her child. "Farewell, mother," said he, "we will see each 
 other again in the presence of the Lord Jesus." She laid her hand upon 
 his head and took her leave. Immediately the doors were closed and he 
 stood alone. A gate was opened and a ferocious tiger sprang wildly into 
 26 
 
♦ . ♦ 
 
 HM" ' ■* M 
 
 the arena and circled arouna nis uooty. i*ancratius raised his eyes to 
 Heaven in prayer; the tiger made a spring, the youthful martyr lay 
 prostrate on the ground and his blood stained the white sand, A. D. 305. 
 
 ~U 
 
 9. THE CHURCH IN HER PERIOD OF BLOOM. 
 
 Toward the close of the first century the Gospel had already 
 spread from India to Spain, and from the desert of Africa to the 
 Danube. At that time the number of Christians is estimated at 
 about half a million, and the number was increased greatly from 
 year to year. The Apostles had gone to their reward, hence 
 their tongues were silent, but their word remained. They con- 
 tinued to speak in their sacred writings which had become a 
 legacy to the Church. As God had inspired the Prophets to 
 write the Old Testament Scriptures, He also enlightened the 
 Apostles and Evangelists with His Holy Spirit to write the 
 New, so that the pure and infallible Word of God might re- 
 main throughout all time. 
 
 From the time of the Apostles a chain of glorious teachers ex- 
 tended through the first few centuries of the Christian era. 
 Among these was Clement, bishop of Rome, who died A. D. 
 100; Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, died 115; Polycarp, bishop of 
 Smyrna, died 155; Justin the Martyr, died 165; Irenseus, bishop 
 of Lyons, died 202; Tertullian, elder in Carthage, died 220; 
 Origen, teacher in Alexandria, died 254; Cyprian, bishop of 
 Carthage, died 258. These, together with many other men of 
 God were busily engaged in spreading the Gospel, either by 
 preaching, or by their writings. The utmost care was taken to 
 observe unity and purity of doctrine. Numerous errorists and 
 fanatics arose at different periods (Gnostics, Manichseans, Mon- 
 tanists, etc.), who had to be vanquished to save the Church from 
 corruption. Even such men as Origen and Tertullian were not 
 altogether free from erroneous views. 
 
 The new life of the Christians was manifested in a godly walk. 
 
 27 
 
4+ 4. 
 
 Love for the brethren impelled them to sustain the poor. The 
 congregations realized that they were bound together as one 
 brotherhood. The sick were carefully nursed, even if thereby 
 the life of the attendants was endangered. When the heathen 
 began to observe this, they were utterly astonished and said: 
 "See how they love each other." As members of Christ, the 
 Christians refrained from the practices of the heathen ; they espe- 
 cially shunned all public amusements, dancing and the theatre. 
 Whenever they would engage in any important undertaking, 
 they at first consecrated themselves with the Word of God and 
 prayer. They took pleasure in decorating their houses, furniture 
 and implements with Christian symbols, as for example, a shep- 
 herd with a lamb, a dove, a fish, an anchor, a ring, a palm tree — 
 all of which had some religious signification — and above all the 
 symbol of the cross. After they were permitted to build churches, 
 they usually buried their dead about the church, as they desired 
 to have them as near as possible to the sanctuary. Notwithstand- 
 ing some deviations, the Christian congregation of those times 
 present to us in the main a glorious picture of faith. The storms 
 which raged around it, caused the tree to become more and more 
 firmly rooted. Whilst the heathen were speaking of Christianity 
 as already destroyed, God spake — and there was peach 
 
 28 
 
T" : *r 
 
 III. THE ERA OF EXTERNAL QUIET. 
 
 (A. d. 323-600.) 
 
 10. THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE THE GREAT, 
 
 312-337. 
 
 [HE Church had been compelled to bear the re- 
 proach of the world for the space of three hun- 
 dred years, when Constantine, called the Great, 
 ascended the imperial throne. His father, Con- 
 stantius Chlorus, previous to his death in 306, 
 proclaimed him his successor in the empire. He 
 at first ruled only in Britain, Gaul and Spain. The same year 
 in which he was proclaimed Emperor, 312, Maxentius, a savage 
 and bigoted heathen, in Italy, seized the reigns of government. 
 Having obtained a pretext, Maxentius declared war against Con- 
 stantine and prepared to invade Gaul, when Constantine at once 
 set out at the head of a large and well disciplined army, and 
 marched into Italy. Being troubled in heart, he turned to 
 the God of the Christians, of whom he had heard much from his 
 Christian mother Helena. He prayed to the Lord for victory. 
 Whilst the Emperor was on the march with his army, suddenly, 
 on a clear afternoon when the sun was yet high in the heavens, 
 there appeared in the sky a flaming cross with the superscription 
 in characters of fire: toutw vixa (in this conquer). In the follow- 
 ing night the. Lord commanded him in a dream to make the ban- 
 ner of the cross his standard. He did so, and under this banner 
 he conquered his pagan adversary who had gathered together the 
 forces of heathenism for a last despairing struggle. In the same 
 year in which this conqueror was himself conquered by the Lord, 
 
 29 j 
 
 T 
 
♦ 
 
 he issued an edict in which he gave liberty to all forms of worship, 
 and in the following year, by a second edict he expressly allowed 
 conversion to Christianity. In 323, Constantine, having defeated 
 Lucinus, who had ruled as Emperor in the East, became the 
 sole ruler in the great Roiria Empire, and now openly professed 
 himself a Christian. He did not seek utterly to uproot heathen- 
 ism by force, although he ordered the demolishing of a number 
 of pagan temples, especially such in which the heathen w T orship 
 was connected with other wanton sins. Having an aversion to 
 the City of Rome, in which heathenism still largely predomi- 
 nated, he removed the seat of government to Byzantium, which 
 city was called after his own name, Constantinople. He, and espe- 
 cially his mother Helena, endeavored, by the building of churches, 
 to draw the people more and more away from the heathen tem- 
 ples to the worship of the true God. In numerous instances the 
 old deserted temples were transformed into Christian churches. 
 Christians were now promoted to high offices in the kingdom, and 
 no imperial officer was permitted to offer sacrifice. In this man- 
 ner he again gathered the scattered flock, returned to the Church 
 the property, which his predecessor had confiscated, installed 
 bishops and teachers, and overwhelmed them with benefits. It 
 is quite natural that now the number of such increased who 
 became Christians only in name ; and many, utterly destitute of 
 faith, thought, that by hypocritically feigning Christianity, they 
 might speedily rise to honorable positions. 
 
 Although the Emperor was most heartily in sympathy with 
 Christianity, it still did not effect a thorough change of heart in 
 him, and it was only shortly before his death that he was baptized. 
 He died soon after this event, on Whitsun Day, 337, with humble 
 confidence in the mercy of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 During the reign of Constantine there was peace throughout the 
 Church, from the Atlantic to the Indus, and from the Scottian 
 Alps to the mountains of Abyssinia. 
 
 30 
 
 r 
 
 *l* 
 
-A 
 
 Julian, the Apostate. — After the death of Constantine, his sons divided 
 the empire among them. Although Christians in name, their conduct was 
 altogether contrary to the principles of Christianity. After the last of 
 them had died, A. D. 361, Julian, a nephew of Constantine, ascended the 
 throne. In order that none of the relatives of Constantine might aspire to the 
 crown, his sons had caused them all to be put to death, except Julian, who 
 was yet a child, and was spared with the design that he should be trained 
 up for the Christian ministry. His training and education was given into 
 the hands of some ignorant monks, who, instead of acquainting him with the 
 glorious character of Christianity, compelled him to repeat psalms in Latin 
 and to do all manner of penance. In this manner Julian was taught to 
 despise a doctrine, which seemed designed more to afflict than to comfort 
 mankind. This led him to listen with all the greater avidity to the instruc- 
 tion of several shrewd heathen philosophers, who pictured to him Paganism 
 in most lovely forms and dazzling colors, and flattered him with the repre- 
 sentation that he was called again to restore the old religion to its former 
 magnificence in the empire. Whilst at the court of his uncle, Julian ap- 
 peared to be a very pious monk, but he had scarcely ascended the throne, 
 when he renounced Christianity and again embraced heathenism. 
 
 Immediately everything was again changed. Everywhere the Christians 
 were removed from office, the churches were again transformed into heathen 
 temples, heathen festivals and sacrifices were again instituted, and the 
 Church property was confiscated and divided among the soldiers. 
 
 It was not Julian's purpose openly to persecute the Christians, for he had 
 learned to know that persecution had only aided all the more the spread 
 of Christianity ; he designed by more cunning measures to undermine and 
 crush it. For this purpose he encouraged, as far as he could, schisms in 
 the Church, favored all heretics and sects, especially the Arian heresy, so 
 that the Christians might themselves destroy their cause by their dissen- 
 sions. He forbade Christians to become teachers or to engage in any 
 science, in order either to bring them into disrepute because of their ignor- 
 ance, or to compel them to be educated by heathen teachers. 
 
 Over against this he sought to elevate and improve paganism. He ex- 
 horted the heathen philosophers to diligence, virtue and charity. "The 
 Galileans," said he, "have gained a victory over the ancient religion, by 
 their zeal, their beneficence toward their poor and their kindness even to 
 strangers ; in all these things you must now strive to excel them ! " It was 
 indeed an easy matter to command this, but there lay no power in pagan- 
 ism to train up men to do it. Julian was able to tie good fruits to a corrupt 
 
 31 
 
tree, but to enable the tree to produce them it was necessary, first of all, to 
 change its entire nature and make it good. 
 
 Fortunately, the reign of this dangerous enemy to Christianity lasted only 
 twenty months. In an expedition against the Persians he received a mor- 
 tal wound and died at the early age of thirty-two years. As he sank from 
 his horse, he raised his clenched fist — streaming with blood — heavenward 
 and exclaimed with rage : " And yet Thou hast conquered, O Galilean ! " 
 
 11. CONTROVERSIES AND CHURCH FATHERS. 
 
 The Church had scarcely secured rest from the assaults of ex- 
 ternal enemies when the most heretical and destructive doctrines 
 were openly advocated, threatening its destruction from within. 
 As early as the time of Constantine, a presbyter named Arius at- 
 tacked the doctrine of the divinity of Christ. 
 
 Arius, from A. D. 313, a Presbyter in Alexandria, denied the eternal 
 Godhead of Christ, and soon gained many adherents. In order to settle the 
 controversy which this error called forth, and again to unite in the true 
 faith the now distracted Church, Constantine summoned the First Gen- 
 eral Church Council at Nicsea, in Asia Minor, A. D. 325. This coun- 
 cil was attended by 318 bishops ; it excommunicated Arius from the Chris- 
 tian Church ; it confessed as the faith of the Church the Nicene Creed, in 
 which it is distinctly stated that : " Jesus Christ is very God of very God, 
 begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father." This, how- 
 ever, did not settle the controversy. In 336 Arius was to be restored to 
 Church communion, when he suddenly died a terrible death, the evening 
 before the day of his restoration. The controversy was not ended until the 
 Second General Council, held at Constantinople in 381. 
 
 Athanasius, bishop at Alexandria (326-373), was the most noted oppo- 
 nent of Arianism. For this reason he was banished ten times, and lived for 
 twenty years in exile. The third confession of the Church was called after 
 this great man of God, The Athanasian Creed. 
 
 We can only briefly mention some of the other heresies by which 
 the Church was troubled. 
 
 Nestorius, a monk of Antioch, and a most eloquent man, became Patri- 
 arch of Constantinople in the year 428. He laid so much stress upon 
 Christ's human nature as to make it appear that He was only man, who, 
 32 
 
♦ ♦ 
 
 however, stood in a peculiar relation to God. Nestorius was condemned 
 and excommunicated. He retired to a monastery, from which he was 
 afterwards driven and banished to an oasis in upper Egypt. He died in 
 misery, A. D. 440. 
 
 PelagiliS was a British monk who, in the year 409, resided in Rome, 
 where he advanced the doctrine that there is no such thing as Original 
 Sin ; that every individual can lead a sinless life and save himself by his 
 own efforts, without the Grace of God. His most powerful opponent was 
 the learned Bishop Augustine. 
 
 Augustine was born in Numidia in the year 354. His father, Patricius, 
 was a pagan, but Monica, his mother, was a pious Christian woman. His 
 father was very anxious that he should become a fine scholar, and conse- 
 quently he was sent to school at Medaura, and afterwards at Carthage to 
 complete his studies. Previous to this, however, he had enjoyed the ines- 
 timable blessing of a Christian education at home. His mother had been 
 his best teacher. But the temptations of Carthage were too strong for his 
 ardent, impetuous nature, and in spite of the entreaties and admonitions 
 of his mother, he sank deeper and deeper into the sensualism of a corrupt 
 world. But he had no peace ; a conflict began in his soul which continued 
 through eleven years of his life. The longing for a higher life, and the 
 power of a mother's importunate prayers gave him no rest. For a few 
 years he was a teacher in Carthage, after which, A. D. 383, he went to Rome, 
 followed by the tears, the prayers and the anxieties of his excellent mother, 
 who was not yet bereaved of hope, for both her faith and her love were 
 strong. After a short stay he left Rome and proceeded to Milan, where he 
 became a teacher of rhetoric. There he formed the acquaintance of the 
 learned and devout Bishop Ambrose, whose sermons made a deep impres- 
 sion upon him, so that he now began diligently to study the Bible. The 
 struggle in his heart became more violent. When on one occasion he was 
 alone in the garden praying, whilst burning tears expressed his inward 
 agony, he heard the words : " Take and read." Augustine recognized in 
 this a Divine call; he opened the Bible and found the passage Rom. 13: 13. 
 Deeply moved by these words, his heart was filled with blessed peace, his 
 faith increased more and more, and he was baptized by Ambrose, April 
 25th, 387. His faithful mother, who for years had borne him on her heart 
 in earnest prayer, had followed him to Milan and lived to see the day when 
 she could rejoice in the salvation of her son. Augustine now returned to 
 his home, where he was ordained a presbyter in 391, and was soon after- 
 wards elected bishop. He died in 430. More than a thousand years later, 
 3 33 
 
JL. 
 
 a pious Augustinian monk — Luther — read in his cloister cell the works 
 of Augustine, and acknowledged that next to the Holy Bible, he learned to 
 recognize the true doctrine of the Gospel from those writings. 
 
 We must yet call attention to several of the men of superior 
 faith of those times, because through their efforts the destruction 
 which threatened the Church was delayed for a time. They were 
 Ambrose of Milan, Chrysostom of Constantinople, Jerome of Beth- 
 lehem, Basil the Great (329-379) of Csesarea, and Gregory Nazi- 
 anzen (390). 
 
 Ambrose (340-397) was the son of a Eoman governor in Gallia. His 
 mother, having become a widow, moved to Rome, where her son received 
 a liberal education. He went to Milan in order to follow the legal profes- 
 sion. He soon distinguished himself so much that he was appointed gov- 
 ernor. When the bishop of Milan died in the year 374, there arose a vio- 
 lent contest concerning the choice of a successor. When the people were 
 assembled in the church to elect a new bishop, Ambrose, in the character 
 of Governor of the place, entered the assembly, and in a grave, eloquent 
 and pathetic address admonished the multitude to lay aside their con- 
 tentions and proceed to the election in the spirit of Christian meekness. 
 When Ambrose had finished his address, a child cried out: " Ambrose is 
 bishop." The agitated multitude regarded this as the voice of God, and 
 he was unanimously elected. He resisted the offer, but in vain. He dis- 
 tributed his property among the poor. All who came to him for counsel 
 or assistance he kindly received and aided according to his ability. But, 
 although he was of such a gentle and tender-hearted disposition, he joined 
 with it a firmness which neither the fear of men nor threats and danger 
 could shake. The Emperor Theodosius, being enraged at the rebellious 
 Thessalonians, had caused seven thousand of them to be cruelly massacred. 
 For this Ambrose excommunicated him until he had publicly repented. 
 The Emperor attempting to enter the church, Ambrose appeared at the 
 door and refused him admittance. Thereupon the sovereign laid off his 
 mantle and falling upon his face bemoaned his sin. After eight months 
 of severe penance Ambrose restored him to full communion. Ambrose was 
 also a poet. He is the author of the hymn "Come Thou Saviour of our Race" 
 and the Te Deum Laudamus^sometimes called the Hymn of St. Ambrose — 
 is attributed to him. He died on Good Friday, 397. 
 
 Jerome, of Dalmatia (331-420), was born of Christian parents. He re- 
 34 
 
ceived a liberal education in Rome. Whilst there, it is said, he, on one 
 occasion, dreamed he was standing before the judgment seat of God. This 
 so startled him that he fled from Rome and lived for some years the life of 
 a hermit in the desert of Chalcis, spending his time in penitential exer- 
 cises and in study. The last twenty-five years of his life he spent at Beth- 
 lehem, the birthplace of Jesus. Here he performed the great literary 
 labors of his life. He wrote numerous books and translated the Bible into 
 Latin. This version of the Holy Scriptures is called the " Vulgate," and is 
 still extant. Jerome is universally regarded as the most learned of the 
 Latin fathers. He died Sept. 30th, 420. 
 
 Chrysostom. The name of this Church father was originally John, 
 but from the splendor of his eloquence he received the name Chrysostomos 
 (which is Greek, and means "Goldenmouth"). He was born at Antioch, 
 A. D. 347. In 397 he was elevated to the position of Patriarch in the Im- 
 perial city of Constantinople, where he fearlessly preached the Gospel. 
 His eloquence and earnestness attracted the multitude so that the number 
 of his hearers increased to ten thousand. The faithful discharge of his 
 official duties, especially his earnest reproof of the prevalent vices, excited 
 the enmity of the Empress, who succeeded in deposing and banishing him 
 from the capital. He afterwards labored in Nicsea, but was from thence re- 
 moved to a little town in the Taurus Mountains. His zeal, however, did 
 not abate ; he labored for the conversion of the Persians and Goths in the 
 neighborhood. The Emperor, enraged by the general sympathy expressed 
 towards Chrysostom by all true Christians, gave orders that he should be 
 banished to a desolate region on the Black Sea. This journey proved fatal. 
 He died on the way, Sept. 14th, 407, and his last words were: "Blessed be 
 God for all things." 
 
 Much could be said concerning many other faithful servants 
 of Christ. On the other hand the number of those who were 
 without principle in conducting the affairs of their high office 
 was also large. As early as the IV. Century it became necessary 
 for Church Councils by proper punishment to counteract the 
 grossest vices among Christians. In the V. Century the greater 
 portion of Christendom, the same as at the present time, had 
 little more than the Christian name. Hence general decline 
 and the just punishment of God followed. 
 
 35 
 
12. MONKS ANT> HERMITS. 
 
 Hermits, i. e., men leading a solitary life in some secluded 
 place, were already found in eastern countries previous to the 
 time of Christ. In the Christian Church they appeared first of 
 all in Egypt, where St. Antonius became an example for thous- 
 ands, until the deserts of Egypt were literally peopled with her- 
 mits. These men generally were weary of the ways of the 
 world, and retired into solitude to lead a contemplative life. 
 They believed, that here, by prayer and labor, amidst want and 
 self-denial, and often self-torture, they could arrive at a peculiar 
 state of holiness which they deemed it impossible to attain in 
 the midst of a corrupt world. St! Antonius, born at Coma in 
 Egpyt, A. D. 251, gave all his goods to the poor and retired into 
 the desert, where he spent his life in exercising the strictest and 
 most self-denying penance. Persons of all ranks made pilgrim- 
 ages to him to consult him in search of comfort and peace, and 
 to receive his blessing. He died, A. D. 356, at the age of 105 
 years. The hermits or anchorites were called Monks. At a 
 somewhat later period, numbers of these monks were gathered 
 together into a large building which was called a cloister or 
 monastery. The president of these monasteries was called the 
 Abbot (from abbas — father). The number of monasteries in- 
 creased immensely. Monastic life was extoled as angelic and 
 regarded as a substitute for martyrdom which was no longer 
 attainable. 
 
 The most perverted saints of those times were the Stylites — also 
 called Pillar Saints — named after one Symeon Stylites (about 
 420), who lived for thirty years, in the neighborhood of Antioch, 
 on a pillar thirty-six yards high and from thence preached to the 
 people, who came in crowds to see and hear him. 
 
 Such eminent bishops as Basil the Great (died 378), and other 
 vigilant men, made earnest efforts to correct the abuses of monas- 
 ticism and to furnish the monks with useful employment. They 
 gave them positive laws and rules, and employed them in in- 
 
 36 
 
structing the young, nursing the sick, etc. At first monasticism 
 prevailed only in the East, the Western Church being opposed 
 to monastic tendencies. Athanasius, however, introduced it in 
 the West (Europe) also. In the year 529, Benedict of Nursia 
 founded a monastery near Naples ; these monks were called 
 Benedictines. In later years many other orders of monks were 
 established, among which may be mentioned the Carthusians 
 (founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084), Cistercians (founded 
 1098), Franciscans (founded about 1210), Dominicans (founded 
 1215), Augustinians (founded 1256), Capuchins (1528) and 
 Jesuits (founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534). For women 
 also, cloisters, called nunneries, were established. At the head of 
 these is the Abbess or Lady Superior. During the middle ages 
 the most wicked perversion of morals was to be found in these 
 monasteries. In numerous instances the monastery and nunnery 
 were under the same roof or were connected by a tunnel so that 
 the inmates could pass unobserved from the one to the other. 
 
 13. THE GOSPEL IN GERMANY. 
 
 At an early period the Gospel found its way beyond the 
 boundaries of the Roman Empire. Christian merchants, trad- 
 ing in distant countries, and prisoners of war carried it to more 
 remote regions. Thus it was also brought to our forefathers, the 
 old Germanic tribes. They were pagans and had their places of 
 sacrifice where stood the altar on which human victims were of- 
 fered. Already in the second century we find small congrega- 
 tions of Christians at Strassburg, Trier and Augsburg composed 
 of such who had emigrated from the Roman Empire. Previous 
 to the year 300 the Goths on the Black Sea had come under the 
 influence of Christianity. Bishop Ulfilas (a name which means 
 "Little Wolf"), who labored with great zeal among them, desir- 
 ing that his people should have access to the Word of God, trans- 
 lated the Bible into the Gothic language. This was the first 
 
 37 
 
translation of the Bible into a German dialect. During the mi- 
 gration of nations, which began in 375 and continued for two 
 hundred years, Christianity came into contact with all the differ- 
 ent European nations. When in the year 486 the Franks in- 
 vaded Gaul, they were yet pagans but Clovis (Chlodwig), their 
 king, had been made acquainted with the Christian religion by 
 his pious wife Chlotilde. He, however, still clung to his ancient 
 pagan religion until the year 496 when, in a battle near Zulpich 
 the enemies seemed to have victory in their grasp, he, in direst 
 need — because surrounded by his foes — called upon the God of 
 the Christians, saying: "O Christ, God of my Chlotilda, if thou 
 wilt bestow victory on me, I will believe and be baptized, provid- 
 ing always that thou, whom I now call upon, wilt rescue me from 
 the hands of my foes." He was victorious and after his return 
 home, he, together with three thousand of his Franks, was bap- 
 tized. About this time the Church was in a prosperous condition 
 in Ireland ; religious education was abundantly provided for by 
 numerous monasteries and schools. This country also furnished 
 missionaries for Germany. Missionary labor among the Ger- 
 mans was actually begun by Columbanus (590), although Boni- 
 facius acquired for himself the title, "Apostle of the Germans." 
 
 Columbanus was born in Ireland about the year 550. In 590 he left 
 the Monastery of Bangor, together with twelve youths whom he was train- 
 ing, and went over into France where he founded numerous monasteries, 
 giving great attention to the instruction of old and young. After laboring 
 here for twelve years he incurred the displeasure of the French bishops, 
 and a few years later he was expelled from France, because he had the 
 courage boldly to rebuke the Court for the vices and crimes entertained and 
 committed. Having labored in the country for twenty years, he removed 
 with his companions into Switzerland, where he preached the Gospel with 
 varied success; and being compelled again to flee, he passed into Italy, 
 where he died in Lombardy in the year 615. 
 
 Oallus was also an Irish monk, a disciple of Columbanus. At the place 
 where St. Gallen in Switzerland now stands, he built in the year 614 a cell, 
 from which afterwards arose, in honor of his memory, one of the most cele- 
 
 38 ♦ 
 
 i — r 
 
< ♦ 
 
 <r ^ 
 
 brated monasteries in Europe. His labors were richly blessed. He died 
 in 646 at the advanced age of ninety-five years. 
 
 Fridolin, also a native of Ireland, is represented as the Apostle of the 
 Alemanni (about 510). He founded a monastery on an island in the Rhine, 
 near Basel, and preached the Gospel to all who came from the mountains 
 and forests to hear it. 
 
