“There are but two developed systems in the world that claim with any show of probability to be purely Biblical. These systems are the Lutheran and the Calvinistic. They possess a common basis in their recognition of the same rule of faith; their profession of the Old Catholic faith as set forth in the three General Creeds; in their acknowledgment of the doctrine of justification by faith and of its great associated doctrines; and they have vast interests, great stakes, mighty bonds of sympathy in common.
A Summary of the Christian Faith brings Hutter’s classic Compendium into a readable and easily accessible form. Henry Eyster Jacobs writes: “The book is not a mere compilation, but the matured expression of the convictions of the author, from the time when, as a child he was introduced to many of the problems treated, to the present.
Theodore Schmauk’s exploration and defense of the Christian faith consists of five parts:
Historical Introduction Part 1: Are Confessions Necessary? Part 2: Confessions in the Church Part 3: Lutheran Confessions Part 4: The Church in America “This book is written in the belief that the one ultimate authority among men is truth.
John Lehmanowsky was born in Warsaw in 1773 to a Jewish family, and as a young man he converted to Christianity. Through a series of events he became known to Napoleon, and took part in many campaigns including the destruction of the Inquisition at Madrid.
“Once upon a time I can’t say exactly when it was there stood a neat, tidy little hut on the borders of a wild forest. A poor old woman dwelt in this hut.
“One evening when a company of children and older people were looking at funny cat-pictures and telling cat-stories, a little ten year-old girl asked: ‘Why can there not be a Cats’ Arabian Nights Story Book?
“The funeral sermon is one of the most difficult sermons to prepare and deliver. To begin with, there is an emotional strain which is felt by preacher and hearers alike. Jesus was ever and anon saying: “I have compassion.
“It is true no doubt, that Protestantism, strictly viewed, is simply a principle. It is not a policy. It is not an empire, having its fleets and armies, its officers and tribunals wherewith to extend its dominion and make its authority be obeyed.
“Lent stands for something specific. It tells the story of God’s grace and how it was specifically shown. It tells the story of redemption and how it was accomplished… Before Christ Jesus can be a guide and example He must be a Redeemer, a Savior.
“Modernism accepts just as much of the Bible as suits its subjective conceptions, and then turns around and protests that it believes the Bible. This is certainly not accurate. It ought to say that it accepts such parts of the Bible as agree with its own ideas, and rejects the rest.
“One of the most marked and hopeful signs of our time is the increasing attention given on all sides to the study of Holy Scripture. Those who believe and love the Bible, who have experienced its truth and power, can only rejoice at such an issue.
“There are two general ways of looking at God; from the point of view of Sinai, or as He is revealed to us on Calvary. If we know God only, or chiefly, as He is revealed to us in the lights and shadows, the thunderings and threatenings, of Sinai, He will appear to us rather stern and austere, — a Lawgiver and Judge.
“Amid other employments in this the evening of his long and useful life, Mr. East has, we think, been wisely guided to revise and publish these remarkable pastoral experiences. They include some exceedingly interesting cases of conversion and spiritual revival.
“I fear those ministers among us who seem to be terribly afraid of Pietism. They do not explain the distinction between a false and a true Pietism. To have ever a greater and deeper measure of the latter is surely one of our greatest needs.
“God is a Sovereign and a Judge as well as a Father; and there come crises when it would but be weakness in him not to be inflexible in severity. The safety of the universe throughout unceasing ages demands that God illustrate everlasting justice upon sinners, as well as that.
“Without the Holy Scriptures nothing certain would be known concerning the future destiny of man and the world. No book gives us such assurance as the Bible does. In the light of the Bible the riddle of the universe is solved.
“The most deceived man of all is he whose mind is influenced by the Evil Spirit and yet he believes that he is besought by the Good Spirit. We hope to reach some of such persons whose eyes are color blind and whose ears are so impaired that they alone cannot distinguish between the voices that are calling them downward and those that are calling them upward.
“This weightiest chapter ever penned by Inspiration yields up its lessons best when literally understood, and when explained by the laws of common sense.
“In this volume the author has sought to show not only how false is the assertion that modern scientific discoveries refute the Mosaic accounts of the Creation, Fall and Deluge, but that they marvelously corroborate and impregnably fortify these oldest archives of our world’s history.
“This convulsion will be the work of the three frogs; that is, the Popish ultramontanes, the political reactionaries, and the atheistic revolutionists. Each party has its own cherished project, which it will strive to the utmost to realize.
“Why did I leave the ministry when I left the Congregational church? Because, in the first place, my New Theology and Higher Criticism had destroyed my faith in the perfect, divine authority of the Bible; and in the second place, they had destroyed my faith in the perfect deity of Christ.