tihYavy of Che Cheolojical ^emmarjp PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY Dr. Henry S. Gehman BX 8080 .S25 S3 1921 Sandt, Geo. W. 1854-1931. Theodore Emanuel Schmauk, D D., LL. D. ; e lO / , t 1 J Cx'^^^<^i-^.>-<:v*.t^.--^o Theodore Emanuel Schmauk, D.D., LLD. A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH With Liberal Quotations from his Letters and other Writings BY GEORGE W. SANDT PHILADELPHIA UNITED LUTHERAN PUBLICATION HOUSE 1921 Copyright, 1921 BY GEORGE W. SA N DT 3 mutft tuorfa tfie tnocbs of i)im tijat sent me, tntiUe it ii bap: tt)e nfgi)t comett). totien no man can tooth. John 9:4. tliie jeal of tfjfne fjonae tjatl) eaten me up. John 2:17. PREFACE IN presenting this portraiture of the remarkably re- sourceful, versatile and many-sided Dr. Schmauk, the author feels that very much of value has been left unsaid. Much of great interest and value in the form of sermons, addresses, excerpts and other biographical material was placed at his disposal, and it was not easy to decide what to select and what to reject. Dr. Schmauk explored so many fields of knowledge, touched so many spheres of usefulness and influence, and affixed the im- press of his personality upon so many activities and movements as to make the task of presenting a well-pro- portioned sketch of his life and work difficult. An effort has been made, however, to picture him in as life-like and realistic a manner as possible. To do this, it was necessary to disregard in large measure the chronological sequence of events in his life and to defy logical order by thrusting in here and there, more or less wantonly, incidents and side-lights that might add to the truthful- ness of the picture. The work of preparing this biography, in spite of the pressure of other tasks, proved to be most interesting and inspiring. The writer, though a classmate of Dr. Schmauk at the Seminary and associated with him in editorial and other work for twenty-five years, made many a discovery touching Dr. Schmauk's work and his real inner worth of which he had not been aware be- fore. Dr. Schmauk's life was too busy to make intimate and frequent personal intercourse with him possible. Hence much that was both new and refreshing came to light while entering into an examination of the material which gave an insight into the inner workings of his viii THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK mind and placed his life and character in richer and fuller perspective. Whait has deeply impressed the writer of this biog- raphy is the absolute uniqueness of Dr. Schmauk's per- sonality. His life and character defies all ordinary standards of measurement. It is as different from the lives of such leaders as Krauth, Seiss, Krotel and Spaeth as is a resistless mountain torrent, broadening out into many rivulets and cataracts, to the stately and majestic flow of the Mississippi. There was a big-heartedness, a perennial ardor and enthusiasm, a tremendous serious- ness and earnestness of purpose, a childlike simplicity and naturalness, and a sympathetic warmth and tender- ness, that won for him a place in the life and affections of the Church occupied by few men. He touched the life of the Church at more points than any other Lutheran personality in America. He was a veritable storage battery, with innumerable connecting wires to transmit sparks of influence and power far and wide throughout the Church, and beyond. He was the most ecumenical and inspirational Lutheran America has yet produced — length, breadth, height and depth combining to give him massiveness in body, mind and spirit. The author could do no other but write this biography under the spell of such an estimate of Dr. Schmauk's worth. Much as he tried, he found it impossible to bind him- self to a purely objective method of treatment. An attempt has been made to present to the reader with some fullness what Dr. Schmauk stood for. He ranks as one of the ablest and most consistent defenders of the Lutheran faith. His catholicity of spirit enabled him to put himself in the place of his opponent and see things from the latter's point of view. This gave PREFACE ix him an advantage over most Lutheran defenders of the faith and saved him from the charge of narrowness and bigotry. And yet he never swerved from the strong conservative position he always took by making weak or compromising concessions. The quotations given in the biography and in the supplement will bear out what has thus been said of him as a forceful defender of the faith. Only such parts in past controversies are brought out in this biography which seemed necessary to give a correct perspective. The author acknowledges gratefully the valuable as- sistance and co-operation of the Literature Manager of the Publication Board, W. L. Hunton, Ph.D., D.D., to whom he is indebted for an account of Dr. Schmauk's services as editor of the Graded Series of Sunday School Lessons. Dr. Hunton had been associated with him in this work for many years. He has also prepared the Index. Prof. E. E. Fischer, D.D., and Rev. Arthur H. Getz, one of Dr. Schmauk's promising students at the Seminary, who acted as his private secretary, have furnished an estimate of Dr. Schmauk's services as teacher of Apologetics, Ethics and related subjects at Mt. Airy. As Dr. H. E. Jacobs was intimately asso- ciated with Dr. Schmauk for many years in maintaining the standards of faith to which the Lutheran Church is committed, and as he was in a position to know him and his worth as few men knew him, a liberal use has been made of what Dr. Jacobs has so well said at different intervals and under varying circumstances. Last but not least, the writer acknowledges his indebted- ness to the surviving sister of Dr. Schmauk, upon whom he relied for much valuable information that could not otherwise have been secured. GEO. W. SANDT CONTENTS CHAPTER I ScHMAUK Antecedents 1 CHAPTER H Birth and Boyhood 6 CHAPTER HI Student at College 15 CHAPTER IV Student at Seminary 26 CHAPTER V Early Pastorate 37 CHAPTER VI Literary Activities Begin 49 CHAPTER VII As Educator 60 The Pennsylvania Chautauqua CHAPTER VIII As Historian 66 The Pennsylvania German and Lebanon County Societies. xii THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK CHAPTER IX As Editor and Sunday School Leader 79 CHAPTER X As Citizen, Patriot and Public Speaker 94 CHAPTER XI Death of the Father 109 CHAPTER XII President of the General Council 117 CHAPTER XIII The Confessional High Water Mark 127 CHAPTER XIV Administrative Problems — Dr. Schmauk and the Germans — Relations With the Iowa Synod .... 141 CHAPTER XV A Trying Convention — Dr. Schmauk and the Swedes 163 CHAPTER XVI The Confessional Principle — Teacher at the Seminary 179 CHAPTER XVII The Quadri-Centennial Celebration — The Merger Convention 192 CHAPTER XVIII The Closing of a Strenuous Life 219 CONTENTS DR. SCHMAUK ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 1. On the Person of Christ 239 2. On the Doctrine of the Trinity 240 3. On the Freedom of the Will 244 4. On Negative Theology 245 5. The Lutheran Conception of Salvation 246 6. On Confessionalism 247 7. Luther and the New Theology 248 8. On Progressive Conservatism 249 9. On Lutheran Union 251 10. On Lutheran Pulpits for Lutheran Ministers 253 11. On Lutheran Disunity 255 12. On the Lodge and Pulpit Fellowship 256 13. On Cooperation 258 14. On Revival Movements 260 15. The Lutheran Church and External Relationships 262 16. Two Great Lessons of Providence 275 17. The Church and Social Problems 277 18. On Possibilities of Union 280 ILLUSTRATIONS T. E. Schmauk Frontispiece FACING PAGE Benj amin W. Schmauk 1 Wilhelmina Schmauk 1 Benjamin F. Schmauk 1 Boyhood Pictures 9 Old Church and Historic Willow Tree 13 Student at the University 33 Student in the Seminary 33 The Old Parsonage Built in 1800 37 Old Salem Church 37 Interior of Old Salem Church ^ 37 Associate Pastors of Salem Church , 39 Lebanon in the Forties 41 St. Paul's, Annville, and the Missions 47 Salem Parsonage 53 Chancellor Schmauk and His Department Heads, 1895 61 Mt. Gretna Chautauqua Faculty, 1896 61 Pennsylvania German Society Seal 66 A Face Familiar to Children 81 Common Service Book Committee on Completion of Work.. 83 As a Public Speaker 101 A Welcome Service for Returned Soldiers 105 Interior of Old Salem Church, 1898, at Centennial Anniversary 109 Salem Memorial Chapel Ill Interior of New Salem 113 President of the Pennsylvania German Society 117 President of the General Council 117 Professor, Mt. Airy 165 President, Minneapolis 165 Pastor, Lebanon 165 The Philadelphia Seminary Faculty, 1914 183 The German Student Association of the Theological Seminary 189 Ways and Means Committee for Organization of United Lutheran Church 207 CHAPTER I The Schmauk Antecedents People will not look forimrd to posterity, who never look backzmrd to their ancestry. — Burke. THE more immediate forebears of the Schmauk family, as known in America, hailed from Wuertemburg, Germany. In 1819, seven years after the Napoleonic wars, two brothers, in company with a considerable band of emigrants from that section, sailed from Holland on the vessel Susquehanna and landed in Philadelphia. They were Johann Gottfried and Benjamin Friedrich Schmauk. The former, being the elder of the two, then twenty-seven years of age, was the leader of the band and the purser of the vessel. A parchment of paper, well preserved, contains the names of sixty-five male emigrants on board the vessel, together with the amounts of money each had paid the purser. They are written in fine, legible style. The elder brother was a born teacher (as also were his father and another brother in Germany) and in addition a high-grade musi- cian, the author of "Schmauk's Harmonic." He had been engaged as the head of the parochial school of Zion and St. Michael's Church, Philadelphia, of which the eloquent and learned Dr. Demme was then pastor. He was also the organist. Among his distinguished pupils in that school were Gottlieb F. Krotel and Ben- jamin W. Schmauk, both well-known clerg}'men in the Pennsylvania Ministerium. He was a man of great force of character and well-known in the Church. B 2 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Benjamin Friedrich who was only nineteen years old when he came to this country, was of a somewhat differ- ent type, being sturdy and thrifty but less assertive and aggressive. Besides being a barber, he was somewhat of a surgeon, doing cupping and leeching, and perform- ing some minor operations. He was a man of genial disposition and quite domestic and affectionate. A well- preserved parchment shows that as soon as the laws permitted, he applied to the Philadelphia court and be- came a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1825. This parchment is his naturalization paper, which is now one of the family heirlooms. His wife, Theresa, was a very active and vivacious woman, and a leading member of Zion Church. She died in 1875, shortly after the celebration of their golden wed- ding anniversary. When in 1844, the well-known scholar and church his- torian. Dr. Philip Schaff, came to America, he carried a letter of introduction from the parents of Wm. Julius Mann in Germany to Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Schmauk, to whose fireside he was most cordially welcomed. The Manns and the Schmauks in Germany were related by marriage; and when later, upon the earnest solicitation of Dr. Schaff, William Julius Mann, his intimaite and life-long friend, came to this country to serve a German congregation of the Reformed Church in Philadelphia, he naturally bore a letter from his parents to the Schmauks in whose home he met with a warm recep- tion. There sprang up between him and the Schmauk family a lasting friendship, made doubly strong and inti- mate because of kinship. To them were born two sons and a daughter — Benjamin, Emanuel and Theresa (who became the wife of Mr. Robert Otto, a cousin of Dr. THE SCHMAUK ANTECEDENTS 3 Mann). Because of Dr. Mann's ability as a preacher, the well-known Dr. Demme, recognized far and wide as the most eloquent preacher in Pennsylvania, feeUng his need of an assistant in the Zion-St. Michael's parish, saw to it that a call was extended to the young preacher and he thus became the pastor of the Schmauk family. Benjamin William, father of the subject of this sketch, was born on October 26, 1828. After attending the paro- chial school of Zion Church, he passed through the Philadelphia Grammar and High Schools and from his sixteenth to his twentieth year served an apprenticeship at silver-plating. Both Drs. Demme and Mann recog- nized in this serious and devout young man the promise of a useful career in the ministry and induced him to prepare for the holy office. Dr. Mann at once offered his services as preceptor and he became his first theo- logical student. He later entered the theological semi- nary at Gettysburg, and after a brief course of study in that institution, he returned to Philadelphia and finished his preparation under Dr. Mann and was ordained in Reading in 1853. He immediately accepted a call to Zion Church, Lancaster, Pa. Four years later, on the 25th day of June, 1857, he was married to Wilhelmina Catherine Hingel, of Philadelphia, Dr. Mann officiating. The wife's father died while she was quite young. The mother, a bright, vivacious woman, was a very devoted member of Zion Church and an enthusiastic worker of the Frauenverein, and one of the founders of the Orphans' Home at Germantown. She is still recalled by members of Salem Church, Lebanon, Pa., where she often visited, as a person full of wit and humor, of social, jovial dis- position and noted for her hearty laugh,— a reminder of 4 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Dr. Theodore Schmauk's well-known and hearty out- burst of laughter. Benjamin W. Schmauk was a modest, serious, devout minister of the Gospel whose life did honor to his pro- fession. Although timid and retiring, he yet was cour- ageous, and ever stood up manfully for his convictions and for the defense of the faith. He was conscientious and devoted, and a veritable Nathanael in whom was no guile. He cared naught for honors, and thrice refused the title of Doctor of Divinity. To please God and serve Him faithfully was his life purpose. There was a rich vein of humor in this serious-minded servant of God ; but it had to be called into play by others, and Drs. Krotel and Schantz found no difficulty in giving it full vent. His wife, Wilhelmina Catherine, was the type of virtu- ous woman described in the last chapter of Proverbs. She proved to be an ideal wife and mother, deeply con- cerned in the management of her home. She knew well how to perform her duties as helpmeet in the work of the parish. Undemonstrative and unassuming, she moved among her people with a poise and a wisdom that easily won their respect and confidence. Few parents wielded a greater moulding influence and power upon the lives of their children than did they. As will thus be seen, the entire Schmauk family, both husbands and wives, were reared in old Zion and St. Michael's Church, at a period when the parish was in its most flourishing condition. With two such distin- guished preachers as Drs. Demme and Mann, this twin congregation with its two church buildings in close prox- imity was recognized as easily the leading parish in the "Old Mother Synod." The impress of the robust spir- itual life of "Old Zion's," under its distinguished leader- THE SCHMAUK ANTECEDENTS 5 ship, was indelibly stamped upon the whole Schmauk lineage, and it proved to be a decisive factor in furnish- ing Lancaster, Allentown, Lebanon and the whole Luth- eran Church in this country with two Lutheran pastors and leaders whose names will not soon be forgotten. CHAPTER II Birth and Boyhood (1860 to 1876) The child is father of the man, And J could wish my years fa be Born each to each by natural piety. — Wordsworth. IN the Schmauk homestead at Lancaster, Pa., while serving the parish known as Zion Lutheran Church, there was born on May 30th, 1860, to Benjamin William and Wilhelmina Catherine (Hingel) Schmauk a son, who at his baptism shortly thereafter was given a name expressive of the parents' gratitude to God and prophetic of the child's future dedication to His service. He was called Theodore Emanuel. He was a very sen- sitive and high-strung child, active, alert and of an un- usually mature and inquiring mind. In 1864, the father accepted a call to the Salem parish in Lebanon and vicin- ity, and about five years thereafter the son took sick with scarlet fever, and his life hung on a thread for some days making full recovery extremely doubtful. At the same time, his sister, Theresa, about two years his junior, was prostrated with the same disease and her life, too, was despaired of. Both recovered, but the traces of their sicknesses were never fully wiped out in after life. His nerves were easily affected throughout life by jars of any kind, such as noises, loud talking and conflicting emotions, and he would at times suffer with sinking spells there- from. Already as a child he was a veritable storehouse of BIRTH AND BOYHOOD X nervous energy — active and anxious to assist his mother whatever her tasks might be. His frequent illnesses and the kindly nursing he received made him dependent upon a mother's love. He kept her busy answering questions or devising means whereby to keep him employed. He thus moved within the radius of her life and influence so completely as to feel a strong sense of dependence upon her tender ministrations which clung to him in his maturer years. It is rare that a youth is watched with more studied and solicitous care by parents than was he. How deeply the father's affection had centered around the life of his little son is revealed by a letter to his wife, dated Nov. 16, 1861, when she had taken her seventeen months' old boy on a visit to her mother's home in Phila- delphia. He writes: "I am beginning to forget how he (little Theodore) looks. It is therefore high time that he should come back. I have been dreaming about him these several nights and I have been think- ing if he should be taken from us, how much like a dream would his whole existence be to us in after times. Fearful to think of it, and yet possible. The Lord spare us and spare him." There was law and order in the Schmauk household, but there was also love. His younger sister, Emma, writes : "My parents were exceptionally strict, but at the same time most loving and self-sacrificing. Brother and Sister (Theresa) were never allowed to be on the street, or out in the evening later than eight o'clock, until Brother went away to school. Eight o'clock was the bed hour. To me as the youngest they were a little more lenient in this respect. However strict they were, they tried their best to make home a happy place and took the greatest interest in their children." The parents became his companions to an exceptional de- gree, and yet realized that he must not be cloistered and 8 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK thus prevented from mingling freely with boys of his own age. Consequently a place was fitted up in the rear of the parsonage to which his favorite companions were invited, and thus amid healthful surroundings and proper safeguards all that was needed to give vent to youthful energy and playfulness was provided. The playground soon became known as "Schmauk's Park." A fountain and water-works, a rookery and other rustic fixtures, a carpenter shop for the manufacture of all sorts of in- genious devices, made the rear yard a beehive of youth- ful industry. Playfulness was not foreign to his nature. When his parents made visits to members in the country, he was sure to make friends with the little folks of the house- hold, and invariably he would organize them into a con- gregation and then preach to them. Thus early in his youth, one could readily discern what would be his life-calling in after years. The young Theodore was fond of carpentry and exer- cised his tastes in this direction to the full. Brackets (some of them still to be seen), wall pockets, sewing boxes, picture frames, electric battery, and even a phreno- logical apparatus, were the creation of this youthful me- chanic. He made good use of a magic lantern and also of a printery. In the front of the parsonage, a lodgment was fitted up between the branches of a horse-chestnut tree, and the passersby could frequently see the young boy, with book in hand, securely nestled there. YOUNG SCHMAUK AT SCHOOL In a conference with several of his early schoolmates, we learned that in school and on the streets he was known as a budding youth quite different from the usual r.ovitoon ricn-R. BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 9 type of school-boy at his age. While he became a leader among his schoolmates in such recreations as playing sol- dier and the like, his fondness for books and knowledge manifested itself quite early. It is needless to say that he stood at the head of his classes and was a favorite among the teachers. "So much so," one of his school- mates informs us, "that we boys were jealous of him." He found it desirable at times to join them in mischiev- ous pranks to win their good will. However, when taken to task, he was too conscientious to take refuge in lies or subterfuge and was prompt in acknowledging the wrong-doing. His favorite sport was to play soldier, and his resourcefulness as organizer and leader made it inevi- table that he should be the captain of the little com- pany he had organized. In fact, he was always a leader, for his aggressiveness made it difficult for him to be a mere follower. Often there was rivalry and things did not run smoothly, as a letter to one of his mates in which he pleads for reconciliation shows. The older members of Salem still remember him as a timid child — so timid that it was with difficulty that he could be induced to attend the infant school. He watched with dread the sexton's long pole with which to keep the children w^ell behaved. This timidity clung to him throughout his early school life. He was marked as a model boy, polite and respectful, never inclined to rough- ness or boorishness. And yet he was full of hfe and energ}', ever ready to take a leading part in any amuse- ment that struck his fancy. He was industrious, and ex- ceptionally eager to know things. When he visited in the country and saw the people churning butter, he had to know all about it. When water was brought to Leba- non, he ascertained all the facts and, gathering together 12 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK He would often watch the girls while playing croquet ; but it was with difficulty that they induced him to join. When on one occasion the ice was broken, he became quite interested in the group and a few days thereafter he displayed a little gallantry by presenting six of them with colored mica eye-glasses which he Ihimself had manufactured. However, he was somewhat embarrassed when he discovered that there were seven girls waiting to receive them, instead of six. When the seventh girl snatched one of the glasses away from another, it drew from young Schmauk a frown of disapproval and he became profuse in promising the disappointed girl a finer pair of glasses than the one she was deprived of. He kept his promise; but as for keeping up the friendly as- sociations, there was little hope, for he soon lost him- self in study or other amusements. This aversion to social intercourse characterized him throughout life. He could feel comfortable only in the presence of both women and men who impressed him as being natural, sincere, true, genuine. He disliked mere conventionality. CONFIRMED AT FIFTEEN His confirmation in 1875, when he was fifteen years of age, impressed him profoundly as marking a distinct era in his life. He kept in his possession a clear outline of the sermon preached on that occasion, and letters ad- dressed some years later to a friend who had also been confirmed in Salem Church show how clear was his conception of the significance of baptism and of what it meant to be a Christian. His diary while at Swatara Institute contains the following resolutions : "1. To give one-"s, "determined to absorb myself in theo- D 34 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK logical study and let outside matters alone." He had hardly made a fair beginning in carrying out this pur- pose when on October 28th he took sick with a severe attack of typhoid malaria. For many days his "mind was almost a vacuum," he says. His mother, who nursed him through many an illness before, was summoned to Phila- delphia and under her watchful care he recovered suf- ficiently to be able to return to his home at Allentown, several weeks before Christmas, to recuperate. He re- signed as editor of The Indicator and as senior librar- ian. The former resignation was accepted, but the lat- ter not. DR. KRAUTH'S DEATH Hardly had he been settled in his home environment when, on January 2, 1883, news of the death of his re- vered teacher and model theologian. Dr. Krauth, reached him. All he can say in his Diary is, "During my stay at Allentown, Dr. Krauth, my dear professor, died." Though not unexpected, it proved to be a severe shock to him, and though not fully recovered, he must attend his funeral. Unfortunately, the weather proved to be most unfavorable and to pay his last respects to his great teacher was denied him. He, however, paid his tribute to him in the next issue of The Indicator and under much difficulty wrote his "In Memoriam." We shall here allow Dr. Jacobs to repeat the words he spoke at the Schmauk memorial service at the Seminary and as printed in the Lutheran Church Revieiv which appeared in the summer of 1920: "It is interesting to read his tribute to Dr. Krauth as 'an ideal teacher for an ideal student.' He did not mean it so, but we all know who that 'ideal student' was. 'Hundreds of times,' he writes, 'that, in response to his teacher's challenge, he had raised ob- STUDENT AT SEMINARY 35 jections and provoked debates in the classroom, only in every case, to find every difficulty removed! Was it a wonder that this 'ideal teacher' ibecame his ideal as a teacher when he found like 'ideal pupils' sitting at his feet? Those who knew the eminent teacher can read that teacher's mind back of the utterance of the pupil in his student days : 'We believe in circumferences, but we must first find and possess ourselves of a center; then only,' i. e., after the center is once found, 'may we say that there can be no true center without a circumference.' We can almost see the dignified form of tlie beloved teacher turning with tottering steps to the library-room on Franklin Street, after the exhausting duties of the day's work at University and Seminary were over, seeking the association of the youthful librarian, and then, again, the youthful librarian hastening to West Philadelphia with his many wonderful day-dreams for the library and the Seminary, to be revised and censored by an older head. The Indicator, which he started to further these interests, bore as its motto on the cover : 'Keep that which is committed to thy trust' It pleaded for a 'Professorship of Sacred Oratory :' and that professorship came. It urged a thorough re-arrangement and re-classification of the library ; and he was promptly commissioned to undertake it. Then the cry was raised for the removal of the Seminary to the suburbs, where a group of buildings on ample grounds might be- come the center of the ever-growing life of the Church. Not many years passed before he was destined to see all these visions of his Seminary Days realized." Early in the new year of 1883, he returned to the Seminary and took up his work with renewed enthu- siasm. He was soon able to supply pulpits and thus awaken hopes in not a few churches that they might win as their prize this promising youthful preacher. He, however, became absorbed in his studies and gave little thought about his future. The two sad experiences of his last year at the Seminary made him deeply serious. Dr. Mann, who sought to impress upon the hearts of every out-going class their need of a completer surren- 36 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK der to their Lord and of a fuller realization of the mean- ing of their future calling (and at times with tears), was at his best in one of his recitations, and we read in Schmauk's Diary these words : "At an hour in Ethics, Dr. Mann made, I hope, a lasting impression on us stu- dents — telling us we must have a spiritual life of our own, must not mix too much with the world but look at every- thing from the Christian point of view. He was very earnest." He was not alone in feeling the force of Dr. Mann's influence in quickening the spiritual life of his students and deepening their consecration. Interior ov ( )i,n Sai.km Church CHAPTER V His Early Pastorate As Associate OF His Father (1883-1898) The fttinister of Christ will manifest Christ in the strength of indiindjtality. He will not follow the stream whichever way it leads. From the cut of his coat to the formation of his opinion, from the most tt'ifling act to the weightiest decision, he will not do only as others do. He will not dread being in a tninority. He will not become a mere reflection, an echo, a shadow of those with whom he mingles. He ztnll not imitate either preacher or thinker. Rooted firmly in the Word, he will develop and pro- ceed in his oziti way, as God intended he should. — Schmauk. THIS promising luminary became widely known before his graduation as a valiant son of the Church who had already won his spurs, and seven doors for future service were thrown open to him which he was strongly urged to enter. He had the choice of entering the educational sphere at Augustana College, Rock Island, 111., as professor of English and Philosophy, or taking up journalistic work as editor of The Lutheran in case Dr. Reuben Hill should succeed in becoming its owner, or of accepting one of five calls to congre- gations. Already during his convalescence from illness in December, 1882, he was approached from several sides to commit himself as to his future field of labor, at Allentown the questions were — prematurely and un- and he writes : in regard to my "While future 38 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK fortunately as father and I thought — sprung upon me. Rev. Hill said he would try to buy out The Lutheran and give me half its profits, if I would run it as editor. Conclusion: I was too young, father had educated me to preach and I had no pastoral experience; this would have made a business man of me." "Professor Weidner, in from Augustana College on a Christmas trip, said I must by no means bind myself down in the east until I had received a call to Augustana as professor of English literature and of Christianity. (The title was changed later as above). Esbjorn (his classmate), Weidner and I would be to- gether. The field is glorious and unlimited in extent. Conclusion : — probably negative, because my constitu- tion could not stand the work, the mode of life, and because of the opposition of my dear mother." The mother well knew that owing to his delicate health, he would be helpless away from home in case of sickness. Colonel Horn, father of the late Dr. E. T. Horn, with the aid of the Rev. J. D. Schindel, importuned him to have an open mind for Trinity Church, Catasauqua, Pa., and St. John's Church, Coplay, to be formed into one parish. As soon as he returned to the Seminary in January, 1883, as he notes in his diary, "Sandt tried to impress me with the duty of going to Camden (Epiphany.)" With St. Stephen's in mind. Dr. Mann advised : "Don't fasten yourself anywhere. I have plans for you in West Philadelphia." Later in the year, he was approached by Dr. S. P. Sadtler, then a member of St. Stephen's, and urged to accept the call to that congregation, at one time served by Dr. Krauth. When spring came, two more calls were at hand to EARLY PASTORATE 39 be considered, — one from St. Paul's, Brooklyn, and an- other from Salem Church, Lebanon, the latter to both father and son. On April 6th, he notes in his diary : "I went home to decide with father. After great anxiety, Providence seemed to indicate Lebanon. I so informed all parties." Thus the die was cast for Lebanon, and on the morn- ing of July 1, 1883, the father preached his introductory sermon; and in the evening, the son discoursed on the text which he had adopted as the motto of The Indicator : "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust" — a text that was later to find rich fulfilment in his own case as preacher, teacher, editor, administrator and author in the defense of the faith. It was almost inevitable that father and son should decide in favor of Salem Church, Lebanon. It was home to both as no other place could be. Twelve years of the younger Schmauk's boyhood were spent there. Strong ties of friendship had been formed. Contrary to the adage that "a prophet hath no honor in his own coun- try," the whole Schmauk family was welcomed with open arms. Then, too, did not "Old Salem" have an honored history? With such pastors and leaders as John Caspar Stoever, Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg (speaker of the first and third Congresses of the United States), George Lochman and Dr. Krotel on its roll of minis- ters, there was an added drawing power in this call to Lebanon. From the parents' point of view, the will of Provi- dence was correctly interpreted. Not only did his deli- cate constitution need the watchful care of the best nurse, to him, in the world, — a wise and loving mother — but his absorption in parish work and in his studies became 40 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK such as to render him dependent upon a mother's over- sight. In fact, he remained a "mother's boy" to the end of his days, and after his elder sister and both parents had passed away, he leaned upon his younger sis- ter as upon a mother. Independent thinker and origina- tive genius that he was, he in his formative years leaned upon the wisdom and counsel of his father, and was in the