The Project Gutenberg EBook of American Lutheranism, by Friedrich Bente

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Title: American Lutheranism
Volume 1: Early History of American Lutheranism and The Tennessee Synod

Author: Friedrich Bente

Release Date: March 30, 2007 [EBook #20941]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN LUTHERANISM ***

Produced by (Rev.) Kurt A. T. Bodling Concordia Senior
College, Class of 1976

AMERICAN LUTHERANISM

Volume I
Early History of American Lutheranism
and
The Tennessee Synod
By
F. BENTE
St. Louis, Mo.
CONCORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE
1919

PREFACE.
Essentially, _Christianity_ is the special divine faith in the truth
revealed by the Bible that we are saved, not by our own efforts, works,
or merits, but alone by the pure and unmerited grace of God, secured by
Christ Jesus and freely offered in the Gospel. And the Christian Church
is the sum total of all those who truly believe, and therefore confess
and propagate this truth of the Gospel.

Accordingly, the _history_ of Christianity and of the Christian Church
is essentially the record concerning this truth, _viz.,_ how, when,
where, by whom, with what success and consistency, etc., it has been
proclaimed, received, rejected, opposed, defended, corrupted, and
restored again to its original purity.

_Lutheranism_ is not Christianity _plus_ several ideas or modifications
of ideas added by Luther, but simply Christianity, consistent
Christianity, neither more nor less. And the Lutheran Church is not a
new growth, but merely the restoration of the original Christian Church
with its apostolic, pure confession of the only saving Christian truth
and faith.

The _history_ of Lutheranism and of the Lutheran Church, therefore, is
essentially the story concerning the old Christian truth, restored by
Luther, _viz.,_ how, by whom, where, when, etc., this truth was
promulgated, embraced, rejected, condemned, defended, corrupted, and
restored again to pristine purity.

As for _American Lutheranism,_ it is not a specific brand of Lutheranism,
but simply Lutheranism in America; for doctrinally Lutheranism, like
Christianity, with which it is id