Paul Gerhardt: a Short Biography of the Hymn Writer

Paul Ger hardt: A Short Bi og ra phy of the Beloved Hymn Writer

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A Concise In tro duc tion to Luther’s Larger and Smaller Cate chism by John Mor ris Life Rem i nis cences of an Old Lutheran Minis ter by John Gottlieb Mor ris Cate chiza tion by John Mor ris

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3 Paul Ger hardt: A Short Bi og ra phy of the Beloved Hymn Writer

By John G. Mor ris, D.D. Origi nally Pub lished in The Evan gel i cal Re view.

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4 Pref ace by Lutheran Li brar ian

In re pub lishing this book, we seek to intro duce this author to a new gener ation of those seek ing au then tic spiri tu al ity.

JOHN GOT TLIEB MOR RIS (1803-1895) at tended Prince ton and Dickin son Col- leges, and Prince ton The o log ica l Sem inary and was a member of the first class of the Lutheran Sem inary at Gettys burg. Dr. Morris founded the Lutheran Observer and was pres ident of both the Mary land and Gen eral Syn ods. Morris was a fre quent lec turer before the Smith sonian In stitu tion and author of the Cat alogue of the De scribed Lep idoptera of North America (1860), among other sci entific and re li gious pub li cations. He and his nephew founded the Lutheran Histor ical So ci ety. [Source: William and Mary Spe cial Col lec tions Data base.]

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5 Paul Ger hardt.

AS A THE OLO GIAN, a preacher, and above all, as a sa cred poet, Paul Ger- hardt will be re membered and revered, by the Lutheran church and all other Ger man com mu nions, in all ages and in all lands. Uncounted num bers of pious wor shipers are every Lord’s day edi fied by the singing of his hymns “in the great congre ga tion,” and multi tudes are daily encour aged in their most holy faith by the pri vate reading of these ad mirable pro ductions. Ger hardt is more to the Ger man churches than Watts or any other poet to the Eng lish. His hymns are more nu mer ous and not less spir itual. They are less li able to dilu tion and adul ter ation, and are engrafted into the very con- stitu tion of Ger man wor ship. We might dis pense with Watts qui etly, but a revo lution would be nec es sary to exter minate Ger hardt. There are other Ger- man sa cred po ets, and of the high est style of excel lence, it is true, but Ger- hardt is the mighty mas ter, before whom they all bow in rever ential submis- sion. He lived in trou blous times. From his twelfth to his forty-sec ond year, the bloody Thirty years’ war deso lated the fairest portions of Eu rope. Fire and sword, famine and pesti lence laid waste her proudest cities and ru ined her most fer tile provinces. The toxin of war sounded ter ri bly all over the land, and death and destruc tion fol lowed in the train of the infu ri ated foe. Protes tant and Catholic were ar rayed against each other in the deadly fight, and as is usual, in all re li gious wars, the un holy strife was car ried on with the most un re lenting barbar ity .—But there was another contest that raged most vio lently dur ing the life of Ger hardt. Protes tants were engaged in vir u- lent contro versy among themselves. Luther ans and Re formed were dis- cussing in most un amiable tem per the hair split ting dis tinctions of their re- spective creeds. It was not alone the Profes sors in their chairs, nor preach ers in their pul pits, nor writ ers in their books, but the com mon people themselves, who were car ry ing on this logo machy with the fiercest acri mony. The most rancorous hate, the most bitter ma lignity , the most vul gar personal and denom ina ti onal abuse, char acter ized this contro versy. The whole

6 Protes tant church of Ger many was in a blaze, and all the alien ation of feeling and the dis ruption of fra ter nal ties usually at ten dant on vio lent the o log i- cal war fare, were univer sally felt. One may well suppose that this was not a period suited to the gentle spirit of Ger hardt, but he lived through it all and was even com pelled to take no incon spic u ous part in it. In the seasons of deepest dejec tion, he would grasp his harp and sing as David did, to lull the tumult of his soul and soothe the anguish of his wounded spirit. His deep piety for a long time seems to have protected him against the perils of the word strife of the schools. He never lost sight of the only star that guides the be liever to the haven of peace and never el eva ted mere scholastic or tho doxy above ho li- ness of heart and life. It may be also, that for eign influ ences were exerted upon him, and that the read ing of Arndt’s True Chris tianity , which had just then app eared, preserved him from the contam i na tion so rife around him. But a poet is not apt to be dragged down from the sum mit of Par nassus into the dirty arena of the o log ical strife. His soul dis dains such inhar mo nious pursuits. He dwells in another atmos phere and holds com mu nion with more re fined spir its. Dur ing the whole Thirty years’ war, Ger hardt was with out a pastoral charge. He was over forty years old before he had the care of souls. He gained his subsis tence by teach ing and spent his leisure hours in writ ing poetry. The horrors of war, the suffer ings of his country men and the afflic tions of Zion were fruit ful themes for his pen. He re garded the war as a judg ment of God on the guilty nations, for they had degen er ated into the li centious- ness of the heath en.—In flowing num bers, sweet-as angels’ voices, he calls on the people to turn their hearts to God. Like the prophet Joel, he warns them against still greater evils, and when at last, the storm is over— the thun der of ar tillery no longer re verber ates through the land – the confla gra- tion extin guishe d and peace again scat ters her bless ings all around, the poet breaks forth in most enrap tur ing strains. He calls on the people and the church to snatch their harps from the wil lows and send aloft a shout of praise to the God of their de liver ance:

Wohl auf, und nimm nun wieder, Dein Sait enspiel hervor , O Deutsch land! singe Lieder Im ho hen vollen Chor.