highest sense a father's boy. Dr. Knubel spoke more truth than fiction, when at the Schmauk memorial service held in the Seminary chapel he likened this man of mas- sive mind and spiritual power to a child, for the funda- mental quality of his character was childlikeness. LEBANON A PARADISE Many have wondered why this many-sided and re- sourceful genius could not afterwards be enticed away from Lebanon. The very roots of his life were imbed- ded in its soil. It mattered little that leaders in the Church urged him to become professor in the Chicago Seminary in 1894, or later its president upon the death of Dr. Weidner, or president of Muhlenberg College upon the death of Dr. Seip, or professor of Apologetics in the Theological Seminary at Mt. Airy; for he was rooted like a tree to his native soil, and he waived aside all sug- gestions of what others might have believed to be a pos- sible wider usefulness which meant separation from dear old Lebanon and especially from the active pastorate. He would have been ready to go anywhere, ready to make any sacrifice, had he felt that it was God's will. Mere sentiment counted little with him. But what he needed to make him useful to his Church in the largest possible sense was home anchorage. In his uncertain state of health, this he could not have had away from his EARLY PASTORATE 41 parental home. There was his workshop from which he could reach out in all directions to serve in the many spheres to which he became tied. That study on the third floor, with a secretary and a stenographer at hand to do his corresi>ondence, read his proofs, keep the many threads of his literary activities together, and arrange and assort and preserve for use material he was constantly gathering, became a veritable beehive of industry. It was his citadel or mountain fastness from which it would have proved most painful for him to be dislodged. Mov- ing would have been a most distressing ordeal. He notes in his diary on one occasion his utter discomfiture when house-cleaning invaded his sanctuary. To set things in order exhausted him far more than days and weeks of the intensest mental work. Then, too, he had become deeply rooted in the historic environment of that section. He lived in its past and was anchored there as fully as in his home life. That whole section became endeared to him. In an address before the graduating class of the Leba- non High School in 1913, he speaks glowingly of it as follows : "Lebanon County is God's temporal Paradise — not fat with tobacco land as is Lancaster on its south, nor lean with gravels and coal measures as is Schuylkill on its north. Can you any- where match this great and grand landscape of ours, a cross- section of the longest valley in the world, the Kittatinny, extending from Vermont in the north to Georgia in the south; and stretch- ing across Pennsylvania from the Susquehanna on the west to the Delaware on the east, with the steady sky-line of the Blue Ridge bounding the north, and the South Mountain, broken away at Millbach and replaced by the new red sandstone furnace hills of Conewago on the south? What variety of scenery is com- pressed into this small palm of God's hand!" 42 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK "The pioneers from the castle-crowned ridges of the Palatinate, coming into the hills and meadows to our east, thought so, and they named that eastern township after their own beloved land, Heidelberg." "The Moravians, friendly to the Indians and their fastnesses, and seeking security from old world persecution, thought so, — and they named the great township to the north of us, stretching clear to the gaps and the pinnacles of the Blue Ridge, with its great beds of slate, Bethel — House of God — and the pasture land of the country, Hebron." "The North Germans, viewing the high rolling heaths and great foothills that led them to think of the approach, as to their own Harz Mountains, thought so, — and they named the township of the northwest Hanover." "The mountain folk of Scotland, who had immigrated hither by way of northern Ireland, were reminded, by the rising and the breaking ground and the scenes along the Swatara toward its mouth, and the concentrating of the hills toward the northwest, of their own old home, and they called the township Londonderry." He then speaks of "the rich meadow regions of the Millbach, pasture lands watered by brooklets, and in the center the Tulpe- hocken, the flower-land where the turtle wooeth; and the Quitta- pahilla, the valley's bottom-cut of limestone, out of which there bubbled up into the marshes above hundreds of tiny springs." Then coming nearer and nearer to Lebanon he speaks of the "miniature and agricultural Switzerland" of which it is the center. He recalls incidents in its history which would entitle it to cele- brate more than one centennial— the Salem Church building, for instance, being at that time more than a century old. He pictures the Palatines, driven from the valley of the Schoharie, on their journey to the head waters of the Tulpehocken to the fertile meadows and hilltops near Lebanon which were made "to blossom as the rose." Who would leave a Paradise like that, so rich in sacred memories of a sturdy pioneer race? EARLY PASTORATE 43 EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS The first sermon of the younger preacher struck a re- sponsive chord and awakened bright hopes and expecta- tions among the people of "Old Salem." It made them feel that a new era was upon them. In the father they recognized a man to be esteemed and revered ; in the son, a man to be admired and applauded. It was a happy combination of progressive conservatism on the one hand, and enthusiastic (yet conservative) progressive- ness on the other. There was an atmosphere of optimism and expectancy created from the start, and later events proved that it was there to stay. Three weeks had passed, when the hand of death was laid upon the enfeebled Grandfather Schmauk, with whom the younger Schmauk had made his home for two years while a student at the University, and who had become a member of the Schmauk family in his declin- ing years. Strong attachments had been formed. "Oh, how dearly I loved him !" is on record in the diary as the outburst of love from the soul of his grandson Theo- dore. Another death occurred less than a year la.ter when after a brief visit to Lebanon, his grandmother on the maternal side, with whom and whose daughter he had sojourned five years and who was affectionately called "Ma," passed away. He says of her: "She was more than an ordinary grandmother to me, taking a deep inter- est in my personal welfare, helping me along in many ways (financially also), always ready and anxious to listen to the story of my troubles and my triumphs. I see few like her — vivacious, cheerful, sympathetic, pious. She was glad to die." This same heart broke out in accents of deepest grief 44 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK when nine years later his beloved and frail sister Theresa unexpectedly died and was brought home from Chicago, whither she had gone to regain her health under special medical care. Letters reached her in quick succession breathing the most tender affection and sympathy. He sought to encourage and cheer her in every possible man- ner, of which the following is a characteristic sample : My Own Dearest, Sweetest Little Sister: I wish you such a peaceful and restful Christmas. Do not let the fact that you are away from home interfere with you. For soon after Christmas comes Easter, that brightest of all the Church Festivals, in the beautiful season of Spring, and long before that time you will be with us again, to celebrate it. Then the grass will begin to grow green, and the beautiful flowers will reappear, and the sunshine which you enjoy so much will be here in floods. But Christmas is a beautiful Festival, too. How far away our dear Saviour went from his Father's House on that day, to live and suffer in this world here for thirty-three years before He could return again. How glad we are that He has been in the world. He is more to us than laurel, pine or holly. He not only ornaments, but he saves. How we can rest in Him, and how close He seems to us in the Christ-child, as a little babe. He is not so far above us that way. It is now so long since we have heard from you, and your dear mother and the rest of us are longing so much for a letter from our dear one. We are thinking of her all the time, especially at this season. We have made very few preparations for Christ- mas as yet. Now Good Bye, My Dear, Dear, Darling Sister. This is not the whole of my Christmas letter, but only the first installment. Sick people ought not eat a whole nice cake at once, but only a little at a time. So I thought I would send my Christmas letter "a little at a time." Now laugh a little, and let the sun shine in your heart. Your Very Own Most Affectionate Brother, THEODORE Wednesday Night EARLY PASTORATE 45 During his sister's stay, he prepared a neat little brochure entitled "Heart Broken," which was intended as a gift to her. When he learned of her death, a poem was wrung from his soul, and the following in- scription in the book appears : "For thy surprise and comfort this book came into being. And thou hast not seen it." The real Schmauk lies hidden in these strong attachments. AN ERA OF EXPANSION With characteristic enthusiasm and thoroughness, the young associate pastor took hold of the work of the parish, interesting himself particularly in the young peo- ple. When the catechetical class was organized in the fall, he had the catechumens come to the parsonage in five small and separate groups at diflferent hours to stimu- late and assist them in mastering the Catechism. He had made a thorough study of the best catechetical litera- ture and there speedily appeared his "Outlines for Cate- chetical Instruction," published in 1892. At that time, Ingersoll had been lecturing and was much advertised in the papers, and he determined to counteract his influence. In December he made a trip to Philadelphia to avail himself of the necessary litera- ture with which to make a thorough study of atheism and preached "two immensely laborious sermons," as he says, to crowded churches. The local papers con- tained lengthy extracts of the sermons, which made a most favorable impression. About this time, hypnotism had become the sensation of the hour and a strong ser- mon was preached with telling eflfect, which appeared in full in the daily papers. Two thousand copies were printed in pamphlet form and the edition was exhausted in a very short time. He at once sprang into prominence 46 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK in the city as a man of light and leading and as Lebanon's favorite preacher.* At picnics of the Sunday School and the Young Peo- ple's Society, he planned all the amusements in elaborate detail. That of the former he pronounces a "grand suc- cess" and of the latter he says that "he got them all to go home in the evening without any dancing." He attended institutes and Sunday School conventions faith- fully and became favorably known as a speaker and leader wherever he went. He soon sprang into favor among the Lebanon people irrespective of denominational affiliation, and afterwards became their most prominent and honored citizen. MISSIONS, CHAPELS, AND PASTORAL WORK After the (two pastors had become fully anchored in their parish, it became evident to both that as soon as the renovating of the old church building should be com- pleted, plans must be laid for the expansion of Lutheran- ism in Lebanon and vicinity. So in December, 1884, we read : "Presented a plan for three missions in Lebanon and got it through Council, and on second Christmas, through the congregation." Accordingly, steps were taken to bring to realization these plans and in 1885 Sun- day Schools were started in North Lebanon (which in 1890 became Trinity Church under the care of Rev. Frank M. Seip, son of President Seip of Muhlenberg Col- lege), and in Cornwall. In the latter place, the Junior pastor did much hard work looking up members, trudging over the hills weary and footsore. Those were strenu- * At a fair held jointly by the P. O. S. of A. and the local Band, a raw silk upholstered easy chair was offered as a prize to the minister of the city who should receive the largest vote. He proved to be the favored one, but promptly "declined the gift on principle," as he noites in his Diary. It added considerably to his prestige. St. Paul's. Annvilue, and the Missions EARLY PASTORATE 47 ous days and the exhaustion due to his labors was in large measure responsible for his severe illness in 1889. A congregation at Annville was under the care of the two pastors, and in 1889 a mission in East Lebanon (which later became St. James' Church) was organized. In 1891 another mission school was started at Sunnyside. By 1886, Trinity mission and the Cornwall mission had two inviting chapels. By November, 1890, St. James' had a chapel, and a year later, a church building was turned over for use to the Sunnyside mission. This kept the young preacher busy, not only with the construction of the chapels, every detail of which he looked after, but also with pastoral visits, and with three or four addresses every Sunday besides his ser- mons. After all this successful work, it is not be won- dered at that later he was urged by Dr. Seiss, Chair- man of the Philadelphia Mission Committee, to become a sort of general missionary in that city. He declined, believing that he was not fitted for that kind of work and that it would abridge his usefulness in the future. He was both mistaken and correct. Had he undertaken mission work, he would have eminently succeeded, but it would have been at the cost of his much wider use- fulness. As a pastor, he was very active. In his visitations of the sick he was most conscientious and faithful — and sympathetic to a marked degree. One of his members laid up with a serious disease relates that he braved a ter- rible blizzard when few people dared to venture out of doors, in order to bring the comforts of the Gospel to the sick man. That heroic act of devotion is gratefully and admiringly remembered to this day. Similar in- stances are mentioned by the older members of Salem. 48 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK He did much pastoral work previous to organizing his catechetical classes. In later years when he was presi- dent of the General Council and, after an illness, he notes in his diary a day's itinerary that covered a large part of Lebanon, looking up catechumens for his class, and after the long and tedious tramp says, "I seemed to suffer no ill effects." CHAPTER VI Literary Activities Begin Style is the gossamer on which the seeds of truth float through the world. In cultivating the form, we should not separate it from the substance. True art, the most perfect form, it has been said, w nothing less than the clearest and most transparent appear- ance of the substance. — Schniauk. "THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH" EARLY in 1885, there appeared in one of the local papers a brief article entitled "The Village Blacksmith." The writer pictures himself as a retired blacksmith who can no longer "make the flame roar and the sparks fly," but in whose heart there glows a fire. "If I no longer forge the red hot iron, there is still an anvil on which I can make the sparks fly." This blacksmith was none other than the youthful preacher of Salem. He did make the sparks fly. He had come to Lebanon to make an impress not only on the life of a parish but on the life of a city and a county. On his anvil he forged many a weapon with which to deal blows at the enemy. "H the strokes of my pen are not as heavy as the blows of my hammer, they are not as clumsy either, and I can still hit hard and quick." One would expect from this a caustic, cynical critic of the Carlyle type ; but far from it. He criticizes rather like an Addison. There is plenty of good nature and pleasantry in it all. When a new mayor is elected, he expects him to "do something" worth celebrating a cen- tury hence; he wants the city run as "a business" and not -to please the politicians; he wants more genuine "public spirit;" he lauds Mr. Coleman for putting Leba- E 50 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK noil's mountain of iron into the melting pot to make it serviceable to mankind. Then he tells us all about coke ; all about tallow candles and electric lights ; all about the planting of trees on Arbor Day ; all about the "household slave," the "meddlesome gadabout," — he had little use for the loquacious talker or gossip — and the "j aunty- coquette," — he had much less use for the painted butrer- fly or society woman, punctilious about ceremony but deficient in sincerity and life purpose. He whips up Lebanon enterprise and shames citizens for allowing nails and horseshoes to be bought at Pittsburgh when iron is so plentiful near by; and clothing and other articles to be bought from John Wanamaker when some Wana- maker should be born in Lebanon. He points out eye- sores in Lebanon streets and Lebanon buildings. He touches up Lebanon history ; he wants his readers to take pride in the city and in its past. When sick and indisposed for a time, he reappears and informs his read- ers that something has happened to him akin to what happens to a. blacksmith when he shoes a horse and gets kicked. In all these papers, we see the budding citizen who later took so prominent a part in shaping the life and policies of the city. "HEART GLOW" Hardly had the fires of the "Village Blacksmith" died out, when a new and different fire was kindled in June, 1887, and the sparks on the anvil made to fly through the columns of The Lutheran. Under the title of "Heart Glow Papers," there appeared the first entitled, "O Press, Art Thou So Great?" In it he complains that "the news- paper is usurping the functions of the Bench, the Pulpit and the School." Then follows, for two and a half years, a series of nearly a hundred articles on a great LITERARY ACTIVITIES 51 variety of subjects. Here the vein is more serious than in "Village Blacksmith." It is often idyllic and idealistic, and reveals a studied effort to cultivate literary style. But in the main these effusions, while full of the play of the imagination, are most stimulating and suL'gestive. Others again are highly informing and reveal a knowl- edge of facts and history above the ordinary. Still oth- ers show a deep and intelligent appreciation of Church events and problems. In a lengthy article on "Why Music Moves Us," his mind already runs in a channel that prepares us for his "Voice in Speech and Song," which appeared in 1890, passed through five editions, and received unqualified commendation in dozens of periodicals from Boston to San Francisco. The Graphic of Chicago condensed the thought of most of them when it said: "A man who is able to write a treatise conveying accurate scientific knowledge to an average unscientific reader, in a manner which clothes the dry bones of fact with flesh and color, is possessed of an admirable faculty." In another article, suggested by an experience he had had on a train with a charming conversationalist, he forecasts what appeared in a publication of his in 1889 entitled, "Charms and Secrets of Good Conversation." Dr. Krotel said of it: "I am ready to pronounce it one of the most charming, fresh and original essays I have read in a long time." Looking over the list of many re- views outside of the Lutheran Church, one finds that Dr. Krotel spoke for nearly all of them. Dr. Trumbull of the Sunday School Times praised it highly. This book speedily passed through its ninth thousand. Readers of the Heart Glow Papers were always sure 52 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK to be treated with the unexpected. Now they read of "The Much Resounding Sea;" now of "Bad Breeding in Church"; now of a "Bunch of Synodical Roses;" now of "Star Gazers;" now of "Booming the Muhlenberg Centennial ;" now of "Sensitive People ;" now of the "Devil's Lawyers ;" now of "Velvets and Plushes ;" now of an "Unsatisfactory Pastorate." Every now and then he plunges into history. Before the Synod met in Lan- caster that year more than three pages of The Lutheran tell the story of the City's birth and youth and manhood. He tells first of all about its royal pretensions ; how "its very streets are blooded" — for does it not have a King's, a Queen's, a Duke's, a Prince's street? — how the Fathers failed "to induce Congress to locate the Capital of the United States at Lancaster ;" and finally how Old Trinity figured in the history of the Old Mother Synod, through its distinguished pastors. Later seventeen long articles on Japan appear. One reading them would not guess that the writer had never seen Japan. But he did see it through the eyes of several friends who wrote descrip- tive letters from the Sunrise Kingdom. There is something about these Heart Glow Papers — a novelty, an oddness, a freshness, a warmth and a charm — that makes the heart of the reader glow. You are in touch with a soul that burns with the fire of youthful energy and enthusiasm. CRITICAL AND ANXIOUS DAYS "So many worlds, so much to do, So little done." In October, 1889, the Heart Glow Papers suddenly ceased. The last one is dated October 24, 1889. On reading it one seems to feel that it suggests a premoni- tion of some impending physical breakdown. The above LITERARY ACTIVITIES 53 quotation is its theme. He then speaks of the many worlds in which in this life it is possible to live — the world of business, of custom and fashion, of art, of science, of mechanics, of philosophy, of amusements ; "the more important worlds" of history, of law, of love, of family life, of citizenship and the boundless world of books. Taking a glance at the last-named world, show- ing how he kept track of the literature of the day, he speaks of the September list of books, (as announced in "Dial" by American publishers) as including 28 books of biography and memoirs, 20 of history, 9 of political and social studies, 4 of economics and finance, 10 of lit- erary miscellany, 5 of reference, 26 of fiction, 11 of poetry, 10 of travel and observation, 5 of music and art, 6 of science and philosophy and hygiene, 14 of theology and religion, 3 of sporting, 5 miscellaneous, 43 holiday books, and 45 of juvenile literature. Looking into this world of many worlds, in none of which he was a stranger, he says : "All these possibili- ties and demands and claims, in all these many worlds of thought and action, press themselves upon every edu- cated or thoughtful young man of our age. Sometimes they press so hard as to crush." Then of the soul who yearns to enter them, he says : "The interruptions un- foreseen, possibly providential, which will hold him back, may affect the earnest struggling soul with cumulative force, and break the man in mind, in heart, in hopes, in health."* * Interruptions that broke into his routine of study or other work always proved most annoying to him. This explains why he never cared for vacations. Even while a student at the Seminary, he tries to explain why, when he is at home in the summer, he is dissatisfied. He then writes: "I have been very much perplexed to find the reason but never could explain until just now it struck me that my zvork and my duty are here." "When away from his work, a man is not in a normal state." When later, in mudi-impaired health, his physician urged the necessity of taking a vacation, he replied: "Why, I do take vacations when I travel to and from Philadelphia." 54 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK It was at this time that he became prostrated with typhoid fever. His Hfe hung in the balance for six weeks and was despaired of. Those were anxious days, not only for the family but for many of his friends in the synod and beyond. Prayers went up in his behalf when the conference to which he belonged met. Anxious in- quiries came in from all sides. He later noted in his diary : "I was very sick ; for 45 days without anything to eat." He recovered, but from that time on he ceased to be a well man. For three and a half years after this sick- ness, he suffered intensely from an open wound in his leg which was subject to swellings when not kept in a hori- zontal position. He used all sorts of bandages and appli- ances to find relief. This illness proved to be the beginning of a long series. He became extremely sensitive to colds and later in his ministry had one attack of grippe after another. These attacks came through exposure to the weather and through over-work, but chiefly from over- worry. He was subject also to severe attacks of indiges- tion. He was taken seriously sick with it when he acted as Chancellor at Mt. Gretna, some time in 1895 or 1896, and doubts as to his recovery were entertained. In 1902, he was so seriously sick that little hope for his life was cherished. In 1905, when acting as president of the General Coun- cil at Milwaukee he had to take refuge in the Passavant Hospital where, he says, "Dr. Waters saved my life." In 1909, he suffered from a serious case of obstruction of the bowels and barely escaped with his Hfe. In 1913 he was most seriously ill from the 9th of January to the middle of February with a similar attack of acute indigestion. In the years following, breakdowns were the rule rather LITERARY ACTIVITIES 55 ■than the exception. The colossal amount of work done by him in the last decade of his life was done by an in- valid of whom it could not be predicted from one day to another whether he would be in the land of the living. What sustained him in all his sicknesses was his in- domitable will. It kept his mind so completely riveted to his work as to make him more or less oblivious to sick- ness. He lived almost more out of the body than in the body. His mind refused to be bound to its physical environment and lost itself in his work. It was wedded more closely to his calling than to his body. DR. TRUMBULL AND THE SUNDAY SCHOOL TIMES In this period there grew up an intimacy between the young Lebanon preacher and the well-known Bible scholar and editor of the Sunday School Times, Dr. H. Clay Trumbull. This is well worthy of mention. That intimacy continued throughout Dr. Trumbull's life and had more than a little to do with Dr. Schmauk's later interest and development along lines of Sunday School work. He doubtless made the acquaintance of Dr. Trumbull while a student at the University where the latter at times delivered courses of lectures on Bible sub- jects. He wrote for the Sunday School Times as early as September 24, 1887, when a clear-cut discussion on "the dangers of illustration in teaching and preaching" appears. About a year later another illuminating ar- ticle on "The Teacher as a Student of Motives" is found in his scrap-book. A long correspondence between the two shows that the young literary adventurer was regularly contributing editorials for a series of years, probably up to the time of his father's death. A letter, dated March 29, 1889, 56 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK reads thus : "Your editorial on 'Dealings with Dear Ones' has won golden opinions from every side. A lady in this city, whose judgment I value, wrote and asked my permission to reprint it in tract form for private distri- bution. She deems it timely, admirable and strong. Mrs. Margaret Sangster, who is the new editor of Harper's Bazar, and whom you probably know as a poet and gen- eral writer, sent her special thanks to the writer of this editorial. I congratulate you." Less than a week later, Dr. Trumbull writes : "Did it ever occur to you that your life-work might be in this editorial field? Do you see no possibility of such a thing, I have wondered over it. I wonder whether you have." The influence which Dr. Trumbull wielded over him may be judged by many expressions of admiration that fell from his lips, and from frequent quotations of Dr. TrumibuU's sayings that had made a deep impression on him. Among these were two that we often heard him utter : "I always keep a big slice of infallibility on my editorial table ;" "There are times when a Christian must refuse to do good." By the former he simply meant to say that an editor should be so sure of his ground that he never need take anything back. By the latter he meant, that there are often movements set on foot and methods adopted to accomplish certain worthy ends which forbid a Christian from taking part. There was probably no one outside of the Lutheran Church whose influence upon his character was more potent than that of Dr. Trumbull, with perhaps the single exception of Dr. Thompson, his favorite teacher. He received from him much inspiration, not only in the way of quickening his interest in Sunday School work but also in encouraging a thorough study of the Bible and LITERARY ACTIVITIES 57 the critical problems connected with its text and his- tory. Dr. Trumbull seems to have been stimulated in return, for more than once he craved personal interviews in order to discuss with him vital questions concerning the Bible which were then much aired in periodicals and books. Following is Dr. Schmauk's tribute to Dr. Trumbull as it appeared in The Lutheran under "Sunday School Notes," upon the latter's death. MEMORIES OF DR. TRUMBULL "Dr. Trumbull was Sunday-school Notes* warmest, dearest, and noblest literary friend. The friendship was of Dr. Trumbull's seeking. When Sunday-school Notes first began to write, as a young man, and his articles were rejected by papers to whom he would not now think of offering them, it was Dr. Trumbull, then an entire stranger, who discovered, accepted, paid for and pub- lished them, who asked for more of them and who encouraged the writer in his highest aspirations. "Whenever the writer, a youth, called on the busy man, he was asked up in the inner office, all work was dropped and several hours were spent in heart to heart communion of the most inspir- ing kind. "The friendship of Dr. Trumbull was of the character which finds its happiness in giving, no less than in receiving. His ideals of love and friendship were the loftiest. The truth that it was nobler to love than to be loved found in him its loveliest living exponent. "To 'give comfort and inspiration was of more importance to him than to receive it. And yet his heart yearned for sympathy and communion. Often would he say, 'Your visits are like oxy- gen to me.' Or write, 'Your love in the words by the written and printed page help me to go on my way rejoicing, even though I do not see you in the flesh, and I am more and more your loving friend.' Or again, 'How often I think of you. I opened a drawer in my office table today and came upon a letter from you, kept there for years.' Or again, 'Your letter gladdened 58 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK my heart.' Or again, 'You are very often in my thoughts, and I often wish I could see you and speak with you.' Or again, 'I wish I could see you oftener, it would do me good.' Or again, 'If I could see you oftener, I believe I could do more.' Or again, 'Your letter refreshes me and gives me a good start for the week.' Or again, 'You have shown in many ways, in earlier and later days, a warmer appreciation of that side of my nature, as shown in my writings, that I wanted to have felt, than any person I know.' " There is scarcely a doubt that in these interviews was born the purpose of counteracting the speculations of the negative critical school as represented by Cheyne and others, which in 1894 resulted in the publication of his "Negative Criticism and the Old Testament." He en- tered into the preparation of this his first important theological work with a zeal and thoroughness that knew no bounds. He made himself familiar with all the lead- ing higher critics in Germany, England and America, and mastered their literature on the subject. Though only a little over thirty years of age when he began his studies, he displayed a maturity of thought and a range of knowledge that was remarkable. At that time, the circle of orthodox scholars who were abreast of the times on the subject was limited and the book did not reach the wide circulation it deserved. Had he waited ten years, it would have been otherwise. Those who were prepared to appreciate its argument spoke most highly of it. The following estimate of the book by Dr. Jacobs appeared in The Lutheran Church Review: "If this book had been published at Leipzig, or in London, or in Edinburgh, it would be conceded the place of one of the first books of the year, if not of the decade. Every page shows not only careful thought, but also thoroughly trained scientific meth- ods. The assumptions of the negative critics are correctly stated, and are then subjected to an analysis that is as searching and LITERARY ACTIVITIES 59 relentless as that which these critics glory in applying to Holy Scripture. It is all the more severe and the argument is all the more overwhelming, because of the entire candor with which the strength of the critics in certain directions is conceded. It seems as though nothing can be said in their favor, that is not to be found here, as the prelude to a complete exposure of their real weakness in the sphere where they claim, above all things, to speak with authority. "The case made by Mr. Schmauk is so strong, that one can- not imagine how it could in any way be strengthened. The Negative Criticism needs no one to refute it, since this book has appeared ; and if it were only extensively circulated, we would say that the 'battle, on the line thus far followed, is over. This opinion may seem extravagant ; but we believe it to be entirely just." These beginnings of his Hterary efforts were but the foreshadowings of the later floods of literature that kept pouring dow^n upon the press and kept it constantly busy. He could drink in more and pour out more in a given time than almost any writer of prominence known to the Church since the days of Luther. In this period, his pamphlet on The Lutheran Church and another on Hyp- notism — both characterized by freshness, vivacity and force — deserve to be mentioned. CHAPTER VII As Educator THE PENNSYLVANIA CHAUTAUQUA Generations, like inditnduals, have debts. To educate is to pay what we ozve those ahead of us to those coming after us. — Schmmik. ON the northern slope of the South Mountain, ten miles from Lebanon, with the well-known health resorts of Wernersville at one end of the range and those of Pen Mar at the other, there stretches "along the green slopes of the hillsides by a brook in a lovely glade and above the low-bosomed lake," what since 1892 has come to be known as the Chautauqua Grounds of Mt. Gretna. Since easy access to Mt. Gretna has been provided by the Cornwall and Lebanon Rail- road, it has become Lebanon's great park and pleasure ground. "It possesses the quiet, majestic beauty of the primeval forest. It forms the arc of a vast amphitheater, with dark, sheltering hills rising in the rear and grand open plateaus unrolling in front. In this pleasure ground of unlimited expanse, the massive oak and broad-spread- ing chestnut are abundant. The maple and dogwood are seen everywhere. Groves of great sighing pines slum- ber in stately presence." "A noted botanist has said that he knows of no section in the Middle States where a greater variety and rarer specimens of plants and flow- ers can be found." "The water gushing directly from subterranean chambers, deep down in the primitive geo- logic rock stratum of which the South Mountain is com- posed, is wholesome, and, as all visitors of the park declare, the best water they have ever tasted." Chancellor Schmauk f 1 ^^^€^^'XZ.