perform it be called bishops, presbyters, ministers, or pastors.* And in cases of necessity, they further maintain, that a minister may be set apart and constituted by the laity themselves. "As to the doctrine of Papal apostolic succession," Dr. Schmucker very justly remarks, "it is a mere figment, and can never be proved by the Papists themselves. To say nothing of their doctrine of intention, which, Cardinal Bellarmine himself asserts, renders doubtful the validity of every Romish sacrament, (Bellarm. Lib. Just. cap. 8,) where was their Papal successsion when Liberius, the occupant of the Holy See, professed Arianism, A. D. 357? Where was it in the fourteenth century, during the so called great western schism, from A. D. 1378 to 1414, when two different lines of contending Pontiff's reigned simultaneously, each having a portion of the church adhering to him; each excommu The validity of Luther's ordination as a presbyter in the Church of Rome, has sometimes been questioned, because of the corruptions which destroyed her title to the standing of a Christian church. But when Luther received ordination from the hands of the Romish hiearchy, the corruptions which branded that church as Antichrist, had not been formally and officially adopted; nor were they, until enacted into the essential features of her system, and made integral parts of her prescribed formularies of faith by the Council of Trent, A. D. 1542. And when she excommunicated the Reformer, and thundered her anathemas against him, he had previously renounced her jurisdiction, by burning her standard works and the Bull of her Pontiff. His ordination, therefore, and that of all his Protestant successors, is as valid as that of the Romish priesthood at the beginning of the sixteenth century; i. e. he was ordained by minis-nicating the other; and finally both deters properly accredited at the time of its posed as heritical by the Council of Pisi, performance. With regard to the subject in 1409!"† of ordination in general, our Lutheran brethren, in common with most other Protestants, understand the various Greek words employed by the sacred writers to express it, to mean simply induction into office-an appointing to the particular duties of the ministry by a prescribed form, to preserve the sacred office from indiscriminate and of course unworthy usurpation; utterly discarding the Romish superstition that by the " laying on of hands" some mystic influence is imparted by apostolic succession. They maintain, therefore, that as in the only three instances of ordination after the time of our Saviour, mentioned in the New Testament, the rite was performed not by one man, "diocesan bishop," but by several persons; [as that of Barnabas and Saul by Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen (Acts xiii. 3); that of the presbyters or elders of the churches in Iconium, Lystra, Antioch, &c., by Paul and Barnabas (Acts xiv. 23); and that of Timothy by the hands of the eldership or presbytery (1 Tim. iv. 14);] and as in other cases, individual ministers, as Timothy and Titus, were directed to induct or appoint others: they regard ordination as valid when performed in either way, whether they who called a We have thus traced, in as brief and comprehensive a form as was consistent with our limits and the nature of the subject, the history, the progress, and present state of the Lutheran Church, especially as planted on our own soil. To quote once more the language of her advocate, who has been our authority and guide in most of these statements: "She may be emphatically styled the Church of the Reformation. She holds the grand doctrines of Christianity with fewer appended peculiarities than most other denominations. With the Calvinist she holds the graciousness of salvation; with the Congregation. alist she believes that Christ tasted death for every man; with the Methodist she approves of regularly recurring protracted meetings; with the Episcopalian she occasionally employs a liturgy and forms of prayer; with the German Reformed she agrees in the instructions and confirmation of catechumens; and with all she unites in ascribing all the glory of our privileges on earth and hopes in heaven, to that Portraiture of Lutheranism; Appendix, on Ordination. † Portraiture, p. 17. Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World."* In closing this sketch, we would congratulate our Lutheran brethren on the past and present indications that they share the smiles of Him who is King in Zion, and whose favor is life. In reviewing their history, and in contemplating their ecclesiastical features and character as presented among us, we have felt that fraternal spirit of Christian fellowship which the recognition of an ancient and devoted member of the great family of Protestant Christendom is fitted to awaken and inspire. Nor could we suppress the rising regret that so many of their contemporaries, in the land of their origin, had neglected to maintain and hold fast those vital principles of religious faith and that form of sound words, which their fathers so nobly and fearlessly espoused and defended. It is