As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.....
For those who have bothered to read and discern the work here concerning the realities of Germany as a Christian nation which founded Christianity for the entire reformed world. I submit a few quotes from the last Emperor of Germany, Wilhelm II.
This was in the period of the early 1920's and from his memoirs. There was no political gain in this as he was branded like all German's as world pariahs, but he was compelled in all of this to defend his honor and as his sources could be checked immediately, it is a fact what he wrote.
Wilhelm II was a Christian, not of convenience, but of lifelong affiliation with the German Protestants. He was actively Christian and sought out the best Ministers to bring to him the message of Chirst.
The quotes:
"During the first years of my military service at Potsdam I had felt deeply the inadequacy of the sermons, which often dealt only with dry dogmatic matter and paid too little attention to the person of Christ. In Bonn I became acquainted with Doctor Dryander, who made an impression on me lasting throughout my life. His sermons were free from dogma , the person of Christ was their pivotal point, and "practical Christianity" was brought into the foreground.
Later I brought him to Berlin and had him appointed to a post at the Cathedral and in my palace. Dryander was by my side for years, until long after the 9th of November, standing close to me spiritually, and bringing to me spiritual consolation. We often talked on religious matters and thrashed out thoroughly the tasks and the future of the Protestant Church. The views of Dryander— mild, yet powerful, clear, and of truly evangelical strength— made of him a pillar and an ornament of his Church, and a faithful co-worker with the Emperor, to whom he was closely bound, in the interests of the Church and its development.
The fact that I could deal with religious and church questions with complete objectivity "sine ira et studio" is due to my excellent teacher, Professor Doctor Hinzpeter, a Westphalian Calvinist."
The memoir goes in detail noting English Pastor, Bernard Lucas' book, Conversations with Christ; from Jerusalem, the sermons of Jesus by Pastor Schneller, and the collection of works The Old God Still Lives and From Deep Trouble by Consistorial Councilor Conrad.
I had wondered who this "Hinzpeter" was as his name appears in context often enough in matters of state, and the reality is the Emperor of Germany had his Christian teacher with him.
In 1898, the Kaiser obtained from the Turkish Sultan, a block of land in Jerusalem called the Dormition which he presented to to the possession of German Catholics led by Father Peter Schmitz.
The German Knights of Malta appeared under Count Praschma thanking the Emperor.
Plans were submitted for the Church to be built in Jerusalem to the Kaiser and in 1906 the Church was complete, and under the advice of the Father, the building was turned over to the Benedictine Monks of Beuron.
When the Benedictine Monks requested to make a settlement in the Rhine, the Kaiser turned over to them the Abby of Maria Laach for it's restoration.
It was in these offices of educated artisans in farming and working in artistry which the Kaiser advanced the local peasantry uneducated in modern methods.
I close this with a personal letter from February 15, 1903 to Admiral Hollmann. This letter was made public before the memoirs, and it is placed here in wonderment, in the reality that there is not now one Christian leader in this world who literally exists on the level which Wilhelm II, the last Emperor of Germany did as a Christian.
My Dear Hollmann:
I should now like to return once again to my own standpoint regarding the doctrine or view of revelation, as I have often set it forth to you, my dear Hollmann, and other gentlemen. I distinguish between two different kinds of revelation: a progressive, to a certain extent historical revelation, and a purely religious one, paving the way to the future coming of the Messiah.
Of the first, this is to be said: There is not the smallest doubt in my mind that God constantly reveals Himself through the human race created by Him. He has "breathed His breath into mankind," or, in other words, given it a piece of Himself, a soul. He follows the development of the human race with a Father's love and interest; for the purpose of leading it forward and benefiting it , he "reveals" Himself in some great savant or priest or king, whether among the heathens, Jews, or Christians.