^''^ - ■ c^^t ■ fk ■#' ■lVJ i H ^^^^^^ w^ Mt. Gretna Chautauqua Faculty, 1896 AS EDUCATOR 61 The reader will at once recognize the above descrip- tion as that of the young Lebanon preacher who became the originator and inspiration and mainstay of what proved to be, especially during the summers between 1892 and 1896, a highly successful Chautauqua, one that took rank with the best in the country and had educa- tional features of great value which others less serious and more bent on providing entertainment and recreation did not offer. While the suggestion first came from the Pennsylva- nia German historian and poet, L. L. Grumbine, and the initiative from the General Passenger Agent of the Corn- wall and Lebanon Railroad, R. B. Gordon, the real creator of the Chautauqua and its master mind was Theo- dore E. Schmauk. When Messrs. Grumbine and Gor- don first talked the matter over, the former at once directed Mr. Gordon to the progressive young Lebanon preacher. The result of the interview was the issue of a call, signed by Mr. Gordon, on September 12, 1891, for a meeting on September 24th "to form a permanent organization of a State Chautauqua Society." A plan of organization, outlined, of course, by Schmauk, was presented and later adopted in essentials, a stock com- pany formed, a charter secured, and the following sum- mer, July 12, 1892, the Chautauqua opened, with Dr. Warfield of Lafayette College as the first lecturer of an elaborate program and Dr. Max Hark as Chancellor. As chairman on "organization, constitution and finance," young Schmauk took the entire management of the affair in hand, with the hearty cooperation of the Rev. Dr. George B. Stewart, a Presbyterian preacher of note at Harrisburg (and later President of the Theological Semi- nary at Auburn, N. Y.), whom he advocated and secured 62 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK to act as president of the Chautauqua. A warm and lasting friendship sprang up between the two, and they labored together for four years in closest harmony, and brought the Summer School to a high state of efficiency and popularity, when both resigned for reasons that will presently appear. Dr. Ste^vart writes concerning his friend and co-worker as follows : "My memories of Theodore are among the most agreeable of my life. His remarkable straightforwardness in thinking and speaking, his practical common sense coupled with his exact and wide scholarship, his earnest piety and keen intellectual interests, his uncompromising conscientiousness and gentleness of spirit, his marked physical limitations due to ill health and his prodigious productiveness of unremitting activity made him a unique char- acter. "I soon came to trust, to admire and to love him. During the five years we were associated together in the Chautauqua work we became as brothers, and worked and planned for the interests there involved as one man. "I regarded him as one of the great souls that I have met. There was nothing petty, low, unworthy about his thought, his conduct, his character. No one could come into his presence with- out realizing at once that he was in the presence of a most ex- ceptional and exceptionally able man. He was one of God's noble- men, and tnie disciple of the Lord and Master of us all." It was essentially Schmauk's Chautauqua from the start. He determined what should be both its name and its character — though not without a battle, being opposed by two clergymen. He insisted on securing from Mr. Coleman its present location south of the lake after the latter had offered an unsuitable site. The first pro- gram was made out in his office and was his creation. He wrote over fifteen hundred letters the first year, and over two thousand, the second, in his effort as chairman of the Executive Committee to make the Chautauqua a AS EDUCATOR 63 success. He inspired the holding of public meetings in Lancaster, Harrisburg, Middletown, Reading and Phila- delphia to enlarge the membership of the Stock Com- pany and to advertise the school. An immense amount of labor fell upon his shoulders, for no one could be found who could guide and direct affairs as did he. After three successful seasons, it was felt that the real power behind the throne must now be given the seat upon it and handed the scepter, and so it happened that he acted as chancellor in 1895. So inspiring was his lead- ership and so distinguished and interesting his galaxy of teachers, lecturers and entertainers that the fame of the School was everywhere noised about, and the attend- ance most gratifyingly large. His brief, incisive intro- ductory talks on various subjects every morning proved to be most popular and he became recognized as a chan- cellor without a peer. When Bishop Vincent, the origina- tor of the Chautauqua idea, visited the school and made addresses, it was whispered about that the old experi- enced chancellor had to be content to dwell in the shadow of another. In 1895 strained relations between the Cornwall and Lebanon R. R. and the Chautauqua resulted from the un- willingness of the former to forego running Sunday trains and to give promised financial support to the project. So both the chancellor and Dr. Stewart, the president, de- cided that unless the Board insisted that the Railroad must come up to its pledge or promise, and would secure the needed cooperation, they would resign. Young Schmauk appeared before the Board, some of whom were ready to make concessions to the Railroad, and made such an eloquent and masterly presentation of his case as to call forth highest commendation. He prepared a statement 64 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK to be presented to the Railroad as an ultimatum, and with lawyerlike precision and force; but without the desired effect. It was then decided that both would resign, though not until after they had done all to make the 1896 Chautauqua a great success. The resignation of the chancellor was received with universal regret and with earnest petitions that it be recalled ; for he had won an enviable reputation as a most resourceful and efficient leader in this sphere of popular education, and it was recognized that with his withdrawal a promising future of the Chautauqua must needs be rendered very doubtful. Dr. Gerdson was his successor; but enthusiasm had very much waned and in a few years it resolved itself into a summer resort even though it retained the Chautauqua name. One feature had characterized it which was lacking in other Chau- tauquas. It was the academic educational program which made it a real Summer School rather than a recreational outing. There were lecture courses on archaeology, his- tory, science, philosophy, literature, pedagogy, sociology, ethics, Bible literature and religion. Any one looking through the handsome prospectus for 1895 will at once be struck with the high character of the School. We notice among the lecturers and teachers for that year such Lutheran names as Dr. A. T. Clay, the well-known archaeologist ; Dr. Elson, author of sev- eral popular books on history; Dr. Ettinger of Muhlen- berg College who acted as dean of the faculty; Dr. Richards of the same institution whose "post-prandial talks" proved to be a most popular feature; Professor Marks of Allentown, who acted as musical director; George Hayes, the chemist ; and Rev. John Richards, son of the well-known Professor Dr. Richards. Drs. Mc- AS EDUCATOR 65 Knight and Dunbar were members of the Board. In the following year Dr. Weidner of Chicago also lectured. This Chautauqua experience proved to be but the unfolding of Dr. Schmauk's genius as a Christian edu- cator. The germs of it lay in his innate passion for the spread of useful knowledge when he organized a Liter- ary Circle in Lebanon in his early pastorate. He divided this Circle into groups for the study of special subjects. Later came the University Extension courses which he introduced with the help and encouragement of Pro- fessor Penniman of his Alma Mater. The impulse that drove him into the educational sphere was his ambition to affix the Christian stamp to all knowledge and surround it with a Christian atmosphere. When at the Seminary, he writes to his father: "Did you read that article in the American, concerning Free Schools? Prof. Thompson evidently thinks our public school system is after all not such a glorious institution. There is no attempt at moulding a character, at training the will, sweet- ening the disposition, ennobling the affections. 'The whole course of study is narrowed to a dry intellectualism, and the only am- bition is to turn out a set of smart, alert graduates, who have had no moral benefit from their school studies.' They are en- veloped by a perfumed atmosphere, are not taught to see things in life as they really are, and are not even taught to think or exercise judgment. A child's education ought to teach it how to live — even if it cannot rattle off the distinctions between the Camel id^e and Camelopardse, or the various bones that compose the human skeleton. I do not undervalue an accurate knowledge of Nature; but I do not believe it will do a child much good — it is useless until one has a knowledge of one's self and of God. And worst of all, most of the knowledge they get is not true knowledge. 'They deceive themselves and the truth is not in them.' 'They possess the form of knowledge, but deny the power thereof.' " F CHAPTER VIII As Historian NO TRAITOR TO HIS BLOOD "People who will take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors, will never achieve anything worthy to be re- membered with pride by remote descendants." — Macaulay. HE who is willing to forget the rock whence he was hewn is a traitor to his blood. Dr. Schmauk has given abundant evidence in his career that he was no such traitor. In an address to Lebanon High School graduates, he says : "We, the successive generations of Lebanon's youth, who have passed through its schools, are sprung from a singular stock. We are all of one race, for even our Scotch townsmen and those in whose veins courses the fresh blood of the Emerald Isle, are Pennsylvania-Germans, as one of their esteemed repre- sentatives pointed out to the Lebanon County Historical Society. " 'The silent race' — 'the dumb Dutch' — unjustly reviled by Francis Parkman, John Fiske, and the author of Tillie the Mennonite Maid, Helen Riemensschneider Martin, herself out of the heart of Lancaster county, and will- ing to sell her birthright for a whiff of fame; the race of whom the historian Bancroft more justly declares, 'Neither they nor their descendants have laid claim to what is due them.' AS HISTORIAN 67 "The man who is ashamed of his own town, and with- holds from his own nourishing mother her meed of well- earned praise, is either a recreant or a vagabond." None could have been more conscious of the defects and shortcomings, from a cultural point of view, of many Pennsylvania Germans than was he. He knew wherein they lacked, and his endeavor to inspire in them a thirst for knowledge and to open to them a larger world than the little self -centered one in which many were content to live, is directly responsible for his activity as an edu- cator among them. He recognized the sturdy elements of character that made them staunch and true and reli- able, and knew that when their dormant energies were once awakened, they would stand second to no racial element in this country in intelligence and progressive- ness. The history of the Revolution proves it. When at the Seminary, he complained to his father that many Lutherans of German descent "who think, act and live in a manner quite different from the grand old Germans of the sixteenth century," fail "to express their true aesthetical spirit and genius" in a way that commends itself to the best Americans. He lamented a tendency, on the other hand, of many who, instead of seeking to develop a culture among them out of the roots of what was best in their distinctive character, assumed an air of superiority over their very kith and kin, at times, and sought to conceal their racial origin. He regarded such as traitors to their blood — moral weaklings who ape a sort of Yankee imported culture and are satisfied chiefly with its shams and pretensions. He was not that type of Pennsylvania German. He saw the latent possibilities in them, identified himself with them, and like a true son of a sturdy race, he took a 68 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK most prominent part in putting the good Pennsylvania German iron ore in their character, that lay crude and unformed in its raw state, through a Christian cultural process and turning it into steel. It was not an accident, therefore, that in the same year when, as the natural outcome of his literary-circle and university-extension activities, the Chautauqua idea was being worked out and was taking form, he should have become one of the most promient factors in the organi- zation of a Society that should awaken, not a pride of ancestry merely but a cultural consciousness born of what was truest and best in the Pennsylvania German character. While he was not the originator of the idea, he became its leading light and spirit as events proved. His connection with that Society had much to do to give him that wonderful familiarity with Pennsylvania, and even national, history which resulted in the issuing of his "History of the Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania." This monumental work, involving a colossal amount of research, appeared in 1903 ; but in its initial stages, it in part appeared as a publication of the Pennsylvania Ger- man Society in 1901, and in part also in his "Early Churches of the Lebanon Valley" which appeared a year later — both showing the preliminary preparation lor the most thorough treatment of this subject extant. It is almost the last word that remained to be said of the pioneer history of Lutheranism in this country. The inspiration and incentive for its preparation are to be traced to his connection with this Society. It is meet, therefore, that something should be said about the origin of that Society and of the prominent part he played in its history and achievements. When on December 17, 1890, the public schools of AS HISTORIAN 69 Lebanon and Reading celebrated the eighty-third birthday of the poet Whittier, there appeared, the next day, in the Lebanon Daily Report, Lee L. Grumbine, Esq., editor, the following comment : "We love Whittier for his justice to the Pennsylvania Germans. People v\^ho sneer at the Pennsylvania Germans do not know that a society of Pennsylvania Dutch 'Friends' or Dunk- ards was the first religious body in America to express their outraged feelings and indignation in words of stem denunciation of that national infamy — African slavery. When ignorance and prejudice are dead and truth gets a hearing, it will he esteemed an honor to be called the son of a Pennsylvania Dutchman." When three days later, December 31st, "Forefathers' Day," in memory of the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, was celebrated in certain parts of the country, there ap- peared an editorial in the Report on December 26th, part of which reads thus : "The Pennsylvania Dutchman not only occupies one-half of the State, but his descendants have migrated north, east, south, and west, so that it is almost impossible to go to any state or territory in the Union without finding a son of a Pennsyl- vania Dutchman. It is a remarkable fact that history scarcely mentions this important factor of the population of our country. If we read the history of our land, we hardly learn that a Ger- man immigration to America and the foundation of a German settlement in Pennsylvania ever took place. There may be a reason for this, but there can be no excuse." A day later, he "urges the organization of a society of the descendants of the German Palatines" as follows : "We pointed out yesterday the inaccuracy and the injustice of the historian in not giving credit in the history of national and state development to so important a factor as the Pennsylvania German. It is our purpose, if possible, to call public attention to this studied omission, and to arouse an interest in the public mind that will command our rightful place in history. . . We 70 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK would urge the need of fostering a feeling of an ancestral pride and a spirit of loyalty to the blood of the German-born pil- grims from whom so many of our people have descended. How? By organizing societies — general and local — for the purpose of bringing out and preserving facts of historical interest and of emphasizing the achievements of our forefathers and their sons; by holding great public celebrations to rehearse the story of their sorrows, their sufiferings, their sacrifices, and their success, in speech and song, in poetry and history." Later, on January 21, 1891, he renews the agitation for the organization of the sons of the Pennsylvania Ger- mans. The Philadelphia Inquirer caught up the idea with favor; then on January 31st the Lancaster New Era, F. R. Diffenderfer, Litt.D., editor, "seconds the motion ;" then the Bethlehem Times "falls in line" and calls for a "Pennsylvania German Society." Then appears an en- thusiastic article in the Harrisburg Telegraph by the State Librarian, Dr. W. H. Egle advocating speedy organi- zation. Next we read of a meeting of Dr. Diffenderfer, Dr. Egle, Dr. Stahr of Franklin and Marshall College, Dr. Buehrle, superintendent of the PubHc Schools of Lan- caster, Dr. Hark of the Moravian Church and Dr. Lyte of the Millersvilie State Normal School in the editorial rooms of the New Era on February 14, 1891, and the following letter reaches the younger Schmauk : Lancaster, Pa., February 14, 1891. "The Rev. Theo. Schmauk: — "My Dear Sir : — "Dr. W. H. Egle, of Harrisburg, State Librarian, President John F. Stahr, D.D., of Franklin and Marshall G>llege, Prof. E. O. Lyte, of Millersvilie State Normal School, and two or three others, came together this afternoon, and after consul- tation decided to invite a few representatives of the Pennsyl- vania German element in the several counties of our State, AS HISTORIAN 71 in which that element is prevalent, to attend a preliminary meeting at 36 West Orange Street, Lancaster, on Thursday, February 26, 1891, at 10 A. M., for the purpose of discussing the advisability, ways and means of organizing a 'Pennsyl- vania German Historical Society' You are therefore most earnestly invited to attend: this preliminary meeting It is very important that your county should be represented among the organizers of this movement. I sincerely hope you will make it possible to be with us. "Yours, "Very sincerely, "J. Max Hark." At this meeting, suggestions were made that the name of the proposed organization be the "Pennsylvania Dutch Society" and that the proceedings be conducted in the Pennsylvania German dialect. Here is where young Schmauk stepped to the fore, and in forceful and con- vincing manner, assisted by Dr. Hark and others, stood for the name "Pennsylvania German" and for the more scholarly and historical ideal of the best minds, that "the Society should represent that which is loftiest in the character and achievement of the fathers rather than that which was merely odd and quaint." That idea pre- vailed. At that meeting, it was decided to issue a call for the organization of such a Society on April 15th, 1891, in the Court House at Lancaster, and there was born what is known as "The Pennsylvania German Society." The call, with Schmauk as chairman to give it its final form, reads in part as follows : "It is eminently proper that the descendants of these Ger- man-Swiss people should associate themselves in memory of those who 'made the wilderness blossom as the rose,' to show to the offspring of other nationalities that they are not behind them in any of the attributes which go to make up the best 12 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK citizens of the best State in the best Government of the world. In the art of printing, in the realm of science and letters, in religious fervor, in pure statesmanship, in war and in peace, the Pennsylvania-German-Swiss element has equalled any other race. "It has long been everywhere recognized by the descendants of the early American colonists as a matter of great importance to effect organizations of the character we propose, for the purpose of searching out and preserving all ancestral records; for the purpose of bringing their forefathers into such recog- nition in the eyes of the world, and especially of their own children, as they deserve; for the purpose of developing the friendly and fraternal spirit that should exist between those in whose veins the same blood flows ; for the purpose of lifting history, now unnoticed or unknown, into honor ; and, very par- ticularly, for the purpose of preserving to posterity the old public records, landmarks and memorials, which in another generation will have entirely disappeared." It would take us too far afield to go into details as to the work of this historical society ; but Dr. Schmauk's connection with it and his leadership in it, especially when crises arose that threatened to impair its usefulness, proved to be of such value both to himself and to the Society that some knowledge of the origin and aims of this organization seems necessary in order to furnish a proper perspective on which to set in relief his influence and usefulness during this period. He ever strove to keep the Society true to its professed aims and ideals, and naturally took less interest in the social features at the annual banquets. The seriousness with which he entered into this work is illustrated by an incident that occurred at the meeting of the Society in Lebanon on October 12th, 1892. When the election of members to the Executive Committee was proceeding, there was much conversation indulged in AS HISTORIAN 73 and little attention paid to what was going on. He hap- pened to be elected a member of that Committee but was so dissatisfied with the apparent lack of interest taken in the election that he declined to accept the office. This necessitated a second election under a more orderly and serious mode of procedure, and he then accepted. He at once became a leading factor in determining the policy and activity of the Society, and in 1895, upon the resig- nation of Dr. Hark, was elected chairman of the Execu- tive Committee. He served in this capacity up to the time of his death, save in the year 1896 when he was elected President of the Society. He proved to be the man at the helm, master of all the details of the Society's workings, keeping it true to its course. Dr. Schmauk always inspired confidence by his won- derful mastery of details and his wide range of knowl- edge when presiding at the meetings of the Executive Committee. When by means of a proposed amendment to the Constitution an attempt was made to displace use- ful members of the Committee to gratify the personal ambitions of others, he stood like a rock against it and in a powerful and convincing speech maintained that the amendment stood not for "a. judicious but a forcible introduction of new blood;" that "not freshness but tried efficiency" should be the requirement demanded; that there "should be as little fluctuation as possible where faithful service is being rendered. Continuity of service is what is wanted." A letter we received from a lay member of the Execu- tive Committee of more than ordinary intelligence, after he had learned of his death, while naturally a little excessive in its admiration, shows the great confidence that was reposed in his leadership. It reads in part : 74 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK "In my work as a member of the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania German Society, I learned to know and admire Dr. Schmauk, and his death means to me a distinct personal loss. To the Church it is nothing less than the falling of a mighty pillar. I always thought he was too big even for the Church. The chair of Presi- dent of the United States would not have been too big a place for him and he could have worthily represented his country as Ambassador to England or Germany." We have heard other laymen of intelligence talk after this fashion, though it should be evident that no man is ever half big enough for the Church. THE LEBANON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY When the work of the Pennsylvania German So- ciety was well under way, it was inevitable that a local historical society should come into existence, and under the inspiration and leadership of the younger Schmauk, who had already become familiar with every inch of historic ground in and around Lebanon, there was organized on Janu- ary 14th, 1898, the "Lebanon County Historical Society." Its aims and objects are set forth in great detail in its constitution. Among the Lutheran clerical members besides Dr. Schmauk that proved to be especially active were the Revs. F. J. F. Schantz and P. C. Croll. There was no lack of effort to show forth the merits of Lebanon County and the part its citizens played in the war of the Revolution. He who did so much to keep AS HISTORIAN 75 this Society interested and active, and to create a sense of pride in Lebanon County history, proclaims its merits in words Hition. The Goddess looks back into all the noble deeds of the past and pro- 76 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK claims their praises in trumpet tones to the present gen- eration." Then follow nine reasons why it is not suit- able. They reveal fine taste and an artistic sense of the divine fitness of things that make them worthy of publication. "1. Not sufficently patriotic, but a foreign conception. There is nothing of the Greek spirit of learning in our history or tra- dition. Pennsylvania German Lebanon County runs back else- where in its traditions and is too plain and matter of fact for the elegance, not to say the voluptuousness, of Greek art. "2. Not sufficently democratic, but artistocratic. The classical conception of the Goddess is for college graduates, far away from the atmosphere of common people, and is the very reverse of the atmosphere and surroundings in which Lebanon County Was cradled. "3. An engrafting of heathen mythology upon the plain piety of our forefathers. I do not advocate the typifying of religion in our seal, but if it is to be typified, the religion of the old Bible and Prayer Books which gave our fathers courage and strength in their journeys across the seas and through the wilderness should be the one symbolized. "4. Clio, the Muse of History, was represented with a roll or wax tablets in one hand, but also with trumpets in the other and with a wreath of laurel around her brow. "5. She mas upon the mountains, and not in the valley. The mountains were either her original home on snow-capped Mt. Olympus (the seal is not snow-capped), or on the temple-crowned grove of Mt. Helicon. She would be lost and starved upon this bare mount. "6. The connection in thought between Mt. Lebanon, with its ever green cedars, and our valley after which it was named, is a very beautiful one, if there were only some point in actual re- ality to which it corresponded. But we are a valley, mountain- fringed, and not a mountain; and our people and deeds are those of the valley and not those of the mountaineer. "7. The combination of the Greek figure and the Mountain of Lebanon is a mixed figure or hybrid, which might provoke some criticism, if not amusement, if our Society ever came under hostile AS HISTORIAN 11 fire. To transfer a Hebrew prophet to Greek soil, as Paul went to Athens, would perhaps be legitimate; but to transfer a Greek Muse to the soil of the Old Testament is unusual, and without some underlying cause, would be difficult to explain. "8. At most, the whole of the historical substance repre- sented by a seal such as this would be a combination of the gen- eral subject History with the name Lebanon. The specific es- sence, the substance as contrasted with the form would be missed; and our Society would become identified more with those gen- eral Historical Societies which are found in colleges and towns, and which discuss historical questions of all countries and of all ages under the name 'Qionian.' "9. The seal has the two merits of attractiveness and sim- plicity; but it lacks in manliness on the human side, and in the sunny cheer of the valley on the side of nature. "10. I tried to work myself into the conception of the seal, but every time the picture of our sturdy, sensible, pious, matter- of-fact forefathers, who were transforming the earth, and not romancing in the regions of art, came up before my mind. I was not satisfied, but at sea, until, getting at the matter in a logical and heraldic way, I began investigating the executive seals of Lebanon County and of the State, to ascertain whether they would afford us any precedent. "The original seal of Pennsylvania, used in the provincial period, had as its chief device the Penn coat of arms found on the seal of the Pennsylvania German Society. "The Pennsylvania coat of arms appeared first in 1777 printed on an issue of paper money, compose mainly of a shield. "In 1778 Caleb Lowens prepared a design which served as the basis of all subsequent modifications. "The first engraved coat of arms in 1777 is now the seal of the Pennsylvania Society of New York, and is, in my judgment, very beautiful. "I found our County using the State seal and the County name in all its executive departments. "Here then was the natural, historical and heraldic base, from which to proceed to express Lebanon County and that for which we stand in Lebanon County." 78 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK There was no getting away from the force of this presentation, and the above seal, with the Pennsylvania coat of arms and the American eagle on top of the volume of history to be written, with Lebanon County's iron industry represented on one side of the page and its farm- ing industry on the other, while less classical but more true to nature and fact than the one submitted, became the insignia of the Society. CHAPTER IX Editor and Sunday School Leader The Lutheran Church in America has an open door before it. The public schools in many places mil not receive children under six years of age; and in many other places are very glad if children are educated privately up to the age of seven years. This affords the Church her great opportunity for laying the founda- tions of a sound Christian and evangelical faith in the hearts of the little ones. — Christian Kindergarten. WHEN in the fall of 1895, the General Council met at Easton, Pa., four new responsibilities devolved upon him. His well-known interest in Sunday School work and his intelligent grasp of its needs and problems naturally inclined the Council to look to him as leader in this important field, and he was elected a member of the Sunday School Committee. As the development of this work proved to be of great importance in the years that followed, more will be said later. Another task of great importance was assigned to him by the Alumni Association when he was made editor of The Lutheran Church Reviezv, with the faculty of the Philadelphia Seminary as his associates. This started him more fully than ever on the way of grappling with theological and other questions of deep concern to the Church. For more than twenty- four years he kept fully abreast of the religious literature of the day and constantly aimed to touch upon a great variety of sub- jects of theological and practical interest. 