interesting to notice amid the diversity of forms, and the various shades of difference on minor points of religious sentiment, which mark the freedom of thought and opinion among Protestant denominations, that so large a proportion of them agree in the essential elements of "the truth as it is in Jesus." Although on the great doctrines of the divine decrees, the nature of faith, the efficiency of grace, the believer's perseverance in it, and the sacraments of the New Testament, some unessential difference of views have distinguished Lutheran from the Calvanist yet both agree that salvation is of grace alone, and that that grace is sovereign and omnipotent, through an atone. ment of infinite merit and sufficiency, received and applied by a faith that is of the operation of God, the fruit of his Spirit, all which is represented under the emblems employed in baptism and the Lord's Supper. The cardinal doctrine of the Reformation, justification by faith alone, they both wield, in opposition not only to the popish doctrine of merit, but also to the native self-righteousness of the unhanged heart, to which the latter doctrine dapted. In this age of free inquiry, and of superficial views on the great and essential truths of revelation, when every form of wild conjecture and fanciful speculation is embodied into a theory, and finds numerous advocates and followers: and when, amidst it all, the "Man of Sin" is looking with renewed courage to this western continent and its heterogeneous population, as the last hope of his tottering throne: it is a matter of gratulation that we have here a remnant of that people who stood foremost in the contest which crippled his power at the maturity of its strength, and liberated mind and empire from his yoke of ignorance, superstition and oppression. May the spirit and zeal of Him whose name they bear, abide with them, and arm them to meet the arrogant demands of Papal Rome in this land of their adoption, as he did in the land of their ancestors. We particularly rejoice in that feature of their ecclesiastical system which provides for the culture of piety in the heart, and for the religious training of the young, particularly of their baptized children. On this point, their example administers a just rebuke on the practice of too many Protestant churches, who with them profess the rite of household baptism, but treat it as a nullity. We trust that with this example before them, in connexion with the exclusiveness of the Romanist towards their children and adults in shutting them out from the light of truth: such churches will not only profess, but act upon the belief, that the baptismal covenant with children imposes upon the parents and the church the duty of their careful and constant religious training. With her high estimate of the value and necessity of learning in her ministry, the early catechetical instruction of her children, and her strict regard to the vitals of Christian experience, the American Lutheran Church cannot fail to exert a high and holy influence in the cause of truth, and the religious welfare of our nation, and shine as a luminary of the first magnitude in the constellation of our American Zion. We bid her God-speed in her progress onward and upward, till the distinctions of earth are merged in the church of the First-born in heaven, and our mutual toils and conflicts terminated in one triumph, one song, and one ever- obviously even this would not settle the point. lasting rest."* NOTE ON LUTHER'S CALVINISM, The only impartial and decisive course is to examine all his works, and also all his correspondence, according to their date, and trace the gradual change in his opinions. This, according to the unanimous testimony of all Germany, no man has ever done more From Dr. Schmucker's Portraiture of Luther- impartially than the celebrated Dr. Plank, anism, p. 82., &c. As this is a subject on which it is easy to err, and on which men of Christian spirit and learning have entertained different opinions, it may be useful to devote a few moments to its elucidation. It is of no use here to quote passages from Luther's works teaching the doctrine. Luther's former adhesion to the Augustinian view of this subject is admitted. In reply to the passages so often appealed to from Luther's work to Erasmus, which was written in the earlier part of his life, about twenty-one years before his death, when he had not yet laid off many of the Romish and Augustinian opinions which he subsequently rejected; we might present hundreds of passages teaching and implying the contrary opinion. We present a single specimen, carefully translated by us, from Walch's edition (the best) of Luther on the Galatians. We select this that those who have the old English translation of this excellent work, may compare it, and see how uncertain a guide such translations are on disputed points. "And all the prophets foresaw in Spirit, that Christ would be the greatest sinner, whose like never appeared on earth. For as he is made a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, he is not an innocent person and without sin, is not the Son of