Hammurabi was one of these, likewise Moses, Abraham, Homer, Charlemagne, Luther, Shakespeare, Goethe, Kant, Emperor William the Great. These men were selected by Him and made worthy of His grace; of achieving for their people, both in the spiritual and the physical domain, splendid and imperishable things, in accordance with His will. How often did my grandfather clearly emphasize that he was but an instrument in the hand of the Lord.
The works of great minds are gifts of God to the peoples of the earth, in order that they may improve themselves on these models and grope forward, by means of them, through the confusion of that which is still unexplored here below. God has certainly revealed Himself in different ways to different peoples, according to their standing and degree of culture, and He is still doing it now. For, just as we are overcome most by the greatness and majesty of the splendor of Creation when we contemplate it, and are amazed at the greatness of God as revealed therein, so also may we, in contemplating whatever is great or splendid in the works of a man or a people , recognize therein with gratitude the splendor of the revelation of God. He works directly upon us and among us!
The second kind of revelation, the more religious kind, is that which leads to the coming of the Lord. It is introduced from Abraham onward, slowly but with foresight, all-wise and all-knowing; for without it mankind would have been doomed.
And now begins the most astounding influence, the revelation of God. The tribe of Abraham, and the people descended from it, consider the holiest thing of all, unescapable in its logical consequences, the belief in one God. This belief they must have and cultivate . Scattered by the captivity in Egypt, the separate parts are welded together by Moses for the second time, and still they try to maintain their "monotheism." The direct intervention of God is what brings regeneration to this people.
KAISER'S THEOLOGY And thus it goes through the centuries, until the Messiah announced and foreshadowed by the Prophets and Psalmists shall at last appear. The greatest revelation of God in the world!
For He Himself appeared in the body of His Son; Christ is God, God in human form. He saved us. He inspires us, we are led to follow Him, we feel His fire burning within us, His pity strengthening us, His dissatisfaction destroying us, but also His intercession saving us. Sure of victory, building solely upon His word, we go through work, scorn, grief, misery, and death, for in Him we have the revealed word of God, and God never lies.
That is my view of this question. The Word, especially for us of the Evangelical faith, has become everything on account of Luther; and Delitzsch, as a good theologian, should not forget that our great Luther taught us to sing and believe: "Das Wort sie sollen lassen stehn" (" The Word they must allow to stand").
It is self-evident that the Old Testament contains a large number of parts which are of purely human-historical character and not "God's revealed Word." These are purely historical descriptions of events of all sorts, which occur in the life of the people of Israel in the domain of politics , religion, morals, and spiritual life.
For instance, the giving out of the Law on Mount Sinai can be looked upon only symbolically as having been inspired by God, since Moses had to turn to a revival of laws perhaps known of old (possibly drawn from the Code of Hammurabi), in order to bring coherence and solidarity to the framework of his people, which was loose and little capable of resistance. Here the historian may perhaps find a connection , either in sense or words, with the laws of Hammurabi, the friend of Abraham, which may be logically right; but this can never affect the fact that God had inspired Moses to act thus , and, to that extent, had revealed Himself to the people of Israel.
Therefore, my view is that our good professor should rather avoid introducing and treating of religion as such in his lectures before our association, but that he may continue, unhindered, to describe whatever brings the religion, customs, and so on of the Babylonians, and so on, into relation with the Old Testament. As far as I am concerned, I am led by the above to the following conclusion:
(a) I believe in one only God.
(b) We men need, in order to teach Him, a Form, especially for our children.
(c) This Form has been, up to now, the Old Testament, as we now know it. This Form will be essentially changed by research, inscriptions, and excavations; but that will cause no harm, nor will the fact that, thereby, much of the halo of the Chosen People will disappear, cause any harm . The kernel and content remain always the same: God and His influence.
Religion was never a result of science, but something flowing from the heart and being of man, through his relations with God.
With heartiest thanks and many greetings, I remain always Your sincere friend,
(Signed) Wilhelm I. R.
After reading that letter, do you think you could write such a synopsis of Christian Faith so easily or could you name one messiah in Washington DC who could?
agtG