 Rupert or Ruprecht was the Apostle of the Bavarians. He founded 
 numerous churches and monasteries and made Christianity the religion of 
 nearly the whole country. In 716 he returned to his former See of Worms, 
 where he died. 
 
 Kilian, a native of Ireland, on a pilgrimage to Rome, passing through 
 a province of Thuringia, which was still pagan, was moved with the desire 
 to devote himself to its conversion. He succeeded in converting the Duke 
 Gozbert together with many of his subjects. Having provoked the enmity 
 of the Duchess Gailana, he was murdered by her instigation at Wiirzburg, 
 during the absence of Gozbert, in 687. 
 
 SeverillllS, another faithful missionary, beginning A. D. 445, labored 
 with truly apostolic zeal, in a part of what is now Austria, from Passau to 
 Vienna. 
 
 Emmeran labored about 650 in the vicinity of Regensburg in Bavaria. 
 He was killed on the way to Italy by the brother of the Princess Ota in 
 652. 
 
 Corbinian in 717 established the episcopal see of Freisingen. He 
 founded many churches and monasteries and died in 730. 
 
 Willibrord was born in England and in 690 undertook, with twelve 
 other missionaries, the conversion of the Frisians. They arrived at Utrecht 
 and were warmly received by Pipin, the king of the Franks, who protected 
 the missionaries. The labors of Willibrord extended even beyond the 
 Danish frontier and were very successful. He died at a very advanced age 
 in 738, at the monastery which he had founded at Echternach, near Treves. 
 
 Many other names of faithful messengers of the truth could be 
 mentioned, if our limited space permitted, such as Egbert, the 
 two Ewalds, Lambert, Amandus, Elegius, Wilfried, Wigbert, etc., 
 etc., but the real Apostle of the Germans was Bonifacius. 
 
 Bonifacins (St. Boniface), whose orginal name was Winfried, was born 
 in England in 680. Boniface means benefactor. In 715 he set out on a 
 missionary expedition to the Frisians, and in 718 he was commissioned by 
 
 39 
 
♦ 
 
 T 
 
 the Pope in Rome to preach the Gospel to the Germans. In Thuringia 
 and Hessen he baptized two dukes. He everywhere destroyed the objects 
 of heathen worship. Near Geismar stood a monster oak, sacred to Thor 
 — the God of Thunder. Boniface did not hesitate to take an axe and with 
 his own hand to cut it down (724). The pagan Germans looked on and 
 expected that their god Thor would send fire from heaven and consume the 
 blasphemer. When the heathen saw that their god did not defend him- 
 self, they consented to be baptized. Boniface used the wood of the tree to 
 build a Christian chapel. He preached everywhere in the language of the 
 people with extraordinary power. It is said that 10,000 Thuringians were 
 baptized by him. Having already reached a great age, he undertook an- 
 other missionary journey to the Frisians, who cruelly murdered him in 755. 
 He was buried at Fulda. 
 
 The Saxons, who at first stubbornly refused to embrace Christianity, 
 were, by means of the sword, compelled by the Emperor Charles the Great 
 to submit to baptism. 
 
 Ansgar (801-865) bears the name "Apostle of the North." He preached 
 the Gospel in Denmark and Sweden. An archbishopric being established 
 at Hamburg, Ansgar was appointed archbishop. Here he encountered 
 many difficulties, being obliged to save his life by flight in 840, when the 
 Northmen and Danes under Eric I. plundered Hamburg. He spent his 
 strength in missionary work among the northern Pagans, where he labored 
 with the most earnest devotion and self-denying zeal amid the greatest 
 privations and sufferings. He died Feb. 3d, 865, at Bremen, where a 
 church was named after him. [Our illustration represents Ansgar at the 
 side of King Harold, holding up the cross before the stubborn Saxons. 
 As the Saxon Chief Ethelrich is about to bow before it at the command of 
 the king, his daughter Hilda holds him back. The king was enraged and 
 threatened the chief with death, but Ansgar, approaching the king, said : 
 "Let be, Christ does not conquer with the sword, but with the power of 
 His love." Then turning to the chiefs he said: "Go in peace." His mild 
 manner made such a happy impression upon the Saxons, that they per- 
 mitted him to remain among them. A small congregation was soon gath- 
 ered, and a church built. Hilda, who had prevented her father from ac- 
 knowledging Christianity, now became interested in the Gospel. King 
 Harold, who had apostatized from the faith, informed the chiefs of his re- 
 turn to the ancient gods. They now determined to exterminate the Chris- 
 tians. The church was set on fire and Hilda perished in the flames en the 
 night of her baptism.] 
 
 41 
 
 ♦ t 
 
IV. ERA OF THE CHURCH'S DECLINE. 
 
 (600—1500.) 
 
 14. Mohammed. 
 
 OHAMMED, a man born at Mecca, 
 in Arabia, in the year A. D. 570, 
 founded a new and false religion. In 
 his twenty-fifth year he entered the 
 service of a rich widow, and accom- 
 panied her caravans — in an inferior 
 capacity, probably as camel-driver — 
 to the fairs. In these journeys he be- 
 came somewhat acquainted with the 
 Christian and Jewish religions. His fortunes changed 
 by his marrying the wealthy widow, and although con- 
 tinuing his merchant's trade at Mecca, he spent most 
 of his time in solitary contemplations. He was of a 
 melancholic nervous temperament and from childhood 
 afflicted with epilepsy, which no doubt very largely 
 influenced his whole course in life. He instituted a 
 religion composed of Jewish, Christian and Arabic-heathen 
 elements. He declared that the angel Gabriel had appeared 
 to him and commanded that he should go and preach the true 
 religion. He taught that there is but one God (Allah) and Mo- 
 hammed is his greatest prophet, that everything which occurs 
 has been fore-ordained by an inevitable fate, and that after death 
 the good will be rewarded and the evil punished. As most im- 
 portant practical duties, he taught that the faithful must pray 
 five times a day, give alms liberally to the poor, practice cir- 
 
 42 
 
♦ I 
 
 I 
 
 cumcision, strictly observe all fast days (of which there are 
 many), make pilgrimages to Mecca, abstain from wine (includ- 
 ing all strong inebriating liquors) and from all gambling. Over 
 against this he permitted polygamy, made divorce a very light 
 matter and represented life after death an endless enjoyment 
 of sensual pleasures, which evidently was the principal cause 
 of his gaining so many adherents. At first he had to contend 
 with many difficulties because of the opposition of many who 
 feared for the sacredness of Mecca which the new doctrine might 
 abolish, and they would be deprived of the revenues from the pil- 
 grimages which were annually made thither. At length he was 
 compelled to flee and went to Medina, July 15th, 622. The Mo- 
 hammedan Era (Hegira) is reckoned from this time. In Medina 
 the number of his adherents rapidly increased so that in 630 he 
 could lead an army against Mecca and conquer it. He now sent 
 messengers to all emperors and kings demanding of them recog- 
 nition as the " Messenger of God," and determined to propagate 
 his religion by means of the sword. Before he was able to far- 
 ther carry out his project he died in 632. Four years previous 
 an attempt had been made on his life by a Jewess who had 
 placed a piece of roast meat before him on which she had put 
 poison, but although tasting but a very small portion of it, he 
 suffered from its effects up to the day of his death. 
 
 After the death of Mohammed, the doctrines of his religion — 
 called Islam — were collected into a book called the Koran which 
 his adherents reverence as their book of religion. His successors, 
 the Califfs, in a few years subdued Syria, Palestine (together with 
 Jerusalem), Persia, Egypt and Asia Minor. The doctrines of 
 Mohammed were forced upon the terrified inhabitants ; cities 
 and castles were conquered, churches destroyed, and the "cres- 
 cent" was everywhere raised as the ensign of Islam. The whole 
 North-African coast, where numerous Christian congregations 
 flourished, fell in 707 a prey to the Arabs, and Christianity was 
 so completely destroyed that not a trace of it remained. Cross- 
 
 4 3 
 
 ♦■-< 
 
ing into Europe at the Straits of Gibraltar, they marched unhin- 
 dered through Spain. France and Germany trembled at the ap- 
 proach of these barbarians. A decisive battle, continuing for six 
 days, was, however, fought at Poictiers, in which the Frankish 
 Duke, Charles Mariel, after the greatest exertions drove back 
 the Arabs in 732. They retired to Spain where they remained 
 for 700 years. 
 
 The Mosque. — In a narrow valley in southern Arabia in Asia stands 
 Mecca, the holy city of the Mohammedans. Our illustration represents 
 the temple or Mosque at Mecca, to which every Mohammedan is to make 
 at least one pilgrimage during his life, in order at length to enjoy a peace- 
 ful death. The building is a parallelogram fronting southwest. Its length 
 is 250 and its width 200 paces. The northeast side has four rows of pillars 
 while the remaining sides have threefold collonades. Everywhere lamps 
 are suspended. In the center of the Mosque is the Kaaba, which is a 
 small building, eighteen paces long and forty feet high. Mohammedans 
 say that Abraham and Ishmael built this hut. In it is found the "black 
 stone" which the angel Gabriel is said to have brought from heaven and 
 which is reverenced as the most holy relic. 
 
 15. THE PAPACY. 
 
 Roman Catholics say that Peter was the first Pope. This is 
 a mere fable, since it has no foundation whatever in fact, for 
 Peter was neither Bishop nor Pope in Rome, and it is doubtful 
 whether he was ever in Rome at all. In the early history of the 
 Christian Church the bishops of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, 
 Constantinople and Rome had gained distinction, because they 
 presided over large and influential congregations, and had their 
 seat in great centers of population and influence. At first no one 
 claimed pre-eminence, but gradually the bishop in Rome claimed 
 a superior rank. When at length he assumed the name Pope 
 (from Papa, i. e., father), the others applied to themselves the 
 term Patriarch (i. e., Arch-father — Chief of fathers). The bishop 
 in Rome called himself "the successor of St. Peter." It was not 
 
 45 i 
 
 ♦ 
 
► ■ ♦ " 
 
 long until he succeeded in exercising supreme authority. Rome 
 was the ancient capital of the Empire ; in Rome, said they, are 
 the graves of the Apostles Paul and Peter ; in Rome those at 
 
 variance with each other sought protection and justice. In this 
 way the power of the Pope gradually increased and became more 
 and more arbitrary, especially after Pipin (752), King of the 
 
 ■U. 
 
 46 
 
Franks, presented to the Pope (in 755) the country about Rome, 
 by which the Popes also became worldly rulers. Charles the 
 Great, called Charlemagne (772), the son of Pipin, increased 
 these donations. It was also established that the Pope should al- 
 ways perform the coronation of the Emperor, and that the Em- 
 peror should confirm every new Pope. On Christmas day, A. D. 
 800, Charlemagne was crowned and proclaimed Emperor by the 
 Pope in St. Peter's Church in Pome. 
 
 In the year 1054 the Eastern Church (the Greek Catholic) 
 separated from the Western (the Roman Catholic) ; and to this 
 day the Russians and a majority of the Christians in Turkey and 
 Greece do not recognize the Pope. 
 
 In consequence of the great power to which the Popes had 
 attained, it became a comparatively easy matter to establish 
 doctrines and customs altogether at variance with the Gospel. 
 Hence numerous errors were soon not only entertained but 
 vigorously promulgated as truth. Prominent among these er- 
 rors are, the canonization of saints (an act by which deceased 
 persons, who are supposed to have been faithful in laboring for 
 the interest of the Church during life or who suffered martyr- 
 dom, are designated as saints) ; the worship of saints and the 
 sale of indulgences ; the divine homage given to relics (bones and 
 bits of clothing of supposed saints, etc.,) and pictures of the saints, 
 to which the power of working miracles is ascribed ; the doc- 
 trine that God's special pleasure can be secured by the perform- 
 ance of so-called good works, as e. g., pilgrimages, self-torture, 
 the praying of the Rosary (a string with 150 beads representing 
 as many prayers to the Virgin Mary, together with a number of 
 Pater Nosters, i. e., Lord's Prayers, etc.,) ; bequests to monasteries ; 
 the doctrine of Purgatory ; forbidding the marriage of the priests ; 
 forbidding the reading of the Bible ; the doctrine of seven sacra- 
 ments ; the doctrine of the sacrifice of the Mass, the withholding 
 of the cup from the laity in the Sacrament of the Altar, and the 
 doctrine of Transubstantiation or the changing of the elements 
 
 47 
 
in the Holy Communion. The most prominent false doctrines 
 which have been added in recent times are, that of the Immacu- 
 late conception of the Virgin Mary and the Infallibility of the 
 Pope. 
 
 A long line of wicked and dissolute men occupied the papal 
 throne. Pope Boniface VII., who put his predecessor to death 
 by strangulation in 974, reigned for some years. A synod says 
 of him: "He is a papal monster who in his abject depravity ex- 
 ceeds all mortals." If the popes were so reckless what would be 
 the condition of the priests ? Many of them could neither read 
 nor write. The Emperor Henry III., deposed three miserable 
 popes and appointed a German to the office. Hildebrand the 
 son of a carpenter in Italy, occupied the papal throne under the 
 title of Gregory VII. from 1073 — 1085. He labored to make 
 the whole Church absolutely subject to himself, to make all 
 priests independent of the power of their rulers, in order to make 
 the whole of Europe an empire ruled by priests. Hence he com- 
 pelled the priests to remain unmarried. He demanded of em- 
 perors and kings obedience, and declared himself to be the Su- 
 preme Lord of the earth. He excommunicated the German 
 Emperor, Henry IV., and compelled him, in the severe winter of 
 1077, to stand from Jan. 25th to 27th, barefoot and fasting in 
 the garb of a penitent, in the court of the castle of Canossa, be- 
 fore he would give him absolution. 
 
 16. THE CRUSADES. 
 
 At an early period, especially since the time of Constantine 
 the Great, Christians began to make pilgrimages to Palestine in 
 order to pray at the holy sepulchre. It soon occurred to some 
 that there was something meritorious in this, and the priests be- 
 gan to demand such pilgrimages as an exercise of penance for 
 sin. As long as Palestine was part of the Greek Empire such 
 pilgrims were kindly received, and even after the Arabs had 
 
 48 
 
♦ 
 
 »< re- 
 
 gained possession of the country they were still tolerated. As 
 soon, however, as the rude Turks, A. D. 1073, had subjugated 
 the country the pilgrims were subjected to harsh treatment and 
 severe oppression. 
 
 In the year 1095, one of these pilgrims, Peter of Amiens, a 
 French hermit, returned from the promised land and in glowing 
 terms portrayed to Pope Urban II. the sufferings of the Chris- 
 
 
 Peter of Amiens. 
 
 tians, bringing with him also a letter from the Patriarch of Jeru- 
 salem. The fanatical monk related how the Lord Jesus had ap- 
 peared to him in a dream, and charged him to return home and 
 rouse the Christians to an expedition against the infidels. The 
 Pope admired his zeal and directed him everywhere to preach 
 the crusade against the infidel Turks. In this manner he most 
 deeply excited the feelings of the people. Thousands gathered 
 
 4 49 
 
 
around him to whom he repeated his stories, appealing to every 
 passion, and all the people were aroused and ready for the holy 
 expedition. This enthusiasm was, if possible, still more enhanced 
 by the Pope, who held a general council at Claremont, where 
 the fiery speeches of Pope Urban and the hermit so electrified 
 the people that they, as with one voice, exclaimed: "It is the 
 will of God ! " Many thousands enlisted in the cause, affixed a 
 red cross to their right shoulder and prepared for the crusade. 
 Among these were princes and dukes, knights and squires, and 
 even women and children. To all who participated was prom- 
 ised the forgiveness of all sins. 
 
 Already in the following year, 1096, the first crusade was 
 organized under Duke Godfrey of Bouillon. The army 
 originally consisted of 60,000 men, but on the way it increased 
 to 600,000. The knights marched by different routes to Con- 
 stantinople and from there into Asia Minor, Syria and the Holy 
 Land. The wearisome march continued for nearly three years, 
 for it was not until June 6th, 1099, that they reached Jerusalem. 
 Out of the 600,000 which had started out but about 20,000 re- 
 mained, to such an extent had the army been reduced by famine, 
 sickness and the sword of the enemy. On July 15th, 1099, the 
 crusaders scaled the walls of Jerusalem with the shout, " It is the 
 will of God," and instituted a terrible slaughter among the Turks. 
 Godfrey of Bouillon was chosen King of Jerusalem but humbly 
 refused to wear the royal diadem where his Master had been 
 crowned with thorns, and only styled himself the "Protector of 
 the Holy Sepulchre." He died after the lapse of one year and 
 was succeeded, A. D. 1100, by Baldwin, his brother, who was 
 crowned King of Jerusalem at Bethlehem. 
 
 They did not long remain in possession of the Holy Land. 
 When the Turks had conquered Edessa in 1146, preparations 
 were made for a second crusade (1147). Five other crusades 
 followed in succession, but all in vain. Palestine was lost and it 
 remained in the hands of the infidels. The crusades continued 
 
 4 50 
 
f >r 
 
 for nearly two hundred years, during which time nearly six mil- 
 lions of Christians lost their lives. Nothing was gained by them 
 for true Christianity. The last place held by the Christians in 
 the East was Acco, which was conquered by the Turks in 1291. 
 Three orders of knights came into existence during the crusades, 
 viz.: Knights of St. John, Knights Templars and the German 
 Knights. These protected the pilgrims and ministered to the 
 sick. 
 
 17. THE WAL.DENSES. 
 
 In addition to these dark pictures of the Church which have 
 been presented, another movement claims our notice, namely, 
 the open and secret persecutions of those who tenaceously clung 
 to the Word of God, making it the rule of their life ; the perse- 
 cution of true Christians by the papal authority. 
 
 Far distant from the bustle and great highways of the surging 
 world, in the lonely defiles of the towering Alps, true Christianity 
 was preserved to such an extent, both as to doctrine and life, that 
 it reminds us of apostolic times. The inhabitants of those poor 
 valleys had also been tainted with the corruptions of Romanism 
 to some extent, but through the labors of Peter Waldus, and 
 those whom he associated with him for the preaching of the Gos- 
 pel to the peasantry, the errors were purged out and the pure 
 truth held fast. The name, Waldenses, is supposed to have been 
 derived from their dwelling in valleys (Vallenses), but it is very 
 evident from history that they were called after their most emi- 
 nent instructor and leader. Their confession of faith contains 
 the following points : " In all things pertaining to salvation the 
 Holy Scriptures alone are to be believed and no other person or 
 book. There is but one Mediator, hence saints dare not be wor- 
 shipped. Purgatory is a mere fiction. There are but two sacra- 
 ments, etc." Here we see in the darkness of the middle ages an 
 Evangelical Church ! The life and conduct of these Christians 
 
 51 
 
was in harmony with their doctrine. Having no schools, the 
 children of the Waldenses were taught at home to read and 
 write, and were so thoroughly instructed in God's Word, that 
 many of them had not only memorized a large part of the Bible, 
 especially the Psalms, the Gospel of St. John and the Epistle to 
 the Romans, but they were able to give answer to the most 
 learned of their enemies concerning the hope which was within 
 them. Louis XII., of France, testified of the Waldenses : " Truly 
 these heretics are better than I and my whole nation." 
 
 Peter Waldus was a wealthy merchant at Lyons. He earn- 
 estly studied the Word of God, and was so imbued with Gospel 
 truth, that he resolved to communicate the same also to others. 
 About 1170 he distributed all his goods to the poor and founded 
 an association for preaching the Gospel to the country people. 
 He caused portions of the Holy Scriptures to be translated and 
 circulated among the people as much as possible. Waldus was 
 obliged to flee from place to place and at length died in Bohemia 
 in 1197. His adherents were scattered and spread themselves 
 throughout southern France, eastern Spain and northern Italy; 
 but many of their converts were also found in Germany, in 
 Switzerland and in Bohemia. Many found a refuge in Albi, in 
 southern France, whence they received the name Albigenses. 
 
 Every manner of persecution was visited upon these people. 
 The Inquisition * was resorted to, and a murderous crusade, with 
 an army of three hundred thousand men, was carried on against 
 the Albigenses for twenty years. During this time not only one 
 million of persons were slain, but many of them were tortured with 
 unparalleled cruelty, and the country was changed into a desert. 
 On one occasion seven thousand persons were put to death in a 
 church. Still more cruel were the tribunals of the Inquisition 
 instituted by Pope Gregory IX. against the heretics, the execu- 
 tion of which he gave into the hands of the Dominican monks. 
 
 * A tribunal established for the examination and punishment of heretics. 
 52 
 
One inquisitor, in Spain, during the short term of his office, had 
 ten thousand persons burned to death and ninety-seven thousand 
 incarcerated, most of whom died in prison in consequence of the 
 tortures inflicted upon them. These tortures were the most hor- 
 rible which our sin cursed earth has ever seen, and they were 
 perpetrated in the name of Christianity by the Roman Catholic 
 Church ! Those incarcerated were questioned concerning their 
 heresy, and, if they did not at once confess, were compelled to 
 suffer indescribable torments, which, in many cases, speedily 
 ended their existence. 
 
 A large number of the Waldenses fled to the valleys of Pied- 
 mont in upper Italy, where they have remained until this day. 
 Of late they have gained considerable influence in Italy, and can 
 now exercise their religion freely. 
 
 18. WYCKLIFFE IN ENGLAND. 
 
 John Wicklif, or Wyckliffe, was born in 1324 in the village 
 of Wyckliffe, from which he also derived his name. He became 
 lecturer on divinity at the University of Oxford, after having 
 been Master of Belliol College, where, because of his faithful 
 study of the Bible and decided expression of anti-romish views, 
 he became involved in a controversy with the mendicant monks. 
 Wyckliffe attacked the monks unmercifully because of their in- 
 dolence, beggary and perversion of religion. The monks became 
 the more exasperated and complained to the Archbishop, which 
 caused him and his adherents to be removod from the school. 
 By an address in defense of the English crown against the pre- 
 tensions of the papal court, he secured the favor of the British 
 court, which conferred the doctorate upon him and appointed 
 him professor of theology in Oxford, and also gave him charge 
 of the parish of Lutterworth. He was commissioned on an em- 
 bassy to Bruges to confer with the papal legate in order to effect 
 an adjustment of certain abuses complained of by the English 
 
 53 
 
"Wyckliffe and his Church at Lutterworth. 
 
 54 
 
Parliament. There he learned by personal observation how cor- 
 rupt the papacy was. After his return he became more bold in 
 denouncing the errors and abuses in the Church, and designated 
 the Pope as " Anti-Christ," " the proud wordly priest of Rome, 
 the most cursed of clippers and purse-curvers " (cut-purses). The 
 monks now accused him to the Pope as a heretic, who at once de- 
 manded his appearance at a convocation where he was to be ex- 
 amined for his opinions. Wyckliffe obeyed the summons but he 
 defended himself so well, and was so energetically sustained by the 
 citizens of London and the government that he was acquitted. He 
 now translated the Bible into English and formed societies of de- 
 vout men, who preached the Gospel among the people, and went 
 from village to village bearing copies of parts of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures. He might have brought about a better state of things in 
 the Church had he possessed moderation and patience. He, how- 
 ever, desired with one blow to overthrow the erroneous teachings 
 of the Church and to re-establish the Gospel. He attacked the 
 Romish doctrine of Transubstantiation and declared that Christ 
 is present only in a spiritual sense in the Lord's Supper. This, 
 however, appeared even to his friend, the king, as heretical. He 
 was summoned before a convocation in 1382, where he appeared 
 and defended himself with great subtlety and power. His de- 
 fense was unavailing. He was banished from Oxford, but was 
 allowed to retire to his parish of Lutterworth, where he died on 
 the last Sunday of the year 1384, just ninety-nine years before 
 the birth of Luther. Forty-four years after his death, the coun- 
 cil of Constance commanded his corpse to.be exhumed and burned, 
 and the ashes to be scattered to the winds. 
 