80 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK He started on his career as editor, by at once assign- ing tasks to a large number of writers. He naturally asked Dr. Krotel for some article on a subject of his own choosing. The following is the latter's character- istic reply: "What shall I write? HI were like you, and could play on a harp of a thousand strings, or had an organ like your own, with three manuals and I know not how many stops, I would not be at a loss." In the four issues of 1896, there appear symposiums on "Education," on "The Lutheran Church's Relation to the Denominations," on "Prevalent Errors in the Pulpit," and, as was to be expected, on "The Sunday School." His "Editorial Points of View," which ap- peared in every issue for some years, proved to be es- pecially stimulating and interesting and were the chief attraction for most of the readers of the Review. They could always be counted on to pay their respects to the liberal theology of the day — and to good account. When in 1897, the Church's mind reverted to the birth of Melanchthon four hundred years ago, one was not sur- prised to be treated with a symposium on "Melanchthon and the Church Fathers." When Hasting's Bible Dic- tionary appeared in 1901, it was to be expected that Dr. Schmauk should expose its rationalism and condemn the choice of scholars of the liberal school by its editors, to deal with vital subjects, while they excluded writers of conservative tendencies. All through the following years, the reader was sure to have surprises sprung upon him by the introduction of some new feature. In the January issue of 1902, for instance, there appeared a most interesting "Editorial Survey of the Year 1901." Similar surveys appeared for the next three years, and much regret was expressed when the editor failed 'A Face Familiar to Children" EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 81 to continue to interpret leading events in like fashion in the years that followed. When in 1903 he was elected President of the General Council, as Dr. Jacobs correctly says, "We can trace a difference between the policy pursued when the respon- sibility for his utterances was limited chiefly by his in- dividual obligations and that which guided him from 1903." "He writes from that time more with the con- sciousness and authority of official position, and that the Journal which he edits is regarded as an organ of the body over which he presides." A third important place he was asked to fill at the meeting of the Council in 1895 was that of membership in the Church Book Committee, which later also made him a member of the Joint Committee w^hich produced the "Common Service Book and Hymnal." In this sphere, he proved to be deeply interested and active. He kept in touch with the progress of the work down to its minutest details, though the burden of the work was placed upon other shoulders. As it was at the suggestion of Dr. H. E. Jacobs that he was appointed a member, and as both were closely associated together from that time on to the day of his death, we have asked Dr. Jacobs to furnish us with an estimate of the services he rendered. It is as follows : Notwithstanding his numerous other engagements, his attend- ance at the meetings was very regular. Making no claim to scholarship in Liturgies or Hymnology, and pleading his inability to give more attention to details than at the sessions of the com- mittee, he did no constructive work ; but was an invaluable critic and adviser, where others took the initiative. To such criticism he brought strong, positive and clear convictions on the doctrines involved, and the constant demand for their expression in precise and vigorous English. While not indifferent to the value of historical precedents, he G 82 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK claimed that all the freedom of the Gospel must be exercised in adapting what is rooted in the past to present issues. The accu- mulation of authorities weighed little, except as it was fruitful in suggestions that could be utilized. The consensus of the pure Lutheran liturgies of the Sixteenth Century, was to him a guide, but not a matter of absolute law. It was no unusual thing to hear him challenge a committee which submitted a formula, ap- proved by abundant literary support, to break through the traces, and to do for today what Luther and his associates did for their day and land. While the effect of his cooperation has left its trace throughout every part of the book, his most important contribution was in the scheme for the arrangement of the hymns, where, instead of the outline of Dogmatics followed in the most of our previous books, he insisted upon, and carried after a very stubborn struggle, the order of the Church Year, as exhibiting the Life of our Lord as reproduced in the life of the believer, and of the entire Church. The consequence of this was that his Eschatology was anything but pessimistic. To him it meant the clearness and cer- tainty of the Christian's faith with respect to his future. It is life, eternal life begun in regeneration, pressing through death, resurrection, judgment, etc., to its consummation in its complete glorification. Hence the hymns of this section are characterized by few of the minor notes that are heard in many of the classical hymns both of the Mediaeval and the Reformed Church, as well as in some of Pietistic Lutheranism. The fourth responsibility with which he was en- trusted at that meeting was to act as a member of the "Committee of Ways and Means" appointed to secure funds and make possible the publication of an official organ of the General Council, of which Dr. H. E. Jacobs was elected the Editor-in-Chief and Rev. George W. Sandt the Managing Editor. He at once became the chief adviser of the latter, who was charged with the duty of raising a guarantee fund of $10,000, and was made the chief promoter of the new enterprise. When Dr. Jacobs came out in the columns of The Workman EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 83 as being unwilling to assume the responsibility of acting as Editor-in-Chief, Schmauk, Jr., suggested to the Man- aging Editor the advisability of gracefully retiring from the project. Upon being informed by the latter that in resigning as pastor of St. John's Church, Wilkes-Barre, to take effect January 1, 1896, he had "already burned the bridges behind him," the former promptly changed front and with the entire Committee of Ways and Means behind him determined that the official organ must become a fact. He at once got into communication with Dr. Krotel and, upon securing his consent and the endorsement of the Committee, the Managing Editor was instructed to secure, if possible, the votes of the Staff Correspondents for Dr. Krotel's election. Thus chiefly through his efforts a new head was secured, and by Octo- ber of 1896 the official organ of the General Council became a fact. The Editor of the Reviczv became not only the Liter- ary Editor of The Lutheran, but contributed many articles, from time to time, to its columns. Upon the death of Dr. Krotel in 1907, Dr. Schmauk, then president of the General Council, became, at the request of the Managing Editor, who was made Editor-in-Chief, the latter's staunchest supporter and helper. At intervals, when sickness or absence made it necessary for the Editor to find a substitute, Dr. Schmauk, in spite of his multiplying duties, was always at hand to give the needed assistance. He was given all the liberty of action he might desire and in no single instance did he abuse it. He was invited to be the critic of The Lutheran, and of this privilege he took the fullest advantage. Long letters at times reached the editorial office, revealing a wonder- fully keen and comprehensive grasp of problems and 84 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK situations, and more than once came a letter with elec- tric flashes of lightning when he and the Editor did not happen to agree — and the latter were often far more interesting than the former. They quite frequently were a thermometer to indicate that either grippe, (his chronic ailment, often induced by over-worry rather than by over- work) or some other physical disability was knocking at his door. These lightning flashes, and invariably the cooling showers that followed them, are prized today as the finest evidence of a great loving heart in travail for the safety and welfare of the Church he so dearly loved and so unselfishly served, PIONEER IN GRADED SUNDAY SCHOOL INSTRUCTION It was at the Easton Convention of the General Coun- cil in 1895 that Dr. Schmauk became interested in and identified with the work of providing a literature for the Sunday Schools of the Church. At this convention, the plans formulated in 1888 at Minneapolis, in which the previous practice of the Church in the observance of the Church Year and the recommendation of a Graded Course of instruction based on the historic principles and practices of the Church, came up for discussion. Dr. Schmauk had been a close student of child psy- chology and was keenly interested in the children of the Church and their proper training. He took an active and important part in the discussion, and mani- fested a grasp of the subject and an interest in the work which insured for him membership in the committee. At a very early day he became the editor, and by 1899 both editor and chairman of the Committee. He was thus placed in a position which resulted in his thorough study of the whole problem of Religious Education in EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 85 its Relation to the Child. He became the incarnation of the historic and fundamental principles of religious education and from the day of his entrance upon the work to the last moments of his life, the subject was upon his heart and mind and was given the largest share of his time, thought, and energy. Within the first biennium the Scripture Lesson Quar- terlies for senior classes, following a strict church year plan, were developed and had been most cordially re- ceived by the Church. A general plan for graded text books and quarterlies had also been mapped out. This included a primary apparatus in grades with large pic- ture charts for the upper class in the primary. It also took into consideration the catechism as an essential part of instruction. That the editor had a vision for the future is seen in the fact that at this early stage provision was not only made for furnishing the literature in other lan- guages, especially German and Swedish, but also with a view to securing a common and purely Lutheran graded literature for the entire Lutheran Church. In 1897 con- ferences with other Lutheran bodies were authori-zed on the recommendation of the committee, with a view to substituting a purely Lutheran literature for other sys- tems in use if this were deemed desirable. In 1899 Dr. Schmauk as chairman made a voluminous report. In this report we see the evidence of how with his characteristic thoroughness he was going to the sources and to the bottom of things. He brings out the fact that the General Council first took up the problem of providing Sunday School literature officially in 1869 and that work anticipatory had been done in 1868 or one year after the formation of the Council. The ap- 86 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK pearance of the "International Lessons" in 1873, which marked an epoch in Sunday School work, proved an incentive to the committee which began a series of "Church Lesson Leaves" in 1877. He quotes the fol- lowing as the action then taken: "All our Sunday Schools ought to be distinctively Church schools. Our own doctrines ought to be exclusively taught in them. No other than our own Sunday School books, lesson leaves and papers should be used in them." OPPOSES THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM From the start he clearly grasped the sound idea, that knowledge of the Bible should be formed in the mind and built up like a cathedral, with all parts prop- erly related to its central substance, and not like a shapeless pile of stones lacking cohesion and unity. He accordingly felt that the Church Year should become the framework around which that knowledge should be constructed. He naturally opposed the International System of lessons, which sacrificed the Christo-centric principle of instruction to the uniform theory. In a letter to an assistant superintendent of a Lutheran Sun- day School in New York City, who desired to know the "basic differences between our system and the Inter- national," he gives the following illuminating answer : 1. We make the living and the saving Word of God our center, rather than teaching the Bible as a book. Hence we put the Gospel first. We study the New Testament in that part of the year in which the schools are full. We lay stress on the New Testament. The International system deals with the Bible as a book, rather than with God's Word that is within it. The Blakesly system emphasizes the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, and what to our mind is the ecclesiastical side of Christianity. 2. We conform our teaching, in a general manner, to the EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 87 Church Year, and to its festivals. This is the Lutheran way. So far as possible, we begin the study of the life of Christ with Advent and Christmas and we continue with the life and teachings of Christ, and with His suffering, death and resurrection through the seasons devoted to a commemoration of those great saving facts. The International system does not recognize that the Church Year is a medium for the Christian living over again the life of his Lord, and, although of late years it has accommodated itself to popular demand by giving Christmas lessons on Christ- mas and Easter lessons on Easter, it only touches the outer hem of the devout life of a churchly Christian in so doing. 3. The two great elements for instructing Christian youth are first the doctrine of the Scripture, which we have in Luther's Catechism, and the examples or life of the Scripture, which we have in Bible history. In our system we regulate things largely according to these two leading points. 4. Our system believes that there ought to be a regular order of progress, with a definite goal, to Sunday-school work, begin- ning with the simplest and most concrete truth for the child and advancing, with the mental and spiritual advance of the child, to that which is more mature. The International system is a wilderness of Bible verses, be- ginning nowhere, and ending nowhere. It is treading continu- ously through the wilderness. The Blakesly system has an order, and makes progress, but its progress is in a circle, recurring every three years, and not progress according to the natural unfolding of the child's mind. 5. Our fundamental principle is a gradation of matter and an adaptation of method to the various stages of the developing child-mind. We believe in giving milk to the babes and meat to the strong. This cannot be done on the uniform lesson plan of the Inter- national system. Either the meat or the milk will then be lack- ing. There is something in Scripture for every age and condi- tion of man. We take the story material that is suitable for the very little ones and present it to them. Then comes the story material for the older ones. Then comes the history which is stories woven together. Then comes the biography which is an analysis of character. 88 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Then comes the teaching or doctrines of Scripture. Finally there comes an outline of the contents of each book of Scripture, so that the scholar gets an idea of the book of the Bible as a whole, and from the point of view from which its writer originally in- tended it to be read and used, before he goes into a detailed study of the text. Our system was begun in the year 1895. It is the pioneer of all graded systems, though no pains have been taken to announce it outside of the Lutheran Church. It was developed after an intimate examination of the International system. It has been perfected more and more every year, but is not perfect now, nor will it ever be perfect. Improvement will be made continuously, as strength and resources and insight accumulate. DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYSTEM With emphasis laid in the beginning on the Senior and the Primary work, and a gradual development of the Intermediate Grade Text Books, the entire graded apparatus was developed as a comprehensive whole, every grade and the special lessons in the various grades all being part of a general and comprehensive plan of presenting the whole Bible in a systematic way and graded and adapted to the child mind in its normal de- velopment. In the construction of the Graded System Dr. Schmauk drew upon his extended study and experience and suc- cessfully enlisted various trained minds and experts in religious pedagogy ; but through the entire work the real architect was Dr. Schmauk himself. The books appeared in regular order, their very titles indicating the unity of the series and the harmonious development. The intermediate grades were issued in the order of their use in the schools which thus pro- gressed through the Graded System as it was developed, as follows: Bible Story, (1897) ; Bible History, (1898) ; EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 89 Bible Geography, (1899); Bible Biography, (1901); Bible Teachings, (1902) ; Bible Literature, (1903) ; Bible Readings, a supplementary Grade inserted between Story and History, appeared in 1905 ; Bible Facts and Scenes, a simplified Bible Geography, appeared in 1906. The latter book is still very popular and is used in institutions and as a teacher's book. In 1912 a sim- plification of Bible Literature appeared under the title of Bible Outlines. Meanwhile a German translation of Bible Story and of Bible Readings had appeared, also a Swedish Bible Story, and the literature in some of its grades was asked for in Icelandic, also in Telugu, Japanese and Spanish. The Primary work begun simultaneously with the inter- mediate Grades very soon took form in the Three Grade Primary Department. These three grades are known re- spectively as Wonderland, Workland, Pictureland, hav- ing their corresponding literature for the children in Sunbeams, Sunshine and Sunrays. Sunrays corresponds to the large Picture Charts in the development of which Dr. Schmauk displayed not only his knowledge of the Bible and the Bible stories, but his familiarity with the great and the beautiful in art illustrative of the Scrip- tures. Many extended trips were made to find and examine pictures, as well as to the plant of the lithog- raphers many miles distant. It was thus that he kept his hand on every detail of the work. While many writers were used and gave mature thought to the con- tents of the books which bear their names as the authors, these were like skilled workmen laboring under the supervision of the general architect and superin- tendent. In the complete plan, provision was made for the 90 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK child at the earliest moment of its existence. Hence in 1910 there appeared the foundation book, "In Mother's Arms," a book which is for the mothers of babes from birth to two years of age. It emphasizes the content of baptism and begins in the true Lutheran way with the new birth. "At Mother's Knee," the second book dealing with the child from two to four years of age, was vividly and completely thought out in the mind of this great pedagogue; but unfortunately his multitudi- nous and important duties and increasing burdens in the later important developments in the Church wherein he figured as a major factor, prevented the actual writing of the book. Much material has been gathered and the hope is that one of those formerly associated with him may be able to work out this volume and at least find and give to the Church the salient features of that which Dr. Schmauk had in mind. A most interesting and illuminating side light on the versatility of Dr. Schmauk is to be noted in connection with the preparation of the little treatise "In Mother's Arms," a book dealing with youngest infancy in the most tender and affectionate way and in which the bachelor author with perfect understanding throws himself in o the situation of the mother and with the tenderest manner and in the most sympathetic way deals with mother and babe. This gentle book, sweet in its simplicity and beauty, appeared in 1910. Simultaneously wi h the writing of this simple book for the mother and the babe, was prepared that scholarly work on the Confessional Principle, a discussion for the historian and theologian. When "In Mother's Arms" appeared. Dr. Shimer, assistant superintendent of the New York City schools, EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 91 wrote him: "There is a good homely streak of old- fashioned virtue in your pedagogy that makes one feel that the training of the young may safely be guided by you." An Episcopalian rector paid a similar tribute. As he traveled about from place to place to explain and demonstrate the System, he astonished Sunday School workers in all parts of the Church with the re- markable ease with which he could translate himself into the realm of childhood and meet it on its own level. Not a few still recall these demonstrations and speak of them in glowing terms. A doctor of divinity of the former General Synod, who later introduced the Graded System in his Sunday School, writes of what he heard and saw when Dr. Schmauk visited Chicago. He says: One was always impressed with the towering physique of Dr. Schmauk. His was a commanding presence. I shall never forget one fine illustration of his bigness of heart and intellect, on the occasion of my first meeting Dr. Schmauk. He had come to Chicago to lecture on Sunday School work. At one of the ses- sions of the convention, he demonstrated the work of the Kinder- garten Grade. He had told us how it should be done. A teacher in Wonderland should have four, five or six children, never more than six, gathered about him, all sitting on the little chairs, and then tell them the Bible Story in plain language, and with each lesson, a short verse of a simple hymn, with tune, should be taught. To see Dr. Schmauk seat himself upon a kindergarten chair, with six children under six years of age similarly seated, grouped about him, was really a privilege. He lost himself to his audi- ence, as he gave himself to the precious task before him. It was impressive. It was inspiring, to see and hear this big man, big in stature, yes,— now, more especially big in heart,— as he be- came utterly oblivious of all else, and devoted those splendid talents of his to telling a wonder story from the Word of God, 92 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK to that little band of little folks, attentive, absorbed as they were in the story-teller and his message. Others have expressed themselves similarly and have spoken of the inspiration they received from these dem- onstrations of the System. This System had been recognized at Washington by the Commissioner of Education as the pioneer in this field and, for completeness and pedagogic excellence, without a peer. His intimate knowledge of the child mind and child nature — ^^his wonderful adaptability which enabled him to meet its needs — his thorough acquaintance with the whole range of literature that had any bear- ing, however remote, on the subject of the religious in- struction of the young — ^and above all his unshaken faith in the Revelation of which the Scriptures are the un- erring record — made him a leader and a prince in this field of endeavor. As the books of the Graded Series were published, he saw how they might be improved, and in the earlier years made many revisions — even entirely rewriting in some instances. With the new situation which developed in the merging of the General Bodies, his part was so great that much that he had in mind for the further im- provement of the graded system had to be deferred. Yet he looked forward with keen interest and great ex- pectation to the realization of his earlier dreams when in the beginning of the work he approached others for the development of a Common Lutheran Series of Graded Sunday School Lessons. His last work was for the children of the Church, and in his final illness his mind was on that work which through all his busy career and in the midst of his varied and multiplying duties was always nearest to his heart. EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 93 Religious education in the Lutheran Church will always owe a great debt to the "Lebanon Master in Lutheran Bible Schools." The need of trained teachers led in 1914, with the aid of others, to the founding of a Teacher Training Quarterly, in which the principles of the various grade text books were fully presented and the general prin- ciples of teaching formulated and discussed. In these quarterlies there appeared a vast amount of material, ultimately designed for permanent books. Out of these pages came the basis of the book which appeared just a few days prior to his death, namely, "How to Teach in Sunday School." This book is a fitting climax to his great and unfinished work for the Sunday Schools of the Church, a work which will exert an influence to coming generations. CHAPTER X Citizen, Patriot and Public Speaker Thou, Lord, hast made our nation free. I'll die for her in serving Thee. — Schmauk. THERE have been few leaders in the Lutheran Church, who, without confusing the functions of the State and the Church, have so thor- oughly and heartily identified themselves with interests in civic life as did this Lebanon pastor. His father knew the full meaning of patriotism. When the Civil War began, the father found it necessary to show his colors (for feeling ran high in those days at Lancaster) and he preached loyalty to his people at the risk of his life. The mother had decorated the baby coach with the American flag. An advance guard of the rebel army had burned the bridge at Columbia, ten miles from Lan- caster, at the time of the battle of Gettysburg, and patri- otism in Salem congregation as at Zion's, Lancaster, rose to fever heat. Later when Richmond was taken, the father, who had then become pastor at Lebanon, announced the tidings to the people of Lebanon by ring- ing the bell of Old Salem. The son was four years of age when the father moved to Lebanon. Salem Church had had its full quota of men who had been at the front. Military and other patriotic demonstrations were in high favor, and it was natural that the boy of four should take to playing sol- dier in his youth as a fish takes to water. Add to this his peculiar bent of heart and mind which allowed noth- ing of human interest to seem foreign to him, and it is CITIZEN. PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 95 easily explainable that from his youth to the end of his days he should take an intense interest in civic affairs. This interest, as we have seen, blossomed forth when in the local press he played the part of the "Village Blacksmith." It revealed itself in his early popular lec- tures. He sympathized keenly with the honest and faithful toiler who found it difficult to live from hand to mouth. This crops out in his lecture on "The Blue Side of a Dollar a Day." Another lecture of his that touched the human side of life was on the theme "What Makes Men Happy"? In his addresses to the gradu- ating classes (and he was frequently pressed into ser- vice), he was sure to stir up local civic pride either by lauding some public-spirited man like Robert H. Cole- man, who did so much for Lebanon's greater expansion, or by recounting past history and pointing to the noble deeds of the fathers whose ideals and sacrifices made the city and the county what it was, or to the large part which its citizens had taken in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. As a loyal citizen, he keeps his eye on the public schools to see that high standards are maintained. He keeps in touch with teachers' institutes; he attends the Board of Health meetings ; goes to the license court to oppose the issuing of new licenses; interests himself in the sewerage question, in street paving, in opening new playgrounds; and by his superior knowledge in all these matters virtually compels men to seek his advice or bend to his views. When the new playground is finished, he is invited to make the address at its opening to the public; when the Chemical Fire Company's building is dedicated, Schmauk must, of course, be there to make the speech. Citizens still relate how, after many humor- 96 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK ous comparisons and allusions, he switched into a more serious train of thoug-ht and told his audience how the fires of evil were being constantly kept burning in Leb- anon and how great the need of watchfulness and zeal to fight the flames. When the question of street-paving was being considered and the town council had practi- cally decided upon either asphalt or brick, the preacher of Salem appeared before these gentlemen and presented such a compelling array of facts and arguments as to win the majority over to wooden blocks. There was enough noise on the streets of Lebanon to make it un- necessary to add to it. Why not use material to dimin- ish it? His devotion to the highest welfare of the community was recognized as being so sincere and wholesouled that he could be permitted to say things which no other citi- zen dared to utter. When the great strike at the American Iron and Steel Company was on in 1901, the mob spirit ran high. It culminated in a battle and bloodshed on the nights of September 22nd and 23rd. One of Salem's members, Captain H. M. M. Richards, a descendant of Muhlenberg, being one of the company's trusted offi- cials, was shot and wounded. Leading citizens who had large interests at stake, quailed before this mob spirit and none dared to open his mouth. At this juncture appeared the man of the hour, and in the presence of an audience which more than filled Salem Church, Dr. Schmauk boldly preached a powerful sermon condemn- ing the reign of terror and calling upon the citizens of Lebanon to come to the defense of law and order. From that moment, the courage of the orderly citizens revived, public sentiment regained its speech and the tide speedily turned. CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 97 HIS LOVE OF COUNTRY Intimate knowledge of local and national history, par- ticularly that which pertained to the sturdy Lutheran pioneers in Colonial and Revolutionary days, inspired him with a love of country that was in many respects exceptional. When invited to make addresses on special occasions of historic interest, he literally poured out facts — and often on very short notice — as from a peren- nial fountain. When called upon to make addresses before the P. O. S. of A. veterans, he could be counted on to awaken in the breasts of others the same patriotic fervor that throbbed in his own bosom. He on more than one occasion reminded other audiences of how Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg (once a pastor of Salem Church) proclaimed at the risk of his life, from his pulpit in New York City, his contemptof the Tories who stood ready to sell the liberty of the Colonies to England and his devotion to the cause of American independence. He was proud to remind them of another Lutheran clergyman who in the church at Woodstock, Virginia, laid aside his clerical robes while in the pulpit, called for volunteers to follow him, and became one of the ■most trusted generals of Washington in the trying days of the Revolution. These patriotic outbursts brought him into the lime- light as a public speaker, and no celebration of either civic or historic import was considered complete without the presence of Dr. Schmauk either as the speaker or the presiding officer. Later, when President McKinley was shot. Dr. Schmauk preached a sermon to a crowded church that made a deep impression. It was a strong arraignment of the spirit of anarchy and warned against influences and tendencies subversive of everything H 98 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Americans should hold dear. Later upon the death of the martyr President, another sermon was preached of such eloquence and power as to call forth the highest praise. People in Lebanon recall it to this day. Both sermons appeared in full in the local papers. AS PUBLIC SPEAKER His connection with the Chautauqua and with the two historical societies, and his earlier lectures on popular subjects, proved to be a great training school to fit him for impromptu speech on public occasions. He rapidly developed a gift for the popular presentation of even ab- struse themes. He injected plenty of spice by his fre- quent sallies of wit and humor, and by drawing copi- ously on his imagination. His commanding form and resonant voice stood him in good stead at all times. But it was his ready command of fluent and forceful English, and his ability to get into whole-souled touch not only with the subjects he dealt with but also with his audi- ence that were the real source of his power as an in- spirational speaker. You were impressed that there stood before you not only a big mind, laden with rich stores of knowledge, but a great big soul — a soul as play- ful as that of a boy and yet as deeply serious as that of a sage and a prophet. It is well that, at this point, something should be said of the large use he made of humor in his addresses on public occasions. He regarded it as almost essential that the audience should be put into good humor so as to have an expectant, open and receptive state of mind. First attention ; then action, was his motto. When at- tention was secured, he knew that he was in a position to carry his audience with him whithersoever he would. Hence he made free use of what would be startling and CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 99 often extremely fanciful. There was a deep-seated ear- nestness and purpose in it all, as he says, which many who often heard him have failed to take into account. In his sermons, he would not permit his humor to speak; but he was always sure to start out with some fresh and striking description to capture the attention of the hearer. And yet he never became sensational in the cheap and popular sense in which that word is under- stood. He deplored sensationalism as practiced by many preachers. In his sermon skeletons prepared under Dr. Mann at the Seminary, this peculiarity crept out in his introductions, and any one who has ever passed through the ordeal of submitting such skeletons to Dr. Mann might easily guess what must have happened. "Away with your flights of fancy. Right into the heart of your text !" was Dr. Mann's demand. Even he could not rightly appreciate the purpose his favorite student had in view. When he presided at meetings, that playful