7 Al right, and take off again, a string play, O Germany! sing songs In high full choir.

Dur ing this period of suffer ing, Ger hardt was himself of ten in personal peril. It was af ter es caping immi nent danger on one occa sion that he wrote that beau ti ful hymn,

Wach auf, mein Herz und singe, Dem Schöpfer aller Dinge, Dem Geber aller Güter Dem from men Men schenhüter .

Wake up, my heart and sing, The creator of all things, The giver of all goods The pi ous human keeper.

Ev ery re mark able event of his life was the oc casion of some ad mirable poet- ical effu sion, and all so pious, so lovely, so divine. He was in con stant inter - course with God, and the more gloomy were his prospects, the more profound was his confi dence and the more bright his hopes of heaven. The greater his need the nearer was he to God. Af ter un told anxi eties and suffer ings in being driven from place to place and earn ing a poor subsis tence, he at length found a com fortable situ ation as pri vate instruc to r in the fam ily of Berthold, an offi cer of state in Berlin. It was a pious fam ily, the children of which had been trained in the fear of the Lord. Ger hardt was now a happy man. — He had a home among those who sym pathized with him as a Chris tian, and appre ci ated his talent s and labors as a poet. There was one memb er of the fam ily, who es pecially harmo nized with the ten dere st emo tions of his heart. An accom plished poet and a hand- some, intel li gent young lady dwelling un der the same roof are apt, it is said, to be tray extra or dinary sensi bili ty towards each other in a very short period. Love and poetry are inti mately asso ci ated. Freder ick William, the great Elec tor of Branden bur g, had taken a decided stand on the Re formed side of the the o log ical dis cussions of the day. The ma jor ity of his subjects were Lutheran, and they were mor ti fied to desper a- tion, to see the Elec tor and the Court promot ing the cause of the Re formed with all their in flu ence and author ity. Re formed profes sors were appointed to vacan cies in Lutheran the o log ical Facul ties, and other un mistak able evi-

8 dences of the Elec toral pref er ences were given. Ger hardt, as a strict and consci entious Lutheran, re garded all this with fear ful appre hen s ion. He was nearly forty years of age, and was as yet noth ing but a bache lor candi date. He feared that the proba bil i ties of success in Branden bur g, un der such a gov ernment, were but small; and how could he expect to consum mate his most ar dent wishes and es tab lish a home for himself? He daily saw one before him who would adorn a palace. Anna Berthold was lovely in his eyes. Be sides possess ing un com mon attrac tions of person and mind, she was truly pious. The Scrip tures were her daily com panion, and she had an extra or dinary gift of prayer. She was a du ti ful and affec tionate daughte r, and a pat- tern of every fil ial virtue. She was not indif fer ent to the constr ained at ten- tions of the poet, but could he, a poor man — a depen dent preacher — a desti tute instruc tor of a lawyer’s children, as pire to the hand of his patron’ s daughter?—here was a strug gle— a season of extreme solic i tude! — It was a poet in love — a Chris tian poet, whose passion was mod er ated and re fined by high Chris tian prin ci ple, but the emo tion was still strong as death. But he submit ted to God. He looked beyond this life and reveled in the antic i pa- tions of a bliss ful eternity .— About this time, he was also se verely afflicted by sick ness, and amid these mul ti plied anx ieties, he wrote that in com para ble hymn:

Warum sollt ich mich den grämen, etc. [Why should I grieve?]

It was thus that al most every cir cum stance of his life drew forth some beauti ful hymn. His feelings nat u rally flowed out in verse of the most ten der char acter . Fierce temp ta tions of ten as sailed him — “the pains of hell gat hold upon him – he found trou ble and sorrow ,” and who but Ger hardt, in such a state of mind, could write that most no ble com po si tion,

Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott, Du betrübte Seele! Warum liegst du, Gott zum Spott, In der Schw ermut shöhle? Merkst du nicht des Satans List? Er will durch sein Kämpfen Deinen Trost, den Jesus Christ Dir erwor ben, dämpfen.

9 Raise your self up to your God, you trou bled soul! Why do you lie, in mockery of God, in the slough of melancholy? Are you not aware of Satan’ s cunning? through his oppo sition he wants to lessen your conso la tion, which Jesus Christ gained for you.