 19. JOHN HUSS. 
 
 John" Huss, the most important forerunner of the Reforma- 
 tion, lived at Prague at the close of the XIV. and the beginning 
 of the XV. Century. He was born in 1369 of humble parents, 
 
 55 
 
who belonged to the peasant class, in the village of Husinecz in 
 Bohemia. In 1398 he was appointed to the chair of philosophy 
 in the University of Prague, and in 1401 was made dean of the 
 philosophical faculty. He had found peace and comfort in the 
 Word of God alone. He was called in 1402 to officiate as 
 preacher in the Bethlehem Chapel (Bethlehem means, house of 
 bread), at Prague, which had been founded for the special pur- 
 pose of giving the people an opportunity of hearing the Gospel 
 in their native tongue. Here he sought to give to hungry souls 
 the bread of the Word of God which in those times was so sel- 
 dom presented. With outspoken earnestness he exposed the su- 
 perstitions of the people and the sins of the clergy. All who saw 
 him in the pulpit, the pale thin man with a serious countenance, 
 and all who were acquainted with his pure and strict life, were 
 persuaded that he was in earnest and spoke from conviction. 
 When with more fervent zeal he discussed the corruptions of the 
 Church, and energetically denounced the ecclesiastical and cleri- 
 cal abuses, and asserted that the Word of God should again pre- 
 vail in the land, an accusation against him was laid before the 
 Pope in Rome. At length the Pope excommunicated him and 
 put the city of Prague under the interdict so long as it sheltered 
 him (1413). A council was convened in 1414 at Constance, on 
 Lake Constance, in Switzerland, where Huss was cited to appear 
 and where his cause was to be finally settled. The council 
 was attended by the Pope, the Emperor Sigismund, kings and 
 magnates of the empire, prelates, bishops and priests. Huss 
 w T as promised a safe conduct by the Emperor and he gladly set 
 out for Constance, October 14th, 1414, to give testimony for 
 Christ, fully persuaded of the justice of his cause. He arrived 
 the following month and on his first examination was immedi- 
 ately committed to prison, November 28th. For seven months 
 he was tortured by private examinations. A public audience 
 was not granted him until June, 1415, when he was, however, 
 not allowed to discuss the controverted points, but was com- 
 
 5fi 
 
manded to make an unqualified retraction. He, however, re- 
 fused to yield. 
 
 On the 6th of July — his forty-sixth birthday — he was brought 
 into the cathedral, where the whole council was assembled. The 
 Emperor, with the princes of the empire and the assembled 
 knighthood entered. All eyes were fixed upon the preacher cf 
 Prague. He was placed on a slight elevation so as to be seen 
 by the assembled multitude. A bishop now delivered an oration 
 on Romans 6 : 6, in which he admonished the Emperor to extir- 
 pate heresy and, especially, to remove the obdurate heretic stand- 
 ing before them. Here Huss fell upon his knees and commended 
 himself to God. As he was not permitted to speak, the following 
 sentence was immediately pronounced : 
 
 " The writings of Huss are to be burned, and he, being a wicked, obdur- 
 ate man, is to be ignominiously deprived of his priestly office and given 
 over to the secular power." 
 
 Having heard the sentence he prayed to God : "I pray Thee, 
 for Thy mercy's sake, forgive all mine enemies ! " 
 
 The sentence was immediately executed. With curses they 
 stripped him of his priestly robes, pronounced him a Judas, and 
 placed a paper cap on his head, on which were painted tongues 
 of flame and devils, and on which was written the legend "Arch- 
 heretic." In reply to this ignominy, Huss calmly said: "My 
 Lord wore for me a crown of thorns ; therefore will I, miserable 
 man, cheerfully wear the lighter one for him." Being given into 
 the hands of the secular power, he was led to the place of execu- 
 tion. His hands were securely tied on his back. His body was 
 secured with ropes and his neck was fastened, with a chain, to a 
 stake. Wood and straw were piled up around him even to his 
 mouth. The funeral pile was lit, and flame and smoke circled 
 aloft. Huss sang in clearest tones : " O Christ, Thou Lamb of 
 God, have mercy on me ! " and again : " O Christ, Thou Lamb of 
 God, have mercy on me ! " He made a third attempt, but the 
 
 57 
 
 f 
 
f. 
 wind drove the smoke and flame into his face. His lips were seen 
 to move once more, — he died. 
 
 Jerome of Prague, a friend and associate of Huss, followed his friend 
 to Constance, although he was not himself summoned. Finding that a pro- 
 tracted stay in the city could be of no possible benefit to his friend, and only 
 exposed himself to a similar fate, he left Constance, but was captured by the 
 way and was brought back in chains (April, 1415). He at first remained 
 steadfast and stoutly refused to recant. After, however, spending half a 
 year in a loathsome prison, he was prevailed upon, in an hour of weakness, 
 to renounce his faith. But notwithstanding his recantation, being mis- 
 trusted, he was still kept in prison ; his judges, fearing that if released, he 
 would return to Bohemia and cause a revolt. Jerome soon recovered him- 
 self. After another six months spent in prison he requested a public audi- 
 ence before the whole council, which was granted him in May, 1416. In- 
 stead, however, of requesting his release, as the council expected, he form- 
 ally retracted his former recantation, declaring that the condemnation of 
 PIuss was unjust, and confounded the council by his eloquence and moral 
 earnestness. He was now also condemned to death, and having cited his 
 unjust judges to appear within 100 years before the Supreme Judge to an- 
 swer for their course, he, on the 30th of May, 1416, died at the stake full 
 of courage and joy. 
 
 The Hussites, — This was the name given to the adherents of Huss. 
 After the death of Huss thousands of the Bohemians armed themselves 
 and, under the leadership of their one-eyed commander, Ziska, built the 
 fortified town " Tabor" on the top of a steep mountain. From these head- 
 quarters they marched through the land and compelled the introduction of 
 the doctrines of Huss, especially the administering of the cup to the laity 
 in the Lord's Supper. In Prague they demanded religious freedom and 
 the deliverance of imprisoned Hussites. This being denied them, they 
 threw thirteen councilors from the window of the council chamber. This 
 was the beginning of a terrible war which continued for fifteen years, be- 
 ing waged with unprecedented cruelty on both sides. At a later period a 
 remnant of the Hussites became what are known as the Bohemian and 
 Moravian Brethren. 
 
 58 
 
V. THE PERIOD OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 20. DR. MARTIN LUTHER. 
 
 UMEROUS were the errors and abuses 
 which existed in the Church. Many- 
 men had openly and boldly protested 
 against them. Among these "VValdus, 
 Wyckliffe and Huss were most prominent. 
 But it was not until one hundred years 
 later that the Reformation was actu- 
 ally accomplished by the man whom God 
 had selected as The Reformer of the 
 Church, — Dr. Martin Luther. 
 
 Martin Luther, the son of Hans Luther, a pious 
 miner, was born at Eisleben, in Germany, November 
 10th, 1483. He was brought up by his parents in a 
 simple but strict manner, and was from early youth 
 regularly sent to school. Being an apt and industri- 
 ous boy his father concluded to give him a good edu- 
 cation and designed him for the legal profession. He sent him 
 to the latin school at Magdeburg and afterwards to Eisenach. 
 His parents being poor, Martin could receive little support from 
 home. He was, therefore, according to the custom of those days, 
 obliged to secure his daily bread by singiug before the doors, and 
 thankfully accepting whatever kindly disposed persons gave him. 
 Being gifted with a sweet voice, and possessing withal a pious 
 disposition, the attention of the wife of a well-to-do citizen of 
 Eisenach, Mrs. Ursula Cotta, was drawn toward him. She re- 
 ceived him into her house and treated him as her own child. At 
 the age of eighteen — in the year 1501 — he entered the University 
 
 59 
 

 Dr. Martin Luther. 
 
 60 
 
at Erfurth. Here, in the library, he discovered a latin Bible, in 
 which he was astonished to find so many things of which he had 
 never before heard. He read it with increasing interest and 
 earnestness, and j>rayed that God might in due time reward him 
 with such a book. In 1505 he became teacher of philosophy. 
 Alarmed by the sudden death of a friend, he believed that by 
 entering a monastery he could attain peace for his troubled soul ; 
 and hence on the 17th of July, 1505, he entered the Augustinian 
 cloister in Erfurth and became a monk. He obeyed the rules 
 of the monastery in the most conscientious manner, performed 
 the most menial services and went about begging for his cloister. 
 But monastic life did not give Luther the peace of soul which he 
 so much craved. He became more and more despondent, for he 
 saw that he could not with all such works merit the good pleasure 
 of God. He even despaired of his salvation, and the struggle in 
 his soul more and more consumed his strength. On one occasion, 
 Staupitz, the vicar-general of the Augustinians, visited the cloister 
 and comforted him by directing him to the atoning death of 
 Jesus Christ, and exhorted him to trust in the grace of Christ 
 instead of constantly torturing himself because of his sins. One 
 day as he lay overwhelmed with despair, an aged monk entered 
 his cell and addressed words of comfort to him. He led him 
 back to the Apostles' Creed and repeated this article : " / believe 
 in the forgiveness of sins" "You must believe" said he, "not 
 only in the forgiveness of David's and of Peter's sins, for this 
 even the devils believe. It is God's command that we believe 
 our own sins are forgiven." New light now sprung up in the 
 heart of the young monk. He applied himself even more dili- 
 gently to the study of the Apostles and Prophets, and realized 
 what they teach, namely, that we are justified by Faith alone. 
 The vicar-general, John von Staupitz, recognizing in Luther 
 a man of fine attainments and excellent character, did not wish 
 him to remain long in the cloister. Upon his advice, Frederick 
 the Wise, Elector of Saxony, called Luther in the year 1508 
 
 61 
 
-♦■■-« 
 
 to be a professor in the newly established university at Witten- 
 berg. 
 
 In the year 1510, Luther was commissioned to go to Rome in 
 the interest of the order of Augustinian monks to which he be- 
 longed. This journey proved to be to him and his times, and in- 
 deed for all time to come, of the greatest importance. He still 
 imagined the Pope to be the holy vicar of Christ upon earth, 
 and Rome to be the supreme seat of holiness. Hence he hoped 
 that there he would find perfect peace for his soul. But he was 
 miserably disappointed. The nearer he approached the holy (?) 
 city of Rome, the more wickedness he observed on every hand, 
 and, when in the city, he heard such vile reports concerning the 
 popes, showing them to be guilty of the most wicked and shame- 
 ful deeds, that he was perfectly horrified. In addition to this he 
 discovered that the clergy were deplorably ignorant and given to 
 the grossest superstitions, many even being total unbelievers and 
 blasphemers of religion. By such gloomy experiences Luther's 
 reverence for Rome and the Pope was very much shaken. But 
 this journey was important for him in other respects. He found 
 peace for his soul, not, indeed, in Rome, but in the Word of God. 
 He had often read and meditated upon the words, Habakuk 2 : 4, 
 " The just shall live by his faith," and often, already in the cloister, 
 did they give him sweet comfort ; but still he never thoroughly 
 comprehended their meaning. On his homeward journey he was 
 taken sick, and again this passage occurred to him, and at once 
 its meaning was perfectly clear: Man can not become just before 
 God by works, but by faith. In 1512 he was made a Doctor 
 of theology and became preacher in Wittenberg. 
 
 21. INDULGENCE AND THE 95 THESES. 
 
 Pope Leo X., a very vain and pomp-loving man, desired to 
 make himself a name by completing St. Peter's church in Rome. 
 For this purpose he needed money, and since he could not hope 
 
 62 
 
for regular contributions, he commanded a general indulgence to 
 be preached. 
 
 Indulgence is the remission of the temporal and eternal punishment 
 due to sins, granted by the pope or the church, supposed to save the sinner 
 from purgatory. Priests went from place to place and sold these in- 
 dulgences, making the people believe that by paying certain sums of 
 money, every sin, however heinous, which they had committed, would be 
 forgiven ; and even going so far as to grant permission to commit certain 
 sins, declaring that by the indulgence they were forgiven in advance. 
 
 The Pope committed this indulgence business in Germany into 
 the hands of the Elector, Albrecht of Mainz, who was also Arch- 
 bishop of Magdeburg, and who assumed the chief management 
 of the commission and received half of the receipts for the liquid- 
 ation of his own debts. He endeavored to make the business as 
 profitable as possible and employed a number of shameless monks 
 as indulgence venders. The most scandalous of these was John 
 Tetzel, of Leipzig, a Dominican prior and Dr. of Theology, who 
 on a former occasion had been found guilty of adultery and was 
 to be put to death by drowning. The Archbishop appointed him 
 indulgence vendor in Saxony. Tetzel traveled from place to 
 place attended by a numerous retinue, and with the most unex- 
 ampled impudence offered his wares from the pulpit and in the 
 market place. His charges for the pardon of particular sins 
 were: witchcraft 2 ducats, polygamy 6, murder 8, robbing of 
 churches and perjury 9 ducats. (A ducat is in value about equal 
 to an American dollar.) The inscription on his heavy money 
 chest was : 
 
 Soon's in the chest the money rings 
 
 The soul at once to Heaven springs." 
 
 This Tetzel came to Jiiterbogk near Wittenberg and attracted 
 crowds of purchasers from all directions, including many from 
 Wittenberg. Luther discovered in the confessional the pernicious 
 consequences of this disorder, for many of the penitents desired 
 to hear nothing more of repentance and amendment, because, as 
 
 63 
 
they contended, they had paid for their sins. Luther now began 
 to preach mightily against Indulgence, but it availed little, and 
 a number of eminent priests, to whom he appealed, would say 
 nothing against the pernicious traffic. He then, on the 31st of 
 October, 1517, nailed 95 Theses against indulgences to the door 
 of the Castle Church at Wittenberg, so that all who would come 
 to church on the following day — being "All Saints Day" — could 
 read them. This was the beginning of the Reformation. In those 
 95 theses Luther declared that the Pope had no right to forgive 
 sins for money, that when our Lord said : " Repent, etc.," He 
 meant that the whole earthly life of His believers should be a 
 continual repentance, and that faith in Christ was the only 
 ground for Salvation. 
 
 Luther's theses attracted great attention ; in the incredibly 
 short space of fourteen days they had not only reached Rome, 
 but had spread throughout all Germany, and soon after became 
 generally known throughout the whole of Europe. Everywhere 
 the movement met with much favor and men rejoiced at the bold- 
 ness of the monk ; whilst on the other hand there were no doubt 
 also such — especially the friends of Luther — who thought with 
 terror of the stake. It is very evident that the Pope could not 
 long remain silent, although he at first regarded the whole matter 
 as a petty quarrel among the monks, and even praised friar Mar- 
 tin as a remarkable genius. He, however, soon changed his mind, 
 and demanded that Luther should recant. But Luther firmly 
 refused, although he at that time still entertained a very high re- 
 gard for the Pope. He respectfully requested that he be first 
 taught differently from the Sacred Scriptures, else he could under 
 no circumstances retract. But the arrogant Pope would not yield 
 to such an insignificant monk, and designed to make short work 
 with him and his cause, by putting him under the ban. He 
 issued a bull dated June 15th, 1520, in which Luther was pro- 
 nounced a heretic and his writings ordered to be burned. Upon 
 this Luther took another step in advance, and formally renounced 
 
 64 
 
the papacy by publicly burning the papal bull on the morning 
 of December 10th, 1520, before the Elster gate of Wittenberg in 
 the presence of a large number of spectators, among whom were 
 many doctors and students. 
 
 22. THE DIET AT WORMS. 
 
 After the death of the Emperor Maximilian (1519), Charles 
 Y. 9 of Spain, was elected Emperor. The Elector of Saxony, Fred- 
 erick the Wise, who had declined to accept the imperial crown, 
 asked of him that the affair of Luther be presented and dis- 
 cussed at the diet to be held in the city of Worms in 1521. 
 This was conceded and the Emperor promised Luther a safe 
 conduct to arid from Worms. His friends advised him not to 
 go, and even after he had set out, admonished him to return, 
 for fear the safe conduct would be ignored and he be violently 
 dealt with. Luther, however, discarded these fears and solicita- 
 tions of his friends with true Christian heroism, saying : " If 
 there were as many devils in Worms as tiles on the roofs, I would 
 still go thither," and trusting in his Lord he proceeded on his 
 journey. The friends of the Pope had hoped that he would not 
 obey the Emperor's summons, and when they heard he was on the 
 way were filled with alarm. They feared for their wretched cause 
 and hence resorted to all manner of intrigue and strategem to 
 hinder his entering Worms, but Luther was undaunted and said : 
 "I go whither I am summoned." His journey seemed a tri- 
 umphal march ; everywhere the whole populace was aroused and 
 flocked to see this bold monk, and on April 16th, 1521, he entered 
 the city amidst a dense mass of people. When on the following 
 day he was conducted to the diet chamber, the streets and win- 
 dows and even the roofs of the houses were crowded with the pop- 
 ulace. The throng in the streets through which he had to pass 
 was so great that the marshal who conducted him was compelled 
 to order the opening of some private houses, and he led Luther 
 
 5 65 
 
 ■4, 
 
through the gardens and private passages to the place where the 
 diet was sitting. At the entrance of the diet-chamber stood a 
 valiant knight, the eminent George of Freundsberg, who tapped 
 him on the shoulder, and shaking his head said kindly: "Poor 
 monk, poor monk, thou art now going on a way to make a nobler 
 stand than I or many a captain have ever made in the most san- 
 guinary battle. But if thy cause is just, and thou art right, fear 
 nothing and go forward in the name of God, He will not forsake 
 thee." Luther went forward with confidence, even if his heart 
 did beat violently as he appeared before the imposing assembly. 
 Before him sat the Emperor, Charles V., on his throne, and ar- 
 ranged on either side, his brother, the Archduke (afterwards 
 King Ferdinand), six electors of the empire, twenty-four dukes, 
 eight margraves, thirty archbishops, bishops and abbots, seven 
 ambassadors, the deputies of ten free cities, the papal nuncios 
 and a great number of princes and counts — in all, two hundred 
 and four persons of rank — together with over five thousand per- 
 sons in the hall and ante-chamber and at the windows, all eagerly 
 looking upon Luther. When he was asked whether he was wil- 
 ling to retract his writings, he requested time for reflection that 
 he might not act imprudently and that he might answer without 
 offending against the Word of God. This was granted, and the 
 next day he appeared in order to make his defense. When he 
 was again urged to retract his writings, and a clear, concise answer 
 w r as demanded, he replied in a firm voice: "Unless I am con- 
 vinced by Scripture or other clear proofs, I neither can nor dare 
 retract anything for my conscience is bound to God's Word. I 
 cannot submit my faith either to the Pope or councils, because it 
 is clear that they have frequently erred and contradicted each 
 other, and it is neither safe nor advisable to act against conscience. 
 Here I stand ; I cannot do otherwise ; so help me God ! 
 Amen ! " However much the friends of Luther, and especially the 
 eminent Elector Frederick, were surprised and delighted at this 
 frank and open confession, Luther was still pronounced a heretic 
 
 66 
 
and put under the ban of the empire. But the Emperor kept his 
 word and permitted him to return home unmolested. The im- 
 perial decree of the ban was not published until May 26th, after 
 many of the princes favorable to Luther and his cause had left the 
 diet, but it was falsely antedated May 8th. In this edict the Em- 
 peror said, that he pronounces this devil in the disguise of a hu- 
 man being and a monk's gown an outlaw, and that after the ex- 
 piration of the twentieth day no one shall harbor him or give 
 him food and drink, under pain of incurring the charge of high 
 treason, but to seize him wherever found and deliver him under 
 sure guard to the Emperor. The edict concluded : " If any one of 
 any rank, class or condition, act contrary to this our Christian 
 and imperial order, proceedings will be taken against the same 
 according to the forms of the ban and sentence of outlawry." 
 
 On the 26th of April Luther left Worms, conducted by the 
 imperial herald, whom, however, upon his arrival at Freyberg, 
 a few miles from Worms, he dismissed with thanks. As Luther 
 was traveling through the Thuringian forest near Waltershausen, 
 on the 4th of May, 1521, he was seized by several armed knights 
 who dragged him out of his carriage with seeming violence, threw 
 a military cloak over his shoulders, and placing him on a horse, 
 in a few moments vanished with him in the gloomy forest. They 
 rode through the forest until eleven o'clock at night, when they 
 arrived at the WartbllFg.* These knights acted under instruc- 
 tions from the Elector, Luther's friend, who desired to bring him 
 to a secure place until the first storm had subsided. Upon the 
 Wartburg Luther was kept like a noble prisoner ; he was dressed 
 in the garb of a knight, was compelled to let his beard grow and 
 to carry a sword, and was known as Knight George. 
 
 Luther could, however, not be idle in his exile. Having 
 begun again to build up the Church which had fallen into decay, 
 he was determined to continue the work. He resolved to trans- 
 
 * A castle belonging to the Elector of Saxony, near Eisenach. 
 
 67 * 
 
 4 
 
late the Holy Bible into pure German, so that the Word of God 
 in its purity could be studied by the people. A number of trans- 
 lations of the Bible existed. These were not, however, from the 
 original text (Hebrew and Greek) but from the Latin Vulgate, 
 and in many respects unintelligible and full of errors. On the 
 Wartburg, Luther, by the help of God, in a very brief period of 
 time, completed his admirable translation of the New Testament, 
 besides publishing the first part of his Church Postil — a work 
 conferring great blessings upon the people. Indeed, it is astonish- 
 ing how much Luther wrote in the short space of twenty-five 
 years. It has been calculated that a transcriber, writing rapidly 
 for ten hours a day, would spend a whole lifetime in transcribing 
 every thing which Luther wrote. Beside this voluminous writ- 
 ing he did so much other work which it would be a very difficult 
 matter for any other individual to imitate. 
 
 After spending ten months on the Wartburg, Luther heard of 
 disturbances which had broken out at Wittenberg. The so-called 
 Zwickau Prophets had gone there, and among other things 
 preached against what they called " The devil's work of Infant 
 Baptism," producing great confusion thereby. This was the 
 signal for his departure. Nothing could now restrain him, and 
 he hastened, without permission from the Elector, May 3d, 1522, 
 from his place of exile and appeared suddenly in Wittenberg to 
 the joy of all the true friends of the Reformation. For a whole 
 week he preached night and day against the fanatics who had 
 threatened great mischief, and succeeded in soon reestablishing 
 order. He now continued in the great work of translating the 
 Bible with manifest zeal, assisted by several competent friends, 
 so that in 1534 the whole Bible was printed in the German 
 language 
 
 The Catechism. — Luther's Small Catechism was published in 1529. 
 The Elector of Saxony had commissioned him to visit the churches and 
 schools in the Electorate and to inquire into their general condition. He 
 was completely surprised at the great ignorance in divine things which he 
 
 6 9 
 
discovered, both on the part of children and adults, of the laity and clergy. 
 In his preface to the Small Catechism he says: "Alas! what misery I be- 
 held ! The people, especially those who live in the villages, seem to have 
 no knowledge whatever of Christian doctrine, and many of the pastors are 
 ignorant and incompetent teachers." For ministers and teachers he wrote 
 the large Catechism. The Small Catechism is a classic book for the 
 school and family, and a jewel which to this day remains unexcelled both 
 as to contents and arrangement. Joachim, Duke of Anhalt, wrote on the 
 flyleaf of his Catechism: "Next to the Bible, I prize this book." Frede- 
 rick II., Duke of Silesia, requested to be buried with this book in his hand. 
 Already in the XVI. Century Luther's Small Catechism was translated 
 into thirteen languages, and afterwards into many more, so that to-day it 
 can be studied in more languages than any other book, except the Bible. 
 
 The Hymn Book. — The first collection of German hymns was published 
 by Luther in 1524, and it contained eight hymns. New ones were added 
 from year to year, so that when Luther died, the number had increased to 
 one hundred and fifty, of which he had himself composed thirty-seven. He 
 also composed some most admirable melodies, as the one to that powerful 
 hymn, "A mighty Fortress is our God," and others. The hymns and melo- 
 dies were quickly learned by the people and everywhere sung, so that the 
 hymns became a powerful factor in spreading the true doctrine. 
 
 The Bible in English. — In the last quarter of the XIV. Century, the 
 first translation of the Bible into English by Wycliffe appeared. It was 
 not made from the original languages, but from the Latin Vulgate. The 
 next was by William Tyndale, who used all the aids of his time which he 
 had at command. He was followed by Coverdale, who put forth a com- 
 plete translation of the Bible in 1535; it was, however, inferior to Tyn- 
 dale' s, being made from different translations and not from the original. 
 A revision was afterwards made by John Rogers, called Matthews Bible, 
 1537. A very imperfect revision called the Great Bible appeared in 1539. 
 Numerous other revisions and translations of greater or less merit, followed, 
 until in 1611 the present English Bible, called King James' Version, was 
 completed. In 1604 King James of England appointed fifty-four learned 
 men to furnish a new translation. Forty-seven of these men accepted the 
 charge and faithfully performed their work. Another revision is now in 
 progress, the New Testament having appeared in 1881. No translation 
 has, however, reached the high standard of excellence which is universally 
 conceded to Luther's German Bible. 
 