spirit, often delighting in striking fancies and hyperboles, made the speakers he introduced feel somewhat em- barrassed and uncomfortable; but both he and the audi- ence usually enjoyed it. These introductions were al- ways looked for, except when the occasion demanded seriousness. He took delight, at times, to characterize the speaker in flowery language and in humorous style. On one occasion at least this mode of introducing speak- ers reacted against him. It was when he was invited by President Haas of Muhlenberg College, whom he had more than once introduced as speaker, to address the students at college. Dr. Haas remembered how he himself had been presented to audiences where Dr. Schmauk presided, and determined he would copy his 100 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK method. He accordingly indulged in flights of fancy and fulsome rhetoric and made a very successful imi- tation of the latter's manner of speech; throwing up his arms and raising his voice, then suddenly letting it fall. After Dr. Haas had spoken seriously about Dr. Schmauk's work and place in the Church, he grew elo- quent as follows : "There has come to us today a great man, in the sunshine among the hills, among the budding trees, amid the blossoms and the flowers of spring. He has descended upon us like a mighty nightingale, with outspread wings, and alighting upon this hill, is now ready to sing his sweet song. Though large in size, he can sing the charming lay of the little bird. He can pass swiftly and smoothly from humor to seriousness ; he can amuse you while he inspires you, passing from the sublime to the ridiculous, chang- ing from mood to mood as he circles about you and in flowing sentences rises to ethereal heights, then descends again with a sudden swoop to awaken within you a thrill of laughter as he alights and subsides into silence." It was a successful parody. No one can fail to recog- nize it as a true copy of Schmaukian speech. The students did not fully realize that it was not Dr. Haas's natural manner of speaking until Dr. Schmauk had launched out pretty fairly into his address. Then the close similarity of manner struck them so forcibly that the boys saw the joke and could not resist giving expression to their feelings. There arose a spontaneous roar of laughter and for once in his life Dr. Schmauk was profoundly embarrassed. He was so much taken by surprise that he did not fire back then, but had his fun with Dr. Haas later. No portraiture of Dr. Schmauk would be complete were the part he played at public functions in Lebanon to be left out of account. On one occasion, when the Memorial D Opening of the Pi..a As A Public SpEai- CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 101 Hon. W. U. Hensel of Lancaster was invited to deliver the historical address before the Lebanon County His- torical Society, he had failed to touch on many things of vital interest connected with the subject, and Dr. Schmauk undertook to supply the deficiency. He pre- sented such a bewildering array of facts and figures that when he was through, Dr. Hensel remarked to a friend : "H I could have found a hole in the floor big enough, I would have been glad to creep through it." It was risky to delve into historic lore in the presence of Dr. Schmauk. The people of Lebanon had become so thoroughly dependent on his leadership whenever celebrations of civic or historic significance took place that a mass meet- ing seemed incomplete or unsatisfactory without him. The Grand Army men on great national holiday occa- sions generally made sure that he would be present to participate. When the Centennial of Lincoln's birth was celebrated in 1908, it was a foregone conclusion that he should make the address. The Sons of America Hall was packed, and in a tribute of remarkable warmth and power, he exalted the fundamental principles upon which our Republic is founded, and drew wholesome lessons that were fully worthy of the occasion. SCHMAUK AND TAFT Dr. Schmauk's greatest achievement at introducing speakers, as the people of Lebanon unite in saying, was when ex-President Taft was invited on January 19, 1918, to a mass meeting in behalf of the Liberty Loan. The Academy of Music was packed to the doors, and no man in Lebanon but Dr. Schmauk looked big enough to preside at the meeting. He was invited at a late hour to perform that duty. He accepted, and in an introduc- 102 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK tory speech, sparkling with wit and humor, thrilled the great audience with his eloquence. After the President of the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, who was also manager of the gas plant, had turned the meeting over to Dr. Schmauk as chairman, the latter rose, and turning to Mr. Taft said: "That is our gas man. It is his duty to furnish light and power. I am not here to furnish the gas. That is his business. I am here simply to send out a few electric sparks." He then spoke of the resemblance between himself and Mr. Taft as to lateral physical outline rather than as to height, and before introducing the speaker called upon the audience to make the rafters ring by singing the national anthem. This done, he proceeded to acquaint Mr. Taft with some Lebanon history. He spoke of him as "The man of national and international fame," and of Lebanon as "the most patriotic city of its size in Pennsylvania." He then reminded the audience that five other presidents of the country, before they became candidates for the office, had visited Lebanon. Washington had been there ; so had Van Buren, Harrison, Buchanan, Grant and Hayes. "But this is the first time," he added, "that we have had a real ex-President to speak here." Then followed a description in his characteristic style of the fertile limestone valley, rich in mineral resources, where "barns like castles rise" and which the Germans and Huguenots had turned into a fruitful garden. He recalled how in Colonial days Conrad Weiser, then living only seventeen miles from Lebanon, saved Ohio, Indiana and Illinois during the French and Indian war; how Lebanon County had responded to the call of the Nation in the Revolutionary War, in the war of 1812 and in CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 103 the Civil War, furnishing more than its quota in all three. Then turning smilingly to Mr. Taft, he spoke of four types of American Statesmen with whom the honored guest was doubtless well acquainted. There was first the philanthropic type, William Jennings Bryan, whose fondness for peace treaties and prohibition were humorously alluded to. Then came the belligerent type, Theodore Roosevelt, who unlike Bryan, believed more in hot coals than in cold water, as the guest, no doubt, was fully aware. Next came the idealistic or pedagogic type. President Wilson, who assayed to be the teacher of the world and who was giving lessons on democracy. The fourth type was the constructive statesman, Mr. Taft himself, who brought order out of chaos in Cuba and the Philippines. While President Wilson opened wide the lid of government, Mr. Taft sat firmly on it. Then closing he said to the audience : 'T introduce to you our first and fullest-orbed American citizen." When the ex-President rose to speak, he seemed to show signs that he had unexpectedly stepped into the shadow of a man of genius and power. Dr. Schmauk had said : "I do not know how it happened that I a preacher should have been called upon to introduce a lawyer," and almost the first sentence Mr. Taft uttered was, "I now know why you were called upon to intro- duce me." He laughingly commented on the physical likeness between the two, and remarked that while min- isters often dare much, he had never known any one who would have had the temerity to make the compari- sons ventured by Dr. Schmauk. He declared that he was in a tremble while the comparisons were being made. He afterwards said, in substance, to several men in pri- vate conversation : 'T never had an introduction like 104 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK that. I felt like a boy in his presence. It is unusual to find so great a man in so small a city. You can be proud of him. No other man could have trodden on such dan- gerous political ground as he has done without giving offense." Was it strange that many in that audience should have placed the lawyer and the preacher side by side and concluded that there was presidential timber in the Leba- non ministry? SCHMAUK DURING THE WAR He was much in demand during the trying days of the late war. Lebanon made heroic efforts to do its full share in going over the top not only in furnishing men for the army and navy, but also in subscribing for bonds. As the young men went forth from time to time at the call of the nation, he was invited to speak the parting words. When they returned, he stood ready in public meeting to welcome them back. He took a spe- cial interest in the boys of Salem who had gone to war and wrote many letters to them. Some of his patriotic sermons are still remembered by the soldiers of the Lebanon County companies that survived and returned. The one delivered in the Chapel before the veterans of Salem Church will never be for- gotten by the great throng that heard it. When interest in the Liberty Loan seemed to be lag- ging, he was called upon to create the needed enthusiasm, and he always did it with marked success. On one occa- sion he addressed a great crowd from the steps of the Post Office Building. He there kindled a fire that made the sparks of patriotism fly high, and the result was that the quota was oversubscribed. On another occasion, he addressed a large assembly at a base ball game, and ^^^^pP'''''''''''^ mh> t \ • 1 :.a.^.i..^wfc^--.t -m» •^': ^^l' 3 1 t X iKmsmmmmi^.'"'^::-:. ■ i *^ i^ ' % PPf^^1.f CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 105 drawing his illustrations from the great national sport, he placed the Kaiser at the bat, the German submarines and armies on the bases, the Allies behind the batter and the United States as pitcher in front of him, with the result that the batter fanned, and the game was lost to the Kaiser. It took the base ball fans by storm, and they speak of that "great speech" to this day. On still another occasion, the Fourth of July was turned to good account for another Loan Drive. Market Square was crowded with a throng of expectant people, and Protestant and Catholic joined hands, as citizens, to celebrate. Father Christ and Pastor Schmauk were present as the speakers. Though far removed from each other as the poles in matters of faith, both were on terms of cordial friendship and enjoyed each other's respect and confidence. This was publicly declared by the priest when he rose, after what was termed a "great speech" by Dr. Schmauk, and remarked that he had "a warm spot in his heart" for his neighbor, and was "sure that Dr. Schmauk had a warm spot in his heart for him." Both believed that it was one thing to fellowship as citizens and quite another to fellowship as ecclesiastics.* After Dr. Schmauk had written an editorial in The Lutheran Church Review, soon after the war broke out, to counteract British propaganda in the American press, which was calculated to involve the United States in the great conflict, and had in thorough and convincing manner laid bare the causes that led up to the war (for * Father Christ gave evidence of the warm friendship he cherished for Dr. Schmauk a few days before the latter's death. The family were badly in need of a night nurse, for the one who served as day nurse was engaged at night for service in a Roman Catholic family. When the priest was apprised of that fact, he ait once went to his sick parishioner and pleaded for the release of the nurse that the greater need in the Schmauk homestead might be supplied. He succeeded and won golden opinions for his noble act from the family and members of Old Salem which will long be cherished. 106 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK it ranks among the clearest and best expositions that were written) many have wondered that he should have seemed to reverse himself when the United States de- clared war. While he condemned the militaristic phil- osophy of Germany, he did not in reality reverse him- self. He was far from believing that the guilt of the war rested on Germany alone and that England, France and Russia could wash their hands in innocency. But he deplored the brutal war methods adopted by the German militarists, and when his country had spoken, for it alone among the nations could lift up unstained hands and declare a righteous war, he in true Lutheran spirit submitted to the decision of the Government and left the responsibility rest where it belonged. His intense patriotism would not permit him to whisper a word against his Government, though he deplored the fanaticism which led it at first to refuse enlistment to those whose names indicated German descent. He was wounded to the heart to think that, in spite of what Lutherans had done to save their country in the days of the Revolution and later in the Civil War, their descendants should now be treated as hyphenates. This righteous indignation found expression in a re- markable impromptu speech delivered in New York City at the organization of the United Lutheran Church in 1918. When the Hon. Edmund Rommel (whose name indicates his German ancestry) representing the United States Bureau of Education had addressed that body on the question of Americanizing foreigners, Dr. Schmauk immediately rose to his feet and proceeded to correct what he believed to be an impression at Washington, that the Lutheran Church in this country is not a thoroughly American Church. His statement struck a responsive CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 107 chord and called forth frequent applause. It is worthy of a place in this biography. THE LUTHERAN CHURCH NOT A FOREIGN CHURCH "I am heartily in accord with all that has been said by this worthy representative of the Government, but I also feel, how- ever, that while we are most heartily interested in the foreign work, we are not a foreign-born Church. It is difficult to avoid the impression that some of our officials at Washington :believe that to be a Lutheran is to be a foreigner. "I want to say here, in view of recent statements in print, that the Lutheran Church was in North America three years before the Pilgrim Fathers ever set their foot upon New England soil. I want to say here that there were Lutherans on these rocky shores of Manhattan two years after the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock. I want to say further that there was an organ- ized Lutheran Church here in Manhattan 130 years before the American Revolution ever took place. I want to say that had it not been for Benjamin Franklin and the German Lutherans in Pennsylvania the combination of the United Colonies into the United States would have been impossible. It was the Germans of Pennsylvania who stood behind Franklin as against the Quakers that enabled the Revolutionary War to succeed. "I want to say still further that in my dealings with Washing- ton my congregation has been characterized as a foreign-born congregation. My congregation, as I already said in this con- vention, had a pastor who became the first speaker of the first House of Representatives of the United States. With their townsmen, my congregation sent flour and money in 1774 to Boston after the famous tea party there and the closing of the port of Boston, in order to help to preserve American liberty. In the highest tower of my steeple there hangs a silver bell that was cast in 1770 in London, and from its height began to ring out into all the region round about me the inscription that is found on its face, and that inscription is, 'Proclaim liberty aloud to all the nations of the earth.' "The people of my congregation furnished one general, one colonel, and perhaps from one-third to one-fourth of every mem- ber in it to the Revolutionary War. And then, today, in writing 108 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK to the pastor of that congregation, Washington hints 'A foreign- born congregation.' "On the 24th of this month of November it will be 215 years since, in 1703, the Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, with solemn ceremonial, set apart Justus Falckner, in probably what was the first regular ordination of a Protestant clergyman in America, for the holy ministry, and to become the pastor of the Dutch Lutherans in New York, where he officiated faithfully until his death in 1723. New York still preserves his Church Record, and we still possess a copy of his ordination certificate signed by the three Lutheran ministers that laid hands on his head." This impromptu speech was afterwards circulated in pamphlet form, and was most cordially welcomed by thousands of Lutherans, who had felt the sting of the cruelly unjust aspersions cast upon a Church that had sent a larger proportion of sons to the front than any other religious or secular body in the country. CHAPTER XI Death of the Father (1898-1903) My Father, my Father, the chariot of Israel, and the horse- men thereof— 2 Kings 2:12. THE year 1898 proved to be memorable in the life of the younger Schmauk, and marks a distinct era. The one great event toward which father and son were looking with joyful anticipation was the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the Church building in which three generations had worshipped. It had displaced a log church erected ten years before the Declaration of Independence was signed. It was dedi- cated on June 3, 1798. It still stands as a monument of solid and substantial architecture so characteristic of the buildings of those times. Its stone walls will doubt- less be standing a century hence when other later struc- tures will have fallen to decay. George Lochman was the pastor who planned for its erection and who carried the project through. The father had taken a deep interest in the forth- coming celebration and was seeking to make it the occa- sion for a new era of expansion. He had hoped to see the erection of a new church building which was to be used for English services only. In the early nineties al- ready much had been said in church council about building an extension to the old church structure, so as not to place too heavy a financial burden on the congregation; to this both pastors were opposed. The shadow of a great sorrow was soon to fall upon these fond anticipations. On March 5th the father, who 110 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK had been in failing health for some time, became seri- ously sick — and in the midst of the busy Lenten season preparatory to confirmation and the celebration of Eas- ter. He gradually became worse and on April 1st a specialist from Philadelphia was summoned. Two days later was Palm Sunday and we read in the Diary that after the confirmation services, the son spent "the rest of the day with father, w^ho was very sick." Early on the following day at 1 :45 A. M., in the presence of the family, the pillar upon whom the younger Schmauk had leaned many years was broken. A note in his Diary of April 4th reads: "Father died. My Father! My Father ! O Lord, have mercy upon us !" It was the outburst of a soul who now realized that he stood alone. Shortly before this Salem had lost one of its pillars in the death of George H. Reinoehl, "an authority on church and town history," as Schmauk says, and one of his intimate friends and counsellors. The well-known friend of his father. Rev. Dr. Kohler, was also called to his heavenly home seven days later. On July 4th followed the death of his associate, Rev. F. M. Seip, pastor of Trinity mission. This added greatly to the sense of loneliness he felt and the weeks that followed, with the Review, the Sunday School work, and numer- ous pastoral duties on his hands, are a record of ardu- ous tasks performed under the handicap of much de- pression of spirit and numerous illnesses, the most seri- ous of which was an attack of quinsy with a consequent nervous breakdown. In addition to all this, there loomed up before him the task of preparing for the centennial celebration of the dedication of Old Salem Church. A history must be written, — and in a few weeks' time, if the festivities were to take place on June 3rd. Much DEATH OF THE FATHER 111 of this history — an octavo volume of 200 pages — was written in bed. As the time for the meeting of synod was at hand, it was decided to postpone the celebration to Sunday, June 17th, so as to permit of the completion of the history, which at the same time was to embody much of the story of Lebanon's past. The week pre- ceding, as may well be imagined, was an intensely busy one. We read in his Diary: "Working all week on Salem Church History, reading proof, etc., until one, two, three and four o'clock in the morning. Finished writing Thursday noon." The high esteem in which the father was held, and the strong affection the congregation cherished toward him made it easy to enlist a hitherto hesitating people in the project of building a new church instead of ruin- ing the old structure by enlarging it. What could now be more natural than to signalize the centennial services by erecting a chapel to the memory of a sainted pastor? Nine days after his death, the church council met and unanimously agreed to propose to the congregation at its meeting on May 1st the erection of a suitable memo- rial. A note in the Diary states briefly, "It was decided to build a chapel." Then followed increasingly busy days, interspersed with frequent attacks of illness. Though an associate pastor in the person of Rev. Ernest P. Pfatteicher was speedily secured, duties multiplied. The Review made heavy demands upon his time, and as its finances were not then in good shape, he tendered his resignation that same year, which was not accepted. He was in the midst of the arduous task of developing the Graded Lesson Series. He became more and more the inspira- tion and mainstay of the two historic societies he had 112 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK helped to organize, and in addition took an interest as a life member in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. He was not only literary editor of The Lutheran, but kept in constant touch with all its interests. In view of his ever-widening activities and the high rank he had taken as a scholar and a leader, he had been honored the year before (1897) by Muhlenberg College with the title of Doctor of Divinity. With the year 1899, a new era dawned upon the life of Dr. Schmauk. The death of his beloved and wise counsellor now threw him completely upon his own re- sources, and he began in this period a many-sided career whose demands upon his energies were destined sooner or later to consume him. With the added responsibility of planning for a church building and looking after the details of its erection, the typewriter which had been in- stalled even before his activities at the Mt. Gretna Chau- tauqua, was kept busy, his sister and a number of boys and young men giving him much-needed assistance until in 1900 he engaged a regular stenographer, and in addi- tion a secretary and proof reader. As he had launched deeply into the work of prepar- ing a Graded Series of text books for the Sunday Schools, the Memorial Chapel took the form of a com- bination of a churchly house of worship and a Sunday School building. It is a Tudor Gothic struc- ture and cruciform in style. Ground was broken on Sep- tember 12th, the cornerstone laid September 30th in the same year, and on May 19, 1901, a massive building, the pride of the city, costing over $70,000, was dedicated to the service of the Triune God. An interesting inci- dent connected with the consecration of the Chapel was the planting of a sprig of ivy taken from the vine that DEATH OF THE FATHER 113 climbed the walls of the Wartburg Castle in Germany, the gift of a life-long friend and schoolmate of his father, Mr. John B. Zimmele, who was then traveling through Germany. What is specially interesting in connection with the erection of this Chapel is the amount of detail work and study that was devoted to it by Dr. Schmauk. He had familiarized himself with the history of church architecture and mastered its fundamental concepts and principles. The materials that went into the building from foundation to roof were selected by him, and it is doubtful whether any church building of its size and cost can boast of better, high-grade material. An in- stance of his expert knowledge and minute attention to details is related by one of the churc'h members who ac- companied him to Philadelphia to select stained glass for windows to be placed near the eaves of the roof. He revealed such an intimate knowledge of the manu- facture of glass that the head man in the department turned to the church member and said: "Who is this man? He knows more of the manufacture of glass than I do." This same penchant for details was mani- fested later w'hen the pipe organ, then costing over $6,000, was to be purchased. Long before, he had made a study of the organ and there is now on hand a manu- script almost completed for a book of considerable size on "The Church Organ and Its History." His expert knowledge of the organ was soon noised abroad and his advice was sought by pastors contem- plating the purchase of similar instruments. Two let- ters seeking such advice, and replies to them by Dr. Schmauk, are worthy of mention as showing how thor- oughly he had entered into the study of the subject. I 114 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK An inquiry from the Rev. Robert L. Patterson, of Somer- set, Pa., receives an answer of more than three large typewritten sheets discussing the merits and defects of organs manufactured by six leading firms. Even Roman Catholic priests sought his advice. A priest from Car- lisle, Pa., is "anxious to have reliable data to place at the disposal of the Bishop" for the selection of an organ to be built in the new cathedral in Harrisburg, Pa., and writes for information in a letter dated March 17, 1906. The reply reveals his mastery of the subject and sets forth the merits and demerits of the Austin organ, which, with important modifications, was the instrument in- stalled in the Chapel and was designed by Robert Hope- Jones. He sums up its tonal quality thus : "If I had full means at command and were about to build a new organ, I would try to get on their standard of tone addi- tions in the direction of diffused rather than defined power, golden mellowness and soft richness in larger abundance in small stops, and greater richness in a few large stops." He then de- scribes in detail the "Materials and Action" he would insist upon having. He says that the organ at Salem Church is "notable for a full, living, clear-cut utterance of great power and of perfect smoothness or finish. The tone, to my ear, considered as to quality, combines the unobtrusive perfection of artistic form with a full flowing energy. The majesty of the volumes is not rude and barbaric; nor, on the other hand, is their sweetness in any wise romantic. I have never found the soft and Italian golden sunshine in these tones. The power is self-contained and definite rather than vaguely suggestive and diffused." More of a similar character follows. DELEGATE TO THE GENERAL SYNOD During this period. Dr. Schmauk became deeply in- terested in the larger questions and issues that concerned the General Council, and as delegate to the General DEATH OF THE FATHER 115 Synod in 1901 presented overtures of the General Coun- cil to that body looking toward a policy of co-operation between the two bodies along practical lines. A report of part of his address was thus summarized in one of the local papers : "Dr. Schmauk came before the General Synod not for the marriage of the two bodies, but only asking that the Synod always be a sister to the General Council. He said he merely came to suggest co-operation where such would be mutually advantageous, and was prepared to consultj with any committee the Synod might be pleased to appoint. H his suggestion should not meet with favor, he asked that his presence should be re- garded merely as a fraternal knock at the door. If the knock were not heard, he would be content, like the missionaries in India, to leave his card and go away." It is needless to add that a committee was appointed, with Dr. Dunbar at its head, and upon its recommenda- tion the following action was taken : "Resolved, that we approve of a policy of cooperation between the two general bodies on lines that may be found to be prac- ticable, after due investigation of the various points involved, and without in any way committing either body to any entangling alliances, sacrifice of principle, or interference with synodical identity. "Resolved, that a commission be appointed consisting of five to meet with and confer with a similar committee, that may be appointed by the General Council, to consider and inquire into such matters as may come within the scope of the first resolution and report at the next meeting." Thus the door to real co-operation was first opened. Favorable action resulted, and at the meeting of the Coun- cil in the same year at Lima, Ohio, he became the author of a resolution which resulted in the appointment of a commission of five to meet with a similar commission of the General Synod for the investigation and consid- 116 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK eration of a policy of co-operation, which later proved to be the beginning of new relationships leading up fin- ally to the organization of the United Lutheran Church. He already became recognized as a leading force on the floor of the General Council, entering into the dis- cussions of great questions at issue with intelligence and convincing power. At this Lima meeting he could announce to the Gen- eral Council the completion of the Graded Series of text books, though few realized the tremendous amount of labor and energy expended, not only in preparing and publishing the series, but in giving numerous expositions of the system in various centers. So interesting and informing were his presentations of the subject that he could hold the rapt attention of his audiences for more than an hour. "A Flying Trip Through Twentieth Century Sunday Schools with a Few Moments' Stop at Grade Stations," was the novel and striking way in which he announced the theme to be discussed during his itin- erary. CHAPTER XII President of the General Council (1903 to 1905) In the Church of our Lord and Christ, we do not want a steam- roller unity. What we want is a growth into unity. What we want is, not commercial but spiritual, efficiency — not a commercial headship such as Rome has, but spirittial liberty under the head- ship of Christ. The finest trees grow zvith plenty of airspace abotit them. — Schmauk. WHEN at the meeting of the General Council in Norristown, Pa., in 1903, this pastor, preacher, educator, historian, lecturer, editor, author, patriot and public speaker was elected president, it was inevitable that he would not be satisfied to serve merely as presiding officer, attending during the two years of his incumbency only to such matters of gen- eral interest as might be thrust upon him in the interim. He at once took his responsibility most seriously, ac- quainted himself with the inner workings of the boards, committees and synods so far as he was able, and planted himself firmly on the doctrines and principles of the General Council as laid down by the fathers, determined to keep true to their aims and ideals. This became ap- parent when, two years later, at the Council meet- ing in Milwaukee, he presented his first report. It covered twenty pages of that year's minutes and was the most exhaustive presentation that had yet been made before the General Council. He was setting a new pre- cedent and enlarging greatly the scope of the duties and services pertaining to the office. 