But we are not to suppose that all his hymns were of the same melan choly tone. Joy and glad ness of ten filled his pious soul, and he war bled forth his ecstasy in most thrilling song. His Lob- und Dank-Lieder speak the fer vid emo tions of his grateful spirit, and they impart to the reader a por tion of the same bliss ful feelings. The most profound grat itude, the most ar dent love, the most cheer ing hope fill his heart. Pen etrated with these emo tions he hails the advent of the church, in that imper ish able hymn:

Wie soll ich dich emp fangen und wie begegn ich dir, o aller Welt Verlan gen, o meiner See len Zier? O Jesu, Jesu, setze mir selbst die Fackel bei, damit, was dich ergötze, mir kund und wissend sei. Wie soil ich Dich empfan gen,

O Lord, how shall I meet You, how welcome You aright? Your people long to greet You, my Hope, my heart’s De light! O, kin dle, Lord most holy, Your lamp within my breast to do in spirit lowly all that may please You best.

The com ing of the Sav ior, with the ben efits of his re demp tion, is repre sented in most glow ing lan guage, — the poet’s soul glows with fer vor as he hails the ris ing of the Sun of Right eousness on a dark ened world.

10 11 The Thirty Years’ War had ter minated. Peace was proclaimed. Di lap i- dated churches were re built — exiled pastors were re stored – vacant parishes were filled – schools were reestablished — trade and com merce re- vived — agri culture was re sumed, and yet there was no sta tion found for Ger hardt. All his at tempts to gain a place were fruit less. His heart was cast down, but-to this circum stance we owe that ex cel lent hymn:

Ich hab’ in Gottes Herz und Sinn, Mein Herz und Sinn ergeben, etc.

I have in God’s Heart and Mind, My heart and mind arise, etc.

Never were pious res igna tion to God’s will — com plete subje ction to His sovereignty – perfect patience un der dis appoint ment and sorrow more beauti fully and impre ssively uttered than in that hymn. We do not think it possi- ble for hu man lan guage to express a more thor ough acqui es cence in the de- crees of Provi de nce. This was the char acter of Ger hardt’s piety, and to be in all things of the same mind with God, is the per fec tion of piety. He did not in vain admon ish himself to patience. Day light begins to appear af ter a long night of gloom, — the hori zon is streaked with the first blush of the morn ing – the hill tops are gilded with a roseate hue, — hope comes to the bosom of this mourning son of song. But, bef ore we accom pany him in this new career of life, let us take another view of him as a church poet. Until now, his hymns were acci dental and personal. They were occa si oned by the times, and were the breathings out of his own re li gious expe ri ence. They were such as every po et ical genius writes in the re tire ment of his closet, and which are never designed to see the light or be pub lished to the world. But Ger hardt was to become the sa cred poet of his own and of future times. The Pa pal church, since the fourth century , had possessed a rich treasure of hymns. Many of these are of the most exalted and re fined char acter – deeply spir itual and full of po etic unction. But they were all writ ten in the

12 Latin lan guage, and of course un intel li gible to the com mon people. The priests alone sang them at the al tar, and the people were not edi fied by these sacer do tal solos . It was the Refor ma tion by Luther that re stored this depart- ment of pub lic wor ship to the church. The lan guage of the people became the lan guage of the church, and when Luther pub lished his own hymns, in an incre d ibly short time, all the Evan gel ical churches re sounded with their melody. The arches of the old cathe drals re verber ated the joy ful sound as it went up from thou sands of happy wor shipers, who were not pre vented by false del icacy or nat u ral imper fec tion of voice, from giv ing full vent to all its force. Luther’s hymns were also sung in the pri vate res idences of the well condi tioned citi zens and in the cot tages of the poor peasants. Ev ery where was heard the voice of the singers, for their tongues were loosed by the power of the truth. The church invited the nations to join the anthem of praise, and cried out, “O come, let us sing unto the Lord a new song; Let us heartily re joice in the strength of our sal vation.” The nations heard, and as the chor us came sweep ing over the land, they joined their voices, un til it became uni versal. Other men, such as Weisse, the Her manns, Sel necker and Ringw aldt, had writ ten hymns before Ger hardt, which were exten sively used in the churches. Ger hardt revered his po et ical brethren of the church, and was influ enced much by the deep pathos and el evated piety of their church songs. Some of his most exquis ite com po si tions are evi dently founded on some of theirs, but in style, in me tre, and in every thing else exter nal, they could no longer be mod els for him. Whilst they were nat u ral, pop u lar, and suited to the times, they were, in many instances, dis jointed, un melodi ou s and rough. Ger hardt made a wonder ful improve ment in smoothness of versi fi cation, in pu rity of style, in beauty of lan guage, and in propri ety of fig ure. Whilst there was more art, there was no less of nature than in his prede ces sors; he was more or namen tal, though no less pop u lar; he was more re fined, though no less vigor ous; he was more melo dious, though no less spir itual. The improved times called for improved church hymns. He la bored for Zion as a poet, even if Provi dence did not open a way for him as a pastor . Though he af ter wards la bored as a preacher, yet it is Ger hardt the poet whom we es pecially know. As his repu ta tion as a sa cred poet rose, the Lutheran minis ters of Berlin now be gan to appre ci ate the at tainments and po et ical genius of the ob scure pri vate teacher. They par ticu larly admired his strong adhe sion to the Lutheran confes sions in those days of presumed, if not real, perse cution.

