civic corporation
are regulated by the State and the qualifications of a voting member are
defined in the laws of the State. This chapter deals only with the
question of membership in the church as a spiritual body. In general
the State readily acquiesces in the polity of the various churches so
long as it does not interfere with the civic rights of the individual.
There is a fourth class of which no note is taken in our church records.
It is the class of lapsed Lutherans-that is, of those who have been
admitted to full communion but who have slipped away and are no longer
in active connection with the church.
Of these we shall speak in a separate chapter.
It is sometimes charged that the Lutheran communion does not hold clear
views of the church. On the one hand her confessions abound in
definitions of the church as a spiritual kingdom, as a fellowship of
believers. On the other hand her practice frequently reminds our brother
Protestants of the Catholics, and they are disposed to look upon us as
Romanists, _minorum gentium_. "Like a will-of-the-wisp," says Delitzsch,
"the idea of the church eludes us. It seems impossible to find the safe
middle ground between a false externalism on the one hand and a false
internalism on the other hand."
The Lutheran position can only be understood when we recall the
situation that confronted the Reformers in the sixteenth century. They
had first of all to interpret the teachings of Scripture over against
Rome, and hence in their earlier confessions they emphasized the points
on which they differed from the Pope.
According to Romish doctrine a man became a member of the church, not
by an _interna virtus,_ but solely through an external profession of
faith and an external use of the sacraments. The church is as visible
and perceptible an organization as is "the kingdom of France or the
republic of Venice." The church is an institution rather than a
communion.
For thirteen centuries, from Cyprian to Bellarmin, this doctrine held
almost
Notka biograficzna
grzyby marynowane pozycjonowanie kraków
Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (September 29, 1864December 31, 1936) was an essayist, novelist, poet, playwright and philosopher from Spain.
John Middleton Murry (August 6, 1889 March 12, 1957) was an English writer. A prominent critic, Murry is best remembered for his association with Katherine Mansfield, whom he married, as her second husband, in 1918. Following her death, he edited her work. He was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, along with the writer Joyce Cary, a lifelong friend.
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