 70 
 
23. THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION. 
 
 Rapid progress had been made by the Gospel and it had gained 
 entrance into many countries. Monasteries and convents were 
 abolished, the priests were permitted to marry, and services were 
 conducted in the language of the people. The Evangelical 
 (Lutheran) Church had assumed a permanent form, and the 
 princes had united in a league to protect themselves against the 
 Roman Catholics. Overagainst this the Roman Catholic princes 
 published an edict at the second diet at Speyer, held in the year 
 1529, revoking the resolution passed at one held three years pre- 
 vious at the same place, granting to all religious liberty until a 
 council should " re-establish unity by the Word of God." The 
 edict by which this was nullified set forth that : there be no fur- 
 ther innovations in religion; that where Luther's doctrine had 
 not yet been introduced, its introduction shall not be permitted, 
 and that where it existed it shall not only be no further extended, 
 but that the "mass" should be again introduced, the ministers 
 should avoid all disputed questions and should use and explain 
 the Scriptures only as they have been hitherto used and explained 
 in the Roman Church. The Evangelical States protested against 
 this resolution, presenting their famous protest to the Diet, April 
 19th, 1529. This circumstance gave rise to the name Protest- 
 ants. 
 
 The protest was very ungraciously received by the Emperor, 
 who resolved to hold another diet the following year where the 
 matter of the Protestants should be adjusted. This diet was 
 called to meet at Augsburg early in the year 1530. It was the 
 object of the Pope as well as the Emperor utterly to uproot the 
 Evangelical doctrine. To this the Evangelical Princes would, 
 however, by no means submit. It was therefore the purpose of 
 the diet to adjust the religious controversy. Luther wrote out 
 the most important Evangelical articles of faith. Melanchthon 
 enlarged upon these and arranged them into a confession of faith, 
 
 which is universally known as the Augsburg Confession. 
 
 71 
 
 T 
 
The Elector of Saxony accompanied by his theologians went to 
 Augsburg. Luther remained at Coburg, as he was still under 
 the ban of the Empire, which made it unsafe for him to go be- 
 yond the domains of his Elector. The 25th of June was the day 
 upon which the Confession was read in presence of the Emperor 
 and diet. The Emperor demanded that it be read in Latin ; but 
 the Elector John insisted, that being on German soil* it should 
 be read in German, which was finally conceded. The Chancellor 
 Dr. Baier now read the twenty-eight articles of the Confession 
 in such a clear voice, that the thousands Avhich had assembled in 
 the court-yard of the castle, understood every word. Many of 
 the opponents were astonished at this doctrine which made such 
 a favorable impression upon them. The Evangelicals were now 
 encouraged and full of confidence. Seven Dukes and two free 
 cities had signed the Confession. The Roman Catholic theolo- 
 gians declared that they could refute the Confession by the church 
 fathers, but not with the Bible. Upon this, Duke George, of 
 Saxony, an arch-enemy of Luther, replied: "Well then the 
 Lutherans are entrenched in the scriptures, and we are along 
 side of it." 
 
 Philip Melanchthoil was the author of the Augsburg Con- 
 fession. He enlarged on the articles of faith previously prepared 
 by Luther and presented to a convention held at Schwabach — 
 hence called the Articles of Schwabach, also the Torgau Articles — 
 and prepared the Confession on their basis. Born in 1497 at 
 Bretten, in the Palatinate, he entered the University of Heidelberg 
 when only thirteen years of age, and when sixteen years old he 
 already published a Greek grammar. In his seventeenth year he 
 obtained the Master's degree, and in his twenty-first year he was 
 called as Professor of the Greek language to Wittenberg. His 
 name was originally Schwarzerd (black-earth) which Luther 
 translated into Greek, Melanchthon. His fame soon spread 
 throughout all Europe, and attracted to him thousands of hearers 
 from all countries. Because of his superior talents, fine culture 
 
 72 
 
Philip Melanclithou. 
 
 and great learning, lie received the title : " The teacher of Ger- 
 many." He outlived Luther and died April 19th, 1560, weary 
 of Life and anxious to depart. 
 
 24. LUTHER'S DOMESTIC LIFE, AND DEATH. 
 
 In the .year 1525 Luther was married to Catharine von 
 Bora with whom he lived a very happy life. His benevolence 
 
 73 
 
+ . * 
 
 was remarkable, exceeding the liberality of many who are 
 wealthy. As a father he was very strict and endeavored to rear 
 his children in the fear of the Lord. On one occasion he would 
 not suffer his son Hans, because of some wrong he had com- 
 mitted, to appear before him for three days, saying: "I would 
 sooner have a dead son than a disobedient one." — On the other 
 hand he was very kind and affectionate, so that his children not 
 only feared, but most sincerely loved him and confided in him. 
 In consequence of this truly christian discipline at home, his chil- 
 dren were well-behaved, and grew up respected by all who knew 
 them. Luther was the father of six children. John, the oldest, 
 became a lawyer, and died in Kcenigsberg, in 1575; Elizabeth 
 and Magdalena died young ; Martin studied theology, but died 
 before he had finished his studies; Paul studied medicine and 
 became physician to the Elector of Saxony; Margaretha was 
 married to a Prussian nobleman. 
 
 Luther was a very earnest man, but at the same time friendly 
 and kindly disposed toward every one. In spite of much ill health, 
 he was very diligent. He preached very frequently, lectured to 
 the students every day, was obliged to undertake many journeys, 
 to answer innumerable letters, to receive visits of many strangers 
 and give them advice, and employed two or three hours daily in 
 communing with God in prayer. ' By means of his numerous 
 publications Luther might have become a wealthy man, a pub- 
 lisher offering to pay him annually fourhundred dollars (a very 
 large sum at that time) for them. He would, however, take 
 nothing, although he received but a meagre salary, so that, because 
 of his liberality, he often lacked the means for the most ordinary 
 necessities. 
 
 During his whole life Luther enjoyed comparatively little good 
 health ; but especially during the last few years of his life was he 
 afflicted with great bodily suffering. About this time family 
 difficulties arose between the counts of Mansfeld, his former 
 sovereigns, and the counts desired to adjust matters by submit- 
 
 74 
 
•JL 
 
 ♦ 
 
 ting the difficulties to the arbitration of exemplary men. They 
 therefore requested Luther to come to Eisleben. Luther con- 
 sented to undertake this difficult journey, although he realized 
 his approaching end. — He had the pleasure of seeing the counts 
 reconciled; but his illness increased, and on the 16th of February 
 assumed such a grave character, that he realized his speedy dis- 
 solution, and remarked several times : "Here in Eisleben I was 
 born and baptized, what, if it should also be the place of my 
 death!" During the night from the 17th to the 18th of February 
 the oppression of his chest increased to such an extent that his 
 friends watched at his bedside. Every effort to relieve him by 
 the administration of medicine was fruitless. He prayed fervently 
 and exclaimed three times in succession: "Father, into thy 
 hands I commend my spirit!" When Dr. Jonas asked him: 
 " Reverend Father, are you willing to die in Christ and in the 
 doctrine which you preached?" Luther answered loud and dis- 
 tinctly — "Yes," and died with folded hands as if in prayer. His 
 death occured February 18th, 1546, at the age of 62 years, 3 
 months and 8 days. 
 
 Luther's death was an occasion of the deepest mourning. The 
 Elector ordered that the body be brought to Wittenberg. 
 Electors, Dukes and common citizens, men and women, old and 
 young, all mourned with bitter tears when the news of the death 
 of the Reformer of the Church became known. The young 
 count of Mansfeld with forty-five noblemen accompanied the 
 corpse to Wittenberg. Every city and village through which 
 the funeral cortege passed manifested its loss in the deepest grief. 
 The funeral took place February 22d amid such an immense 
 concourse of sorrowing people as Wittenberg had never before 
 seen. His remains were buried in the Castle Church, on the 
 door of which, 29 years before he had nailed his famous theses. 
 
 75 
 
25. THE REFORMATION IN OTHER COUNTRIES. 
 
 About the time when Luther began his work in Germany, 
 Zwingli arose in Switzerland and took a bold stand against 
 the papacy. Zwingli and Luther agreed in many points of 
 Christian doctrine; but there were also many important points in 
 which they differed. This was especially the case with the doctrine 
 concerning the holy Sacraments. Zwingli regarded these only 
 as signs, representations and memorials. He insisted that in the 
 Lord's Supper the communicant eats the bread and drinks the 
 wine only in remembrance of Jesus ; that bread and wine only 
 represent the body and blood of Christ. Over against this, Luther 
 firmly held fast to the word of the Scriptures and taught : " The 
 Body and Blood of Christ are truly received in, with and wider 
 the bread and wine." — Philip, the Landgrave of Hessen, was very 
 desirous of bringing about a union between Luther and Zwingli 
 and their respective adherents. For this purpose he instituted a 
 conference at Marburg in October, 1529, which, however, did 
 not bring about the end aimed at. Luther said : " Since I see 
 the text of my Lord Jesus Christ written ' This is my Body ' I 
 must confess and believe that the Body of Christ is really present." 
 This the Swiss would not admit, wherefore Luther also rejected 
 Zwingli's hand, saying: "You possess a different spirit." 
 
 Zwingli and his adherents then left and formed a new religious 
 organization which they called the Reformed Church. In Basel 
 Oecolampadius labored in the spirit of the Reformed, and in 
 the city and canton of Berne the same doctrine also met with 
 success. Only the five primitive cantons adhered to Roman Cath- 
 olicism. In 1531 war broke out between the Zwinglians and the 
 Roman Catholics of the primitive cantons, in which Zwingli was 
 among the slain. — French Switzerland also came under the influ- 
 ence of the reformatory movement. In Geneva the new doctrine 
 was publicly acknowledged in 1535, which was afterward con- 
 firmed by John Calvin. 
 
 76 
 
Ulrich Zwingli, the son of a Bailiff, was born January 1st, 1484, at 
 "Wildenhaus, in Switzerland. He studied in Basel, Berne and Vienna, and 
 when in his twenty-first year, became priest in Glarus. In 1516 he was 
 appointed priest and preacher at the Church of our Lady at Elnsiedeln, re- 
 nowned for a statue of the virgin that was said to work miracles, and hence 
 was annually visited by thousands of pilgrims. Even to this day thousands 
 of Roman Catholic pilgrims visit this church every year. Zwingli boldly 
 preached against such superstition. When in 1518 he became priest at 
 Zurich, he took a firm stand against the indulgence vender Samson, who 
 here carried on the nefarious business similarly to Tetzel in Saxony, only 
 that he offered his wares cheaper, taxing sin at a lower rate. The council 
 of the city of Zurich sustained Zwingli. In 1524 he succeeded in abolish- 
 ing the mass. Not satisfied with this, things which Luther wisely retained, 
 such as paintings, altars, baptismal fonts, church decorations, organs, bells, 
 etc., were condemned as Eoman Catholic, destroyed and burned. In the 
 meantime the Roman Catholic Cantons treated the Reformed Cantons with 
 great cruelty. At length a crisis came, war was declared, and October 10th, 
 1531, the battle of Cappel, where 8000 Catholics were opposed by about 
 1200 Ziirichers, was fought. Zwingli, well armed, was chaplain of the Re- 
 formed. He soon fell on the field of battle, together with a large number 
 of his adherents. A Roman Catholic soldier asked him when at the point 
 of death, to worship the Virgin Mary. He shook his head and — was 
 thrust through the neck with a sword. 
 
 John Calvin was born in Picardy, France, on the 10th of July, 1509. 
 He studied in Paris and devoted himself to the office of the ministry. As 
 soon as the news of Luther's work and teaching reached France, Calvin 
 was filled with such enthusiasm for the doctrine of the Protestants, that he 
 at once publicly defended them. Because of this he was compelled to leave 
 Paris and arrived at Geneva in 1536. Here the minister Farrel ap- 
 proached him, stating how much his services were needed there and de- 
 manded of him to remain. He, however, hesitated, desiring to devote 
 himself to study and intellectual labor. Upon this Farrel said: "If you 
 refuse your aid in God's work in this time of need, the curse of God will 
 rest upon you and your studies." This appeared to Calvin a divine men- 
 ace, and he remained. He at once set to work to introduce a most strict 
 church discipline, for which reason he was banished from Geneva after a 
 residence of two years. He went to Strasburg and after spending three 
 years in that city, he was invited to return to Geneva, which he did in 
 1541. Calvin's doctrine was essentially the same as that of Zwingli. He 
 
 77 
 
set forth the doctrine of Election according to which "God has predestined 
 some individuals to salvation, and foreordained all others to eternal con- 
 demnation." He died at Geneva in 1564. 
 
 The Eeformed doctrine also spread into some countries where Luther's 
 doctrine at first prevailed. Elector Frederick III. of the Palatinate went 
 over to the Reformed church in 1559, and by appointing Calvinistic teach- 
 ers and preachers, he forced the Reformed doctrines upon his originally 
 Lutheran province. He directed two Heidelberg professors, Ursinus and 
 Olevianus, to prepare the "Heidelberg Catechism" in 1562. 
 
 From Germany the Lutheran Reformation extended into 
 Sweden, where it acquired complete and exclusive predomin- 
 ance in 1527 (Gustavus Vasa), Denmark, Norway and Iceland 
 (^Frederick L, 1527), into the Baltic Provinces Courland, 
 Livonia and Esthonia. In these countries the Lutheran Con- 
 fession alone prevailed. From Switzerland the Reformed doc- 
 trine was carried to England (Elizabeth, 1563), Scotland 
 (John Knox, 1572), Ireland and Holland. In all these countries 
 the blood of martyrs was shed. 
 
 Massacres and Fanaticism.— In France the Reformation 
 was crushed out with much blood-shed. In the year 1570 equal 
 rights were granted to the Protestants (called Huguenots, be- 
 cause they held their meetings at night), by which they obtained 
 free exercise of their religion. The most eminent men of the 
 Protestant faith had been invited to a wedding and were 
 assembled in Paris on the eve of St. Bartholomew's day, August 
 24th, 1572. Suddenly at midnight, the castle-bell tolled. This 
 was the signal for the butchery of all Huguenots. In Paris the 
 bloody tragedy continued incessantly for four days. None were 
 spared, neither children, women nor the aged. Couriers were dis- 
 patched throughout the provinces with the murderous decree, 
 and the slaughter was renewed. The number of the slaughtered 
 is variously given from 30,000 to 100,000. Pope Gregory XIII. 
 was so overjoyed upon receiving the news of the terrible butch- 
 ery that he commanded all the bells in Rome to be rung, a 
 grand Te Deum to be sung, and a medal to be struck in honor 
 
 78 
 
of the glorious victory of the church. The Evangelical doctrine 
 was similarly uprooted in Spain and Italy. The order of Jesuits, 
 founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1540, aided in the suppression 
 of Protestantism. 
 
 Religious fanatics arose in Zwickau in the time of Luther. 
 The cloth weaver Storch and the preacher Thomas Munzer were 
 the leaders. They condemned Infant Baptism and taught that 
 every adult must first " believe " and then be again baptized; 
 from this they received the name Anabaptists. The Iconoclast 
 Carlstadt in Wittenberg, who had been an adherent and co- 
 laborer with Luther, joined these fanatics. Luther stood up 
 firmly and preached against such fanaticism, for which he was 
 greatly abused by those violent agitators. In 1524 the "Peasant 
 War" broke out in the Black Forest. The following year the dis- 
 turbances spread over a large extent of country. Munzer was 
 at the head of the rebellious peasants, and excited to the wildest 
 fanaticism. Thousands were murdered with unmerciful cruelty ; 
 monasteries, castles and courts were attacked and destroyed. — 
 Luther, in his reformatory work always firmly maintained civil 
 authority, and preached that, the Gospel secured spiritual liberty 
 but did not subvert civil government and social institutions. He 
 always admonished to peace, appealing earnestly to the conscience 
 of princes as well as to that of the peasantry. When the factious 
 malcontents became still wilder and gained greater ascendancy, 
 he called upon the princes to put down the satanic rebellion, 
 which was speedily done at Frankenhausen, May 15th, 1525. 
 Munzer was captured and beheaded. This fanatical insurrection 
 caused the death of one-hundred thousand people. 
 
 In the year 1534 Muenster, in Westphalia, became the gath- 
 ering place of the Anabaptists. The tailor John Boclchold, of 
 Leyden. the baker Matthiesen, of Harlem, and others found fa- 
 natical coadjutors in the Protestant minister Rottmann and the 
 burghers Knipper dolling and Krechting, and proclaimed the be- 
 ginning of the Millennium. They gained many adherents and 
 
 79 
 
soon succeeded in making themselves masters of the city. The 
 council was deposed, churches sacked, and John Bockhold was 
 proclaimed King under the name "John of Leyden." Polygamy 
 was introduced, and the wildest licentiousness practiced. The 
 city was besieged and captured, and the leaders were executed. 
 King John with his governor Knipperdolling, and chancellor 
 Krechting were pinched to death with red-hot tongs, and then 
 hung up on the tower of St. Lambert's church in iron cages. 
 (These cages were only removed in the winter of 1882 when the 
 tower was taken, down to be re-erected). Some of the Anabap- 
 tists took refuge in England from whom in later years the 
 Baptists originated. 
 
 26. ASSISTANTS IN THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Melanchthon, the son of an armorer, who, as a spiritual 
 armorer, prepared for the Church in her great Confession of faith 
 both shields and weapon, stood faithfully by Luther. Among 
 the other assistants worthy of special notice must be mentioned, 
 John Bugenhagen (died 1558), of Pommerania — hence called 
 Dr. Pommeranus. — He was specially gifted to lead in ecclesias- 
 tical matters. For this reason he was called into other states to 
 introduce the Reformation. He was finally appointed General 
 Superintendent in Wittenberg. 
 
 Spalatiil (died 1545) was court chaplain and finally superin- 
 tendent at Altenburg. He exercised great influence at the court 
 in behalf of the Eeformation. 
 
 Still more intimately connected with Luther was the minister 
 Frederick Myconius (died 1546) who when a boy begged of 
 Tetzel to give him an indulgence free of charge. When a monk, 
 his experience in striving for peace was similar to that of Luther. 
 At his death he was Superintendeut in Gotha. 
 
 Justus Jonas (died 1555) was a learned and eloquent preacher 
 and Superintendent in Eisfeld. 
 
 80 
 
Caspar Cruciger (died 1548) assisted Luther in the trans- 
 lation of the Bible, and was diligent in introducing the Refor- 
 mation into Leipzig. 
 
 Lazarus Spengler (died 1535) was Eecorder in Niirnberg. 
 He was a delegate to the diet at Worms, and also to that at 
 Augsburg, and labored for the Evangelical cause. 
 
 John Brenz has received the title " The Wiirttemberg Re- 
 former." He was persecuted and obliged to flee ; but God won- 
 derfully sustained him. He died in 1570 and was buried in the 
 cathedral church in Stuttgart. 
 
 Paul Speratus preached in the cathedral of St. Stephen in 
 Vienna. He is the author of the hymn "Es ist das Heil uns 
 kommen her " — " Salvation now to us has come." He was. obliged 
 to flee, but received an appointment in Prussia and died in 
 peace in 1554. 
 
 Following close upon the Reformation there came a time of sifting of the 
 Church. Whilst Luther yet lived the signs of the times were portentious, 
 and he anticipated that a storm of tribulation for the Church was gathering. 
 He writes : " I have prayed to God with great earnestness that He would 
 restrain the counsel of the Papists, and not permit war to break out in 
 Germany during my lifetime." After his death war broke out and raged 
 with terrible fury, not only against the Church from without, but within 
 the Church itself. The Lutheran Princes had formed a league at Smalcald 
 against every assailant, including the Emperor Charles V., who labored 
 zealously to bring them under the power of the Pope again. War broke 
 out in 1546 and in the following year the Protestants were defeated, the 
 Elector of Saxony made a prisoner, and Charles V. was master of Germany. 
 He now had an order of faith prepared which was called the Interim, be- 
 cause it was commanded that both Protestants and Roman Catholics should, 
 for the time being, be guided by it. This demand amounted to an almost total 
 suppression of the Reformation, hence the expression became popular 
 among the Protestants: "The Interim has the rogue behind him." This 
 "Interim" could only be introduced by force. In southern Germany alone 
 over four hundred faithful Lutheran ministers, together with their wives 
 and children wandered about homeless exiles and outlawed by the govern- 
 ment. Not until the religious peace concluded at Augsburg in 1555 did 
 the Protestants gain equal rights with the Roman Catholics. 
 
 6 81 
 
-4- 
 
 John Amdt. 
 
 [Arndt was one of the most edifying writer's of the Church. Spener 
 ranks him next to Luther. He was born at Ballenstaedt, in Anhalt, in 
 1555, and studied at Helmstadt, Wittenberg, Strassburg and Basel. In 
 1583 he became pastor at Badeborn. On account of his faithful adherence 
 to the truth, he was deposed by Duke George, and went to Quedlinbiirg, 
 where he labored for 9 years. In 1599 he accepted a call to Brunswick ; 
 in 1608 to Eisleben, and in 1611 he was appointed by the Duke of Celle 
 as Court-preacher and General Superintendent of the Church in his do- 
 main — a position which he filled until his demise in the year 1621. He 
 was accustomed to say : "Christ has many servants, but few followers" His 
 treatise on "True Christianity," the best work of the kind that has ever 
 appeared, was issued 1605-09. Translated into English by Dr. C. F. 
 Schaefier. It can be obtained at the Pilger Book Store, Beading, Pa.] 
 82 
 
Within the Church there had also arisen a sharp conflict concerning the 
 true doctrine. Numerous controversies had been called forth by men who 
 were not satisfied to receive the plain Word of Scripture, but in various 
 ways substituted their own ideas as expressive of the sayings of Christ. 
 Men of heroic zeal, however, did not permit the bitter conflict to discourage 
 them in their efforts to deliver to future generations the precious treasures 
 of grace secured by the Reformation. — The greatest danger the Church 
 had to fear was from Crypto- Calvinism (Secret Calvinism). Men professing 
 to be Lutheran, yet denying some of the distinctive Lutheran doctrines, 
 especially the scriptural doctrine of the Lord's Supper — the presence of the 
 glorified body and blood of Christ in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar — 
 secretly endeavored to bring the Church of the Redeemer over to their 
 Zwinglian and Calvinistic errors. These Crypto-Calvinists secretly en- 
 deavored to have every prominent position filled by persons of their own 
 views, and to secure the control of the Church by anonymous Calvinistic 
 books. Among those who resisted these innovations and labored zealously 
 for the preservation of sound doctrine were John Brenz, Joachim Westphal, 
 Tilemann Heshusius, Martin Chemnitz, Nicolas Selnecker, Jacob Andrese, 
 John Gerhard, David Chytraeus, Andreas Musculus and others. In order 
 to restore the unity in the spirit, which the Apostle declares is the only 
 proper bond of union, Eph. 4 : 3, it was necessary to establish a unanimous 
 confession in which the doctrines in controversy would be clearly and dis- 
 tinctly set forth as taught in God's Word. This confession was prepared at 
 Bergen by the Theologians Andrese, Chemnitz, Nic. Selnecker, Chytraeus, 
 Musculus and Koerner in the year 1577. It was called the Formula of 
 Concord; was received with expressions of thanksgiving throughout the 
 whole Church, and only looked upon with disfavor by those who preferred 
 human opinions to sound doctrine. It was published, together with the 
 other confessional writings of the Church, in one volume, under the title of 
 Book of Concord, and promulgated on June 25th, 1580, the fiftieth anni- 
 versary of the Augsburg Confession. It was at once signed by three Electors, 
 twenty-one Dukes, twenty-two Counts, four Barons, thirty-five free Cities, and 
 between eight and nine thousand Ministers, which numbers were in a few 
 years largely increased. 
 
 In that age the seed of God's planting grew and flourished and bore fruit. 
 The present generation of Christians might well rejoice if it possessed the 
 earnest spiritual life of those fathers. Call to mind the faithful vigilance 
 of John Arndt (1621), who wrote the "True Christianity," Valerius 
 Herberger, Philip Nicolai, Henry Mueller, Christian Scriver, 
 
 83 
 
♦ 
 
 and the devotional books they published, which to this day furnish us the 
 true spiritual nourishment. Among the men of great learning, especially 
 theologians, may be mentioned: Leonhard Hutter, John Gerhard, N. 
 Hunnius, Con. Dannhauer, Abraham Calovius, A. Quenstedt, W. Baier, 
 D. Hollaz, etc., by whose teachings the power of God was made manifest 
 in the Church. 
 
 27. GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS AND THE THIRTY 
 
 YEARS' WAR. 
 
 The peace of Augsburg had granted religious freedom to the 
 Lutherans in Germany, but the papists only waited for a conve- 
 nient opportunity to deprive them again of the privileges they 
 had secured. The Jesuits declared that it was a great sin to 
 come to an agreement with the enemies of religion, and exhorted 
 all Roman Catholic princes to wash away, in the blood of the 
 heretics, as they called the Lutherans, the guilt which they had 
 thus incurred. 
 
 The Emperor, being the head of the Roman Catholic party, 
 took severe measures against the Protestants, going even so far 
 as to lay strictures on their civil rights. In order to protect 
 their political as well as their religious liberties, the Protestants 
 formed a union May 4th, 1608, with Frederick IV., the Elector 
 Palatine, at its head. 
 
