ed, confess
it loudly and openly, that the great majority of us are not Old
Lutherans in the sense of a small party [Breslauer], which in Germany
bears this name. We are convinced that, if the great Luther were still
living, he himself would not be one of them." "In most of our
church-principles we stand on common ground with the Union Church of
Germany. The distinctive views which separate the Old Lutherans and the
Reformed Church we do not consider essential; and the tendency of the
so-called old Lutheran party seems to us to be behind our age." "The
great Luther made progress throughout his life, and at the end of his
career considered his work unfinished." The General Synod, the letter
continues, agreeing with Luther and the symbols in all essential points,
was endeavoring to complete his work. "The peculiar view of Luther on
the bodily presence of the Lord in the Lord's Supper has long ago been
abandoned by the great majority of our ministers, though some few of the
older German teachers and laymen still adhere to it. Regarding the
nature and meaning of the presence of the Lord in the Supper, liberty is
allowed as in the Evangelical [Union] Church of Germany. The majority of
our preachers believe in a peculiar presence and in a peculiar blessing
of the Lord, but of a spiritual nature only." "Nevertheless, we are
Evangelical Lutheran.... We believe that we may, as honest men, still
call ourselves Lutherans." The letter continues: Instead of organizing a
separate Evangelical [Union] Church, as it exists in Germany, ministers
coming to America should unite with the General Synod. They must,
however, not come with the purpose of remodeling the American Lutheran
Church according to European standards, which would but lead to failure,
strife, and separations. Similar attempts had been made by German
brethren through the _Kirchenzeitung_ [in Pittsburgh] and in Columbus
Seminary, with the result that the paper was losing its support and the
seminary was now suspended. (_Lutheraner_ 1846,43 f. Spaeth, 1, 330-348.)
This blunderful letter was published in Germany in the _Zeitschrift fuer
Protestantismus und Kirche_, Vol. 11, No. 4, Schmucker, Kurtz, and Morris
being personally present in Germany to defend the letter. Loehe remarked:
"We hope that they will carry the conviction from Germany that a time has
arrived different from the one when Kurtz first preached and collected in
Germany." (_Kirchl. Mitteilungen_, 1846,48.) A con