13 They gave him an occa sional op portu nity of preach ing in their pul pits. He became pop u lar as a preacher, for he was now well known as a poet, but his godly life contrib uted more than all, to gain for him the re spect of the people. In all these things he proba bly antic i pated an approach ing change in his out ward cir cum stances. His cler ical friends all encour aged him with hopes – he needed encour age ment, for he was now 7 forty-four years of age, and still a home less candi date. But he did not despair . He trusted in God, and wrote the hymn,

Ich singe Dir mit Herz und Mund, Herr, meines Herzens Lust—

I sing to you with heart and voice, My Lord, my soul’s plea sure.

This time his hopes were not destined to be dis appointed — his perse vering confi dence was to be re warded. A vacancy occurred in a neigh boring town, and the mag is tracy of the place re quested the Min is terium at Berlin to rec- om mend a suitable person to fill it. They unani mously rec om mended Ger- hardt with out his knowledge, and he was elected. We may well imagine with what feelings he re ceived this call. Af ter twenty years of patient wail ing and trou ble, his ob ject was at last gained – his mind was at peace, and he gave utter ance to his feelings in a beauti ful hymn. On No vem ber 18, 1651, he was or dained, and on that day signed the fol- low ing decla ra tion in the Or dina tion Book:— “In the name of the Holy and In divis ible Trin ity, — I confess and declare that the doctrine which is em- braced in the un al tered Augs burg Con fes sion and its Apol ogy, in the Schmalkald Ar ti cles, in the Cat echisms of Luther and the Form of Con cord, is es tab lished dis tinctly and firmly on the founda tion of the Scrip tures, and that, by God’s help, I will adhere un changeably to this faith to the end of my life.” With this confes sion, which was made with the most profound sin cer ity, he en tered on the dis charge of his cleri cal functions, at Miltenwalde. He had exalted views of the re sponsi bility of his office, which in that day was no sinecure in the Lutheran church. The Sun day ser mons re quired an un com- mon deg ree of prepa ra tion. It was neces sary that they should bear the marks

14 of ma ture study, and the taste of the times de manded that they should be of a full hour’s du ra tion. No baptismal, fu neral or matri mo nial ser vice was per- formed with out the accom pani ment of a long dis course. The com mu nion was adm inis tered every week. The com mu nicants were nu mer ous, and every one of them had a pri vate inter view with the pastor . The young people were cat echized twice a week, and besides all this, nu mer ous pastoral vis its to the sick and oth ers, were to be paid. We can hence, have some idea of the multi plied labors of Ger hardt in the first year of his ministry . He had not much time to indulge his nat u ral incli na tion to po etry, but still, genuine poet ical talent cannot be al together suppressed by out ward cir cum stances. There are few or no po ets by nature, who ever wholly break their harps or hang them on the wall. Ger hardt occa sion ally sung in the midst of all his pastoral engage ments and anxi eties, and by degrees, the la tent po etic fire burnt forth in all its orig inal ve hemence. With all his fame as a poet – with all his pop u lar ity as a preacher – with all his at tainmen ts as a the olo gian – with all his strong trust in the Provi- dence of God, he still felt there was some thing wanting to com plete his hap- piness. He felt un easy – he looked around him and within him for the cause. He could find none; at length he came to the conclu sion that it was his soli- tary life, and if he had one to share his anxi eties, he would be perfectly happy. Anna Berthold was still un mar ried, but could he, a cleri cal bache lor of forty-five, expect to gain the hand of the young lady of twenty-three? Af- ter long delib er ation, and prayer and trem bling, he succeeded. Then came forth that splen did para phrase of Prov. 31, in which the wise man char acter - izes a vir tuous woman. Ger hardt has put it into beauti ful verse, and Anna was the model. He was married on Feb ru ary 11, 1655. He con veyed his bride to his hum- ble home, deem ing himself the happi est man alive. His appre hen sions that the youth ful bride would encounter many incon ve niences and pri vations in the confined lim its of his villag e parson age, were re al ized. Her husband’ s nu mer ous engage ments of ten left her in dreary soli tude, and she longed af ter more conge nial soci ety than the place afforded. Ger hardt ob served her dis- qui etude, and sought to cheer her melan choly spirit by strik ing the wires of Zion’s harp. He wrote an ode suited to her state of mind. She re covered her cheer ful ness, and dis charged all her do mes tic du ties with a lively as siduity, and was in all respects a per fect pat tern of a Christian house wife.