God in his glory, but he is a sinner for a season, forsaken of God, Psalm viii. 6. He bears the sin of St. Paul, who was a blasphemer, a persecutor and injurious; of St. Peter who denied Christ; and of David, who was an adulterer and a murderer, and caused the name of the Lord to be blasphemed among the gentiles. In short, he is the person who hath taken upon himself, and bears in his own body all the sins of all men in the whole world, who ever have lived, are now living, or who shall hereafter live; not as if he had himself committed those sins, but being committed by us, he took them on his own body, in order to make an atonement for them with his own blood." We might refer the reader to a work entitled Lutherus Lutheranus," of 700 pages 8vo, consisting entirely of extracts from his works, showing that on all the distinguishing points between Calvinists and Lutherans, Luther occupied the ground subsequently maintained by his followers. But * Quarterly Register. See Walch's edition of Luther on the Galatians, p. 276, "In sumina, er ist die Person, die an ihrem Leibe tragt, und auf sich gelaben hat alle Sunden aller Menschen in der ganzen Welt, die da gewesen, noch sind, und seyn werden." See also the common English version, p, 254, Professor of Theology at Gottingen, in the preparation of his invaluable work, entitled, History of the Rise, Changes, and Formation of our Protestant System of Doctrines, from the commencement of the Reformation till the Introduction of the form of Concord." (1580.) The entire impartiality and great ability of this work, which cost the author twenty years of labor and investigation, are conceded by all parties. The result of his examination may be seen in the following valuable quotation, which, whilst it fully sustains the positions of this discourse, also renders it intelligible, how such a diversity of sentiment might naturally exist on this subject. "Nevertheless, the Lutheran divines did not, for a long time, see proper to take any notice of it, (viz: of the prominence and full development given to this doctrine by Calvin, and of its introduction into the Swiss churches ;) and even the zealots of Lower Saxony, who had taken occasion from the Geneva Consensus,' to renew the contest concerning the Lord's Supper, observed a perfect silence ou this incalculably more impor tant doctrine, although Calvin appeared to urge them the more explicitly to its adoption. Melanchthon alone declared to him, that although he would not quarrel with him about it, he would never consent to adopt his (Calvin's) views on predestination. But the silence of the other Lutheran divines on this subject, although it might appear to have been the result of indifference, was owing to a very satisfactory reason, of which the greater part of them were well aware. It cannot be denied, that the Augustinian theory of predestination had already been forsaken by the Lutheran church. Yet her divines could not but feel, that they had changed their ground. The fact could not be concealed, that Lnther had once embraced this doctrine in its full rigor, and even zealously defended it against Erasmus, and that his early adherents, including even Melanchthon himself, had at first done the same. It is indeed true, they could prove that the doctrine was not long retained, and that Luther himself had abandoned it! But even this concession would give an advantage to an opponent in this dispute, which they were utterly unwilling to concede to Calvin. They therefore determined, rather not to dispute with him on this subject at all. But there was another reason, which probably aided in causing them to keep silence on this subject. The greater part of Lutheran divines Melanchthon did not even answer the first letter of Calvin, in which he requested his assent to the doctrine. See Calvin's epist. p. 133, 153, had, like Luther himself, receded from the | Augustinian theory of predestination, very probably without themselves being fully aware how this result had been brought about. They found themselves removed from it, before they had wished to be; and it was Melanchthon, and no one else, who had produced the change. In the first improved edition of his Loci Theologici, and doubtless still earlier in his oral lectures, he had proposed a theory, which, both in its principles and consequences, was in direct contradiction to the Augustinian view. This contradiction, which Melanchthon himself took no pains to bring to light, was, however, at first not generally perceived. Hence several of the principles of his new theory were adopted with the less apprehension, especially as each one of them, considered by itself, appeared to be incontestibly true, both according to reason and Scripture. Thus his cardinal ideas of the divine election of all men in Christ, of the universality of divine grace, of the extension of the atonement and merits of Christ to all men, had been embraced by nearly all the divines of their party, and by Luther himself, before they perceived that their views of an absolute decree of God, and the Augustinian doctrine of predestination were utterly irreconcilable