 In Bohemia there still lived many adherents of Huss, who en- 
 joyed perfect toleration under their kings, the arch-dukes of 
 Austria. But when the Emperor began to encroach upon their 
 rights, and the Archbishop of Prague demolished their church at 
 Clostergrab, and the abbot at Braunau closed their church at 
 that place, they, in 1618, seized three councilors and threw them 
 from the window of the Bohemian council chamber at Prague^ 
 compelled the Catholic clergy to flee, took up arms, deposed 
 King Ferdinand, and chose the Reformed Elector, Frederick V., 
 as king (1619). Count Thurn at the head of an army repeatedly 
 routed the imperial troops. The Catholic princes now crowded 
 
 84 1 
 
 t 
 
to the Emperor's aid, and although the Protestant princes of 
 Germany sent some troops to assist the Bohemians, the combined 
 aid received from their allies was not sufficient to compete with 
 the imperial forces numbering 30,000, with which the Emperor 
 Ferdinand again conquered the whole of Bohemia. He routed 
 the Bohemians at Weissenberg near Prague, the new king was 
 compelled to flee, and all Protestant ministers were banished 
 from the country. Not content with the conquest of the Bohe- 
 mians and the tyranny to which they were now subjected, the 
 Emperor treated with equal severity all the Protestants in his 
 dominions until they were driven to despair. The war continued 
 and under the leadership of the able Generals Wallenstein and 
 Tilly, the imperial troops overran both Germany and Denmark, 
 and everywhere defeated the Evangelical Princes. The Protest- 
 ants there received even more rigorous treatment, and Luther's 
 doctrine was everywhere suppressed. In 1629, the Emperor was 
 victorious throughout the whole Empire and promulgated the 
 Edict of Restitution, by which the Evangelical Princes were com- 
 manded immediately to give up all churches and church proper- 
 ties that had come into their possession since the peace of Passau. 
 The severity of these measures can be seen by the mention of 
 but the single province of Silesia, in which more than one thou- 
 sand churches w r ere taken from the Lutherans. Thick darkness 
 now hung over the Church, and it appeared as if religious liberty 
 were totally crushed. But God in His providence can turn 
 darkness to light. He had chosen a liberator of Protestantism 
 in the person of Gustavtjs Adolphtjs, King of Sweden, who 
 came to the aid of Germany. 
 
 GrUStavus AdolpllUS landed at Usedom on the Pommeranian 
 coast, June, 1630, with 15,000 men. He soon drove the imper- 
 ialists out of Pommerania. Securing the cooperation of the 
 Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg he completely routed Tilly 
 at Breitenfeld near Leipzig and shattered the supremacy of 
 Roman Catholic Austria at a single blow. Hailed as the lib- 
 
 85 
 
 r 
 
4~ 
 
 f 
 
 erator of Protestantism, he marched victoriously towards the 
 Rhine, gathering around him the friendly Germans, and driving 
 out the imperial garrisons. He advanced as far as the Danube, 
 and everywhere freed the Protestants from the oppression under 
 which they had so long groaned. He routed Tilly again on the 
 Lech, April 3d, 1632, and entered Munich. Wallenstein now 
 gathered a new army to take the place of the one which had 
 been well-nigh annihilated by Gustavus' successes, and marched 
 into Saxony. Gustavus attacked the army of Wallenstein at 
 Lutzen, near Leipzig on November 6th, 1632, and completely 
 routed it. This victory was, however, dearly bought. Gustavus 
 Adolphus, the renowned Swedish King, the honored saviour of 
 religious liberty in Germany, fell in this battle. His death 
 would have had the gravest consequences for the Evangelical 
 Lutherans had the courage of the Swedes failed with the fall of 
 their King. Wild with rage and sorrow they renewed the attack 
 and overthrew the enemy. They carried the disfigured body of 
 the king from the battlefield. It was laid to rest in the Riddar- 
 holm Church in Stockholm. 
 
 After various changes of fortune and many battles in which 
 the Swedes were generally victorious, defeating the best generals 
 of the Empire, and carrying devastation even to the gates of 
 Vienna, they could propose terms of peace advantageous to Pro- 
 testantism. The Emperor, was, by his numerous reverses and the 
 ominous outlook for the future, forced to end the struggle which 
 resulted in the celebrated Peace of Westphalia, which was con- 
 cluded on the 24th of October, 1648, at Minister. In the evening 
 at 9 o'clock of that day, the articles of the treaty of peace were 
 signed. Immediately the Te Deum — "We praise Thee, O God," 
 etc. — was sung, there was general rejoicing and many wept for 
 joy. — The war had continued fourteen years after the death of 
 Gustavus Adolphus, and thirty years since its beginning in 1618. 
 Many cities and villages were reduced to ashes, the fields lay un- 
 cultivated, and famine and pestilence had carried away thousands. 
 
 > 86 
 
f 4 
 
 Germany had lost two-thirds of its inhabitants, and to the present 
 time has not fully recovered from the effects of this religious war. 
 [The Rev. Dr. Krauth speaking of this (Cons. Ref., p. 19 ff.) 
 says: "After the final struggle of the Thirty Years' War, 
 Europe seemed ruined ; its fields had been drenched with blood, 
 its cities laid in ashes, hardly a family remained undivided. 
 * * * Had a war of three hundred years been necessary to 
 sustain the Reformation, we now know the Reformation would 
 ultimately have repaid all the sacrifices it demanded. Had our 
 fathers surrendered the truth, even under that pressure to which 
 ours is but a feather, how we would have cursed their memory, 
 as we contrasted what we were with what we might have been. 
 
 "And shall we despond, draw back and give our names to the 
 reproach of generations to come, because the burden of the hour 
 seems to us heavy ? God, in His mercy, forbid ! If all others 
 are ready to yield to despondency, and abandon the struggle, we, 
 the children of the Reformation, dare not. * * * The true 
 and the good must be secured at any price. They are beyond 
 all price. We dare not compute their cost. They are the soul 
 of our being, and the whole world is as dust in the balance 
 against them. No matter what is to be paid for them, we must 
 not hesitate to lay down their redemption price. * * * Their 
 price is never paid in vain. * * * If we maintain the pure 
 Word inflexibly at every cost, over against the arrogance of 
 Rome and of the weak pretentiousness of Rationalism, we shall 
 conquer both through the Word ; but to compromise on a single 
 point is to lose all, and to be lost."] 
 
 At length the long looked-for peace was declared. In the 
 treaty it was set forth and confirmed that the Protestants 
 (Lutherans and Reformed) in Germany, Holland and Switzer- 
 land should "forever" have equal rights (liberty of faith and 
 conscience) with the Roman Catholics. The Pope has to this 
 day refused to acknowledge this treaty of peace. 
 
 87 
 
 HI-» 
 i 
 
GustaTUS Adolplms was born in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, 
 December 9th, 1594. When but in his eighteenth year he ascended the 
 throne. He was one of the most renowed heroes of his age, and the most 
 accomplished prince of his century. He looked upon the danger which 
 threatened his brethen in the faith in Germany as his own, and determined 
 to come to the rescue. With 15,000 men he entered Germany. He began 
 his work of deliverance from the thraldom of popery "With God," and 
 hence God was with him. Not only was his army strictly disciplined but 
 the spiritual interests of his soldiers were properly cared for, and daily 
 
 Gustavus Adolplms, King of Sweden. 
 
 morning and evening services were held in the camp. In all things the 
 king afforded his people a good example. Upon reaching German soil he 
 hastened to the relief of the Lutheran city of Magdeburg besieged by Tilly. 
 But before he arrived Tilly had stormed the city and slaughtered thirty 
 thousand men. When the massacre had begun, and no escape was possible, 
 the school children formed in procession and marched over the market- 
 place singing Luther's hymn : 
 
 " Lord keep us steadfast in Thy Word, 
 Curb Pope and Turk who by the sword 
 
 88 
 
Would wrest the kingdom from Thy Son 
 And set at naught all He hath done," etc. 
 
 Enraged at the singing of these Lutheran children, Tilly, as a second 
 Herod, ordered them all to be slain. 
 
 After the city had been plundered and the remaining inhabitants sub- 
 jected to the vilest atrocities and insults by the brutal Catholic soldiery, 
 fire broke out in several streets and soon the whole city was a vast sheet of 
 flame, so that in ten hours nothing, but the cathedral and a few fishermen's 
 huts, remained of one of the finest cities of Germany. Tilly wrote to the 
 Emperor : " Since the destruction of Troy and Jerusalem no such victory 
 has been won as that at Magdeburg." From that day, however, success 
 departed from him. Gustavus Adolphus met him near Leipzig, and com- 
 pletely defeated the victor of thirty-six battles. He followed him into 
 Bavaria and defeated him on the Lech, where Tilly fell mortally wounded. 
 Gustavus was now the conqueror of the whole of Germany. The Emperor 
 again called Wallenstein to the chief command, who, having gathered a 
 new army, met the Swedes at Liitzen. On the 6th of November, 1632, the 
 battle began. In the morning the Swedish king conducted the service. 
 The whole army sang Luther's great hymn, "A mighty Fortress is our 
 God," and Gustavus' own battle hymn, "Fear not, O Little Flock, the 
 Foe." The king and his army kneeled down and offered prayer. A dense 
 fog which prevailed rose about 10 o'clock. After the service the king 
 mounted his horse and made an address to the army, and placed the latter 
 in battle array. He gave the watchword " God with us," then swinging 
 his sword above his head he uttered the word of command, and with the 
 cry of "Onward!" he rushed forward followed by the eager troops. The 
 Romanists were driven from their strong intrenchments ; but meanwhile 
 their General Pappenheim arrived with a body of cavalry, and the Swedes 
 were turned back. Gustavus rallied them, but approaching too near the 
 enemy he received a shot in the arm, and, as he turned, another in the back, 
 when exclaiming, " My God, my God," the great and good man fell from 
 his horse mortally wounded. Duke Bernhard of Weimar at once took the 
 command, and the Lutheran army rushed forward with an impetuosity 
 which nothing could resist. Pappenheim fell mortally wounded, the 
 Romish army retreated and the Lutherans were victorious. — The success 
 of Gustavus Adolphus was no doubt owing to his preeminently religious 
 principle, and to the moral influence which his deep-seated piety and his 
 personal worth had over his soldiers. 
 
 89 i 
 
 T 
 
JL 
 
 28. CHURCH SONG. 
 
 HEN Luther introduced the lan- 
 guage of the people into the ser- 
 vice of the Church, he also pre- 
 pared suitable spiritual hymns 
 to be sung by the congregation. 
 After the long night of the middle 
 ages the morn of the Reformation 
 broke upon the Church, and there 
 followed a burst of sacred song 
 such as the world had never 
 heard before. As early as the 
 year 1523, Luther sang of the 
 martyrdom of Voes and Esch at 
 q] Brussels. The same year he wrote the hymns: "Dear 
 Christian people, now rejoice," and "Out of the depths I 
 v£) cry to Thee." In his great humility he thought lightly 
 of his abilities, and considered himself too awkward to 
 strike the harp of David. Yet Luther was a poet and a musician 
 of no mean pretensions, and all his productions show him to be 
 a master also in this field. In 1524 the first hymn book of the 
 Evangelical Church appeared. It contained but eight hymns, 
 four of which were written by Luther. Five of the hymns 
 were supplied with the tunes. The title of the book was the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 "Several Christian Hymns, Songs of Praise and Psalms, in 
 accord with the pure Word of God, from Holy Scripture, com- 
 posed by different well-learned men, to be sung in Church, as is 
 in part already the custom at Wittenberg." 
 
 The same year two other hymn books were published. The 
 
 90 
 
-A- 
 
 * 
 
 4- 
 
 one was called "Enchiridion or Hand-book," and contained 25 
 hymns, 18 of which were written by Luther. The second, en- 
 titled "Spiritual Hymn-Book," for singing in 5 parts, had among 
 32 hymns 25 of Luther's composition. 
 
 In all thirty-seven hymns, each of permanent value, were writ- 
 ten by the Reformer. Among those best known are the hymns : 
 " From Heaven above to earth I come," " Come Holy Spirit, God 
 and Lord," " Lord keep us steadfast in Thy Word," and that 
 king of Christian hymns, the battle hymn of the Reformation, 
 "A Mighty Fortress is our God." 
 
 By means of these hymns the Reformation sang its way into 
 the hearts of the people, and filled them with the power of the 
 truth which the hymns contained. The spiritual hymns of the 
 early Church were revived and sent forth on their holy mission 
 in excellent translations ; new ones were added and were taken 
 up by the people, whose spiritual character they helped to mould. 
 These hymns were sung everywhere : in the streets and fields as 
 well as in the churches, in the work-shop and the palace, by 
 children in the cottage and by martyrs on the scaffold.' Luther 
 is the great leader of the choir of sacred singers who, in the puri- 
 fied temple of the Church of Christ, sang the New Testament 
 Psalms, which will never cease as long as there are hearts to 
 praise their God. 
 
 Luther was also well pleased with a hymn-book containing the 
 German hymns of the "Bohemian Brethren," published by 
 Michael Weiss in the year 1531. 
 
 A marked exception to this almost universal song is found in 
 the countries that came under the influence of Calvinism, which 
 seems to have had a tendency to stifle song, as it rejected the 
 singing of hymns. 
 
 The number of German Lutheran hymns at the present day is 
 estimated at from eighty thousand to a hundred thousand. We 
 here mention a few of the more prominent writers of hymns, next 
 to Luther : 
 
 91 
 
4 
 
 Hans Sachs. 
 
 Hans SacliS (1494-1576), a contemporary of Luther, lived at Niirnberg 
 and was one of the most noted of the then famous master singers. A shoe- 
 maker by trade, he composed a number of good hymns and thus rendered 
 valuable assistance in advancing the Reformation. 
 
 Dr. John Granmann (Poliander) was born in Bavaria in 1487. As a 
 zealous Catholic he served Dr. Eck in the capacity of secretary in the dis- 
 putation with Luther at Leipzig. He was there convinced of the truth as 
 92 
 
JL 
 
 ♦ * 
 
 advocated by Luther and became one of his adherents. He composed the 
 hymn: "Nun lob mein Seel den Herren"(Now praise, my soul, the Lord). 
 
 Nicholas Decius was a master in music. He had been a monk but 
 sided with the Evangelical Lutheran doctrine. In 1524 he became pastor 
 in Stettin, where he was put to death by poison in 1529. He is the author 
 of " All glory be to God on high " and " Lamb of God, without blemish, on 
 Calv'ry slain and suspended," etc. 
 
 John Schneesing" (Chiomusus) of Frankfurt was a minister in Gotha in 
 1534 and died 1567. He is the author of "Allein zu Dir Herr Jesu Christ" 
 (Alone to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ). 
 
 Nicholas Hermann was a pious chorister at Joachimsthal and an inti- 
 mate friend of his pastor, Matthesius, whose sermons he readily trans- 
 posed into the form of hymns. His compositions were eminently popular, 
 e. g., " Sunk is the sun's last beam of light," " When my last hour is close 
 at hand," " Ere yet the dawn has filled the skies," " Yea, as I live, Jehovah 
 saith," "Praise ye the Lord, ye Christians." He entered the company of 
 heavenly choristers in the year 1561. 
 
 John Matthesius had been converted from Romanism by reading acci- 
 dently some of Luther's tracts, and left the grammar school of Joachimsthal, 
 of which he was rector, to become again a student at Wittenberg. Luther 
 invited him to become one of the regular guests at his table and admitted 
 him to his most intimate friendship. He wrote a biography of the Re- 
 former, which is still a standard work. From Wittenberg he returned as 
 pastor to Joachimsthal, where he labored for the rest of his life. He wrote 
 some very good and sweet hymns ; of which several for the morning, for 
 marriage, a cradle hymn, and for the miners, became very popular. His 
 hymn, "My heart with deep emotion/' is found in nearly all Lutheran 
 Hymn-Books. 
 
 Paul Eber was the son of a poor tailor. As soon as he was old enough 
 he went to Wittenberg to sit at Luther's feet. Luther invited him to his 
 table, where he met Melanchthon, who took him for his amanuensis, tie 
 became Professor of Hebrew and wrote a number of hymns, which have a 
 tone of tenderness and pathos in them. In 1547, when the imperial armies 
 were besieging Wittenberg, he wrote the hymn, " When in the hour of ut- 
 most need." During the Thirty Years' War few hymns were used more 
 constantly than this, both in public and private. Two of his hymns for 
 the dying have always been in common use at deathbeds and funerals. 
 The one is, "Lord Jesus Christ, true Man and God;" the other, 
 
 93 
 
►■■♦- 
 
 " In Jesu's wounds I fall asleep, 
 They cleanse me from my sins so deep ; 
 Yea, His dear blood, His righteousness, 
 My jewels are, my glorious dress, 
 Wherein before my God I stand 
 When I shall reach the heavenly land," etc. 
 
 Another of his hymns is, "Lord God we all give praise to Thee." Eber 
 died in 1569. 
 
 Bartholomew Ringwaldt (1530-1598), a preacher in Mark Branden- 
 burg, was a true and faithful crossbearer. In the midst of many trials and 
 distresses he composed and sang many beautiful hymns, prominent among 
 which is: "The day is surely drawing near" (Es ist gewisslich an der Zeit,) 
 "O Holy Ghost, Thou highest Good," "When all with awe shall stand 
 around," " O God, Thou righteous, faithful Lord." 
 
 Nicholas Selnecker (1530-1592), born near Niirnberg, already at the 
 age of twelve years occupied the position of organist in the imperial court 
 chapel. In 1549 he lived in Wittenberg with Melanchthon. He became 
 court preacher in Dresden in 1558 and died at Leipzig, having suffered 
 much persecution because of his steadfastness in doctrine. He is the author 
 of "Let me be Thine forever" and "Forsake us not — O Lord be near," 
 " O Lord my God, I cry to Thee ! " "We thank Thee Jesus, dearest Friend." 
 
 Ludwig' Helmbold (1532-1598), born in Thiiringia, was co-rector in 
 
 Erfurth and died whilst superintendent in Muhlhausen. On account of 
 
 the many hymns which he composed he received the title, the German 
 
 Asaph. Prominent among his hymns are, "I know that my Redeemer 
 
 lives" and 
 
 " Lord God from age to age secure 
 The catechism's instruction pure." 
 
 Philip Nicolai (1556-1608) was a pastor in Waldeck and was driven 
 away by the Catholics in 1583. He was afterwards preacher at Unna, 
 where fourteen hundred died from the pestilence in 1597. Here he com- 
 posed two most beautiful hymns, "Wake, awake for night is flying" and 
 " O morning star how fair and bright." He died at Hamburg. 
 
 "Valerius Herberger (1564-1627) was born in Fraustadt, Poland. His 
 father was also a poet. He became pastor in the city of his birth in 1584, 
 and became widely known as the author of the " Heart-postil." He lived 
 during the terrors of the early part of the thirty years' war. His hymn 
 "Valet will ich dir geben" (Farewell I gladly give thee) was written dur- 
 ing a plague in his native city, which carried away seven hundred and 
 forty persons. 
 94 
 
*L 
 
 John Heermann (1585-1647) was a minister in Silesia who suffered 
 much from the Roman Catholics. Whilst a student he had his home with 
 Herberger and afterwards continued in intimate correspondence with him. 
 Suffering much tribulation he still composed four hundred hymns, promi- 
 nent among which are: "Lord Thy death and passion give," u O God, 
 thou faithful God," " O Christ, our true and only Light," " Thine honor 
 rescue, righteous Lord." 
 
 Martin Rinkart, pastor at Eilenberg in Saxony (died 1648), is the 
 author of "Now thank we all our God," which has been styled the Te 
 Deum of Germany. 
 
 Paul Flemmingf (1606-1640) was the son of a minister in Voigtland. 
 He studied medicine, and joined an embassy to Moscow. On the journey 
 he composed " In alien meinen Thaten." He is also the author of " Hark, 
 the Church proclaims her honor." He was shipwrecked on a journey to 
 Persia, returned to Hamburg in 1639, and died the next year. 
 
 John Matthew Meyfartll (1590-1642), a native of the Grand Duchy of 
 Gotha, was a professor in Coburg in 1617, and closed a life of affliction 
 whilst pastor at Erfurth. He is the author of "Jerusalem, thou city, fair 
 and high." 
 
 Joshua Stegmann (1588-1632) was born at Salzfeld in Franconia, 
 studied at Leipzig and in due time acquired a reputation as a man of great 
 learning. He was honored with the title "Doctor of Theology" and made 
 professor. Violenty persecuted by the monks, he died at the age of forty- 
 four years. He wrote the hymn " Abide with us our Saviour." 
 
 John Hist (1607-1667), the son of a pastor, was born in Holstein and 
 was pastor at Hamburg. During the thirty years' war he was subjected to 
 much tribulation, in which time he composed his best hymns. Hist pub- 
 lished six hundred and eleven hymns, "pressed out of him," as he said, 
 "by the cross." He lived, after peace was again declared, to enjoy many 
 years of prosperity, being appointed Poet Laureate to the Emperor and 
 finally clothed with the rank of nobility. Among his hymns are : " O liv- 
 ing Bread from heaven," " Arise the kingdom is at hand," " Eternity ! ter- 
 rific Word ! " " Rise, O Salem, rise and shine," " Help us, O Lord, behold 
 we enter," "O darkest woe, ye tears forth flow," and "Sink not yet, my 
 soul, to slumber." 
 
 Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676) was next to Luther, the prince of Lutheran 
 hymnographers. He was born at Grafenhainichen, and when he was 
 eleven years of age the thirty years' war broke out. He studied in Wit- 
 
 95 
 
Paul Gerhardt. 
 
 tenberg, became a minister of the Gospel in 1652, and in 1657 was called 
 as pastor of the Nicolai Church in Berlin. He was an eminently pious 
 man and conscientiously faithful to the confessions of the Church. On ac- 
 count of this faithfulness he was banished from Berlin by the Reformed 
 Elector. His hymns are among the most excellent which the Church 
 possesses. Prominent among them are : " Commit thou all thy griefs," " O 
 Sacred Head now wounded," " O enter Lord Thy temple," " O how shall I 
 receive Thee," "If God Himself be for me," "Emmanuel! we sing Thy 
 praise," and the hymn for spring and summer, "Go forth, my heart, and 
 96 
 
JL. 
 
 seek delight." He is the author of 131 hymns, all of which possess great 
 merit. 
 
 John Frank (1618-1677) was the son of an advocate in Guben, Saxony. 
 He also became an advocate, councilor and burgomaster of the town, and 
 representative of the province. He ranks only second to Gerhardt as a 
 hymn-writer, and is the author of the following hymns, " Light of the 
 Gentile nations," "Lord to Thee I make confession," "Lord God, we 
 worship Thee," "Jesu, priceless treasure," "Deck thyself, my soul, with 
 gladness." 
 
 George Neumark (1621 — 1681) was librarian to the Duke of Weimar. 
 His hymns give evidence of great trust in God and patience in affliction. 
 He is the author of "If thou but suffer God to guide thee," "My God I 
 leave to Thee my ways." 
 
 We have given but a few of the prominent hymn-writers 
 which the Church produced during and since the Reformation. 
 To these might be added the names of scores of others of that 
 ag;e and of more recent times who have enriched the sacred 
 
 CD 
 
 treasury of Church song, such as Miiller, Scriver, Schmolk, 
 John Scheffler, T. Claussnitzer, Rosenroth, Deszler, William II., 
 Duie of Saxe- Weimar, John Olearius, Ludaemilia Elizabeth 
 (Countess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt), Aemilia Juliane (Count- 
 ess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt), Louise Henrietta (Electress of 
 Brandenburg), and others. During the last and present century 
 England and America have also furnished a large number of 
 good hymns which have exerted a great influence in the Church. 
 
 
 97 
 
 4- 
 
T. THE MODERN ERA. 
 
 (1648—19 Century.) 
 
 29. THE PIETISTS : SPENER, FKAXCKE, ETC. 
 
 ATJL GERHARDT, the faithful witness, 
 had scarcely closed his eyes in death 
 (1676), when God raised up other men 
 who recognized what was necessary for 
 the welfare of the Church, and who zeal- 
 ously labored to heal the affliction of Joseph. In 
 the struggle for purity of faith, some men had, in 
 their zeal, gone too far and had themselves mingled 
 strange fire with it. By such men even John 
 Arndt, whose " True Christianity " has been*- in- 
 trumental in leading many thousands of souls to 
 light and salvation, had suspicion cast upon him 
 and was accused as an erroist. The period of the 
 Church's bloom, in which the truth was earnestly 
 confessed, was followed by a season of spiritual cold- 
 ness. The truth of Luther's words had been verified when he said, 
 that " the Word of God is seldom retained in its purity in any one 
 place beyond the period of twenty or at best forty years. The 
 people become accustomed to it, grow cold and receive God's gifts 
 of grace with indifference." The truth of this is evident in our 
 day. Henry Milller, who died in 1675, lamenting over the con- 
 dition of things in the Church, said : " The Christianity of to-day 
 has four dumb church idols, the Baptismal font, the Pulpit, the 
 Confessional and the Altar. It comforts itself upon being 
 
 98 
 
baptized, that it hears God's Word, that it can go to Confession 
 and receive the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, but it denies the 
 inner power of the Gospel." Many thousands at that time still 
 retained the outward form of the true faith, but there was a lack 
 of true heartfelt repentance. The Lord , however, who never 
 forgets His Church, again graciously interfered, and caused it to 
 nourish with new life. 
 