15 But do mes tic sorrows were also al lotted to Ger hardt. The happi est fam ily is also called on to mourn. The loveli est earthly Paradise also bears bri ars. The death of his first born overwhelmed him with grief. We have no hymn re fer ring partic u larly to this melan choly event, for it doubt less re quired all his faith and time, by prayer and exhor ta tion, to support the crushed spirit of his wife. There were other sources of un easi ness and anxi ety . His increased ex- penses – a small income – the dejec tion of his wife, together with un pleas- ant offi cial re la tions to his col league, weighed heavily on his mind. These, and other diffi cul ties grew daily. Anna saw no hope of re lief – she antic i- pated the sever est pri vations – she went about mourn ing all the day. — Ger- hardt preached conso la tion, and quoted that beauti ful passage, Ps. 37:5. “Com mit thy way unto the Lord: trust in him also, and he shall bring it to pass.” Full of this senti ment, he re tired to the garden, and there, un der an ar- bor, wrote that well-known hymn,

Be fiehl du deine Wege. [Commit your ways]

A good English trans la tion of this hymn is in cluded as an Ap pendix. It con sists of twelve stan zas, each begin ning with a word of the scriptural passage. The whole is most adm irably man aged. He brought it in – read it to the dis conso late wife, and no won der she was com forted. It ex presses the most com plete submis sion to the divine will, and the fullest confi dence that God would send de liver ance from all their sor rows. On the evening of the same day, a mes senger deliv ered to him a large sealed letter from the mag is tracy of Berlin, the very sight of which greatly alarmed the nervous and sensi tive Anna. Ger hardt broke the seal and read it. It was a call to the dia conate of St. Nicolai in Berlin! He re-read it with tears – all his anxi eties about suppor t were now at an end. In the rapture of his heart, he said to his wife, “see how God provides!—did I not say, ‘com mit thy ways to the Lord!’” But he did not rashly accept the call. It was only af ter much delib er ation, that he yielded to the solic i ta tions of the mag is tracy, and in July, 1657, he re moved to Berlin. Fervent prayer, deep search ing of heart, and self-abase- ment char acter ized his entrance on the du ties of his new sta tion. It was then that he wrote that sweet hymn,

16 Ich weiss, mein Gott, dass all’ mein Thun, etc. [I know my God that all my do ing.]

He moved among a people who loved him – his col leagues rever enced him – the whole christian com mu nity re spected him. The first five years were passed with out any extra or dinar y tri als. He was, however , af ter wards deeply afflicted by the loss of several children. Ev ery fa ther will feel the full force of the fol low ing stanza of a hymn, written on such an occa sion.

Ach! wie muss doch ein ein’ges Kind Bei uns auf dieser Er den, Da man doeh nichts als Bosheit find’t, So hoch geschonet wer den. Wie hitzt, wie brennt der Vatersinn Wie giebt, wie schenkt er alles hin. Eh’ als Er an das Schenken, Des Ein’gen nur will denken.

[Rough Trans la tion:]

Oh! how must a single child With us on this earth, Since you do not find anything but malice, To be so high. How hot, how burning the fa ther’s spirit How gives, how he gives every thing. Eh ’as he to the giving, One’s only want to think.

Dur ing this period, he appears to have writ ten many of his finest com po si- tions, and to have attained an ex tra or dinary celebrity. But the lute of song was not the only instru ment on which he was called to play at Berlin. There was an other which he was com pelled to grasp. It gave out no sweet sounds – it breathed forth no melodi ous notes. Its tones were rough, dis cordant, un mu si cal. It was the war trum pet of the polemic. The re la tions of the Lutheran church in Branden bur g, were, at that time, pecu liar and crit ical. Ger hardt was devoted to her inter ests with all his heart. The diff icul ties with the Re formed had not dimin ished. The Elec tor fa vored the latte r, and many of his mea sures were re garded by the Luther ans as op- pres sive, and re stric tive of the liberty of conscience. Thus, for instance, Po-

17 mar ius was for a time suspended from office for a sharp at tack on the Re- formed Court Preacher, Bergius, and was at last totally dis charged and exiled, for a ser mon against the Re formed faith. All this, and more that might be mentioned, only tended to estab lish the Luther ans more firmly in their creed. The the o log ical war raged most fiercely – the churches re sounded with most unlovely anath emas – the pul pits were the arena of a fu ri ous glad- ia tor ship – the presses groaned un der the weight of the heavi est books, and the whole country was in a heat of polemi cal wrath. Af ter many fu tile proclama tions to peace on the part of the Elec tor, one of which even for bade his sub jects to study at the Lutheran uni versity of Wit ten berg, he at length or dered a confer ence to be held between the Re formed and Lutheran The- olo gians of Berlin and Cologne, on the Spree. Ger hardt took an active part in it. — The con fer ence met. There was much parley ing, and even dodg ing, before the pre lim inar ies were set tled, and much cross and bush fighting af ter the cont est began. It was a long time even, before they deter mined which point, precisely , to fight about. The doctrine of the Lord’s Sup per was fi- nally hit upon. The com bat ants entered the arena – the sig nal was given — the contest raged fiercely for a while – blow succeeded blow, but af ter all, for the most part, it was blows in the air. There was more noise than pain – more words than wounds. They fi nally agreed to stop the dis cussion, and mu tually vowed, that whilst each party would most perti naciously adhere to its dog mas, yet that they would show each other all Chris tian re spect, and most heartily de sire each other’s sal vation! With this they might have been contented, but it was not only peace which the Re formed desired – it was union, and the Luther ans were ex- pected to make conces sions. This occa sioned another long dis cussion. The Elec tor became impa tient, and he took no pains to conceal his dis plea sure with the Luther ans. They did not yield, and even the elec toral dis plea sure could not bend their sturdy necks. Ger hardt was a prime com bat ant in all these var ious and protracted contro versies, and during this period, we see but few hymns from his pen. Can there be anything so un conge n ial with po- etic inspi ra tion, as acri mo nious, the o log ical contro versy? The war fi nally ter minated, and like most oth ers of a simi lar char acter , each party was only the more firmly convinced of the truth of his po si tion, and the less inclined to love his dis sentient brother. Ger hardt’s the o log ical writ ings, which this contro versy elicited, are said to display a mas terly exhi bi tion of the Lutheran system, as soci ated with ex-