with them. But, when at last they made the discovery, they found their position in several respects an embarrassing one, and were unable immediately to extricate themselves. They felt unwilling, not only so suddenly to abandon a doctrine which they had professed; but even to abandon it at all. They were conscious that Augustin's doctrine of predestination appeared to be inseparably connected with some other parts of his system, such as the total inability of man to do any thing good, which they were firmly determined never to relinquish. On the other hand, they were just as anxious to retain the features of Melanchthon's theory, which they had adopted; and were therefore brought into a dilemma, which they could not but feel. The greater part of their divines now adhered to the view of Melanchthon, that God desires and strives to bestow salvation on all men in and through Christ, from which it necessarily followed, that his decree concerning the destiny of each individual could not be absolute. But they at the same time retained the opinion of Augustine, that depraved man can do nothing at all in the work of his salvation, cannot exert even the feeblest effort of his will; which seemed just as necessarily to imply that the salvation or damnation of each individual, could be decided only by an absolute decree of God. Some of them probably had an impression, that there must be some method of avoiding the last mentioned inference; but their views were indistinct. Hence it happened, that during the Synergistic controversies some of them again embraced the Augustinian theory in full. The greater part of them, however, believed that all they wanted was a more systematic adjustment and connexion of the opinions they enter tained, and this conviction was undoubtedly the principal reason for that caution, with which, in direct opposition to the polemic spirit of that age, they evaded a controversy on this subject. It was, therefore, not until 1561, that a formal dispute on this subject occurred between the Lutheran and Calvinistic divines, the occasion of which was the celebrated Zanchius, at that time professor of theology at Strasburg." Here, then, is a correct and impartial statement of the facts in the case, which never has been, and never can be successfully controverted. HISTORY ог THE LATTER DAY SAINTS. BY JOSEPH SMITH NAUVOO, ILLINOIS. not teach another principles which were diametrically opposed. Believing the word of God, I had confidence in the declaration of James, "If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." THE Church of Jesus Christ of Latter | minister in one set of ordinances, he would Day Saints, was founded upon direct revelation, as the true church of God has ever been, according to the scriptures (Amos iii. 7, and Acts i. 2.) And through the will and blessings of God, I have been an instrument in his hands, thus far, to move forward the cause of Zion. Therefore, in order to fulfil the solicitation of your letter of July last, I shall commence with my life. I was born in the town of Sharon, Windsor county, Vermont, on the 23d of December, A. D. 1805. When ten years old, my parents removed to Palmyra, New York, where we resided about four years, and from thence we removed to the town of Manchester, a distance of six miles. My father was a farmer, and taught me the art of husbandry. When about fourteen years of age, I began to reflect upon the importance of being prepared for a future state; and upon inquiring the place of salvation, I found that there was a great clash in religious sentiment; if I went to one society they referred me to one place, and another to another; each one pointing to his own particular creed as the "summum bonum" of perfection. Considering that all could not be right, and that God could not be the author of so much confusion, I determined to investigate the subject more fully, believing that if God had a church, it would not be split up into factions, and that if he taught one society to worship one way, and ad I retired to a secret place in a grove, and began to call upon the Lord. While fervently engaged in supplication, my mind was taken away from the objects with which I was surrounded, and I was enrapt in a heavenly vision, and saw two glorious personages, who exactly resembled each other in features and likeness, surrounded with a brilliant light, which eclipsed the sun at noonday. They told me that all the religious denominations were believing in incorrect doctrines, and that none of them was acknowledged of God as his church and kingdom. And I was expressly commanded to "go not af ter them," at the same time receiving a promise that the fulness of the gospel should at some future time be made known unto me. On the evening of the 21st September, A. D. 1823, while I was praying unto God and endeavoring to exercise faith in the precious promises of scripture, on a sudden a light like that of day, only of a far purer and more glorious appearance and brightness, burst into the room; indeed the first sight was as though the house was filled with consuming fire. The appearance produced a shock that |