 One of the men whom God raised up for this work was 
 Philip Jacob Spener. Upon the foundation of " Arndt's 
 True Christianity" and the hymns of Paul Gerhardt, he con- 
 tinued to build further. He was deeply affected by the distress 
 of his congregation. As the remedy he recognized God's Word 
 and prayer. He gathered young people around him with whom 
 he prayed and to whom he expounded the Scriptures. His cate- 
 chetical exercises, intended originally for the children of the 
 congregation, were attended by many of riper years who received 
 much benefit from them. By the introduction of Confirmation 
 he sought to arouse the spiritual life of the young. In 1670 he 
 began in Frankfurt to hold the Bible-lectures, which were soon 
 extensively adopted by other pastors. His adherents were 
 called Pietists. In 1694 a University was founded at Halle, 
 mostly by pietists, through which pietism was widely dissemi- 
 nated. Halle became the centre of the pietistic movement, and 
 the Pietists were sometimes called "Hallenser." 
 
 Spener, in his zeal for true piety, never, in the least swerved 
 from the principles of the Lutheran faith, he only sought to 
 revive living Faith, where dead orthodoxy alone existed. He 
 found in the Lutheran Church the true doctrine in its purity 
 which enabled it more than any other to exhibit the most 
 genuine Christian piety. Hence he labored to convert the 
 outward orthodox confession into an inner living theology of the 
 heart, and a demonstration thereof in true piety of life. He 
 never tolerated unionistic tendencies by which any of the dis- 
 tinctive doctrines of the Gospel as confessed by the Church 
 
 99 
 
-f 
 
 would be compromised. His "pietism" was not "pietism" pro- 
 perly so called, but the "piety" of the Scriptures, which de- 
 mands purity of doctrine and purity of life. 
 
 Many men of penetrating minds saw in this new movement 
 great danger to the Church. Nor were their fears altogether 
 unfounded. Religious pride and boasting of their piety soon 
 showed itself among such who claimed to be awakened to new 
 life. Distressing excrescences made their appearance. Many 
 learned to produce methodistical penitential feelings and to 
 speak of spiritual experiences, when at the same time the heart 
 was and remained cold and dead. This most dangerous tendency 
 produced its legitimate fruits. In due time it begat the other 
 extreme, Rationalism, which, at a later period, took the place 
 of Pietism at Halle. Originally it was quite different. Spener 
 never dreamt of the excesses to which his simple piety would 
 lead those who did not comprehend the power of God's Word 
 and the humility which characterized living faith. His piety, 
 and that of his immediate associates, was the piety of true 
 Orthodox believers, that of many of his followers was the spirit 
 of fanaticism which discards doctrine and boasts of human merit, 
 a repetition of the old Romish doctrine of "Justification by 
 works." — God was with His servants and blessed the work of 
 those who honestly labored to re-establish living Christianity. 
 We need but call to mind Augustus Hermann Francke, who, 
 with only seven florins in hand, but with a heart filled with the 
 faith that could remove mountains, established the Orphans' 
 Home at Halle ; and the Baron Von Canstein (died in 1719), 
 who devoted all his property for the establishment of the Halle 
 Bible Institute, by which millions of Bibles have been distributed 
 among mankind. We call attention to a few of the leading men 
 of that period. 
 
 Philip Jacob Spener (1635—1705) was born of pious parents in Eap- 
 poltsweiler in Elsass. On account of his distinguished talents, rare learn- 
 ing, and religious zeal, he was chosen senior of the ecclesiastical Minis- 
 100 
 
terium of Frankfurt-on-the-Main when but thirty-one years of age (1666). 
 In 1686 he became chief court preacher in Dresden, and having been 
 forced to leave Dresden on account of his great zeal for true piety, he 
 became Provost in Berlin in 1691, where he died. 
 August Hermann Francke (1663—1727) was born at Liibeck and 
 
 August Hermann Francke. 
 
 became a pupil of Spener, with whom he was most intimately associated 
 until the death of the latter. On account of his piety he was persecuted in 
 Leipzig, Hamburg and Erfurt, until he became pastor and professor at 
 Halle in 1692. Here he labored until his death, a period of thirty-five 
 
 101 
 
years. By means of his sermons, and his faithfulness in pastoral duties, he 
 accomplished a great amount of good. With reference to those who were 
 evil-disposed towards him, he was accustomed to say : " By their fruits ye 
 shall know them." It is well known how this man of faith founded the 
 great Orphans' Home at Halle by means of the freewill offerings of the 
 people. In this institution 2507 children received gratuitous instruction, 
 taught by 175 teachers ; 143 orphans were reared, and 150 pupils and 225 
 indigent students received their whole support out of the Orphan-house 
 treasury. Francke, however, not only took care of the orphan children, but 
 also of the Church in its orphaned condition. Through his energy able min- 
 isters, pastors, teachers and missionaries were trained at Halle and sent out 
 into the world to testify, by their word and life, to the divine power of the 
 Gospel. By his efforts the first Lutheran missionaries were sent to India 
 (Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, H. Plutschau and others) and America received 
 from his institution the first Lutheran pastors (Dr. Henry Melchior Muh- 
 lenberg and others), to gather the scattered Germans on this Continent into 
 congregations and break unto them the bread of life. Francke' s institutions 
 constitute at the present day a suburb of Halle. He died at the age of 64 
 years. 
 
 Charles Henry yon Bogatzky (1690 — 1774) was born in lower Silesia. 
 He was of noble birth and studied at Breslau with such diligence that his 
 health was impaired. At Halle he, with great reluctance, visited Francke, 
 because he had been told such terrible things about the Pietists. In 1715 
 his resolution to study theology very much offended his father. During 
 his theological course he wrote his " Golden Treasury," which appeared in 
 1718. Not able to preach because of the delicate state of his health, he de- 
 voted himself to private pastoral work and to writing. After the death of 
 his wife he lived with his two small children in great poverty. In 1746 
 he removed to the Orphan-house at Halle where he lived rent free and re- 
 ceived fuel and light, for which he gave instruction. He died in his 
 eighty-fourth year, highly esteemed by all who knew him. 
 
 Dr. John Jacob Rambach (1693 — 1735) was born at Halle. His pious 
 parents desired to have him educated. But when the boy saw how much 
 self-denial his studying at the university imposed on his parents, he re- 
 solved to aid his father, and began to learn the carpenter's trade. Two 
 years later he sprained his ankle so that he was obliged to give up the 
 trade. He now resumed his studies. In the year 1723, when but thirty 
 years of age he became professor at Halle. So popular was he that the 
 lecture rooms were not large enough to accommodate his auditors. He 
 102 
 
manifested special power in prayer. Fresenius says of him: "He seemed 
 like the Old Testament high priest who stood with the breast-plate before 
 the Lord." His works of beneficence were mostly performed in secret, and 
 only became known after his death. He is the author of the well-known 
 hymn, "Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I'm baptized in Thy dear name." 
 
 Ernest Gottlol) Woltersdorf (1725 — 17G1) was born in Berlin, studied 
 at Halle, and became pastor in Bunzlau in 1748. The church was too 
 small to hold the vast congregations which thronged to hear him, and 
 hence he often preached in the open air. After his exhaustive labors 
 during the day, he spent part of the night in writing hymns and psalms. 
 He also established an Orphan-house. Those whom he confirmed were 
 greatly attached to him. He died at the early age of thirty-six years. 
 
 Dr. John Reinhard Hedinger (1664 — 1704) was born in Stuttgart, and 
 in 1694, when thirty years of age, received the title of D.D., and became 
 professor in Giessen and Counsellor of the Consistory at Stuttgart. Being 
 chosen court preacher, he warmly admonished his frivolous prince. On 
 one occasion when the latter was about to desecrate the Lord's day, He- 
 dinger stepped before the carriage and remarked : " If your serene high- 
 ness is satisfied with a little cap full of blood just drive on." The prince 
 felt the force of his words and returned. Hedinger's Explanation of the 
 New Testament is a very edifying work. 
 
 Two events occurred during the time of Spener and Francke 
 which clearly show that the hatred of the Roman Catholics against 
 the Protestants had by no means diminished. The first is what 
 is known as the Massacre of Thorn. In the year 1724 the 
 Protestant city of Thorn, inhabited mostly by Germans, belonged 
 to Poland. During a Roman Catholic procession the Protestant 
 spectators did not uncover their heads as it passed by. The 
 Catholics sought to compel them, but they steadily refused and 
 an uproar ensued in which the cloister and the Roman Catholic 
 high-school suffered greatly by the ruin wrought. Accusation 
 was brought against the Protestants and by order of the Polish 
 King the worthy Burgomaster and nine other citizens were 
 executed. 
 
 The second event is the Banishment of the Salzfourgers. 
 From the time of the Reformation there were many Lutherans 
 
 103 
 
in the province of Salzburg, Austria. In 1729 Count Firmian, 
 the Archbishop, attempted forcibly to convert the Lutherans, 
 who had been tolerated up to this time as quiet and industrious 
 subjects. All books of devotion were taken from them and 
 many were cast into prison. In consequence of these persecu- 
 tions they formed the Covenant of Salt in 1731. A large num- 
 ber of them assembled on a Sunday morning in a rocky valley. 
 On a table stood a vessel with salt ; they knelt down and offered 
 j)rayer. Then, moistening the fingers of the right hand, they 
 dipped them into the salt, and raising the hand toward Heaven, 
 they solemnly swore never to forsake the Lutheran faith. In 
 spite of the intervention of Protestant princes, in the bitter winter 
 of 1731, all Lutherans were banished from house and home. 
 About thirty thousand left their fatherland and were gladly 
 welcomed in Prussian Lithuania, where a large number of 
 them remained. Others emigrated to America and found a 
 home in Ebenezer, Georgia, where they could exercise their faith 
 unmolested. 
 
 30. MISSIONS. 
 
 The Christian Church always regarded it a sacred duty to 
 labor for the spreading of the Gospel among the heathen, and by 
 about A. D. 1000, the most of the countries of Europe had be- 
 come Christianized. After that ,time the zeal for missionary 
 labor among the heathen expired. During the Reformation 
 period the Jesuits endeavored to establish the authority of the 
 Pope in heathen countries, for which purpose Roman Catholic 
 missionary societies were established. Unfortunately the Catholic 
 missionaries were satisfied if their new converts were only bap- 
 tized and could make the sign of the cross, little or no stress 
 being laid upon a change of heart. Of far greater importance 
 are the missionary efforts of the Protestant Church. The revival 
 of practical Christianity, which proceeded from pietism, con- 
 
 104 i 
 
 •♦■-< 
 

 tributed greatly also to the extension of missionary efforts among 
 the heathen. Frederick IV., of Denmark, had possessions in 
 East India, and he desired to send missionaries to his heathen 
 subjects. He therefore established at Tranquebar the first Lu- 
 theran Mission in the East. As he could not secure any mission- 
 aries in Denmark he turned to Halle, where Francke succeeded in 
 securing two very excellent and zealous laborers, Bartholomew 
 Ziegenbalg and Henry Pluetsctiau who were willing to carry 
 the Gospel to the Tamuls. In 1706 they set sail for India. In 
 Tranquebar, Ziegenbalg translated the Bible, the Catechism, 
 hymns and prayers into the Tamul language and thus faithfully 
 laid the firm foundation upon which the Leipzig Mission among 
 the Tamuls has to this day continued to build. Ziegenbalg died 
 in 1719. This Danish East India Mission extended its labors 
 also into the English possessions. The Orphan-house at Halle 
 furnished it with quite a number of excellent missionaries. 
 
 Christian Frederick Schwarz was the most prominent of 
 the earlier Protestant Missionaries, and is very properly styled : 
 the Patriarch of Lutheran Missions. Even to this day Schwarz 
 is revered among the Tamuls as the "Priest of Kings." He 
 labored as a missionary for fifty years and has had few if any 
 equals in modern times. Schwarz was born October 26th, 1726, 
 at Sonnenburg in the Neumark, Germany. He arrived at 
 Tanquebar in India in 1750, and applied himself with such dili- 
 gence to the learning of the language that he could within a year 
 preach his first sermon in Tamul. His career is a beautiful ex- 
 ample of what may be accomplished when piety, integrity and 
 good sense unite harmoniously in a man. He attained such high 
 esteem among all classes of people that he is still gratefully re- 
 membered. The fruits of his labors were manifested in that he 
 was able to baptize large numbers of the heathen. So greatly did 
 the native rulers admire his integrity, that once, when Hyder Ali, 
 of Mysore, who had opposed the British with an army of one hun- 
 dred thousand men, was arranging peace with the Madras (Brit- 
 
 105 
 
JU 
 
 ish) government, he demanded that Schwarz should act as their 
 agent — "him and no other one," said the Sultan, "will I trust." 
 The British therefore sent him as peace commissioner. The 
 prince, who had been devastating the country, gave orders to his 
 officers: "Not to impose any burdens upon Father Schwarz for 
 he is a holy man and means it well with me." During the Car- 
 natic war a striking testimony was given of the universal 
 respect entertained for his character. The inhabitants and gar- 
 
 Christian. Frederick Schwarz. 
 
 rison of Tanjore were dying of starvation, and neither the British 
 nor the Rajah could induce the cultivators to sell them provi- 
 sions. In despair Schwarz was appealed to, and when he gave 
 his word that payment should be made, the farmers believed him 
 and sent the requisite supplies. After the death of Schwarz in 
 1798, his pupil King Serfodshi caused a beautiful monument to 
 be erected to his memory in the Lutheran Church at Tanjore. 
 
 106 
 
Hans Egede, of Norway, moved by the love of God, became 
 very much concerned for the inhabitants of Greenland. He had 
 no rest, until with his family he could tread upon the icy land 
 in 1721. He labored unwearedly amidst incredible hardships 
 among the Esquimaux, lived with them in their huts and learned 
 their language amid the greatest privations, but with an unwa- 
 vering faith. 
 
 Among the first missionaries to the American Indians was 
 John Campanius who came as chaplain of a Swedish Colony 
 near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1642. He translated Lu- 
 ther's Small Catechism into the language of the Delaware* In- 
 dians. John Eliot (1603 to 1690) was one of the most noted 
 Indian missionaries. In South Africa George Schmidt settled 
 among the Hottentots in 1727, and preached the Gospel. In the 
 Southern Pacific Ocean Samuel Marsden labored for forty-five 
 years from 1793, with great success. Among successful missionary 
 efforts are those of the Moravian Brethren. Their first foreign 
 missionary field was the West Indies, where their missionaries 
 Dober and Nitschmann landed in 1732. At the present day the 
 Moravian missionary enterprises include seventeen countries with 
 ninety-nine stations and 73,000 souls. In the year 1795, the 
 London Missionary Society was founded, and since that time 
 numerous mission institutions have sprung into existence. The 
 most prominent of the German societies are the Basel, estab- 
 lished in 1816, which has stations in West Africa, India and 
 China; Berlin, established in 1823, which operates in South 
 Africa; the Bhenish, or Barmen Mission, established in 1828, 
 has stations in South Africa, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Nias; 
 the North German, or Bremen Mission, established in 1835, 
 occupies West Africa and New Zealand. The Leipzig Society, 
 established in 1836, operates in India; Gossner's Society, estab- 
 lished in 1849, in India; the Berlin Chinese Mission, estab- 
 
 * A copy of this work is in the Philadelphia Library. 
 
 107 
 
 f 
 
♦■♦— ' — — * »-) 
 
 lished in 1852, in China; the Hermannsburg Mission, estab- 
 lished in 1849, has stations in South Africa, India and Australia. 
 The most recently established missionary institute Breckllim in 
 Schleswig-Holstein, founded by Pastor Jensen, has just occu- 
 pied a field of operations in India. In England, Scotland 
 and America the several denominations have nearly all their 
 own missions. The Lutheran Church here has, since 1840, 
 stations in India, and more recently one in Africa. Much 
 has been done in the foreign mission field by Evangelical 
 missionaries. In several countries the Christian Church has 
 already been securely established; e. g., among the Kolhs (the 
 Gossner Mission) in India, upon the West India Islands and on 
 the Sandwich and other islands in the Pacific Ocean. The same 
 can also be said of Cape Colony, Sierra-Leone and Liberia in 
 Africa, and in Greenland and Labrador. The progress of Chris- 
 tianity is very promising in Japan, in China, upon the Island of 
 Madagascar, New Zealand, New Hebrides and in Sumatra. Nor 
 must we forget the labors of Livingstone (died 1873) in Africa. 
 The importance of the work already accomplished is seen in the 
 fact that the Word of God has been translated, printed and 
 circulated in 250 languages. "We will yet call attention to a 
 man who in recent years has done much for heathen missions, 
 Pastor Harms. . : . 
 
 Louis Harms (1808 — 1865), born at Hermannsburg, Hannover, was 
 educated at Gottingen and became assistant to his father in his native 
 town. For twenty-one years he was pastor at Hermannsburg, on the 
 Liineburg heath, where he also died. In 1849 he began the Hermanns- 
 burg mission work, and sent his first missionaries to South Africa to estab- 
 lish Christian colonies. He built a ship and sent it on the first missionary 
 voyage Oct. 18th, 1853. In 1854 he established a printing press and a 
 journal of missionary intelligence. He established an annual missionary 
 festival, held in June in the open air, and attended by thousands of persons, 
 including strangers from all parts of Europe. The missionaries sent out from 
 his institution are found in every quarter of the globe. Harms devoted his 
 whole life to the service of the Lord, laboring as few are able to labor in 
 108 
 
JL+ 
 
 preaching and pastoral work, publishing books, and attending to an enor- 
 mous correspondence. Besides the two regular Sunday services he held a 
 third service every Sunday in the parsonage. Sitting in his chair and 
 smoking his long pipe, he spoke to the people in their native Platt-Deutsch 
 (low German) tongue. He was a man of earnest prayer who carried his 
 
 Louia Harms. 
 
 congregation upon his priestly heart. He labored until his strength was 
 completely exhausted, and when at length too weak to stand he preached 
 sitting in an armed chair. Wearied of life and ready to depart he con- 
 ducted a service eight days before his death, which occurred at the age of 
 57 years. 
 
 109 
 
31. THE PERIOD OF SO-CALLED ILLUMINATION. 
 
 The period of time from the year 1750-1820 is without doubt the 
 darkest and saddest in the history of the Church since the Refor- 
 mation. During this period Rationalism had taken the place of 
 true faith in the Gospel, among a large number of professed 
 Christians. Not until after the dire distress of cruel war, when 
 Christians again learned to pray, did men, grounded in the truth, 
 arise to show that in the so-called religion of reason, there is to 
 be found neither true reason nor true religion. The perversions 
 of God's Word in those days by such who professed to be 
 preachers of the Gospel were fearful. The simple truths of 
 Scripture were neither believed nor taught by many of the 
 learned, and the results were most disastrous to the Church. 
 There were ministers in those times who on the Holy Festival of 
 Christmas would preach "On feeding cattle;" on Green Thurs- 
 day, "On the cultivation of greens"; en Easter morning, "On 
 the advantages of early rising." All the miracles of our Lord 
 were explained away, Jesus was set forth as only an example of 
 virtue, the mediatorial death of Christ was stamped a fable. 
 Reason took the place of the Bible ; instead of acknowledging 
 God, men spake of a " Supreme Being " or "Providence " ; instead 
 of Faith, they extolled " Virtue " ; instead of Repentance, they 
 spake of " Improvement." Hymn-books were altered and the 
 most sacred hymns were re-cast and modelled to suit the new 
 ideas. The people were deprived of their old hymn-books and 
 the " improved " (debased) ones were introduced, in which every 
 fool had mutilated the old, pure hymns according to his own 
 notion. Whilst formerly the same hymns were found and sung 
 throughout all Germany, there were now individual cities in 
 which from six to eight different hymn-books were used. Instead 
 of the old, truly Christian devotional books, as "Arndt's True 
 Christianity," such books as WitscheVs " Morning and Evening 
 Sacrifice," and Zschokke's "Hours of Devotion," — books which 
 no 
 
contain precious little or nothing of true Christianity — were put 
 into the hands of the people. 
 
 Among the most honorable personages of the Church of that 
 period were : the Christian poet, Christian Fiirchtegott Oellert, 
 professor in Leipzig (1715-1767); Matthew Claudius (1740- 
 1815) ; Hamann, of Konigsberg (1730-1788) ; J. G. Von Herder 
 (1744-1803) ; Pastor Oberlin (1740-1826), of Steinthal, the first 
 founder of Sunday School instruction ; Lavater, who died in 
 1801, and the devout Jung Stilling, who died in 1817. 
 
 During this period the bread of life was carried across the 
 ocean and brought to the scattered children of the Church in 
 America. In the year 1742 G. A. Fran eke, of Halle, sent the 
 pious pastor Henry Melchior Muhlenberg to Pennsylvania. He 
 w T as soon followed by other devoted pastors.* At the beginning 
 of the present century, in the year 1817, Frederick William III., 
 King of Prussia, made an effort to bring about a union between 
 the Lutheran Church and the Reformed, but his work proved 
 abortive, as he only succeeded in establishing a third church 
 beside the two already existing. Churchly consciousness, which 
 had again taken root, now sprang into life and men again turned 
 zealously to the old paths. Many, however, had to pay dearly 
 for their firm adherence to the truth. Faithful Lutheran pastors 
 were deposed from office and imprisoned because truth was of 
 more value to them than a spurious union although promulgated 
 by the king ; others for the same reason were threatened with 
 severe punishment and placed under the surveillance of the police. 
 In consequence of this oppression of the Lutherans, many sought 
 a home in foreign lands, some emigrating to Australia, whilst the 
 larger number came to America, where the Church could develop 
 without interference from the State. 
 
 * See "Halle Keports," published in English by the Pilger Book Store, 
 Reading, Pa. 
 
 Ill 
 
4 
 
 32. THE CHURCH IN AMERICA. 
 
 Among the earliest religious confessors in the permanent settle- 
 ments of America we find Lutherans. With the Dutch Reformed, 
 who settled New Amsterdam (New York) in 1622, there came 
 Lutherans who were worthy successors of their martyred country- 
 men in the Netherlands, whom no persuasion could induce to 
 enter into the communion of the churches that subscribed to 
 another creed. Hence they were destined to share the fate of 
 their brethren in their former home. They were imprisoned and 
 their religious services broken up. Dutch Lutherans also settled 
 on James Island, South Carolina, as early as 1674, who suffered 
 proscription from the Church of England, as did their brethren 
 in the north from the Dutch Reformed. 
 
 In 1637 the first Lutherans arrived in Pennsylvania from 
 Sweden. They settled on the Delaware from Wilmington to 
 Philadelphia. The first church was built within the walls of 
 Fort Christiana, Wilmington, about 1638. One of their great 
 objects was to plant the Christian religion among the heathen. 
 The first minister of this colony, and indeed the first Lutheran 
 minister in America, was Rev. Reorus Torkillus, who, after eight 
 years' service, died in 1643. 
 
 One of the first ministers of this colony, and the first mission- 
 ary to the Indians, was Rev. John Campanius, who came in 
 1642 with John Printz, the second governor of the colony. He 
 was faithful in his calling, not only as the spiritual guide of his 
 own countrymen, but in the interest he manifested in the natives, 
 and the simplicity and tenderness with which he unfolded to 
 them the great mystery of the Gospel. He addressed himself 
 diligently to the study of their language, that he might the more 
 readily proclaim to them in their own tongue the wonderful 
 works of God. The early appearance of Luther's Small Cate- 
 chism in the language of the Delaware Indians is an evidence of 
 his zeal and his success. 
 
 The second Lutheran church in this country and the first in 
 
 112 
 
 f 
 
4- 
 
 Pennsylvania was built in 1646 in Delaware Co. The first 
 Lutheran minister who was sent to labor among the Dutch 
 Lutherans in New York, was Rev. Ernest Goetwater, who arrived 
 in 1657. The year previous we find a Lutheran congregation as 
 far north as Albany, N. Y. In 1665 the first Lutheran church 
 was erected in New York City. In the year 1703 the rite of Lu- 
 theran ordination was administered for the first time in America 
 in Gloria Dei Church, Philadelphia, the clergyman ordained being 
 the Rev. Justus Falkner. 
 