18 ten sive learning, vast com prehen sive ness of view, acute dis crim ina tion, and wonder ful polemi cal skill. He had leisure now for the more special dis charge of his pastoral du ties. His new born son, Paul Freder ick, glad dened his heart – but he was not with out do mes tic trou bles. His fa ther-in-law’s death deeply afflicted him. Af ter a season of tran quility , the eccle si as ti cal hori zon again began to be covered with porten tous clouds. The Lutheran clergy trem bled, for an edict was is sued by the Elec tor, for bid ding the clergy, on pain of depo si tion, from charg ing any of their brethren with false doctrine – from cond emn ing op- posing par ties – from deduc ing any mischievous re sult from po si tions main- tained, and he or dered, more over, that exor cism in baptism should be left to the choice of the parents of the bap tized child. This edict was man ifestly aimed at the Lutheran clergy, and of course, it occa sioned among them a gener al alarm. They saw that their liberty of conscience was invaded, and they held it to be their consci entious duty to main- tain the pu rity of their doctrine, and hence, also, pub licly to re fute false doctrine, and by proper and logi cal in fer ence, to show its dan gerous re sults. Ger hardt, and most of his cleri cal brethren, were in a dread ful predica- ment. They did not wish to dis obey their lawful sover eign, nor, on the other hand, could they re spect the edict, which they re garded as man ifestly against the word of God. In this state of alarm, they presented an hum ble peti tion to his elec toral grace, beseech ing him to al low them now, as for merly, un re- stricted liberty of conscience, and to grant to the Luther ans, the same priv i- leges which even the Romish church enjoyed. The peti tion was contemp tu- ously thrown aside, and an or der was at the same time is sued, that every man of them should bind himself by a writ ten pledge, to fol low out the edict, on pain of dis missal from office. Many clergy men of the country signed the decla ra tion – many others hesi tated long.— The Berliners would not deci de for themselves, and asked the opin ion and advice of the the olo- gians of Leipzig, Helmstadt, Jena, Wit ten berg, Hambur g and Nurn berg. The opin ions of these learned men were vari ous. The scru ples of the Berliners were not re moved. In the mean time, they sought to es cape the pledge by si lence. But the Elec tor was not to be put off – he was not that sort of man. He heard of their asking for eign the olo gians whether they, his subjects, should obey his laws, and this enraged him. He conceived that herein they showed mistrust and dis obedi ence. He was not to be tri fled with, and imme diately or dered the re cusants to appear before the Con sis torium,

19 there to deliver up the recorded opin ions of the for eign the olo gians, sign the decla ra tion, or be deposed. Two days af ter, the or der was some what mod i- fied. Only two of the re cusants were or dered to appear — time was given to the oth ers for consid er ation, but fi nal dis obedi ence was to end in dis missal. On the appointed day, two of them were cited. Ger hardt accom panied them! They could not say, as Paul said on an anal o gous occa sion, “no man stood by me.” The aged Lilius, and the un yielding Rein hardt re fused to sign, and they were depos ed. Ger hardt and the oth ers were threat ened with the same pun ish ment. Not with stand ing the alarm ing exam ple made of Lilius and Rein hardt, they deter mined not to sign. They declared this to the mag is trate, and beso ught him to use his influ ence with the Elec tor, to have the two deposed minis ters re stored, with out sign ing the pledge. The mag is trate inter - ceded. The clergy, at the same time, presented a peti tion, promis ing also to send, in a few days, their consci entious scru ples, which they humbly hoped, the Elec tor would re spect. A curt, re pul sive re ply was given, and even the decla ra tion of their scru ples, sent in, a few days af ter, was un graciously re- ceived. Natu rally much alarmed at this, they re newed their peti tion and promised to re frain from all se vere crim ina tion of their op po nents and made such other conces sions as the edict re quired. In a word, they yielded. They were not prepared at that time to lose their places, their bread, and, prob ably , their lives for their theo log ical dog mas. If the Elec tor had been impar tial in this affair , he might have been sat is- fied with their acknowl edgment. But be was not. He was pledged to one of the parti es, and was as big oted in his faith as were the Luther ans. Still the busi ness had to be set tled. The depo si tion of two wor thy minis ters had cre- ated much excit ement. It was re garded as a direct at tack against the liberty of consc ience, and, partic u larly, as an as sault on the Luther ans. The people com plained that the Re formed faith was to be forced on their consciences, and that the Lutheran wor ship was to be ob structed and changed. These com plaints beca me so loud and general, that the Elec tor felt com pelled, by a pub lic proclama tion, to dis pel these appre hen sions of his subjects, and to jus tify his conduct towards the two expelled minis ters. This encour aged the mag is tracy and citi zens to re new their peti tion for the restora tion of these men. The Elec tor granted it so far as to give Lilius fur ther time for re flec- tion, but as for Rein hardt, who was the prime dis turber of the church’s peace, he was exiled on the spot, and the oth ers were to hold themselves in