118 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK What is significant in this first report is that it fore- casts his later undying loyalty to the General Council and what it stood for. He is conscious that he has set before himself a larger task than his predecessors seemed willing to assume; for after defining what he conceives to be the high calling and mission of the General Council, he says : "Your President, believing that it is far more possible in this generation than it was at the beginning, to rely on a united and loyal Lutheran consciousness in the General Gsuncil ; and believing also that it will become increasingly more necessary as the years pass to keep the body in living touch with its fundamental prin- ciples ; and believing that this is the main work of the President apart from guiding business deliberations ; has taken this position in the present report. If the position is a mistaken one, he trusts and knows that the General Council will declare its judgment." In this report there were twenty distinct items, sev- eral of considerable importance, to which the attention of the Council was directed. Among them were diffi- culties that had arisen in the Foreign Mission field, the question of marriage and divorce, modern evangelism and the Council's attitude toward it, and the subject of American Civic Righteousness, concerning which he quotes what President Roosevelt said in praise of the American Lutheran Church as the conservator of a sturdy and virtuous type of Americanism. A PROCLAMATION This report was in reality Dr. Schmauk's proclama- tion of what he intended to stand for. It was his inter- pretation of the General Council's mission as a leaven of genuine Lutheranism in its truest American essence and character. He wrote as one deeply conscious of "the rapid passing away" of the Council's founders, PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 119 taking account of "the rapid (Change in personality which is coming over our body," by calling to mind the deaths of three ex-presidents during the biennium (Moldenke, Swenson, Seiss). Of the original delegation that went to Fort Wayne to organize the General Council in 1867, only three or four remained in the land of the living. "To await the coming of the half century before tak- ing any festal retrospect into the past, might deprive us of those venerable founders whom God has spared unto this day," and it followed naturally that the com- mittee on President's Report should recommend the cele- bration of the fortieth anniversary in 1907. The serious illness of Drs. Weidner and Geissinger and the ab- sence of Drs. Krotel and Haas because of illness, as well as the death of Dr. Seip of Muhlenberg College, weighed heavily on his mind. Then after stating that, while men die, the General Council itself does not die, he quotes what former presidents — SchaefTer, Krotel, Krauth and Spaeth— have interpreted the mission of the Council to be. With this as his introduction, he sets forth what he himself believes is its true character and mission. As it explains his attitude tv-)ward the General Council, and the great questions and issues with which it was confronted during the seventeen years of his ad- ministration as president, his declaration must find a place in this biography. It is the gauge by which his whole later life and activity must be measured. "THE ONE CONSERVATIVE LUTHERAN BODY" "The future work of the General Council will devolve more and more upon the second generation, and by them and by all Lutherans in this land, two facts should not be forgotten: "The first is this, that the General Council is the one conser- vative Lutheran body in this country, accepting unreservedly both the Confessions and the history of the Church. As over against 120 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK any radicalism, which would cut away the Qjnfessional fullness of our Lutheran Church, or which would make a syncretistic combination between parts of our heritage and other doctrinal elements in America which are not our own, the General Council stands firmly for the complete and concordant sum of Lutheran truth. With equal firmness does it accept and build upon the historical past, both in Europe and in this country, and avoid that other radicalism which, instead of purging the hay, straw and stubble from the old foundations, would begin, without just recognition of the good that is in the past, to erect, by means of an exclusive ecclesiastical organization, a new Lutheranism, without regard to any previous or contemporary work of Provi- dence in the land. "The General Council is not chiefly constrained to preserve its own organization, or to subserve the development or preser- vation of any school of theology, of any body of emigrants, or of any strain of blood. Its professed purpose from the begin- ning has been to build upon the foundation of pure doctrine a true and Catholiic Lutheran Church, with no desire for the rule of any school of theology, or any ecclesiastical party. "This gives the General Council its ecumenical character and outlook, and its safe and central hold upon the future. It accepts the one foundation solely and unreservedly, and upon this it devotes itself to the upbuilding of our Church in this land. It recognizes all the good in the historical development of the past ; and recognizes the evil also; but it refuses to destroy the good in order that it may thereby be enabled to burn out the evil. "The attitude of Luther toward the Catholic Church in the Sixteenth Century is the attitude of the General Council toward all forms of Lutheranism today. It would conserve the past and upbuild the future on the basis of a sound faith. Its depth is the depth of salvation which is in Jesus Christ. Its length is the length of history, and its breadth is the breadth of our own land and our own time." Then follow reasons why the General Council "is here to stay." While he realizes that its organization is necessarily lacking in compactness and solidarity because of the several racial elements composing the body, and PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 121 because of "apparently contradictory interests" repre- sented in it, he believes the General Council to be the one Lutheran body that is best adapted to weld together the various Lutheran synods and prevent them from drifting into a type of particularistic and sectarian life which is foreign to the true genius of Lutheranism. He says: "The weakness of independent and divided Lutheran congre- gations and Synods in this country is a warning in the history of the past. The ineffectiveness of Intersynodical Conferences, conducted outside of any direction or responsibility — which in- deed were proposed as a substitute for the organization of the General Council in 1866, and which the General Council then opposed as such — has been demonstrated from the earliest his- tory of these disputations in the Lutheran Church down to the very latest. "The general body, on the basis of the pure Confessions, such as we have in the General Council itself, meets the case of the Lutheran Church in this land. Few of us can realize the great loss that would come to ourselves, to the whole Lutheran Church and to the Protestant Church throughout the world, if this fabric of our fathers were to perish." THE GENERAL COUNCIL'S ATTITUDE TOWARD MODERN EVANGELISM A letter had been addressed to him requesting a statement from him as to the General Council's position on the question of evangelism, and the answer is em- bodied in the report. It forecasts the attitude he later took toward revivalistic movements and emotional evan- gelism in general, and his strenuous efforts to offset this tendency in American Protestantism by stressing the need of an educational evangelism. It presents the Luth- eran view on this question which reads as follows : "We Lutherans believe that every pastor is an Evangelist, and that in every sermon the Law and the Gospel is to be proclaimed for the awakening and salvation of lost sinners. It is within 122 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK the scope of our Church to make provision for daily and special services for the effective preaching of the Gospel to the lost. There is no Church in all Christendom that so faithfully and continuously and regularly warns sinners and sets forth the grace of God and the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. "But it is true Gospel, as we teach it, that is to be preached in our parishes. It is those who hold 'the office of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments' (Augsburg Confession V) on whom this work is to fall. The duty of evangelizing the world at home and abroad is not a special, intermittent, and spas- modic function of the Church, arising spontaneously and irregu- larly in periods of public excitement, with agencies of ministra- tion created outside of the regular bounds of the Church, and subsiding again when the wave of emotional excitement has passed over the country and spent itself. On the other hand, it is a constant part of the regular work of the Church to be attended to, like all other work of the Church, in an orderly way, and by those duly called to the 'office.' "To Lutherans, then. Evangelism, or saving the sinner and the world by the power of the Gospel, is not a series of mixed meetings conducted under the auspices of a union of temporarily united but permanently divergent sects, by one who proclaims the Word of Gk)d with no regular call, and who follows up the proclamation with the use of agencies and systems of reach- ing the individual which our Church cannot approve; but Evan- gelism is the regular public proclamation 'by the foolishness of preaching,' of the saving Word of God, the Law and the Gospel, at daily and festival services, and on all suitable occa- sions, by the Lutheran pastor or Missionary properly called to this work; and the following up of the public proclamation with faithful and continuous pastoral effort. "The Lutheran Church does not find it necessary to inaugurate special and irregular evangelistic meetings in a congregation or parish in order to stimulate the flagging interest of church mem- bers lukewarm and about to fall away. While such members abound with us, yet the faithful use of our regular means, and honest labor under our normal conception of justification, regen- eration, conversion and sanctification, which is so much more true, and so far superior, in its bearings on the inner life, to the PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 123 loose, current views of Christianity, are our most effective means of bringing the falling member back into a state of grace. "I am referring to the Lutheran doctrine that the Christian life is a daily repentance and daily faith. Whereas 'Modern' Evangelism, like old-time revivalism, is inclined to make the turning point from the world to be an irregular and so to say chance moment, occurring once or at rare intervals in the life of the individual ; the Lutheran doctrine of the daily turning from sin, and the daily turning to Christ, is immeasurably superior as a true power in the application of the saving Gospel both to the unawakened sinner without the Church and also to the gradu- ally decaying soul within. "If the Lutheran Church is not doing her duty in the matter of Evangelism, it is because she is not properly using the most potent means, regularly inherent in her nature and her constitu- tional mode of operation, ever given to any Church for this purpose. "With the increase of extra-ecclesiastical agencies and organi- zations, not regularly connected with the Christian Church ; and with no lawful power of the keys committed to them; with no authority of arrangement for the exercise of discipline over speakers, or people; with no method of bringing home to the converts, not only the comfort but also the responsibilities of the Christian life; with no regular provision for the confession of sins and for the administration of the Sacraments ; with no organic method for apportioning and bringing the awakened to the regular ministrations of the Word and Sacraments ; 'modern' Evangelistic work as an extra-ecclesiastical institution will, in the long run, prove to be of questionable value to Christianity for 'adding to the Church daily such as should be saved' (Acts 2:47).'' That the new President had not overstepped the lim- its in breaking precedents and presenting so complete and comprehensive a report was indicated by his re- election as president. The Committee on President's Report gave expression to the same high opinion of the President as a trusted and capable officer in the follow- ing paragraph of its report : 124 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK "In answer to the question of the President concerning the functions of his office, especially in the matter of his official re- port, your committee recommends as answer, that the present re- port, in the wideness of its scope and the fullness of its detail, in referring to the matters of vital interest to the doctrine and life of the Church and to civic righteousness, gives to this body the demonstration of a satisfactory interpretation of the con- stitutional functions of his office in bringing to the Council's notice topics for most timely and profitable consideration." WHAT WAS BEHIND THE PROCLAMATION There was a reason why the new President's first report partook of the character of a confession of his faith in the paragraphs quoted. His correspondence after the meeting of the General Conference of Luth- erans in Pittsburgh, April 5-7, 1904, as well as an edi- torial in the July Review, show that he was apprehensive of a tendency among certain scholars within the Gen- eral Council to yield somewhat to the rationalistic atti- tude of the negative critics toward the Scriptures. When at that meeting the question of inspiration was discussed, certain statements were made which leaned in the direc- tion of the well-known dictum, that the Scriptures con- tain the Word of God but may not be spoken of as being the Word of God. A letter to Dr. Krotel reveals a deep feeling of depression. In it he speaks of being "over- powered by a sense of loneliness and helplessness" as he believed himself to be standing almost alone in coun- teracting with scholarly methods and arguments the leaven of the Higher Criticism that seemed to be work- ing its way into the General Council, as he and others feared. He at the same time realized that in the Lutheran Church in this country, there was a disposition on the part of most of its theologians and pastors to rest satis- PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 125 fied with the position of the teachers and dogmaticians of past generations and a disinclination to keep abreast of the newer scholarship of the day so as to be able to counteract its tendencies and dangers. He felt that few or none were capable of supporting him in standing for the defense of the formal principle of the Reformation without incurring the charge of being ignorant of the problems involved in the critical study of the Bible. He deplored the indifference of many bright minds in the Lutheran Church who rested satisfied with being simply orthodox and who did not realize the dangers of un- preparedness to meet the radicalism of the negative critics. As much criticism of certain loose statements during the discussion on inspiration had come to his ears (for he himself was not present at the time), he felt that the General Council must embrace the earliest opportu- nity to place itself on record as still standing by the declaration of its founders, that the Scriptures are "in- errant in letter, fact and doctrine," as the constitution states. What could be more conducive to a reassertion of the Council's faith as related to this and other im- portant questions than the celebration of its Fortieth Anniversary? He was thus looking forward two years for a clear and unequivocal reaffirmation of that faith. Soon after the Pittsburgh Conference, he prepared a series of nine articles for The Lutheran on "Inspiration at Pittsburgh," but as he and the Editor agreed, that they might create the impression that the men who had made the unguarded statements at Pittsburgh were al- ready dwelling in the tents of the negative critics, they were not published. It was deemed best to discuss the matter in the July Revicn', in which appeared an article 126 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK by Dr. Leander Keyser and an editorial by Dr. Schmauk. The crucial point was the declaration which had been made, that "Christ is primary, and the doctrine of in- spiration secondary." In a letter to Dr. Keyser he com- mends him for his answer to that statement, which reads : "Do men who speak and write in that way realize that the Christ they exalt is only an ideal Christ, and not the historical Christ?" The point made was simply, where but in the Scriptures do we know of Christ? If the Scriptures, in spite of many textual errors that have been and are being corrected, but which do not affect its substance, are not infallible, even to its very words, — if we must be uncertain there — what guarantee have we that we know a real, historic Christ? To quote Luther and place him among the subjective negative critics of modern times, when both he and the later dogmaticians merely rested on the Scriptures and were not worried by any mechanical or any equivocal definition of inspira- tion, was to read sixteenth century thought through twentieth century glasses. But for that Pittsburgh Conference, the report of the President at the Milwaukee Council would have read differently. Yea more, the Buffalo Council that followed would not have struck the high note of confessionalism it did, had not the soul of its President been stirred to the depth for fear of a drift away from the faith into the shoals and quicksands of rationalism. CHAPTER XIII The Confessional High-Water Mark (1907) "It is not to us to reset the course of history by our feeble fiat. Union in sfririt and in truth is not really promoted by clever mechanical contrivance, or by balanced doctrinal compromise. Unionists are not taking the truly ruinous rmn by the horns, in proposing to eliminate doctrinal distinctiveness. Theology is not the horrid scapegoat that men make her out to be. The trouble is not in the bones of doctrine, but in the blood of life. You need to breed a better stock in the fold, sir. A few centuries of gentle breeding ivill bring more union than an eternity of blomnng. It is the moral blemishes that keep the bones of doctrine sore. It is the quantity of blemish, not the quantity of bone, that needs to be reduced. — Schmauk. IF the prelude of Dr. Schmauk's administration as President was played at Milwaukee, the grand symphony was made to peal forth at the Fortieth Anniversary of the General Council in 1907 at Buffalo. An elaborate program, "with almost as many speakers as there were years in the General Council's History," as Dr. Horn remarked, had to be prepared; and in ad- dition to Dr. C. T. Benze's elaborate theses on the Scrip- tures, the Council was asked by its president to put itself on record on the question of co-operation and fel- lowship with ncn-Lutherans ; on the relations between the General Council and the General Synod, for which Dr. Jacobs was asked to prepare theses ; on the question of reaffirming in no uncertain tones the doctrinal basis on which the Council was founded. This convention 128 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK was designed to reach the high-water mark of confes- sionalism in the Council's history after the eventful meeting at Fort Wayne in 1867. To celebrate such an anniversary without reproducing in clear and distinct tones the confessional musdc of the fathers not only at Fort Wayne, but as far back as 1530 at Augsburg and later in 1580, at Bergen, would have been like rendering Bach's Passion with the Cross left out. And so it hap- pened that under the leadership of its President, the Buffalo Council was asked to walk about its Zion, to consider well her bulwarks and tore-explore her foun- dations. "Christ All and In All" was the theme of his sermon. He found Christ in the Scriptures, Christ in the Confessions, Christ in the General Council, and Christ in the heart of the Believer. "CHRIST IN THE GENERAL COUNCIL" "Christ is our all in the General Council. We recog- nize no visible head but Christ, and demand the invisi- bility of the vital unity of the Church until Christ Him- self shall again appear to be our visible Lord. His own living Headship and Person is the supreme controlling unity of our rich divinity. As a General Council we are but a voluntary visible brotherhood in the unity of the one faith in Him ; who places general organization at the disposal of the congregations, and the Word. We are not a Divine Institution, except as Providence has brought us into being. That there are multitudes of sound Lutherans who have built upon the first of the Lutheran Confessions only, and who have not come to a consciousness of the necessity of placing the complete Lutheran Confession at their base; and that there have been many such Lutherans from the start, from the Sixteenth Century down, the General Council does not THE CONFESSIONAL HIGH-WATER MARK 129 deny. But it believes, in the spirit of a conservative development as guided by the Holy Spirit, that where, in all ages of the Christian Church, God has raised up good men to enrich, enlarge and fulfill confessional truth and churchly praxis, there it behooves us their heirs and successors, to accept the fullness of the Spirit's develop- ment, and not merely the first rudiments, however de- terminative these rudiments may be, and that it is our duty to reject only that in a full confessional heritage which will not stand the test of the Holy Scriptures, the only rule of faith and life. And again: the General Council does not deny, but positively believes, that there are good Christians scattered throughout the whole world, from the rising to the setting of the sun, and in all churches and denominations, who are God's children, and who are truly believing and righteous men. And its guarded purity of teaching, and strictness of disci- plinary organization is not intended to disinherit these saints who are in the true Church of Christ, but is in- tended as a witness against heresies and schisms ; against errors of teaching and praxis in the preaching of God's pure Word and the pure administration of Christ's own Sacraments in the earthly organizations in which these saints (for conscientious, hereditary or worse reasons) move and live; in order that the Word of Christ may be fulfilled, that the Church of Christ as the Body of Christ, and the bride of Christ, and the pillar of Christ's truth, that the Gospel of Christ, which is able to bring confession and offer absolution to the lost soul, be con- served and used. This it is which renders Christ to be all and in all in the General Council." The keynote of the Convention, giving expression to ' his faith in the General Council and its mission was 130 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK struck in that part of his report where he speaks of the Council as standing for a CATHOLIC LUTHERANISM With the original "Call" as his text he proceeds to in- terpret it for the Council of today. "We are not moving in this matter on doubtful grounds," says the Call "With our communion of millions scattered over a vast territory, with the ceaseless tide of immigration, with the diversity of surrounding usages and religious life, with our need of ministers, our imperfect provision for the urgent wants of the Church, there is danger that the genuinely Lutheran ele- ments may become alienated, that the narrow and local may over- come the broad and general, that the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace may be lost, and that our Church, which alone in the history of Protestantism has maintained a genuine catho- licity and unity, should drift into the sectarianism and separatism which characterize and curse our land." Dr. Schmauk then gives his interpretation of the "Call" in the following words : "Now after a whole generation has sped away, can we not see the counterpart in fact, in this body which is meeting here, and of which we are representatives today, and which is scat- tered over the whole of North America, to that picture drawn 'by the pen of those God-given men who felt impelled by reasons of the gravest kind to assume the serious responsibility of first organizing this body? "We cannot be sufficiently thankful for what God put in their minds to do, and for the development that followed upon their eflfort. Their success has been beyond what a sober view of the situation would have deemed probable. The nature of the case really hinted at failure in this bold attempt. The marvel is, that among Germans, Scandinavians and English, such a body, beau- tifully wrought together, magnificent in strength and propor- tions, should have been possible at all. The marvel is that the General Council did not go to pieces before the first ten years had fled — and that it did not, is not of our eflfort; it is the Lord's doing. THE CONFESSIONAL HIGH-WATER MARK 131 "Whether the sound doctrine will sufficiently prevail, and his- torical, racial, and other individual considerations will sufficiently decline, to enable the true Lutheran Church of our land, standing completely on its great confessional foundations, ever to embrace all Lutherans in America is a question which no human being can answer. God has not led Christianity itself in any such uni- versal path as yet. There has always been the Church of the East and the Church of the West. Since the days of the Refor- mation, Protestantism itself, especially, has been divided. It has not been able to solve the question of universality, and the char- acter of the means with which it has been taking hold of that problem recently will ultimately retard rather than further the solution. But so far as Lutheranism itself is concerned, con- trary to the prevailing American view of it, as divided into many sects, all our general organizations have done wonders within the last generation to bring order out of chaos, strength out of weakness, and the effective application of power out of a primal and individualistic confusion. "We cannot be sufficiently thankful to the founders of the General Council for the nature of the tabernacle which they be- queathed to us and in which they provided for liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable. Ours is a Lutheranism too broad to be embraced in any language. Ours is a Lutheran- ism which is not national, but continental and international. "The Lutheran Church is as broad as the world. It is not a national Church, but is like the roll of the British drum-beat. History has shown that it furnishes the best and most patriotic citizens and the bravest defenders of the flag for any nation ; but, as a Church, we are fostering not nationalism, but an international spirit. Our Saviour said, 'Go ye out into dill the world.' He said, 'Ye shall be witnesses both in Jerusalem and unto the utter- most parts of the earth.' That is the spirit of the Council. "This spirit is imbedded in its very title, 'The Church in North America.' We are a broader stream than the stream of any race, and are ready to greet hand in hand the children of the pure faith from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. Let us then make our many nationalities and our numerous sectional feelings and activities which, by nature, are a source of weak- ness, to be, by grace, an instrumentality of power. If our inter- 132 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK national character be a cause of slowness and difficulties, let it also become unto us a great source of strength, our joy and our pride." THE GENERAL COUNCIL AND THE SCRIPTURES Since doubts had been raised as to the soundness of the General Council's position with respect to the "nega- tive criticism" in its attitude toward the Holy Scriptures, the Buffalo Convention must declare itself in no equivocal terms, and the following declaration appears in President Schmauk's report: "Since it has been asserted that the General Council is weakening in the doctrine of the Scriptures, under the influence of the Higher Criticism; and since these principles are doing so much in the American churches to disintegrate faith in the letter and the spirit of the Scriptures, I recommend that we reaffirm our posi- tion, and declare that the General Council holds now as ever to the old teaching of the fathers, that the Holy Scriptures are inerrant in letter, fact and doctrine; as our Constitution and Prin- ciples of Faith maintain : 'The absolute directory of the will of Christ is the Word of God, the Canonical Scriptures, by which Scriptures the Church is to be guided in every decision. She may set forth no article of faith which is not taught by the very letter of God's Word, or derived by just and necessary inference from it, and her liberty concerns those things only which are left free by the letter and spirit of God's Word.' "We affirm that we have not given way by a hair's breadth to the rationalism, or the rationalizing spirit, of the Higher Criticism; nor will we allow errant human reason to be the judge of what is and what is not God's Word in the Scriptures. Not only the revelation and its record, but the history and its record, the whole Scripture, in spirit and letter, is inspired. "To us the Scriptures are God's written Word, as preach- ing is the spoken Word; and this written Word, though it was, and must and should be thoroughly tested by our poor human reason, is grasped and accepted by our faith as it is, and as above us, even where not comprehended by reason; or where apparently imperiled by the momentary THE CONFESSIONAL HIGH-WATER MARK 133 consensus of a modern scientific or historical scholarship. The Scriptures are our only and infallible rule; and our rule is so trustworthy, and our faith in it so absolute and supreme that, while science and history are continuously passing away, we know by faith that one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Scriptures till all be fulfilled." ON CO-OPERATION WITH THE GENERAL SYNOD Long before the Buffalo Convention, Dr. Schmauk sought to establish closer relations with the General Synod. He and Dr. Dunbar, neighboring pastors in Lebanon, strove to arrange for a common Graded Series of Sunday School Lessons for both bodies. Plans were definitely laid by them for such a possible outcome at the meeting of the General Synod in 1901 at Dubuque, Iowa. But when an effort was made by the Pacific Synod to establish a union Theological Seminary on the Pacific Coast and the General Synod later at Sunbury had authorized its Board of Education to give it support "provided the confessional basis of the proposed semi- nary conforms to that of the General Synod," he felt that the time had come to get clear on the question of confessional subscription, and a clear statement appears in his report bearing on this point. Dr. Jacobs was accordingly asked to prepare theses, comparing the bases of faith of the two bodies. Dr. Schmauk believed that the only sure way of getting closer together was frankly to face confessional differ- ences. Calmly but firmly, with charity toward all and malice toward none, the position of the General Council as over against that of the General Synod, with whose history its own had been much interlinked, was stated in so thorough and admirable a manner by Dr. Jacobs as to rank among the finest expositions of its kind ever 134 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK made. The discussions on them were noted both for their candor and their irenic spirit. It was a trying hour for Dr. Keyser, the fraternal visitor of the General Synod, and a delicate mission for him to fulfill. But the President saw to it that he should be given every opportunity to fulfill it, and he did it with great credit. With so much confessional electricity in the air, it was dif^cult to discover just what wires it was safe to touch; but Dr. Keyser knew the combina- tions well and won to himself a host of friends and ad- mirers. In the Lutheran World of September 26, 1907, Dr. Keyser writes as follows : "President Schmauk knows how to rush business. While he is uniformly courteous and fair, so far as we could see, he knows how to 'railroad' (this word is used in the good sense) a measure through when it would be useless to spend time in debating. He has quite a faculty for getting rid of the 'adiaphora' both in business and in doctrine. Sometimes he cuts ofif a member a little shortly, but we suppose the members of the General Council know him to be so large-hearted and generous that they do not seem to take ofTense." He then continues: "No doubt General Synod readers will be chiefly concerned to know what kind of a reception was accorded to the fraternal visitor from that body. We can truly say that we were treated with much courtesy. As soon as there was a little breathing spell in the business after our arrival, we were introduced with the kindliest expressions possible by the pastor loci. Dr. Kaehler, and the President, Dr. Schmauk, and by a hearty vote were ac- corded the privilege of the floor in the sessions. Before the time for our fraternal greetings arrived, a stirring question involving the General Synod arose, when Dr. Schmauk courteously called upon us to speak, not waiting for us to request the privilege of giving the General Synod's side of the case. Afterwards, when- THE CONFESSIONAL HIGH-WATER MARK 135 ever a matter pertaining to the General Synod arose, the Presi- dent called upon us to give our testimony. Once on Tuesday, when we had stepped out of the auditorium into the church par- lors for a few minutes, the question of the relation of the General Synod and the General Council came up. Dr. Schmauk sent an urgent message for us to come at once into the main room to hear and take part in the discussion. All our speeches were listened to with the utmost respect, even when we would see signs of disagreement. In his response to our greetings the president paid us a personal tribute that we modestly felt was quite unmerited. Indeed, we were so favorably impressed with the spirituality, earnestness, scholarship and courtesy of the members of the General Council that we could not help feeling the intensest longing that there might be the utmost friendliness, confidence and co-operation between that body and the General Synod. "You may rely upon it, brethren, that this was one of the main causes, perhaps the main cause, of the difficulty. It was those criticisms on the Formula of Concord that created, in the main, the dubious feeling, and that among the leaders of the General Council. We cite this incident as proof : In our address we expressed strong personal appreciation of all the Symbols of the Church, though we carefully refrained from saying that we thought all of them ought to be subscribed to confessionally. In his brief and apt reply to our address. Dr. Schmauk, the President of the General Council, declared that if we could as- sure them that all our ministers and theologians occupied the same friendly attitude toward the Church Symbols, 'there would be no trouble.' That one sentence, spoken impromptu, threw a flood of light on the situation. The fact is, it told the whole story." The distance from that scene to another at Washing- ton, D. C, in 1911, when the General Synod brought its confessional basis into harmony with that of the General Council and thus prepared the way for the union in 1918, was not great — even if a little tortuous. Thus did Buffalo, under the leadership of Dr. Schmauk, be- 136 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK come the starting point for the journey that led to New York. The candor that faces differences instead of conceaHng them is the only true friend of unity and con- cord. More than once in his letters did Dr. Schmauk express himself to that effect. ON CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS As the subject of co-operation with the Federal Coun- cil of Churches