Preface.

What a great scandal is given to the enemies of the Evangelical Truth The "Evangelical Truth" refers to the Protestant, specifically Lutheran, faith. when open strife arises among brothers of the same religious fellowship and is made public through the press; every impartial heart can easily see this. Yet it is as clear as day and cannot be denied—indeed, one would have to be a stranger in Israel A biblical idiom (from Luke 24:18) meaning someone who is completely ignorant of well-known local events. not to know the disputes into which the leaders of our churches fell among themselves after the death of Luther. For who does not know how the theologians of Tübingen once stood in conflict with those of Giessen, and what heresies they accused one another of original: "Hæreses... impingiret"—to such an extent that finally the high authorities had to interpose their princely power and impose silence original: "silentium imponiren" on both sides? Who does not know what a sharp battle broke out between those of Wittenberg and Helmstedt, and how harshly they denounced each other as heretics and condemned one another? It is also well known how the Saxon and Hessian theologians accused the late Dr. Melchior Nicolai original: "b. m." stands for "beati memoriae," meaning "of blessed memory." of having "transformed the state of humiliation state of humiliation (status exinanitionis): A theological concept referring to the period of Christ's life on earth during which he did not fully manifest his divine majesty. into a ghost and a phantom, and overturned the truth of Christ's death." (See his Luther from 7 Characters, Forer's Defense, page 424). And what is even more, in recent years an entirely new schism [has emerged...]