20 readiness to sign. Rein hardt left the country , and his for mer col leagues in vain, once more, declared their peaceful in ten tions. The Elec toral leg is la ture now in ter fered and besought His Grace to exer - cise mod er ation . They brought up vari ous acts of the gov ern ment, that seemed to jus tify the course of the clergy. Measures were adopted in concert with the Elec tor to set tle the dis pute, but they could not agree upon the exact mode. In the mean time, the Coun cil or Leg is la ture adjourned The Elec tor went to Cleves and thus the matter was left unde cided. Ger hardt had deter mined from the begin ning, not to sign the decla ra tion. He now hoped to es cape it al tog ether, but when he re flected on the res o lute char acter of the Elec tor, he was still full of appre hen sion. He looked for ward with dread to the time, when he, like Rein hardt, should be turned away with out a home, or bread or hope. Some time af ter this, the aged Lilius was induced to re cant, — he signed and was re stored. The Elec tor, in his letter to the Con sis torium, partic u larly desig nated Ger hardt as one of the most ob stinate, and or dered him to be cited. He appeared and was informed of the Elec toral will, — sign or suffer . He refused. Though charged with contu macy , eight days were al lowed him for delib er ation. At first, he accepted of the proposi tion, but imme diately af- ter, said that he had consid ered it long enough and would not change his mind! In the name of the Elec tor he was deposed, and Paul Ger hardt ceased to be the min is ter of St. Nico lai! We need not be in doubt, how he re ceived this long threat ened blow. His confi dence in God was not shaken, but. how could his sickly, despond ing wife, endure the dis as ter? A gen eral sym pathy was felt for him, — the people were overwhelmed with grief at the thought of los ing such a gifted pastor as Ger hardt. They united with the town councils in a peti tion in his be- half. The peti tion was forwarded to Cleves. The Elec tor replied that he knew noth ing about the re mark able piety of Ger hardt, for which he was so highly extolled in the peti tion,— he only knew that he was an ob sti nate, stiff- necked Lutheran, who would not sign himself and influ enced his col leagues to fol low his per nicious exam ple, and that he did not re gard this as any evi- dence of piety,—he must sign or quit the coun try. The pub li cation of this re ply alarmed and excited the citi zens. They met together and consulted. They re newed their most earnest peti tion. It was un- kindly re ceived. The Elec tor charged the peti tioners with sedi tion, exag ger a-

21 tion and even false hood, and he for bade the offi cer to hand in any other peti- tions from that quarter . All acce ss to the Elec toral fa vor was now hemmed up. An appli ca tion from the Coun cil even met with simi lar treat ment. Noth ing was left for Ger- hardt now, but for his con grega tion and numer ous friends to show their sym- pathy , and by their lib er al ity to secure him against want. Thus deposed, what was he to do? He turned again to his long neglected harp, and once more tuned its strings and sang, if possi ble, more sweetly than ever. Eleven months were thus passed. His friends in the mean while, gath ered round him, and he did not suff er, at least, for the neces saries of life. The Elec tor returned to Berlin.— He sent for the mag is trate, and or dered him to re instate Ger hardt!! He even sent his own pri vate secre tary to inform him of the fact, which was an act of ex tra or dinary fa vor and conde sc ension. The joy was general, and Ger hardt was the only one who did not par tici pate in it. Al though he re sumed a portion of his offi cial du ties, he would not take upon himself the whole. He feared the Elec tor was un der a false impres sion of his po si tion, and that he had changed his views with re gard to the Form of Con- cord, for he would not purchase his restora tion at the expense of even sus- pected change of prin ci ple.—The re sult of the whole affair was, that Ger- hardt could not con sci entiously re-en ter on his office with the con ditions an- nexed by the Elec tor. His fate was now decided,—he took leave of his at- tached people, and retired again into the pri vacy of do mes tic life. An edi tion of his hymns was pub lished, and it is likely that he derived a portion of his support from that source. He contin ued to write, and main- tained the same simplic ity – the same accom mo dation to the pop u lar feeling and com prehen sion, that dis tin guished him from ihe begin ning. He sus- tained a truly national char acter , whilst the secu lar po etry of the Ger mans of that day was an affected imi ta tion of for eign mod els, full of con ceit, exag- gera tion and bom bast. His congre ga tion could not be persuaded to give him up. They still hoped to have him re stored, and hesi tated about call ing a succes sor . Thus he lived, beloved and hon ored by his congre ga tion and admired by the whole Chris- tian popu la tion of Berlin.