 In 1734 the Salzburgers, who were driven from their homes 
 by violent persecutions, settled in Ebenezer, Georgia, bringing 
 their ministers, John Martin Bolzius and Israel Christian Gronau, 
 with them. Quite a large number of Germans had preceded 
 these exiles, some as early as 1680, but especially from 1708- 
 1720, under Queen Anne, of England, and from 1720-1730. 
 These were, however, scattered mostly over New York and Penn- 
 sylvania. After this time immigration flowed into this country 
 with few interruptions in a steady stream, Lutherans finding 
 their way into every State. In 1739 we find a settlement of 
 Lutherans from Germany at Broad Bay, in the State of Maine. 
 
 In 1742 Dr. Melchior Muehlenherg, the patriarch of the 
 Lutheran Church in America, landed at Philadelphia, and at 
 once set to work to minister to the spiritual wants of the people 
 and bring order out of the chaos which existed. The following 
 year the first German Lutheran church — St. Michael's — in 
 Philadelphia was built. 
 
 [The first service was held in it on Oct. 20th, 1743. At that time, "the 
 windows had no panes and the floor was not laid ; light was admitted be- 
 tween the boards with which the windows were closed, and boards placed 
 on blocks were the seats of the hearers." ] 
 
 The following year, 1744, Muhlenberg was reinforced by the 
 arrival of three others, Rev. Peter Brunnholtz and Messrs. 
 Schaum and Kurtz, students of theology, who were in due time 
 ordained and proved faithful in their work. 
 
 s 113 
 
In 1748 the first Lutheran Synod in America was organized 
 in Philadelphia, which is to this day known as " The German 
 Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and adjacent 
 States." The ministers present were: Revs. Sandin and Naes- 
 mann, of the Swedish church, and Muhlenberg, Brunnholtz, 
 Handschuh, Kurtz and Hartwig of the German. 
 
 In 1749 Lutherans had already found their way to Nova 
 Scotia. 
 
 Up to the year 1800 the Church was almost exclusively Ger- 
 man, (although Dr. Muhlenberg sometimes officiated in English 
 when occasion demanded) except the Swedish congregations, 
 
 St. Michael's Church, Philadelphia. 
 
 Ml-*-- 
 
 which, becoming English, were afterwards swallowed up by the 
 Episcopalians. The first exclusively English congregation was 
 St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, organized 
 in 1806. The oldest Lutheran congregation in America, which 
 has had an uninterrupted existence for over two hundred years, 
 is the " First Lutheran Church " at Albany, N. Y. This congre- 
 gation was originally "Dutch," and rather than have their chil- 
 dren baptized by Reformed ministers, the fathers allowed them- 
 
 114 
 
 t 
 
selves to be cast into prison. Afterwards the congregation be- 
 came German, and now it is English. 
 
 The rapid growth of the Church in the time of Muhlenberg, both in 
 numbers and material things is seen by a glance at the congregation in 
 Philadelphia. By 1766 St. Michael's Church had become entirely inade- 
 quate for the congregation and it was resolved to build a larger one. The 
 corner stone of this — called Zion Church — was laid on the 16th of May of 
 that year and it was finished in 1769, at a cost of eight thousand pounds, 
 exclusive of the lot. This church was the largest and handsomest in 
 North America. The roof and ceiling were supported by eight large Doric 
 columns which served for bases for the arches of the ceiling, which was 
 ornamented and finished in a most magnificent manner, no expense being 
 
 Zion. Evangelical Lutheran Church, Philadelphia. 
 
 spared in finishing the inside of the church. It contained the best organ 
 in America.* 
 
 After this period, partly from a lack of ministers, partly because of the 
 deplorable condition of the Church in Germany on account of nationalism, 
 and partly from an aversion to the English language for the benefit of those 
 who became Americanized, the progress of the Church was slow. 
 
 In 1787, the Ministerium of New York was organized with 
 fourteen ministers. In 1818, the Synod of Ohio was founded. 
 Two years later that of Maryland and Virginia. 
 
 * On the death of General George Washington, the United States Congress, then in 
 session at Philadelphia, selected this church for appropriate funeral services, and at- 
 tended these in a body. 
 
 115 
 
+. m . 
 
 The first Theological Institution, which was, however, of a 
 private character, was established in Philadelphia in 1785, by 
 Drs. Helmuth and Schmidt. The first regularly organized 
 theological school was Hartwick Seminary, in Otsego Co., New 
 York, which was founded in 1816, and of which Rev. Dr. Hazelius 
 was the first professor of theology. There are now twenty theo- 
 logical institutions, the leading ones being that of the General 
 Council at Philadelphia, of the Synodical Conference at St. 
 Louis, Missouri, of the General Synod at Gettysburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and of the General Synod (South) at Salem, Virginia. 
 There are also sixteen colleges, twenty-three academies and fourteen 
 seminaries for young ladies. The strength of the Lutheran 
 Church in 1825 was, ministers 163, congregations 442, communi- 
 cants 42,125. Twenty years later, in 1845, it had increased to 
 538 ministers, 1307 congregations and 135,000 communicants. 
 In the next seventeen years — by 1862 — the number of communi- 
 cants had more than doubled. This number was again more 
 than doubled by 1874, a period of twelve years, and at the present 
 rate of increase the end of another decade (1891) will show the 
 number once more doubled. The statistics for 1881, as given by 
 the Church Almanac are, ministers 3,237, congregations 5,751, 
 and communicants 969,492. 
 
 The General Synod was organized at Hagerstown, Maryland, in 
 1820. During the civil war in America (1862) the General 
 Synod (South) was organized by synods formerly in connection 
 with the General Synod. In 1867, the "General Council of 
 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America" was or- 
 ganized at Reading, Pennsylvania, and held its first regular 
 meeting the following year at Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1872, 
 the Synodical Conference was organized, whilst there are a number 
 of independent synods which are not connected with any general 
 body. 
 
 The Lutheran Church in America comprises many nationali- 
 ties, the Gospel being preached in German English, Swedish, 
 
 116 
 
►»♦ __ + s « 
 
 Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic. The foreign missionary op- 
 erations are mostly confined to India, although the General 
 Synod also sustains a mission at Muhlenberg, West Africa. The 
 first missionary, Rev. C. F. Heyer, sailed from Boston, October 
 14th, 1841, and established the mission at Rajahmundry, India. 
 
 The first Lutheran paper in America was called " Evangelisches 
 Magazin," and published under the auspices of the Synod of 
 Pennsylvania in 1811, being edited by Dr. Helmuth and Rev. 
 Schmidt. There are now issued papers of all classes, eighty-two, 
 30 English, 28 German, 14 Norwegian, 6 Swedish and 4 Danish. 
 
 The first Orphans' Home w T as established at Zelienople near 
 Pittsburg, by Dr. W. A. Passavant. The benevolent institutions 
 of the Church now comprise 20 homes for orphans, 2 asylums for 
 the aged and infirm, 7 hospitals, 1 deaf and dumb institute and 
 6 emigrant missions. 
 
 Dr. Henry Melchior Muehlenberg", Patriarch of the Lutheran Church 
 in America, was born Sept. 6th, 1711, at Eimbeck, in Hannover, Germany. 
 His father, Nicolaus Melchior Muhlenberg, intended giving him a classical 
 education, and sent him when seven years of age to a German and Latin 
 school. Soon after his twelfth year his father suddenly died, and although 
 he was now compelled to earn a living by means of hard labor, he em- 
 ployed every spare moment in reading. When twenty-one years of age he 
 was no longer compelled to work in the evening. The time thus gained 
 was used in taking private lessons in Latin and Greek. Soon afterwards he 
 was again introduced into the Latin school, and as his income from labor 
 ceased and no other means were at hand to pay his tuition, he was compelled 
 Luther-like to join a boys' choir and sing before the houses of the wealthy, 
 his fine tenor voice serving a very good purpose. On the 19th of March, 
 1735, he entered the University of Gottingen. Through the influence of 
 the theological lectures of Dr. Operin he was here truly awakened, and re- 
 resolved to devote himself to theology. In 1738 he left Gottingen and came 
 to Halle where he met Dr. Gotthelf August Francke, and was employed 
 to teach in several departments of his institutions. In 1739 he was 
 solemnly ordained to the office of the holy ministry and followed a call to 
 Groszhennersdorf. In 1741, the call to labor among the scattered Lu- 
 therans in Pennsylvania was tendered him by Dr. Francke. He accepted 
 this call and on the 5th of April, 1742, took leave of his fatherland and be- 
 
 ♦ 117 A 
 
 ►»■♦■ » ■ »■ 
 
gan his journey to England, from whence, on the 12th of June, he set sail for 
 America, where he arrived after a long, tedious and eventful voyage. On 
 Sept. 23d he landed at Charleston, South Carolina. After spending some 
 time with the Salzburgers at Ebenezer, Ga., he sailed, Nov. 12th, 1742, for 
 Philadelphia, where he arrived on the 25th of the same month. He found 
 the Church in a deplorable condition, but by his energy and zeal he brought 
 
 Dr. H. M. Muhlenberg. 
 
 about a better state of affairs. He had immediate charge of the churches 
 at Philadelphia, New Hanover and Providence, but his labors extended to 
 nearly all the Lutheran churches of his day, often making long and peril- 
 ous journeys to gather the scattered flock, preach the Word and administer 
 the Sacraments. Pie died in 1787, his death causing deep and wide-spread 
 sorrow. Dr. Muhlenberg was a man of rare excellence and his influence 
 was unbounded. 
 
 In addition to the Lutheran Church, the Eeformed with its 
 various denominational divisions, was at an early period estab- 
 lished in America and spread rapidly, to which more special 
 reference will be made under Religious Denominations. 
 
 118 
 
4- 
 
 33. RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. 
 
 In the course of time numerous denominations and sects sprang 
 into existence among the Reformed, to the most prominent of 
 which we briefly call attention. 
 
 The Reformed Church in the United States, also called German 
 Reformed Church, was founded by emigrants from Switzerland and the 
 south-western part of Germany in which the Reformed existed. They 
 originally settled in Pennsylvania. Their first minister was Rev. Geo. W. 
 Weiss, who with four hundred members settled in Montgomery county, 
 where a congregation was organized and the first church built. The real 
 founder of the German Reformed Church in America was Rev. Michael 
 Schlatter, who was sent to labor in America in 1746. In 1793 there were 
 150 congregations, but only 22 ministers to supply their spiritual wants. 
 In 1823 the number of ministers had increased to 82. In 1825 the first 
 Theological Seminary was commenced at Carlisle, Pa., removed to York in 
 1829, to Mercersburg in 1835 and finally established at Lancaster in 1871. 
 The Reformed now have several colleges and theological institutions, the 
 principal one being that at Lancaster, Pa. Their standard of doctrine is 
 the " Heidelberg Catechism in its historical sense." They have a publica- 
 tion house at Philadelphia, an orphans' home at Womelsdorf and recently 
 established a mission in Japan with a Rev. Gring as the first missionary. 
 They report for 1881, ministers, 762 ; congregations, 1403 ; communicants, 
 161,002. The Reformed Church in America, also called the Dutch Re- 
 formed Church, was originated by the early settlers from Holland. They 
 adhere to the decrees of the Synod of Dort, promulgated in 1619. The de- 
 nomination was organized, in what is now the lower part of New York 
 city, in 1628 by Rev. Jonas Michaelius their first minister, some five years 
 after the settlement was established. They warmly persecuted the Luth- 
 erans who had settled among them but who would not forsake the faith of 
 their fathers. They claim to have established the first day-school and the 
 first theological seminary in this country. Their organization is, like their 
 doctrine, Presbyterian. They are diligent in missionary enterprise. 
 
 The United Evangelical Church is the outgrowth of the attempt to 
 unite the Lutheran Church and the Reformed in Germany in 1817. It 
 was organized at St. Louis in 1840, and is up to the present time exclu- 
 sively German. Its system of doctrine is composed of Lutheran and Re- 
 formed elements, more especially the latter. 
 
 119 
 
The Episcopalians are a branch of the Eeformed, who have, however, 
 retained numerous papistical elements. They ceased to be Romish with- 
 out becoming thoroughly Protestant. They originated in England and 
 there constitute the State Church. Their tenets were first properly defined 
 in 1562 when the Thirty-nine Articles — the confession of faith of the Epis- 
 copalians — were adopted. These articles are contained in "The Book of 
 Common Prayer." Their ministry is composed of bishops, priests and 
 deacons. There are three distinct tendencies or parties among them. The 
 High Church party, which seems to have the vantage ground, has a very 
 strong Roman Catholic tendency conforming more and more to papistical 
 forms and usages; the Low Church party, which is more conservative and 
 evangelical ; and the Broad Church party, which has a decided liberalistic 
 and rationalistic tendency. The Reformed Episcopalians sprang into exist- 
 ence in 1873. Their confessional principles are exceedingly lax, the de- 
 nomination being mostly composed of "broad church" Episcopalians. 
 
 The Presbyterians are in the main strict calvinists. They originated 
 in Scotland, where they still constitute the State Church. Their founder 
 was John Knox. More radical than the Episcopalians in England, the 
 Scotch condemned the clerical robe (gown), making the sign of the cross, 
 sponsors at baptism, forms of prayer, private baptism (Nothtaufe), con- 
 firmation, and the observance of Church Festivals, etc., as relics of popery. 
 They thought that by abolishing these things they could establish a pure 
 church. There were many in the Church of England who held the same 
 views, who struggled hard to reconstruct the whole anglican church. 
 From this they were called — at first in derision — Puritans. There were 
 different classes of Puritans, but all agreed in condeming the Episcopacy. 
 A large number favored presbyterianism, i. e., the representation of congre- 
 gations in Presbyteries, etc., by their delegated elders, of whom the minis- 
 ter or "preaching elder" (the others being called "ruling elders") is 
 always one. Another class desired that each congregation be independent 
 and subject to no ecclesiastical authority, though bound by the law of Christ 
 to be in fellowship with neighboring congregations. These were called 
 Congregational ists. The Westminister Assembly met in 1643, when the 
 Westminster Confession and the two Catechisms of the Presbyterians were 
 adopted. The supreme council of the Presbyterians is, the General Assem- 
 bly. The Presbyterians are divided into numerous sects, prominent among 
 which are: The Presbyterian Church (North), The Presbyterian Church 
 (South), the Cumberland Presbyterians, the United Presbyterians, the Re- 
 formed Presbyterians, the Associate Reformed Presbyterians, etc. In quite 
 
 120 
 
4. 
 
 recent years a few German Presbyterian congregations have been founded, 
 most of which make use either of the Lutheran or Reformed Catechism as 
 may best suit their purpose, they practice confirmation and are supported 
 by the English congregations. The Free Church of Scotland separated 
 from the State Church in 1843. 
 
 The Congregationalists or Independents are the descendants of the 
 English Puritans. Robert Brown (1549 — 1630), of England, is, strictly 
 speaking, the father of Congregationalism. Their distinctive principle is, 
 that every congregation is entitled "to elect its own officers and manage 
 all its own affairs, and to stand independent of and irresponsible to all 
 authority, saving that of the supreme and divine head of the Church, the 
 Lord Jesus Christ." Their first congregation in America was founded in 
 Massachusetts (Pilgrim fathers) in 1620, being driven hither by the perse- 
 cutions which they suffered in England, where they, however, in turn, be- 
 came the persecutors of all whose faith differed from their own. The Bap- 
 tists were banished, members of the Church of England were sent back 
 again to England, and Quakers were maltreated by cutting off their ears, 
 and three of them were hanged. They have various colleges and theologi- 
 cal schools, the oldest of which is at Andover, Mass. 
 
 Baptists. — The Baptists are, strictly speaking, the descendants of the 
 Anabaptists of the Reformation period. In 1535 many of the Anabaptists 
 who had taken refuge in Holland emigrated to England, where they took 
 the name Baptists. Their doctrinal position is Calvinistic ; they reject in- 
 fant baptism and practice immersion. Among all the different sects there 
 are none so fanatical in their efforts at proselyting the members of other 
 churches as the several socities of Baptists. The first Baptist congregation 
 in the United States was founded by Rodger Williams at Providence, 
 Rhode Island, in 1639. The Baptists are divided into numerous sects 
 among which are Particular Baptists, who believe that Christ died only for 
 an elect number ; General Baptists, who maintain that he died for all men ; 
 English Baptists, whose order of government is the same as Congregational- 
 ists ; Scotch Baptists, who insist upon a plurality of pastors in every church, 
 all of which are in Great Britain. Among the minor Baptists sects in 
 America are Free Will Baptists, which originated in New Hampshire, 
 whose distinctive doctrinal views are : the free offer of salvation to all men 
 and the freedom of the will (involving ability to accept or refuse Christ) ; 
 Six Principle Baptists, which originated in Rhode Island in 1639. They 
 are of the Arminian persuasion and their creed consists of the six prin- 
 ciples as found in Heb. 6 : 1, 2 ; Anti Mission Baptists (also called Old 
 
 121 
 
School), so-called from their opposition to missionary societies, Sunday 
 schools, etc. ; Seventh-day Baptists, who like the Jews keep the seventh day 
 in the week as the day of rest. These first appeared in America at New- 
 port, Rhode Island, about 1671. Campbellites (Disciples of Christ) were 
 organized in Western Pennsylvania in 1827, by Thomas Campbell, a 
 former Presbyterian minister from Ireland. Their doctrinal position is 
 very lax so that Rationalists, Pelagians and Unitarians can be consistent 
 members of their denomination. Christian Connection, originally composed 
 of seceders from the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian Churches. They 
 reject the doctrine of the Trinity and the Divinity of Christ, and hold that 
 difference in theological views is no bar to church membership. The 
 Winebrennerians (or as they now call themselves, Church of God) were 
 founded in Pennsylvania in 1830 by John Winebrenner, a deposed Re- 
 formed minister. The Winebrennerians have three positive Ordinances, 
 immersion, feet washing and the Lord's Supper. Among the German Bap- 
 tist societies are the Tunkers (Old Brethren), River Brethren, New Baptists, 
 and a number of smaller sects. These generally wear plain clothing of a 
 peculiar pattern, broadbrimmed hats and part their hair in the middle. 
 
 Meiinonites are descendants of the Anabaptists at Munster. After 
 that fanatical rabble had been dispersed, Menno Simon (formerly a Catholic 
 priest) gathered the scattered members and organized them into a denom- 
 ination. He drew up a distinct form of doctrine which differs only from 
 that of the Reformed, in rejecting infant baptism and some minor points. 
 He also forbade military and civil service and the oath, and introduced 
 feet-washing. They are divided into numerous small sects, viz. : The Old 
 Mennonites, the Amish — among whom the men also wear hooks and eyes on 
 their clothing, and who until lately discarded separate houses for worship, — 
 the Herrites — followers of a minister named Herr, — the Staufferites — follow- 
 ers of a man named Stauffer, — the New Lights, etc., etc. .They nearly all, 
 like the "Orthodox" Quakers, wear plain clothing of a peculiar pattern, 
 and generally broad-brimmed hats. 
 
 The Moravians (Herrnhuters) were organized into a distinct denomi- 
 nation by Count Zinzendorf. They have adopted the name "Unitas 
 Fratrum," — United Brethren — but are more generally known as Moravian 
 Brethren. In 1722 a number of persons from Moravia and Bohemia (de- 
 scendants from the Hussites), under the leadership of Christian David, 
 sought a refuge from the persecutions to which they were subjected by the 
 Roman Catholics, on the estates of Count Zinzendorf in Lausatia, Germany. 
 
 122 
 
Uttering the words Ps. 84: 4, Christian David struck the axe into a tree 
 which was cut down to build the first house near the " Hutberg." Soon the 
 village of Herrnhut sprang up and became the centre of the society. — Zin- 
 zendorf was born in 1700 at Dresden. He first pursued his studies at Halle 
 and afterwards went to Wittenberg and studied law. In 1727 he gave up 
 the legal profession and devoted himself to theology. In the meantime the 
 society which had found a refuge on his estates increased by the addition of 
 other Moravian exiles, to which were also added a great number from dif- 
 ferent nationalities — Pietists, Separatists, Calvinists, Schwenkfeldians, etc., 
 — who all sympathized with each other, and were agreed on one single 
 point : their aversion to holding fast to the Lutheran Church and the con- 
 gregation to which they belonged, under the excellent Pastor Rothe, of 
 Berthelsdorf. Zinzendorf at first did not contemplate a separation from the 
 Lutheran Church, but having such diverse elements to deal with, being an 
 excellent organizer and also ambitious as a leader, he formed a constitution 
 with old Moravian forms and names, on the basis of which the colony was 
 now constituted. His Utopian idea was to unite all confessions into one 
 grand society. As early as 1735 Moravian emigrants landed in Georgia, 
 but five years afterwards they went to Pennsylvania, where they built the 
 town of Bethlehem, which is their principal station in America. In 1742 
 Count Zinzendorf was in Philadelphia and represented himself as Inspector 
 of the Lutheran churches — a claim which gave not a little trouble to Dr. 
 Muhlenberg upon his arrival near the close of the same year. The latter 
 was compelled sharply to oppose him for his duplicity. Zinzendorf was 
 the leader of the congregation ("Gemeine") until his death. In their 
 earlier history, numerous fanatical extravagances prevailed. Their doc- 
 trine is in the main Calvinistic, although in 1749 they adopted the Augs- 
 burg Confession as a matter of policy, to obtain civil recognition in Germany. 
 In America many of them no longer claim adherence to the Augsburg Con- 
 fession. Dr. H. M. Muhlenberg said of them : — " In Russia they believe 
 and live just like the Greek Church. When they are in Catholic countries, 
 they believe and teach that which the Pope and the councils taught to 
 their advantage. When they are in Switzerland, they live and believe 
 according to the Synod of Berne. When they are in Sweden " (and we 
 may add in Germany) "they conceal themselves behind the Augsburg 
 Confession ; and when they have to do with the English, they just adapt 
 themselves to the English articles," i. e., to the faith of the Episcopalians. 
 They have Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons and Deaconesses. Their mission- 
 ary activity is extraordinary, and at the present time they have missions 
 
 123 
 
■**♦■ ' ■*-■♦ 
 
 ♦ ♦ 
 
 in 17 provinces. In America they have : Ministers, 65; Congregations, 75; 
 Members, 9,561. 
 
 Methodists originated in the Church of England (Episcopal). The 
 founder of Methodism was John Wesley, who studied at Oxford, and was 
 ordained priest in 1728. — The living power of the Gospel had been para- 
 lyzed in the English Episcopal Church. This led Wesley, even when yet 
 at Oxford, to form a society with several friends, the object of which was 
 to promote a pious life and good works. These united friends were in 
 ridicule called Methodists, because they practiced piety in a methodical 
 way. In 1732 George Whitefield joined Wesley in his labors. They did 
 not at first desire to separate from the Episcopal Church, but rather wished 
 to work in it as a spiritual leaven. Both Wesley and Whitefield labored 
 in England and America with great zeal, often preaching in the open air 
 to thousands of hearers. In 1738 Wesley organized a comprehensive reli- 
 gious union, which, under the direction of a Conference, sent local and 
 traveling preachers into all the world. This in reality marks the begin- 
 ning of the Methodist denomination. A rupture took place as early as 
 1741, Whitefield holding fast to the calvinistic doctrine of Predestination, 
 whilst Wesley taught Arminianism. Their manner of worship, by picturing 
 to men all the terrors of the law and all the horrors of hell, together with 
 the " anxious bench," is well known. Many of them also hold the doctrine 
 of perfect sanctification. The congregations are divided into classes, each 
 of which is under the supervision of a Class-leader. They generally have 
 camp-meetings during the summer season, which become the resort of many 
 as a place for recreation, and to spend a holiday amid the lively scenes in 
 the grove. With Methodists the itinerancy generally prevails, ministers 
 as a rule not being permitted to remain over three years in one congre- 
 gation ; there are, however, many exceptions. Like the Baptists, the 
 Methodists are numerously divided, the most prominent being : Methodist 
 Episcopal; Methodist Episcopal (South); the African M. E. ; the Methodist 
 Protestant, organized in 1830, because they were opposed to the Episcopacy; 
 Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America; Free Methodist, organized at 
 Pekin, New York, in 1860; New Connection Methodists; Primitive Meth- 
 odists, also called Ranters; Independent Methodists; Bible Christians, who 
 seceded from the Wesleyans in 1815; Calvinistic Methodists, etc. Other 
 Methodistic organizations are: The United Brethren in Christ (Otterbein- 
 erians), founded by a Reformed preacher, Philip William Otterbein, in 
 1760, in Lancaster Co., Pa.; The Albrights (Evangelical Association), 
 founded by Jacob Albright also in Lancaster Co., Pa. He was not a Lu- 
 
 124 - ^ 
 
theran minister, as some maintain, but a comparatively ignorant farmer, 
 who had drifted entirely away from the Church in which, when a young 
 man, he was confirmed. He was, in 1803, chosen by his adherents as their 
 preacher. The most recent Methodistic extravagance is the "Salvation 
 Army" laboring in the larger cities of England and America. The several 
 Methodist societies rank next to the Baptists in their efforts at proselyting, 
 sending so-called missionaries into the Evangelical States of Germany 
 and Scandinavia, for the sake of enlarging their fold with the Lord's 
 sheep. 
 