was sprung upon him during the bien- nium, he believed it wise to define the attitude of the General Council upon this question, and the following statement appears in his report: "The General Council bears an open and loving and helpful, not a closed, attitude toward those without, i. e., toward those seeking the truth, or who uphold honest convictions in the fear of God and with uncorrupt will. It is the nature of our body to be patient, bearing all things, having pleasure in approval rather than in condemnation; in concord rather than in discord. The first of our Confessions— that of Augsburg — and the last, the Form of Concord, in substance and tone, and our own his- tory, are set in evidence on that point. We are willing and anxious to co-operate for the saving of souls and the upbuilding of Christ's kingdom with all of God's children wheresoever they be found. "Yet we are prevented from co-operating if thereby an injury is done to our conscience; or if we thereby compromise one iota of our most precious treasure, for which we have been called into existence; a treasure which is blood-bought, and above all price; and for which thousands of confessors have laid down home, friends, worldly success and life. "This treasure is the pure doctrine of salvation. With those to whom the purity of the faith, the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, means much, will we walk up to the point where both conclude we must part. But with those to whom the purity of the faith means little, or less than all— less than friendship, blood, practical success, the spirit of the age, and similar considerations — we are always in danger. Our chief treasure they do not so highly re- THE CONFESSIONAL HIGH-WATER MARK 137 gard, and we cannot entrust it to them with the feeling that it is safe. They place other things on a par with this treasure, or above it, and this is a case where no man can have two masters : for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. "Since we exist solely for the sake of the pure Gospel prin- ciple, and all other things are subordinate, even our best friends without (and still less our enemies) cannot ask us to commit ourselves to association with any people, plan, teachings, or tem- perament which would derogate from our doctrine; or which would convey the impression to the wayfaring man that we have loosened our hold and relaxed our standard of the truth. "Wherever we can work with a common Christianity, or with a common Lutheranism, with the assurance that no harm, im- mediate or remote, will come to our one great purpose of testi- mony to the truth, or to our integrity of conscience, we are ready to do so with joy; but wherever we are in doubt as to such a happy issue— and we must be our own judges— it is right and reasonable for us to decline to run any risk of exposing our highest good to danger, for the sake of attaining a lower and less important good; and no one in his fair and honest heart can blame us for failing to join in such a common movement. "We do attach the greatest importance to every Word of God; but we do not attach the greatest importance, except as a matter of high ideal, effective work, and wise expediency, to unity of ex- ternal ecclesiastical organization. Our unwillingness to co- operate with others, if it be an honest and conscientious thing, is not to be taken as a sign of dead orthodoxy, but as a sign of a living faith; it is not to be regarded as an evidence of a narrow outlook, but as a willingness to stand by one's convictions; it is not to be branded as a love of denomination or of Church above Christ ; but is to be respected as an unswerving loyalty to Christ and His truth as we see it. "If this be true, we are in a position to lay down a safe and impregnable rule for co-operation on the part of the General Council, viz., 'The General Council can co-operate in all matters in zi'hich it can openly apply its Fundajnental Principles of Faith and Polity as a basis ; and only in these.' "That this quality of a patient and open mind on the one hand, 138 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK and a firm grasp on truth on the other, really characterizes the General Council may be seen in its history." This naturally led to a further question as to what was involved in the much-talked-of fellowship among Christians of different shades of belief and a further statement is made on "THE PRINCIPLE OF FELLOWSHIP" "Fellowship is a far more intimate thing than co-operation. Co-operation is a combined support in prosecution of a business plan; but fellowship is a life together. Co-operation is a limited association for definite ends ; but fellowship is an unlimited asso- ciation in spiritual life. Fellowship throws open all the doors, unlocks all the strong boxes, and bids the other one abide in our soul and heart. "Modern Christianity greatly abuses the principle of fellow- ship; and in so far destroys both its value and its sacredness. On the grounds of a broad humanity it would admit even those to the heart of the Church who despise the precious merits of the Head of the Church. "Within recent years it has become customary in sectarian America for Christians to worship God on certain great and public occasions in common with those who deny the name of Christ." It will thus be seen that large and far-reaching ques- tions were brought to the fore by this energetic and broad-visioned president — questions that gave him much thought and concern and that later absorbed his strength and energies to such an extent as ultimately to lead him to a premature death. He opened the floodgates at the Buflfalo Convention and was carried far afield in the onrush of the waters in his endeavor to stem the tide and hold the Council true to its faith and principles. SERIOUS LOSSES BY DEATH Previous to the meeting of the Bufifalo Council, he was called upon to mourn the loss by death of his mother, THE CONFESSIONAL HIGH-WATER MARK 139 who had passed away May 5, 1906. This left a void that was keenly felt. It is doubtful whether any son at his age could have leaned more confidingly and de- pendently upon a mother than did he. What she was to him, he gave expression to under "Sunday School Notes" in The Lutheran in the following words: "SUNDAY SCHOOL NOTES" "In memory of a mother, who received with meekness the Word of God, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the Word of God, which is able to save our souls; who taught and trained as only a mother can train and teach out of the love of her own heart and in the continuous sacrifice of her own life ; and on whom her children leaned heavily to the end, for strength in fidelity to the old Gospel and to duty, for fearlessness in dan- ger, caution in difficulties, patience in trial, comfort in weakness, and for counsel and welcome in every hour. Good mother, who hast listened and loved and clung with all thy soul to them whom God gave unto thee, thou art more than books to the preacher, more than colleges to the student, more than teacher and systems of education to the child. Thy love is the shelter and covert for the most precious blossoms and the most tender growing vines of a godly life. Thou art more than all the world, with its vain ambition^ and idle honors, to the memory and heart that looks up into the sunshine of thy Qiristly countenance. T. E. S." Serious losses to the General Council had also oc- curred. Among them was the death of his father's most intimate friend. Dr. Krotel, on whom he had counted to furnish reminiscences at Buffalo of the events leading up to the organization of the General Council. The prominent part he took as head of the Pennsylvania delegation and as a conspicuous leader in the later his- tory of the General Council is noted appreciatingly in Dr. Schmauk's report. A second loss was that of his genial friend and neighbor, Dr. Schantz, of Myerstown ; 140 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK a third, that of the respected and revered Dr. Repass; a fourth, that of the widely known Dr. Geissinger, whose charming, sunny disposition had won for him a host of admiring friends; a fifth, that of Dr. Wm. Ashmead Schaeffer, "a true scion of an illustrious ancestry." It is needless to say that these losses weighed heavily on his mind. All of them were props he had leaned upon. CHAPTER XIV Administrative Problems "Our century is the age of organised movetmnts. There is a society to 'promote' nearly every cause under the sun. But it is still a question whether in the aggregate our great 'systems' of activity do not absorb more precious vitality than they emit. The words of the sage of Concord are ivorth pondering: 'We shall one day see that the most private is the most public energy, that quality atones for quantity, and grarideur of character acts in the dark and succors them ivho never saw it.' " — Schmauk. DR. SCHMAUK was not long in discovering that if the General Council were to be more than a loose and inefficient confederation, it must function as a strong administrative unit. From the Swedish point of view, who desired it to be a federation with advisory powers only, this would have continued to be impossible. The field of common interests would have been so very much contracted as to rob the Council of all administrative and unifying power. This spirit and tendency within the body had the effect of arraying the interests of the Council against those of synods and boards and to make the former a sort of fifth wheel in the wagon. It was by no means confined to the Swedes, but was fostered and encouraged by prominent leaders in other sections of the general body. Through their influence, the boards and other agencies functioned more or less independently and became a law unto themselves. This caused the President an endless amount of anxiety and thrust upon him much unrequited labor. He was far from believing in centralized power. The mania for mere organization never appealed to him. But he 142 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK felt the need of a deeper sense of General Council cath- olicity and solidarity. He did not want this body, with an honorable history behind it, to be regarded as a tem- porary makeshift until it should be ready to lose its identity in a new alignment of Lutheran forces in the country. In a letter addressed in 1911 to a layman, who favored greater solidarity, he quotes a leading member of the Pennsylvania Ministerium who wrote : Our people must not be so drawn to Council work as to neglect our Ministerium's present obligations. That is the danger in cer- tain centres. We must fight for our own educational claims in such centres as Philadelphia and Lancaster. Our Home Mission work, necessary as it is, is always pressing others to the wall. We need a larger balance and a better adjustment of all our work. In addition, let us be careful lest our enthusiastic brethren bring about the elimination of the Scandinavians from the Council. He then comtnents on it in the following vein : This principle to my mind will paralyze the progress of a whole generation. If we are to work in any large way through the General Council, we must value and build up its organization. To cherish it merely as an idea, to be dropped by and by, is to go back into primitive helplessness. There need be no fears, if the time should come for a united Lutheran Church in America, that a strong organization of the General Council would prevent that. It would not prevent, but would further such a consum- mation, when the time is ripe. A spirit such as this opens the door to destructive work by selfish interests, in very great crises. We cannot command the loy- alty of our own best followers in a crisis. That is what worries me. It did worry him beyond measure ; for he felt that what made other Lutheran bodies so strong and efificient was the sense of unity and the spirit of loyalty — ^the very thing that was lacking in the General Council, shot through as it was with sectionalism and individualism. ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 143 What did much to encourage the sectional and divi- sional spirit in the General Council was the low-church, or congregational, conception of Church polity which was advocated by leading teachers in the Council. To him it seemed as if they left little room for "the general conception of the Lutheran Church as a church; and that we are reduced to the two extremes of a local in- dividual body called the congregation, and the general assembly of all believers, or invisible Church, called the Church." He so writes to Dr. Krotel in 1905, before the meeting of the Milwaukee Council. He further says : "The independence, and independent rights, and inde- pendent liberties of a single local visible Christian con- gregation, as over against the common consent of the churches of the same faith, duly and lawfully obtained, do not seem to me to have a just existence." While admitting that the Christian congregation is the primal and abiding unity, he insists that the larger governmental unity of a general organization, which represents the local congregations, also has a place in the divine econ- omy which often receives scant recognition. In this same letter, which is of considerable length, he proceeds to show that the Confessions use the word "Church," not only to designate "the invisible body of Christ" on the one hand and the local congregation on the other, but also as a term applying to a visible body of saints united in the same confession for the fulfillment of a common mis- sion. He quotes from the Confessions language which hardly leaves any doubt as to the correctness of his contention, and then concludes with these words : Now, my dear Doctor, I feel that the future of the General Council Lutheran Church in this country, in view of the close 144 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK association of so many different nationalities, each of whom is inclined to local individualism and independence, not for the sake of preserving the Gospel, but from racial prejudice, depends much more on a proper upholding of our right to the use of the general term than it does upon our attempting to guard against the concentration into external ecclesiastical power at the top, or the magnifying of a general external organization. This is sufficient to explain why Dr. Schmauk all through his presidential career favored more power for the General Council as such and less for its boards, com- mittees, and voluntary agencies not under the direct control of the general body. He insisted that the latter must do obeisance to the former and not the former to the latter. ON MEN'S AND WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS As is well known. Dr. Schmauk was not keen for men's or women's organizations that functioned more or less independently, and were liable to withdraw in- terest and energy away from the constituted and author- ized agencies of the Church. He was opposed to move- ments that were not properly adjusted to the organized Church's machinery and believed them to be parasitic in character, dissipating and diverting much energy that could be used to good purpose were it applied to exist- ing agencies under the direction of Synod or Council. When before the meeting of the Minneapolis Convention in 1909 several active and trusted laymen suggested the organization of a Laymen's Union, he pointed out the difficulties that must be encountered and met if it were to function to advantage. 1. Some ministers and synods would hardly be prepared for it. 2. The laity might thus become divided and it would become a party move- ment. 3. "For the sake of making the organization gen- ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 145 eral, the more volatile element of the laity would prob- ably have to be drawn in," but could not be depended on for solid work, and "after an initial flare up it might fall away into decline and dissolution." He then suggests that a canvass might be made of the whole situation to ascertain where the most reliable lay material is, but believes it to be best to "go half way ill the matter at Minneapolis," to discuss the situation at a laymen's meeting and ask the Council to appoint a "standing committee on laymen's work, with authority to secure information on the subject from all synods in the Council." Then he concludes with a statement which shows how clear was his insight with regard to organi- zations loosely formed in their relation to the organized Church itself. The Lutheran Church is a Church which makes each congre- gation the center of authority, and by our general organizations, such as the Women's Home and Foreign Missionary Society, or the Luther League who attempt to organize local centers in con- gregations, which are not in living touch with the congregation itself and its Church Council, are introducing a species of gen- eral machinery which in time is almost sure to come into clash with the machinery which the genius and spirit of our Church recognizes. Here is still an unsolved problem in the Church, how to secure an easy diffusion of the general movement with a complete recognition of the autonomy of the individual congre- gation. It is a question in Church polity, and one which will ultimately bring much blessedness or much woe to the Lutheran Church. His report at the Minneapolis Convention shows that he was not opposed to a Laymen's organization but fa- vored it, only he wanted it to be rightly lodged or rooted into the organized Church itself. As he writes to an- other layman, "What we need to do is to make it the organ of the actual work of the Council, and not to let K 146 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK it fly away on the wings of sentiment." Because of his fear that movements born of mere enthusiasm and sen- timent might prove to be out of joint with the properly constituted agencies of the Church, he was often mis- understood and spoken of as opposed to Laymen's or- ganizations. But the laymen who consulted with him always found him ready to favor any movement that gave promise of being orderly and serviceable because rightly connected with the Church's machinery. DR. SCHMAUK AND THE WOMAN'S MISSIONARY SOCIETY This fear of organizations not properly correlated with the work of the organized Church caused Dr. Schmauk to be regarded as opposed to the Woman's Missionary Society. It is well known that he was by no means hostile to the Society as such, but often felt that some of its leaders were not inclined to adjust their workings and methods to the constituted order of the Church. The enthusiasm for a great, all-inclusive national body, with many ambitious and far-reaching schemes that could never be realized as a goal to strive after, made him regard the Society as not a functioning part of the Church, but independent, one that would pre- vent real cohesion and militate against regularity. A spirit of disloyalty to the General Council seemed to him to be fostered by some, and he distrusted the Society not knowing whether it might be led in its zeal to im- port ideas and methods foreign to the spirit and Hfe of Lutheranism. As later events proved, the misunderstandings that arose were due chiefly to a failure to confer and co- operate. When contact was once established between the President of the General Council and officials in the Society, it was found that the former responded most ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 147 cheerfully and took a deep interest in the work of the Society. Confidence was restored, because it became evident that the Society was not disposed to be a law unto itself but was ready to co-operate with the officials of the Church. The tide turned in 1916, when the situ- ation was reviewed by the two officials of the Council and of the Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium and a proper co-operative relationship established. Under the leadership of Dr. W. D. C. Keiter this relation of co-ordination is now a settled policy in The United Luth- eran Church, whose constitution has been made to ex- press what shall be the limitations and functions of socie- ties and agencies connected with that body. Not the slightest friction or misunderstanding occurred when once the principle was settled, that any society profess- ing to do service in the Church must place itself in a position where it can function as a part of the Church if its usefulness is not to be impaired. When once proper co-ordination was established Dr. Schmauk advocated the presence of women at the meetings of the Mission Boards and thus paved the way for hearty co-operation and the removal of misunderstandings. That achieve- ment has been handed down as a legacy to The United Lutheran Church as its constitution amply attests. DR. SCHMAUK AND THE GERMANS As President of the General Council, Dr. Schmauk realized from the very beginning that there was a Ger- man problem of considerable magnitude pressing for solution. The German communicant membership of the Council formed about one-fifth of the entire body. The New York Ministerium, the Canada and Manitoba Syn- ods, the Philadelphia German Conference, together with several groups in the Pittsburgh Synod, rep- 148 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK resented a considerable German constituency whose varied needs had to be taken into serious account. Un- like the Augustana, Iowa and other Western Synods, there was no common college or seminary from which an adequate ministry for the preaching of the Word to many thousands of German Lutherans who were as sheep without a shepherd could be recruited. The only college was Wagner College, supported by the New York Ministerium and drawing its students almost ex- clusively from that body. The Philadelphia Seminary, while it always had one or two German professors, and others who were familiar with the German language, fell far short of attracting a sufficient number of Ger- man students to meet even the most imperative needs of the mission situation. Hence mission work on any scale commensurate with the opportunities and respon- sibilities of the Council was out of the question ; and but for the aggressive mission work of other Lutheran bodies, the story of the Lutheran Church's marvelous growth resulting from the ingathering of hundreds of thousands of German immigrants in the eighties and nineties would have read far differently. Separated as the German Synods and German groups within the other synods were, and without a common church paper as a bond and medium of communication, there was a lack of cohesion among them which made the undertaking of any big task for missionary expan- sion impossible. Because of inevitable differences of tastes and tendencies, which reflected the peculiarities of Lutheran thought and life in the various sections of Germany from which the large immigrations in the latter half of the nineteenth century came, and which them- selves were differentiated from the older German popu- ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 149 lations in America, unity and solidarity of action among them was rendered exceedingly difficult. The parochial and provincial spirit was quite pronounced among them, and the witty remark of Dr. Mann that "where there are five Germans you can expect six different opinions" was not altogether without justification, though it would have applied with almost equal truth to some more native American elements within the General Council where individualism was much in evidence. The four or more different German church papers abundantly evi- denced this lack of unity and solidarity. Dr. Schmauk soon acquired an intelligent grasp of the situation and entered into sympathetic relations with the German brethren, studying with them their problems and working with them toward their solution. His con- ferences with such men as Dr. Spaeth, Dr. Berkemeier (German Secretary of the General Council), Revs. Dr. Hoffmann of the Canada Synod, Reinhold Tappert of the New York Ministerium, Adolph Hellwege of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, and many others became so numerous as to make heavy drains upon his time and energy. Like Dr. Krotel, he understood the German nature, appreciated its sturdy inner strength, and knew how to weld together elements which at times seemed hopelessly separated. It was in the decade beginning with 1880, that Luth- erans from the various sections of Germany kept pour- ing into the United States by the hundred thousand, many of them repopulating New England. The need of missionaries to gather them into the Church became acute. As the Philadelphia Seminary could not begin to furnish a sufficient number of German pastors to mis- sionate in New England and Canada, most promising 150 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK fields were left untouched or were taken in charge by Missouri and other Lutheran bodies. Under these cir- cumstances, it was natural that parts of the Church in Germany should follow the Lutheran emigration to America and endeavor to supply a ministry for them. Then arose the vexed question as to the advisability of importing German pastors who did not take at least a part of their Seminary course in the Philadelphia Semi- nary so as to become more intimately acquainted with American Church life and conditions, and to acquire a knowledge of the English language. As the Kropp Seminary had, under the leadership of its head, Pastor Paulsen, furnished from year to year a considerable number of pastors and missionaries, many of them quite able and self-sacrificing, there arose considerable misunderstanding and soon the Council had on its hands a delicate and perplexing Kropp question. As they were not made to feel at home among their German brethren, due to the difference of opinion as to the necessity of pastors spending at least one year at the Philadelphia Seminary, much ill-feeling was en- gendered and not a few of them drifted into the Iowa, Ohio and Missouri Synods. Much ground was lost to the General Council in Western Canada on the territory of the Manitoba Synod, and rich mission fields in New England that would have added much to the strength of the Council were neglected in consequence. Here was a question which at once engaged all the wisdom and resourcefulness of the President of the Council and at much expense of thought and energy he set to work a policy that would tend to harmonize existing differences. He saw the need of a bond of union among the Germans all the more because of what the ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 151 Swedes were able to accomplish in their united strength. The same ability to put himself in the place of the Swedes and see things from their point of view was shown in Dr. Schmauk's dealings with the Germans in the General Council. He could grasp situations and con- ditions remote from his immediate environment with re- markable good sense and intelligence. His open mind and genuine sympathy enabled him to get at the heart of a problem or difficulty, and to view things from all sides without prejudice and with the single purpose to reconcile differences on the basis of truth and justice. He acquainted himself with relations and conditions so thoroughly as to astonish many who should have been in a position to know more and better than he. He was patient and conciliatory, and when he arrived at a con- clusion, he could present it in so convincing a manner as to win fullest confidence and assent. In 1907 Pastor Paulsen, the leading spirit of Kropp Seminary, came to America in behalf of the institution and paid the President of the General Council a visit. He was deeply impressed with Dr. Schmauk's person- ality, and in his description of his visit in the Seminary's Anzeiger speaks of him as a "remarkably gifted and well-informed clergyman and theologian." He says: Two hours did I spend with the President of the General Coun- cil discussing with him a great variety of subjects. The highly interesting views he expressed accorded with my own in every respect. He is gifted with a wonderful memory. He recalled a sermon he heard me preach in Dr. Spaeth's pulpit, but of which I could not remember a single word. When he reproduced it in substance, I said to myself, "Yes, that's my sermon." It was when Pastor Paulsen was welcomed to Dr. Spaeth's pulpit (for Dr. Spaeth was one among not a 152 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK few who contended that students for the German min- istry should have at least part of their training in the Philadelphia Seminary) and when later he paid a visit to Dr. Schmauk, that the way was prepared for the solution of a vexed problem. The need of greater solidarity among the Germans grew upon him, and he, in co-operation with the Ger- man Secretary, Dr. Berkemeier, and Dr. Spaeth, ar- ranged to have the Buffalo Convention appoint a com- mittee to issue a call for a German Conference to be held at Rochester, N. Y., the following year, 1908. Pre- vious to this, Dr. Berkemeier had spent a night with Rev. Reinhold Tappert, then pastor in Meriden, Con- necticut, and the entire Kropp situation was thoroughly reviewed. Dr. Schmauk was made fully acquainted with the facts and the difficulties, and at once marshalled the German brethren in line for the holding of the confer- ence. It proved to be the beginning of a new era in the history of the German work of the General Council. Old things passed rapidly away and all things bore the promise of becoming new. During the years that fol- lowed, an enormous correspondence was carried on by the President with many of the German brethren which reveals how complete was his mastery of the situation and how unbounded the confidence these brethren re- posed in their counselor and friend. At the Minneapolis Convention in 1909, he reports as follows: I draw attention to the element of hopefulness and the spirit of unity which have entered into the German work of the General Council, and to the period of constructive development with which the German Church may be able to enter, for the ultimate benefit of the whole General Council Church, if the Council will sup- port and strengthen their hands. ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 153 For the first time in a generation, our Germans are thoroughly united in sentiment, purpose and plan, and this in harmony with the work that obtains in the English and Scandinavian parts of the Council. This situation is largely the result of the German Conference held last fall at Rochester and opened with a ser- mon by Dr. Spaeth on I Cor. 1 :10. The Conference asks Council to found a German official organ, which they will support, commends the work of Wagner College and recommends that the General Council enter mto official rela- tion with the Theological Seminary in Kropp, Germany. In addition to this, the New York Ministerium has elected Dr. Offermann, a graduate of Kropp, and a member of the Pennsyl- vania Ministerium, as its professor in its Theological Seminary. The Council has a rare opportunity before it of setting forward a work which otherwise may never be accomplished. Thus a happy solution to a vexed problem was effected that resulted later in the sending of Prof. Dr. C. T. Benze to the Kropp Seminary to represent the General Council as its American teacher. When The United Luth- eran Church was formed, through the efforts of Dr. E. F. Bachman, who went to Germany as commissioner, the union of the Kropp and Breklum Seminaries was consummated, which was designed to furnish German pastors for greatly enlarged needs should the expected emigration from Germany take place as a result of the late war. The aUgnment of the German forces in the General Council had put new life into the German synods con- nected with the Council, of which the projected Semi- nary at Saskatoon, Canada, is a hopeful augury and evi- dence. When the fruits of this union of forces shall 'have become more fully apparent, no name will be held in more grateful remembrance among the German breth- ren of the former Council than that of the trusted and beloved Dr. Schmauk. He was their great 154 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK champion in the Council and in The United Lutheran Church, and his loss was most keenly felt by them when they looked in vain for another like champion at the Washington Convention in 1920. WATERLOO SEMINARY For some years, the German Canada Synod felt the need of a seminary for the training of a ministry within its own bounds. The young men who were educated at Wagner College and Mt. Airy Seminary, as a rule, failed to return to do service in Canada, and in 1910 the de- cision was reached by this synod, in co-operation with the English Synod of Central Canada, to establish such a school. The intention at first was to locate it in Toronto and connect it with Toronto University, so that its stu- dents might have the benefit of a thorough collegiate course. No sooner had Dr. Schmauk learned of this purpose than he began to feel a sense of uneasiness concerning the project, and on two grounds. First, the mode of procedure was not orderly. The matter had not been brought to the attention of the General Council which must needs be vitally interested in the establishment of a seminary within its jurisdiction. Second, was it wise to connect a Lutheran Seminary with a non-Lutheran university? After some correspondence with Dr. Hoff- mann, one of the prime movers and supporters of the project (and now president of the Seminary that was then in prospect), a conference was arranged to be held at Buffalo, where it was agreed that its establishment should be delayed until the General Council should have given it sanction. His clear foresight and his instinct for orderly pro- cedure are fully apparent in two papers addressed to ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 155 the brethren interested in the proposed seminary. In the one, he calls attention to the need of co-ordination so as to conserve all the German interests in the Council and bring them into unity. He states that but recently certain relations with Kropp Seminary had been entered into and pleads that for unity's sake the two interests be properly harmonized. "You can readily imagine the worry that the officers of the General Council have had, when they have received no word of tidings of any kind as to this movement except what is reported in the papers." Then follow a number of pertinent questions which go to the heart of the matter and call for a clear answer. The other paper is addressed to the Canada Synod, after he has become convinced that a Seminary is needed. But he gives cogent reasons why it should not be located in Toronto and connected with the University. "Your Synod has always been one of the bulwarks of sound Confessionalism in the General Council." — "You have been op- posed to secret societies. You have stood against unionism, union evangelical work, and all interdenominational forms of a com- mon American Christianity in which our Lutheran doctrine was washed away or blunted." — "My fear is not for this generation, but for your own sons on your own soil, whom you are about to train up in connection with a large university, where the union- istic forms of a common Christianity are almost sure to be recog- nized, and where the hearts of the young men will be almost sure to soften down favorably towards them. The Y. M. C. A., the common Interdenominational Missionary Societies, the common forms of Christian Endeavor, in our modern university life, have their use as over against unbelief and immorality in uni- versity circles, but our Lutheran students cannot enter into alli- ances or relations-hips with this common Christian life in the universities without the greatest danger of weakening their Lutheran principles." 