The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-10-29

Special sermons were preached yester-
day not only in the Lutheran churches OF
this city, but throughout the whole civil
lied world. the occasion being the ami
versary of the beginning Of the Prote ST
ant Reformation of the sixteenth century.
1t was on October 81. 1517, that Dr. Mar
tin Luther. a monk of the Roman Catho-
lie Church and a professor in the Univer-
sity Of Wittenberg, Saxony, nailed TO the
door Of the .'Schloss- Kirche," at that
place, his ninety-five theses. protesting
against and attacking the doctrine Cf IN
dulgences which were then being sold by
the Dominican monk, Tetzel, aud other
alleged errors and abuses in the then
universally acknowledged only Christian
church. The blows of Luthers hammer
as he nailed his protest to the caste
church's door were heard all over the
world. and the Protestant movement has
spread since to all parts of the globe.
At the morning services of the Luth-
eran Memorial Church, on Thomas Cir
Gle. the Rev. J. G. Butler introduced his
Sermon by reading the Forty-sixth Psalm,
also known as Luther's psalm, Zine fests
Burg list unser Gott." After prayer he
gave a short historical review of the
events leading up to the Reformation,
and when speaking of Luther's defiance
Of the Church Of Rome, DR.. Butler said:
The mailing of the theses ON the door
was like applying match to powder
magazine. The power Of the church had
been such that reformers in the various
countries were put to death. The church
prosecuted the men who dared to think
and who had the courage to speak out
against its own abuses and errors. But
with all this the Reformation took strong
and healthy root. and grew to be a pow
erful factor until today the echoes CT The
monks hammer are heard even in Cuba.
Porto Rico. and the Philippines, coun-
tries in which, as a well-known Jes hit
missionary has said, there is no Chris
tian Church.
THE fifth verse in the third chapter of
James, which says. Behold, how great
matter a little fire will kindle,' is pecu-
liarly applicable to our discourse Of this
day. 1t is true that little fires have laid
large cities in ashes, and 1t Is equally
true that the fire which Luther kindled
has consumed ignorance and superstition.
idolatry, and corruption. The Declaration
Of Independence in itself seems to be q
very simple act. and yet the spirit Of
American liberty is pervading every region
Of the known world, and SO it was with
Luther's declaration of reformation. His
followers were called .Lutherans' much
against his will, for he was a very humble
man"
In another part of his sermon DR.. Butler
said: I'VE are not fearful Of the imml-
grafton that comes from the northern part
Of Europe. because it is mostly Of a people
that accepted the Reformation; they are
from Protestant countries, prosperous,
honest, and frugal. They drink probably a
;s,ln 1.a frn-, s,ly how, chn
but that adjusts itself after a short time.
We dread immigration from Italy, Spain.
Austria, and Portugal, because their coun-
tries rejected the Reformation; they re-
manned in ignorance and superstition; they
are not in general desirable element OF
people in American society.
I'VE are not only celebrating today the
birth of Lutheranism," continued DR.. But
Ter. but We celebrate the birthday of
Professionalism" At this juncture he
showed a photograph of the Memorial
Church which has been erected in Speyer,
Germany. in commemoration of the Refor-
nation. which had its cradle in that city. |
Rev. DR.. Butler sad that the American
Lutheran Churches are raising funds to i
place on the top Of that church steeple a
colossal statue OF the great reformer. |
Luther, inviting contributions from |
everybody. Continuing. he said: But |
is much broader than Luz |
theranism. We would not have all the |
world to be Lutheran, because We know |
that one church alone cannot be trusted |
with exclusive spiritual control of the |
world"
Recurring to the reformation. DR.. But |
Ter said: we accept the confession of !
Augsburg as the fundamental doctrine of |
he Protestant Church. The thought and |
iesire of Luther was that the church should
De evangelical. He protested against the
lepriving of the people of the word OF
God He translated the Bible from a dead
language into the German. The Bible had
,een translated before that into the Greek
md Latin, but suppose we had only Latin
II Greek Bibles; what good would they
mount to-"
Speaking of Luther, Dr. Butler said the
-eformer did not wish to antagonize his
,hurch; he simply wanted to do away
with wrong: he wanted the truth. He
vas loyal to his church. His power was
n the new light begotten in his soul by
he Holy Ghost.
DR.. Butler concluded his discourse by
to a sermon which Bishop Spald-
ng, of Peoria, ILL.,. preached in Rome in
March of this year. The sermon was on
ducation and the future religion. Dr.
,utler said he wrote to Bishop Spalding
or a copy of the sermon, which he receiv-
d by return mail. 1t covers pamphlet !
( forty-eight printed pages, and. DR.. But
ar said, Bishop Spalding would not have
cen permitted to preach this sermon 300
ears ago." Had Pope Leo XIII and the
pirit which permeates the sermon of
bishop Spalding existed in the days of
luther. there would have been no refor-
nation" He contended that there Is a
reat reformation going on in the Catholic
'hurch today. He said Bishop Spalding's
ermon contained the very principles upon
hitch Luther built the reformation move
lent. and claimed there would have been
o Declaration Of Independence had there
cen no reformation.