22 Ap pendix - “God’s Way The Best.”

“BE FIEHL DU DEINE WEGE.” A Hymn from the Ger man of Paul Gerhardt.

Trans lated by Henry Mills, D. D., of Auburn, New York.

[1] Com mit thy way, con fid ing, When tri als here arise. To him whose hand is guid ing The tu mults of the skies.

There, clouds and tem pests, raging, Have each its path as signed; Will God, for thee engag ing, No way of safety find?

[2] Trust in the Lord! His favor Will for thy wants pro vide. Re gard his word! — and ever Thy work shall safe abide.

When sorrows here o’ertake thee, And self-inflicted care, Let not thy God for sake thee!— He lis tens for thy pray’r.

[3] Thine eye that’s never weary, Thou God of truth and grace, Sees all that’s bright, or dreary, Be falling all our race:

Of faith – whate’er op poses— Thou wilt’ the cause main tain; And, when the conflict closes, Thy vict’ry shall be seen.

23 [4] Thy way thro’ nature reaches, Nor fails its onward course; Thy work of good ness teaches Of good the only source:

Thy skill, by naught im peded. Will what is best pur sue; All by thy peo ple needed Thine arm of strength will do.

[5] Should Sa tan league his forces, God’s pur pose to withstand, Think not their rage and curses Can stay his lifted hand!

When he makes known his plea sure, The counsel of his will, That, in its utmost measure. Will he at last fulfill.

[6] Hope on then! — weak be liever, Hope on, and fal ter not! He will thy soul deliver From deeps of trou bled thought.

Thy graces he will nour ish, With hope thy heart em ploy, Till faith and love shall flour ish And yield their fruits of joy.

[7] Up, Up! — bid now to sorrow And all thy cares — “Good night!” Why trou ble seek, and borrow A charge that’s not thy right? —

Thou art not made con troller, How things should be to tell; ’Tis God that sits the Ruler, Di recting all things well.

[8] The plan to his discre tion. And all its parts, resign? Thou’lt find, on its com pletion, The wonder will be thine—

24 How, what by thee was noted As dark, — now under stood, — Most wisely has promoted His glory, and thy good.

[9] ‘Tis true, that for a season God may his gifts restrain, And leave thee room to rea son— ’If all thy trust be vain;’

Or, — while thy hope shall waver . Thy fears and griefs pre vail, To ask — “Must then God’s favor And all his mer cies fail?”

[10] But if the trial, ended, Shall show thy love is true; His love, to thee extended. Will show his wisdom too.

From sorrows that op press thee. He will thy peace restore. And by these sor rows bless thee With heart to love him more.

[11] Well bless’d, — such grace re ceiving! God owns thee for a son! With joy, and with thanks giving, Be hold the victor ’s crown!

Thy hand the palm-branch raises, — God gives it thee, to bear; — Then shout aloud his praises Who has removed thy care!

[12] The sorrows, Lord, that try us, O bring them to an end! With needed strength supply us! Thy love to us commend!

That we, till death, pur suing The best – thy chosen – way. May then, our life re newing, Praise thee in endless day.

25 Copyright Notice

This book was pub lished 2020 by The Lutheran Library Publish ing Min istry Lutheran Li- brary.org. Some (hope fully unob tru sive) up dates to spelling, punctu ation, and para graph di- vi sions have been made. Unabridged. Origi nally pub lished 1851 in the Lutheran Church Review , Vol. 2. Im age on im print page is Still Life With Bible by Vin cent Van Gogh. This Lutheran Li brary .org book is released un der the Cre ative Commons At tribu tion 4.0 In ter national (CC BY 4.0) license, which means you may freely use, share, copy, or trans- late it as long as you provide attri bu tion to Lutheran Li brary .org, and place on it no further restric tions. The text and art work within are believed to be in the U.S. public do main. s14 – v5 ISBN: TBD (paper back)

26 How Can You Find Peace With God?

The most impor tant thing to grasp is that no one is made right with God by the good things he or she might do. Justi fi cation is by faith only, and that faith resting on what Je sus Christ did. It is by believ ing and trust ing in His one-time substi tu tion ary death for your sins. Read your Bible steadily. God works His power in hu man beings through His Word. Where the Word is, God the Holy Spirit is al ways present. Sug gested Read ing: New Tes ta ment Con versions by Pastor George Ger- berding

Benedic tion

Now unto him that is able to keep you from fall ing, and to present you fault less befo re the presence of his glory with exceed ing joy, To the only wise God our Sav ior, be glory and majesty, do min ion and power, both now and ever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)

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