 The Quakers originated in England about 1647. The originator of the 
 Society was George Fox (1621-1691), a shoemaker, who possessed deep 
 religious feelings, but discarded everything churchly, and held that the 
 Holy Scriptures were not necessary to try men's religion, only the " inner 
 light." The name Quakers was given to them in derision, they calling 
 themselves " Friends." One of the most prominent Quakers was William 
 Penn, who founded Pennsylvania two hundred years ago. The Quakers 
 discard both Baptism and the Lord's Supper; neither do they have a regu- 
 lar ministry, nor even hymns and music. They assemble for worship on 
 "First Day" — as they call Sunday, — and sit in silence, the men generally 
 keeping their hats on to show that the meeting-house should not be regarded 
 as a more sacred place than any ordinary place of shelter. Thus they re- 
 main seated until the Spirit moves some man or woman to speak. They 
 regard the taking and administering of oaths and engaging in war as alto- 
 gether contrary to the spirit of Christ. They generally wear plain clothing, 
 and in addressing anyone use the pronoun " Thou " or " Thee " instead of 
 " You." In the year 1827 Elias Hicks, of Long Island, N. Y., created a 
 schism in the Society, by promulgating opinions denying the divinity and 
 atonement of Christ, and also the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures. 
 About half of the Society adopted these views, and are known as "Hicksite" 
 Quakers, whilst the "Orthodox" hold fast to the original principles. A 
 division afterwards occurred among the "Orthodox" friends, which resulted 
 in the formation of a new sect called "Wilburites" (after John Wilbur), 
 who are noted for their strictness in maintaining their old traditions. 
 
 The Darbyites (Plymouth Brethren) sprang into existence about 1830- 
 35 in Plymouth, Dublin and other places in Great Britain. Their origin- 
 ator was a Mr. Darby, for a while a minister in the Church of England. 
 They discard all church organizations, and recognize only individual 
 Christians. These he sought to gather at Plymouth and to prepare them 
 for the "Millennium." In 1840 Darby went to Lausanne, Switzerland, 
 
 125 
 
from which place the sect spread to France, Holland and Germany. They 
 recognize no office of the ministry. Their doctrines are generally calvinistic. 
 
 The Irvingites were called into existence in 1832 by Rev. Edward 
 Irving, a Scotch Presbyterian minister. They have assumed the title, the 
 Catholic Apostolic Church. They allege that the extraordinary miraculous 
 gifts possessed by the Apostles are continued throughout the whole present 
 dispensation. They have four ministries, viz. : twelve Apostles, Prophets, 
 Evangelists and Pastors, and profess to possess the gift of tongues and the 
 power to perform miracles. They have a very elaborate Liturgy, many 
 ceremonies and priestly vestments in their service. They have established 
 themselves in the British Isles, Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, 
 Scandinavia, Canada, the United States, etc. Their number is not large. 
 
 The Mormons originated in America. The founder of this modern 
 Mohammedanism was Joseph Smith, a man of very questionable character, 
 who alleged that in 1828 he found the book of "Mormon" in the west side 
 of a hill near Palmyra, Ontario Co., N. Y., being directed by the angel of 
 the Lord. This book, he said, was engraved on plates of gold and con- 
 tained the revelations of God. Beside it was an instrument called the 
 "Urim and Thummim," in the shape of a pair of stone spectacles, by 
 means of which he was able to translate the wonderful records. There are 
 altogether eleven persons who alleged that they had seen the golden plates, 
 among whom are the father and brothers of Smith, who, it must, however, 
 be remembered, were accused of sheep-stealing and other nefarious prac- 
 tices. There was not one unimpeachable witness who ever claimed to have 
 seen the plates. The whole scheme was a most gigantic fraud. It has 
 been conclusively proved that this book of " Mormon " is — excepting a few 
 ungrammatical interpolations — nothing more nor less than a romance (a 
 novel), written by a minister named Spaulding (died 1816), the manuscript 
 of which was either stolen or in some other way came into the hands of 
 Smith, who had been employed in the neighborhood of Rev. Spaulding's 
 residence, but disappeared at the time when the manuscript was missed. 
 Twelve years after Spaulding's death, Smith issued this novel as the " Book 
 of Mormon." He soon found adherents and the "Church of Jesus Christ 
 of Latter Day Saints" was organized. They first established themselves at 
 Kirtland, Ohio, afterwards at Nauvoo, Ills., but finding these places un- 
 tenable, because of the hostility which their rites, so antagonistic to true 
 religious principles, called forth, they were compelled to move far beyond 
 the bounds of civilization to Salt Lake Valley in Utah in 1847. They 
 have many offices: Apostles, Prophets, Patriarchs, Evangelists, Bishops, 
 126 
 
Elders, etc. Because of Polygamy these misguided people stand in conflict 
 with the laws of the land. — An anti-polygamy party has separated from 
 the original society. 
 
 Arminians have derived their name from Jacob Arminius, Professor in 
 Holland in 1603, who denied the calvinistic doctrine of election. They de- 
 generated into the grossest rationalism. The sect itself is but small at the 
 present day, but their false doctrine is widely disseminated. 
 
 Socinians, Unitarians deny the doctrine of the Trinity and the vicari- 
 ous death of Christ. The sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper 
 are recognized, but only as external ceremonies. Laelius Socinus, of Tus- 
 cany, was in reality their founder, but the doctrines did not gain much 
 foothold until after his nephew, Socinus Faustus, began to disseminate his 
 views in 1574. They hold that the Bible is not the Word of God, but it 
 contains it. They reject original sin and will not believe any thing which 
 seems to them contrary to human reason. Unitarian Societies are found on 
 the continent of Europe, in Great Britain and America. Besides this their 
 false doctrines are held by many Congregationalists, Baptists and members 
 of other sects. The " Protestant Union " in Germany, and the " Protestant 
 League," or German Rationalists, who are found principally in Pittsburg, 
 Cincinnati and St. Louis are the legitimate offspring of the old Socinians. 
 
 The Unitarians in America number, ministers, 400 ; congregations, 346. 
 
 Adventists are a sect of Millenarians, called Millerites after William 
 Miller (born in Mass., 1781), their founder, who began to preach in 1833, 
 fixing the second coming of Christ and the end of the world in 1843. He 
 had many adherents, chiefly from the more ignorant classes. Being often 
 disappointed by Christ failing to come at the time appointed by them, they 
 are dwindling away. 
 
 Seventh-day Adventists are a sect similar to the foregoing, organized 
 about 1844. They are known chiefly in Michigan where they have a col- 
 lege and other institutions at Battle Creek. 
 
 Universalists are such who do not believe in the eternal punishment 
 of the wicked, but that eventually all will be saved. They were first or- 
 ganized into a distinct religious sect by Rev. John Murray, of Gloucester, 
 Mass., about the year 1780. They spread rapidly for a while, but now 
 seem to be growing beautifully less. 
 
 The Swedenborgians accept the writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg 
 (born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1688, died in London, 1772,) as revelations 
 from heaven. Swedenborg professed to have had dreams and visions, and 
 
 127 
 
+■ 
 
 to have been entranced where he discovered what was going on in Heaven 
 and Hell, to which he claimed to have had free access. He rejected the 
 doctrine of the Trinity, the Redemption work of Christ, Justification by 
 faith, etc. Indeed, he attacked nearly every doctrine of the Church. It 
 was not his intention to originate a sect, and the latter Was not organized 
 until 1788, six years after his death, by Robert Hindmarsh, of London. Its 
 members cannot be recognized as Christians, because they deny the funda- 
 mental doctrines of Christianity. 
 
 The Hoffinannites are adherents of the fanatical Christian Hoffmann, 
 of Wiirttemberg, who founded this chiliastical sect in 1851, and conducted 
 his followers to Palestine, where he desired to assemble the people of God. 
 More recently this blind fanatic has shown himself a blasphemer of the 
 doctrine of the Holy Trinity and of the redemption work of Christ. He 
 has a few adherents in America. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 In the foregoing pages we have endeavored briefly to sketch 
 the history of the Christian Church. At no time have the anti- 
 theses — complete unbelief, bold rationalism, indecision and luke- 
 warmness in faith and life on the one hand, and faithful adher- 
 ence to God's Word on the other — been so sharply defined and 
 opposed to each other as is the case at the present day. The 
 prophesy of our Lord is being fulfilled, that as the end approaches 
 many will fall away from the truth. But in spite of apostacy 
 and unbelief the Church still remains. For nearly two thousand 
 years she has existed, and has neither become old nor crumbling. 
 In the course of these centuries empires and kingdoms have arisen 
 and been overthrown, but the Church has remained unharmed. 
 Though suffering at times, when it appeared as though she were 
 forsaken and her vitality gone, she always renewed her youth 
 and went forth with redoubled strength in the work for which 
 God called her into being. All the persecutions, all the waves 
 of destruction which beat upon her, were unable to blot out her 
 existence. Planted like a small grain of mustard seed, she sprang 
 up and has grown into a gigantic tree, spreading its branches 
 
 128 
 
 f 
 
♦ 
 
 r 
 
 over all the earth, feeding and refreshing all the weary and 
 heavy-laden with its heavenly food : the Word and the Sacra- 
 ments. Whatever storms may come in the future, however 
 violently they may rage, one thing is certain : "The gates of hell 
 shall not prevail against her," for the Lord of the Church is her 
 Protector, and will permit neither His Word nor His Work to 
 come to naught. The weapons with which she is assailed may 
 be changed ; the order of battle may vary as far as human tactics 
 and human wisdom are concerned, but above the clashing of 
 arms there is One who directs the battle and who is sure of 
 victory — He holds the field forever. And our prayer shall 
 always be : 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ with us abide, • 
 
 For round us falls the eventide ; 
 Nor let Thy Word, our glorious light, 
 For us be ever quenched in night. 
 
 In these last days of dire distress, 
 Grant us, dear Lord, true steadfastness, 
 That we Thy Word and Sacrament 
 In purity keep until our end. Amen. 
 
 9 129 
 
 ♦ 
 
THE THREE GENERAL CREEDS OF THE 
 HOLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 
 
 I. THE APOSTLES' CREED. 
 
 I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and 
 earth. 
 
 And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord ; Who was con- 
 ceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary ; Suffered 
 under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead and buried ; He de- 
 scended into hell ; The third day He rose again from the dead ; 
 He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God 
 the Father Almighty ; From thence He shall come to judge the 
 quick and the dead. 
 
 I believe in the Holy Ghost ; The holy Christian Church, the 
 Communion of Saints ; The Forgiveness of Sins ; The Resurrec- 
 tion of the body; And the Life everlasting. Amen. 
 
 II. THE NICENE CREED. 
 
 I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven 
 and earth, And of all things visible and invisible. 
 
 And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only begotten Son of God, 
 Begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of 
 Light, Very God of very God, Begotten, not made, Being of one 
 substance with the Father, By whom all things were made ; Who, 
 for us men, and for our salvation, came, down from heaven, And 
 was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, And was 
 made man ; And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. 
 He suffered and was buried ; And the third day He rose again 
 according to the Scriptures ; And ascended into heaven, And 
 
 130 
 

 sitteth on the right hand of the Father; And he shall come 
 again to judge both the quick and the dead ; Whose kingdom 
 shall have no end. 
 
 And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord and Giver of Life, 
 Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, Who with the 
 Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who 
 spake by the Prophets. And I believe one holy Christian and 
 Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission 
 of sins ; And I look for the Resurrection of the dead ; And the 
 Life of the world to come. Amen. 
 
 III. THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 
 
 (Symbolum Quicunque.) 
 
 1. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary 
 that he hold the true Christian faith. 
 
 2. Which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, 
 without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. 
 
 3. And the true Christian Faith is this : that we worship one 
 God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity ; 
 
 4. Neither confounding the Persons; nor dividing the sub- 
 stance. 
 
 5. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, 
 and another of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost, is all one : the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-eternal. 
 
 7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son : and such is the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 8. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate: and the Holy 
 Ghost uncreate. 
 
 9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible : 
 and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. 
 
 10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal : and the Holy Ghost 
 eternal. « 
 
 131 
 
11. And yet they are not three Eternals : but one Eternal. 
 
 12. As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three 
 uncreated : but one Uncreated, and one Incomprehensible. 
 
 13. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty : 
 and the Holy Ghost Almighty. 
 
 14. And yet they are not three Almighties : but one Almighty. 
 
 15. So the Father is God, the Son is God: and the Holy 
 Ghost is God. 
 
 16. And yet they are not three Gods : but one God. 
 
 17. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord : and the 
 Holy Ghost Lord. 
 
 18. And yet not three Lords : but one Lord. 
 
 19. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity : to 
 acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord ; 
 
 20. So are we forbidden by the Christian Religion: to say, 
 There be three Gods, or three Lords. 
 
 21. The Father is made of none : neither created nor begotten. 
 
 22. The Son is of the Father alone : not made, nor created, 
 but begotten. 
 
 23. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son ; neither 
 made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. 
 
 24. So there is one Father, not three Fathers ; one Son, not 
 three Sons ; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. 
 
 25. And in this Trinity none is before or after other ; none is 
 greater or less than another ; 
 
 26. But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together, and 
 co-equal : 
 
 27. So that in all things, as is aforesaid : the Unity in Trinity, 
 and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped. 
 
 28. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the 
 Trinity. 
 
 29. Furthermore, it is necessary to Everlasting Salvation: 
 that we also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. • 
 
 132 
 
 . ♦*•« 
 
 t 
 
30. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess : that 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man ; 
 
 31. God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the 
 worlds : and Man of the substance of His mother, born into the 
 world ; 
 
 32. Perfect God, and perfect Man : of a reasonable soul and 
 human flesh subsisting. 
 
 33. Equal to the Father, as touching His Godhead ; and in- 
 ferior to the Father, as touching His Manhood. 
 
 34. Who although He be God and Man : yet He is not two, 
 but one Christ. 
 
 35. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into human flesh : 
 but by taking the Manhood into God. 
 
 36. One altogether ; not by confusion of Substance : but by 
 Unity of Person. 
 
 37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man : so God 
 and Man is one Christ ; 
 
 38. Who suffered for our salvation : descended into hell, rose 
 again the third day from the dead. 
 
 39. He ascended into heaven ; He sitteth on the right hand of 
 the Father, God Almighty : 
 
 40. From whence He shall come to judge the quick and the 
 dead. 
 
 41. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies : 
 
 42. And shall give account for their own works. 
 
 43. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting : 
 and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire. 
 
 44. This is the true Christian Faith, which except a man be- 
 lieve faithfully, he cannot be saved. 
 
 
 133 
 

 INDEX. 
 
 Adventists, . . . 127 
 
 Albigenses, 52 
 
 Albrecht of Mainz, 63 
 
 Ambrose, St., 34 
 
 Anabaptists, 79, 121 
 
 Andrew, The Apostle 6 
 
 Ansgar, St., 41 
 
 Antonius, St., 36 
 
 Apollos, 11 
 
 Apostles, The Twelve, 5 
 
 Arius, 32 
 
 Arminians, 127 
 
 Arndt, John 83 
 
 Athanasius, 32, 37 
 
 Augsburg Confession, 71 
 
 " Peace of, 81 
 
 Augustine, St., 33 
 
 Baptists, 121 
 
 Origin of, ...... 80 
 
 Barnabas, St., 10 
 
 Bartholomew, St., 7 
 
 Basil the Great, 36 
 
 Bernhard of Weimar, 89 
 
 Bible, The English, 70 
 
 " The German, 69 
 
 Blandina, 22 
 
 Bogatzky, C. H. von, 102 
 
 Bohemia, 84 
 
 Boniface (Pope), 48 
 
 Bonifacius, St., 39 
 
 Book of Concord, 83 
 
 Breitenfeld, Battle of, 85 
 
 Brenz, John, 81 
 
 Bugenhagen, John, 80 
 
 Calvin, John, 76, 77 
 
 Campanius, John, .... 107, 112 
 
 Canstein, Baron von, 100 
 
 Carlstadt, 79 
 
 Catechism, Luther's, ..... 69 
 
 for Delaware Indians, 112 
 
 Charles V., Emperor, 65 
 
 134 
 
 Charles the Great, 47 
 
 Christian Love, 28 
 
 " Name, ....... 12 
 
 " Symbols, 28 
 
 " _ Teachers, 27 
 
 Christians, Simplicity of, . . . 11 
 
 Chrysostom, 35 
 
 Church Song, 90 
 
 Clovis, 38 
 
 Columbanus, 38 
 
 Constantine the Great, .... 29 
 
 Controversies, 32 
 
 Corbinian, 39 
 
 Covenant of Salt, 104 
 
 Cruciger, C, 81 
 
 Crusades, 48 
 
 Crypto-Calvinism, 83 
 
 Cyrillus, 24 
 
 Darbyites, 125 
 
 Decius, Nicholas, 93 
 
 Eastern Church, Separation of, 47 
 
 Eber, Paul, 93 
 
 Edict of Restitution, 85 
 
 Egede, Hans, 107 
 
 Eliot, John .107 
 
 Emmeran, 39 
 
 Episcopalians, 120 
 
 Errors of Eome, 47 
 
 Fanatics, . 79 
 
 Flemming, Paul, 95 
 
 Formula of Concord, 83 
 
 France, Reformation crushed out 78 
 
 Francke, A. H., 100, 101 
 
 Frank, John, 97 
 
 Frederick IV., of Denmark, . .105 
 Frederick V., Elector, .... 84 
 Fridolin, 39 
 
 Gallus, 38 
 
 General Council, 116 
 
Gerhardt, Paul, 95, 96 
 
 Germany, Gospel in, 37 
 
 Godfrey of Bouillon, 50 
 
 Gothic' Bible, 37 
 
 Graumann, Dr. John, 92 
 
 Gregory VII. (Pope), 48 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus, . . 85, 86, 88 
 
 Harms, Louis, 108 
 
 Heermann, John, 95 
 
 Hedinger, Dr. J. E., 103 
 
 Helena, The Empress, .... 29 
 
 Helmbold, Ludwig, 94 
 
 Herberger, Valerius, 94 
 
 Hermann, Nicholas, 93 
 
 Hermits, 36 
 
 Heyer, C. R, 117 
 
 Hildebrand (Pope), 48 
 
 Hoffmanites, 128 
 
 Huguenots, 78 
 
 Huss, John, 55 
 
 Hussites, The, 58 
 
 Hymn Book, The, 70, 90 
 
 Hymns, Influence of, 91 
 
 Ignatius, 19 
 
 Indulgences, 62, 63 
 
 In Jesus' wounds, 94 
 
 Interim, The, 81 
 
 Irvingites, .......... 126 
 
 James, The Elder, 6 
 
 " The Less 6 
 
 Jerome, 34 
 
 Jerome of Prague, 58 
 
 Jerusalem, Destruction of, . . . 12 
 
 Jesuits, 79, 84 
 
 John Mark, 10 
 
 John, The Apostle, ...... 6 
 
 Jonas, Justus, 80 
 
 Jude, The Apostle 7 
 
 Julian the Apostate, 31 
 
 Kaaba, 45 
 
 Kilian, 39 
 
 Laurentius, 23 
 
 Lech, Battle on the, 86 
 
 Leo X. (Popej, 62 
 
 Liberty secured "forever," . . 87 
 
 Lutzen, Battle of, ...... 86 
 
 Luke, St., 10 
 
 Luther, Dr. Martin, 59 
 
 Luther's Domestic Life, .... 73 
 
 " Death, 75 
 
 Magdeburg, The Sacking of, . . 88 
 Marburg, The Colloquy at, . . 76 
 
 Marsden, Samuel, 107 
 
 Massacres and Fanaticism, . . 78 
 
 Massacre of Thorn, 103 
 
 Matthew, The Apostle, .... 7 
 
 Matthesius, John, 93 
 
 Matthias, St., 7 
 
 Mecca, 45 
 
 Melanchthon, Philip, . . . . 72, 80 
 
 Mennonites, 122 
 
 Methodists, 124 
 
 Ministerium of Pa 114 
 
 ofN. Y., .... 115 
 
 Missions, 104 
 
 Mohammed, 42 
 
 Moravians, 122 
 
 Mormons, 126 
 
 Muhlenberg, Dr. H. M., . 113, 117 
 Minister, Anabaptists in, ... 79 
 
 Miinzer, Thomas, 79 
 
 Myconius, Frederick, 80 
 
 Nero, 17 
 
 Nestorius, 32 
 
 Neumark, George, 97 
 
 Mcolai, Philip, 94 
 
 Orders of Monks, 37 
 
 Pancratius, 25 
 
 Papacy, The, 45 
 
 Pappenheim, General, .... 89 
 
 Paul, St., The Apostle, .... 7 
 
 Peasant War, 79 
 
 Pelagius, 33 
 
 Perpetua, 22 
 
 Persecutions, 16, 18 
 
 Persecution, The last, 25 
 
 Peter of Amiens, 49 
 
 Peter, St., The Apostle, .... 6 
 
 Philip, St., The Apostle, ... 7 
 
 135 
 
 ♦ 
 -•-»-< 
 

 Philip, The Deacon, 11 
 
 Phoebe, 11 
 
 Pillar Saints, 36 
 
 Pipin, 46 
 
 Pliitschau, Henry, 105 
 
 Polyearp, 20 
 
 Pothinus, 21 
 
 Presbyterians, 120 
 
 Protestants — Name, 71 
 
 Strictures on civil 
 
 rights of, 84 
 
 Protestant League, 84 
 
 Quakers, . 125 
 
 Rambach, John J., 102 
 
 Rationalism, 110 
 
 Reformation, 59 
 
 Reformed, The, 76,119 
 
 Ringwaldt, B., 94 
 
 Rinkart, Martin, 95 
 
 Rist, John, 95 
 
 Rupert, 39 
 
 Sachs, Hans, 92 
 
 Salzburgers, Banishment of, . . 103 
 
 Sanctus, 22 
 
 Schmidt, George, 107 
 
 Schneesing, John, 93 
 
 Schwabach Articles, ..... 72 
 
 Schwarz, Ch. F., 105,106 
 
 Selnecker, Nicholas, 94 
 
 Seminaries, Theological, . . .116 
 Seventh-day Adventists, . . .127 
 
 Severinus, 39 
 
 Silas, 10 
 
 Simon, St., The Apostle, ... 7 
 
 Smalcald League, 81 
 
 Socinians, 127 
 
 Spain, 79 
 
 Spalatin, 80 
 
 Spener, Philip Jacob, . . . 99, 100 
 Spengler, Lazarus, ...... 81 
 
 Speratus, Paul, 81 
 
 Speyer, Diet at, 71 
 
 Stegman, Joshua, 95 
 
 Swedenborgians, 127 
 
 Sweden, The Reformation in, . 78 
 Swedes on the Delaware, . . .112 
 
 Symeon Stylites, 36 
 
 Synod, General, 116 
 
 Sy nodical Conference, . . . .116 
 
 Tetzel, John, 63 
 
 Theses, Luther's 95, 64 
 
 Thomas, St., The Apostle, ... 7 
 
 Thurn, Count, 84 
 
 Tilly, General, .... 85, 88, 89 
 
 Timothy, 10 
 
 Titus,. . . # 10 
 
 Torgau Articles, 72 
 
 Trajan (Emperor), 19 
 
 Ulfjlas, 37 
 
 Union, The Prussian, Ill 
 
 Unitarians, 127 
 
 United Evangelical, 119 
 
 Universalists, 127 
 
 Vespasian, 17 
 
 Von Staupitz, 61 
 
 Waldenses, 51 
 
 Waldus, Peter, 52 
 
 Wallenstein, General, . . 85, 86, 89 
 
 Wartburg, 67 
 
 Westphalia, Peace of, . . . . . 86 
 Weissenberg, Battle of, ... . 85 
 
 Willibrord, 39 
 
 Woltersdorf, E. G., 103 
 
 Worms, Diet at, 65 
 
 Wyckliffe, 53 
 
 Ziegenbalg, B., 105 
 
 Zwickau Prophets, 69, 79 
 
 Zwingli, U. ; 76, 77 
 
 136 
 
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