156 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK He advises the German and English brethren to weigh well this important matter before deciding upon a loca- tion and warns them against the danger of the rational- ism of such men as MacFayden in the University. He concludes with these words : The English Church is under a greater strain than the Ger- man in standing out for a sound Lutheranism. It is more tempted to imitate and follow the lead of the other Protestant denomina- tions. Its young men and its students are under the greatest temptation to get ideas and convictions during their college and university career which weaken their hold on a genuine Lutheran practice. If our German and English brethren in Canada can unite in training up a generation of German and English pastors in which both the English and the Germans shall be sound on the Four Points of the General Council, and shall stand faithfully against the denominations around them, they will be accomplish- ing a most glorious work, and one in which the General Council should ever take the greatest pride. Be certain before you start that your safeguards are such that your young men will not gravitate downward toward the level of the common American Protestantism. A letter to him from Dr. Hofifmann, dated April 10, 1911, shows that the latter, though a resident of Toronto, was in complete accord with him and advocated strongly the populous Lutheran center of Berlin and Waterloo as the proper location. The General Council at Lancas- ter in the same year endorsed the movement and the Seminary became a fact. RELATIONS WITH THE IOWA SYNOD The two sainted Doctors Fritchel, Sigmund and Gott- lieb, who were brothers, were widely known and recog- nized as the pillars of strength in the Iowa Synod. This was particularly the case with regard to Sigmund, who was one of the leading Lutheran lights in the country, ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 157 a devout and gifted son of the Church of whom it could be truly said, "Cor theologum facit." Through his lead- ership chiefly, and through his intimate friendship with Drs. Spaeth and Krauth, the Iowa Synod took a deep interest in the organization of the General Council, and while k did not feel prepared to connect itself organic- ally with the Council because of its distinctively German interests, it maintained the most friendly relations with it for many years. After both had passed away, and particularly after the death in 1910 of Dr. Spaeth, who was a strong connecting link between the two bodies, the bonds became less firm and finally snapped asunder in 1917. It was at Norristown, in 1903, when Dr. Schmauk was elected President of the General Council, that he became deeply interested in the question of cementing the ties between the two bodies and exerted himself to that end with ardent devotion and zeal. The spirit of Iowa, as over against that of Missouri and Ohio, ap- pealed to him strongly. Its piety, alertness and activity ; its evangelical frankness and openness of mind, coupled with its unswerving fidelity to the faith— reminded him of the Halle and Muhlenberg spirit of earlier days and made him feel a nearness to that body which he could not feel toward any other. It had revolted against the legalistic hardness and rigidity of other Lutheran bodies, and he felt that as a leavening influence in the General Council it would prove to be a most steadying and whole- some factor. When Professor Proehl of the Dubuque Seminary represented the Iowa Synod as fraternal visitor at the Norristown Council, its newly-elected president was 158 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK deeply impressed with his address. He later quotes a part of it as follows : There never has been a time when the Synod of Iowa has not sustained intimate and cordial relations with the General Council. I may remind you that the warmest friendship existed between the founders and fathers of your body and the now sainted fathers and founders of our Synod. In great magnanimity the General Council has not only taken an interest in the work of our Synod, but has also extended to us much help and assistance. But what is of the greatest importance is the fact that we are conscious that we are in full unity in faith as well as in our confessions. We consider the doctrinal position of the General Council the true and sound basis for the unification of all true Lutherans in our country. We thank God that our dear Lutheran Church has found in the General Council a faithful defender and promoter of its best traditions and a successful champion of the Gospel truth. Great things have already been accomplished in the up- building of true and sound Lutheranism, and in the future of the General Council and along the lines it has laid down, we see the glorious future of our Church. It is the best representatio nominis Lutherani, — as conservative as it is progressive, as much bound as it is free, it unites fidelity to God's Word, and the Con- fessions of our Church, with an open eye and intelligent grasp of the duties of the present hour, seeking to preserve and increase the rich heritage of the Church of the Reformation, and avoiding extremes both to the right and the left. At the present time there is a strong agitation for union, es- pecially among the Western Synods, but I fear that the attempt will be made to bring the freedom of our Church under an un- bearable yoke and to convert the Church of Luther into a school. Over against such endeavors we see in the work of the General Council our only hope for true union, and in her doctrines the banner around which all the faithful Lutherans of our country may rally. A speech like that naturally awakened the highest hopes in the new President that the day of actual union would not be far distant. His first report at Milwaukee, with its wide outlook for the future of the General ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 159 Council and its unifying mission among Lutherans in America, gave abundant evidence of these high hopes. When Dr. Richter, President of the Iowa Synod, who could hardly fail to be impressed with the conservative strength and stability of the Council as its mission was given so prophetic a forecast in President Schmauk's report, re-echoed the sentiments of Professor Proehl, hope was added to hope. At the Buffalo Convention in 1907, when a high confessional note was sounded, which called forth from the fraternal visitor, Rev. Carl Proehl, son of Professor Proehl, strong sentiments of kinship and fellowship, and when at the same meeting, the Iowa Synod was given most liberal consideration in the publi- cation rights of the Kirchenbuch and Church Book, the door of hope was swung still wider open. FIFTY YEARS OF FRUITLESS WOOING But in the interims between the meetings of the Coun- cil little straws showed that the winds were not blowing any too favorably in the direction of union, and the President's hopes were seasoned with misgivings. In- fluences were at work to wean the aft'ections and confi- dence of Iowa away from the Council. The Joint Synod of Ohio proved to be a rival suitor and its leaders did all in their power to instill doubts in the minds of the Iowa brethren as to whether the Council could be safely entrusted with the guardianship of the faith because of much looseness of practice within its bounds. This put Dr. Schmauk on the defensive ; for he realized most keenly that on the question of safe-guarding the faith by a consistent practice spots in the General Council were vulnerable. Pulpits and altars were here and there thrown wide open ; membership in secret societies and organizations where, in the worship, Christ's name was 160 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK studiously excluded, was not discountenanced as was meet, — and unionistic and legalistic tendencies were in many quarters only too apparent. In many letters, he contends that by the Council's educational rather than legalistic methods of counteracting this looseness of practice, great progress toward true conservatism had been made. On the other hand, he insists that the rigid legalistic spirit which would suppress liberalistic tenden- cies by discipline rather than by persuasion and educa- tion would some day create and foster a rebellion and consequent break in those bodies themselves. A crucial test of Iowa's loyalty to the Council was the meeting of Ohio and Iowa representatives at Toledo in February, 1907, to discuss Theses prepared by a Joint Committee of the two bodies. In an article intended for publication in The Lutheran (but withheld) Dr. Schmauk writes as follows : These Theses were intended to prepare such points as had previously caused a lack of harmony between the two bodies. The Iowa Synod accepted the Theses unanimously at its meeting in June, 1907; and now the Joint Synod of Ohio has taken the following action upon them: 1. We bring it to attention that the various districts have accepted the Toledo Theses by a majority, with the exception of one district which could not agree to one point. 2. On account of the position in which the Synod of Iowa stands to the General Council, we are not in a situation to estab- lish Church fellowship with the same until we learn officially from the Iowa Synod in what relation it stands to the General Council. 3. So far as the erection of opposing altars and friction on mission territory are concerned, it has always been our attempt to avoid the same, and we shall also continue in this practice in the future. In explanation, it may be stated that the original Joint Com- mittee from both synods had resolved that in case the result of ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 161 their action were approved by both Synods, pulpit and altar fel- lowship should forthwith exist between the Synods ; no opposing altars should be erected, but church members moving to any particular place should be recommended to the congregation al- ready there; and unbrotherly frictions should be avoided on the mission field. These resolutions had been adopted by the Iowa Synod. He then proceeds to relate how it happened that the Joint Synod failed to adopt them. Though nearly all its district synods, and even President Schuette himself, approved them, the latter made fellowship with Iowa dependent upon the breaking of fellowship ties between Iowa and the Council. This Iowa refused to do, particu- larly since it later felt much encouraged with the strong confessional note struck at Buffalo in the fall of the same year. However, not long thereafter, as the Presi- dent's correspondence shows, there was a cooling off of the fellowship enthusiasm which had been created at Buffalo. There had been some insistence in Iowa that the Council should cease all fraternal relations with the General Synod. The stronger these relations grew, the weaker the other relations seemed to become. Dr. Schmauk was fully conscious of this, but maintained that the General Council was called into existence to cement bonds rather than to weaken or break them, and not a few men in the Iowa and Ohio Synods agreed that he was right in taking that position provided it could be done without sacrifice of principle. When the Augustana Synod advocated reorganization of the General Council in favor of a larger Federation at the Minneapolis and Lancaster Conventions of 1909 and 1911, and when Dr. Richter a/t the fiftieth anniver- sary of the Augustana Synod in 1910 was very cordially welcomed by the latter, which made the impression upon L 162 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Dr. Schmauk that the interests of these two bodies were being considered as more in harmony than those of the Augustana Synod and the Council, it flashed upon his mind that a possible coalition between Iowa and Augus- tana to weaken the solidarity of the Council and substi- tute a federation that would be powerless as a welding influence might result. However unfounded his fears may have been, he from that time on realized, as others also did, that the relations of both bodies with the Gen- eral Council hung upon a slender thread. He could have become fully reconciled to a separation with both, could he have seen a hopeful future for a union of the Luth- eran forces on a basis that would actually unite and not encourage the perpetuation of particularistic brands of Lutheranism. Succeeding events and tendencies were but the initial steps that led to the separation of the Augustana Synod from the Council and the declaration of Iowa's representative at the Council's meeting in Philadelphia (when it was decided to enter the Merger), "Here our ways do part." He felt the full force of that statement. It had a sting which pierced him to the quick ; for he loved Iowa, had wooed her fourteen years, and was loathe to see an intimate fellowship of fifty years brought to an end. That was not making Lutheran hi&tory to meet the pressing needs of the future ; it was unmaking it. CHAPTER XV A Trying Convention (1909) Dr. Schmauk and the Swedes IVhen it comes to the question of directing the affairs of the Council, it will be acknowledged that Dr. Schmauk possesses spe- cial qualifications tlmt make him an ideal leader. His forceful and magnetic personality are on a par -with his good nature and adaptability, and his readiness to meet trying situations. Also there can be no question as to his impartiality and straightforwardness in conducting the proceedings. His capacity for work is phe- nomenal Besides being President of the Council, he is pastor of a large congregation, professor at Mt. Airy, editor of the Church Review' the ablest of its kittd in the country. He has zvrought out a marvelously complete system of Sunday School instruction, and published important historic and religious works, one after the other. In speech and ivriting he plants himself firmly upon historic Lutheran ground. May he be spared to serve the Church many years .'-Augustana (after the Rock Island Council in 1915.) AM well, but very tired. My worst work is over, and I believe I shall get through all right." Thus reads a postal card containing a photo- graph of the President of the General Council seated in an automobile. The snapshot of him was taken on a ride with a friend at the meeting of the Council in Min- neapolis in 1909. That convention proved to be a very strenuous one— and fully as trying on the nerves of its president as it was strenuous. The Council had met on the territory of the Minnesota Conference of the Au- gustana Synod— a conference more or less out of sym- pathy with the General Council. Its nestor, Dr. Nore- lius, though himself friendly to the Council, was not wide of the mark when, some time before, in an article in 164 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK the Synod's Quarterly, he said : "In our Augustana Synod, I must admit, the union with the General Council is not appreciated as much as it deserves, and not a few perhaps look upon that union as something unfortunate." This same article had given the President deep con- cern. In it certain practical difficulties were pointed out which made the union with the General Council seem undesirable to many, chiefly in the Minnesota Confer- ence. Among those mentioned were interests which did not appeal to the Augustana Synod, such as a General Council Seminary at Chicago, or a Publication House in Philadelphia, or the Immigrant House at New York; or the Church Book Committee's work, which drew its treasures from German and not from Swedish sources; or the English Home Mission work, which was being carried on so vigorously in the Northwest right under the shadow of Augustana Synod congregations. This article had done much to disturb the President's peace of mind, and when the Council met in unfriendly territory, he feared for the worst. What added to his anxiety were long-drawn-out discussions of subjects in which few of the Augustana brethren could have an in- terest. Added to this was a disposition of some of the eastern members of the Council to welcome the with- drawal of the Augustana Synod should it continue to manifest dissatisfaction. When, therefore. Dr. Norelius, in order to satisfy the disaffected element in the Minne- sota Conference, offered a resolution calling upon the General Council "to be true to its ecumenical character and not seek to assume the functions of a District Synod," thus inspiring the fear that synods connected with it might lose their identity, the President felt that a crisis in the history of the Council had been reached. A TRYING CONVENTION 165 It here became manifest that the Swedish brethren looked with suspicion upon any movement that tended to obscure what they beheved to be the distinctive work and mission of their synod. They had their own educa- tional and merciful institutions; their own publication house, and their own distinctive literature; they had a distinctive home mission field co-extensive with the United States and Canada; as their conferences were virtually synods, they considered themselves to be worthy of a higher status than that of other synods within the General Council and to have the character of a general body within a larger general body. The only field in which they felt free to co-operate was that of Porto Rico and Foreign Missions. That, together with par- ticipation in the settling of doctrinal and other general questions, was the only real connecting link between the Augustana and the other synods. To them, the General Council from a governmental point of view could be little more than a rope of sand. Others in the East, with strongly synodical and individualistic sympathies, joined them in discouraging what seemed to them to be a tend- ency toward centralization. At Minneapolis a burning and troublesome question was thus sprung upon the General Council, and its Presi- dent from that time on was placed between two fires — between those who wanted the Council to function sim- ply as an advisory body and those who wanted its power enhanced as a unifying legislative body, but in a way that would alienate Augustana. The marvel is that he won the confidence of both parties in his effort to adjust differences and keep alive the spirit of harmony. But it was a hard and thorny pathway he had to travel. He wisely turned the Norelius Resolution over to a com- 166 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK petent committee to consider it and give answer to it at the Lancaster, Pa., Convention in 1911. In a long letter to Dr. Horn, a member of this committee, he makes clear the bearings of the whole situation in order to guide the Committee's deliberations and lead it to a correct conclu- sion. He opposed any abridgment of the Council's func- tions as an executive body, but believed the Committee should make clear that no synod's liberty or autonomy is in any wise abridged because other synods feel free to unite in common work. This was done by the Com- mittee. A TEMPORARY RAY OF HOPE It had seemed as if the atmosphere had been cleared at Lancaster and the Augustana delegates went away evi- dently pleased ; but the President soon discovered that the unrest had not ceased, and writes that he very much feared that the Augustana delegates would foment a split at the Toledo Convention in 1913. He was led to this conclusion because of letters received stating that there would be no peace until a separation took place. Dr. Frick, the Secretary of the General Council, had received a letter from the treasurer of the Augustana Synod in which the latter advocated a friendly separa- tion and said : "The signs in our Synod at present point to a separation." This caused the President fresh pain and he writes to Dr. Frick : "The ecclesiastical effect would be terrible. It would be the confession of the Lutheran Church of its failure and inability to remain united. The General Council is the only body that has made the attempt to unite the Lutheran nationalities in America. If this attempt fails, the situation is hopeless for a long while. It makes me sick to think of the way some of our English people advocate the Lutheran Church's going into a general Protestant unity or federation, and yet neglect the patient and whole-souled A TRYING CONVENTION 167 effort that is necessary to bring our own household into unity and order." When at the Toledo Convention no movement was made by the Augustana delegation to advocate separation and an invitation was extended by it to meet at Rock Island in 1915, the President spoke in glowing terms of the harmonious meeting and regarded the crisis as having passed. But he was doomed to sore disappoint- ment ; for in the year following, Lutheran Companion advocated separation of the Foreign Mission field and spoke of the anomalous situation of having a general body like the Augustana Synod within another general body. The smoldering fires of disafifection were thus being fanned into a fresh flame, and as the next conven- tion was to be held in Rock Island, the President looked forward to it with serious misgiving. He writes to a pastor in Toledo: The convulsion that is now threatening in the Augustana Synod on the question as to whether it shall or shall not separate from the General Council, with possible requests for the re-organiza- tion of the Council, or with a possible great crisis at Rock Island, may render the problems and responsibilities so heavy that I may be unable to shoulder them, and may be obliged to resign. I hope this will not be the case, as I am not one of the kind that is built to desert a ship at the critical moment. But this question is a matter which the Lord only knows. What induced this state of mind was a resolution, passed at the meeting of the Augustana Synod in 1915. It had been offered by Dr. Johnson, the president of Gustavus Adolphus College, as a substitute for a more drastic one advocating separation and the reunion as part of a federation, and read as follows: "That the Augustana Synod respectfully requests the General Council to so alter the constitution of said body that the 168 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Augustana Synod no longer be placed in the relation of a District Synod, but be recognized as a General Body in order that the General Council may become both in principle and practice a deliberative and advisory body only, so as to facilitate a federation of all the Lutheran bodies in our land." Later Lutheran Companion had this to say : The General Council should be re-organized. At present it is composed of local synods and one general body, the Augustana Synod, and the relation is anomalous. Originally it was a deliberative body only. But the smaller bodies were not in a position to take care of their own publica- tions, education, missions, and charity work. Hence they re- ferred it to the General Council, which took it up and became to that extent a legislative body. And as the territories intersect and are covered by the Augustana Synod, the result is partly hitherto friendly friction and partly lack of interest on our part in matters outside of (or inside of) our jurisdiction. Where we are not directly concerned we have the feeling that we do not wish to intrude, as our only part in these sessions is the un- pleasant duty of safeguarding our own interests. A good deal of our non-attendance may also be ascribed to this feeling. The local synods ought therefore to be organized into a gen- eral body, this body together with the Augustana Synod to con- stitute the General Council. The General Council, the Synod of the South, and other general bodies might then see their way clear to unite with us in a deliberative body with a view to ap- proaching a united Lutheran Church in America. Thus the old question of reorganization, which the President hoped had been settled at Lancaster, loomed up before him afresh, and in a letter in which he com- plains that the English Home Mission Board had not acted wisely in the Northwest and was responsible for much distrust and ill-feeling, he says : This resolution says "so that the General Council may become a deliberafive and advisory body only" in order to further the unity A TRYING CONVENTION 169 of the Lutheran Church. Now if it were only the matter of guaranteeing the rights of the Augustana Synod, as to liturgy, mission work, etc., without any attempt on the part of Augustana to remove the Council's executive and practical functions, it would be all right. But they complain of the Chicago Seminary. They complain of our Home Mission work. The language of their resolution is so sweeping that, if adopted, it would at least legally wipe the activities of the General Council off the slate. Later he shows a disposition to accede in some meas- ure to the wishes of the Swedes and writes: So far as I can see, the only way to do is for some of our great men to appear at their meetings, to apologize for injuries done by little rasping men, and then to fire the imaginations and the feelings of the Swedes with the idea of unity; and also probably propose a looser unity for them in the General Council, that is, let them participate in the things they want to participate in, and, say, hold one day's session on these general affairs and then let them go home and let the Council transact its specially Ger- man and English business without them, and not look to them to support this specially German and English business. WANTS NO ATLANTIC COAST LUTHERANISM When some of the leaders in the East suggested the advisabiHty of letting the Augustana Synod drop out of the General Council and of drawing together into some General Conference the General Synod and the United Synod South, he promptly declares himself against the idea and says that he wants no "Atlantic Coast Luther- anism uniting by itself and leaving the West out in the cold." As one letter to Dr. Schmauk shows, there was some cooling ofif of affection in the East among even warm friends of the Augustana Synod who were loathe to see a separation. It reads in part as follows : 170 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK We must show the Swedes that the freedom of action of the Augustana Synod has never been questioned or invaded, but what this resolution calls for is a decided abridgment of the liberty of joint action on the part of the other synods. We do not want the farce of the Lancaster method of dealing with the question repeated. Let them blow off their steam and invite them to do so. Then if they cannot be shown the pre- posterousness of their position, let a peaceable separation take place. We do not want any Synod in the General Council whose heart is outside of it. But the thought of separation was repellent to him. In a letter to Dr. Jacobs, dated June 19, 1915, he inclines toward the formation of a larger unity in which the Augustana Synod might feel at home, though far from sure that it can come to realization. He says : We cannot reorganize into a merely deliberate body, especially not while the General Synod, the Missouri Synod, and the Joint Synod of Ohio are becoming more intensively practical bodies, nor would such reorganization be conducive to unity, but it would further complicate matters. There are other things that can perhaps be done. If we can get the General Synod and the Nor- wegian Synods into a general deliberative body, this will be a real step toward unity. But the Augustana way is not the way to begin such an effort. He went even so far as to suggest the following ad- dition to the General Council's Constitution, which, how- ever, was not submitted for consideration: Article I. Section 5. General Bodies within the General Coun- cil shall themselves have the full powers and duties enumerated in the preceding four sections, and shall not on these points be amenable to the General Council, except in departments where they in fact or by resolution have established co-operation with the General Council. The General Council shall divide its busi- ness into two parts, namely, one part in which General Bodies co-operate with the District Synods, in which part all bodies have a voice and vote as prescribed by this constitution; and A TRYING CONVENTION 171 another part in which the General Bodies do not desire to co- operate and in which only the District Synods co-operate with their voice and vote. General Bodies may at any time become members of the General Council in the regular way, and with their autonomy duly preserved, and in accordance with the pro- visions of this Section. THE FEDERATION MOVEMENT When a "Federation of Lutheran Synods" at the sug- gestion of the Joint Synod of Ohio, was proposed in 1915, he at first favored it as furnishing a possible solu- tion to the Augustana Synod difficulty. But when it ap- peared that presidents of synods within the General Council were invited and the General Council as a single unity was not recognized, he immediately refused to co- operate. He, however, drew up a series of propositions which would broaden the scope of the General Council and enable it to function as a larger unity, with the Swedes, the Germans, and the English-'Germans as three constituent parts of the general body, each with its dis- tinctive work independently carried on and with only such activities in common as they should mutually agree to enter into. Then other Lutheran bodies should be invited under similar conditions, thus forming a new and enlarged federated alliance, looking toward ultimate union. As later events proved, he regarded such federa- tion as a temporary makeshift and finally came to the conviction that it would do more to perpetuate national- istic and other peculiarities than to eHminate thera. THE BEGINNING OF THE END This agitation from 1909 to 1915 proved to be but the beginning of the end. Had not the love and confi- dence of the Augustana brethren in the President of the General Council been so strong, a separation would 172 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK have taken place ere the year 1917. He was frequently invited to participate in important celebrations in the Augustana Synod, but his frequent illnesses and his aversion to travel, forbade him to make more than very few engagements. At its Golden Jubilee in 1910, he de- livered an address on "Ancient Ideals of Education from a Modern Point of View" at the college in Rock Island, and made a profound impression. It was there that he was honored with the title of LL.D. by the institution. This mutual attachment did much to prevent the break, and the Augustana delegates could always be counted on to vote for his continuance in the presidential office. When in 1917, the laymen of the Quadricentennial Committee, of which Dr. Schmauk was chairman, pro- posed signalizing the four-hundredth birthday of the Reformation by uniting the Lutheran forces in this coun- try, as far as would be possible, it soon became apparent that the beginning of the end had come. Dissenters in the Augustana Synod felt that now the opportune moment had arrived to revive the federation idea, and at a meet- ing in Minneapolis made a proposition looking toward the attainment of that end. But the President's long experience with a loosely organized body made him more and more opposed to a federation. He saw in it the embodiment of all the elements of weakness with which he was forced to contend during his long administration and believed it would retard rather than accelerate the process of a real inner "life together." It would be interesting to give the full inner story of his efforts to prevent the impending breach, but it would lead us too far afield. When in 1918, after re- peated assurances to the President of the General Coun- cil from leaders in the Augustana Synod that there would A TRYING CONVENTION 173 be no separation, action was taken by that body to sever its connection with the General Council, the expected at last took place. Dr. Schmauk had suffered much dur- ing the trying years since the Minneapolis Council. He felt that a bond formed in 1867, with such leaders as Esbjorn, Hasselquist, Erland Carlsson and Norelius to conjure with, could not be broken without serious loss to the cause of unity in the American Lutheran Church. His hopes for a greater and more thoroughly united General Council, of which the Buffalo Convention in 1907 was to be the prophecy, were thus rudely shattered, and the first experiment to bring to unity several racial Luth- eran strands in America was brought to an untimely end. His faith in the General Council's mission had been un- bounded and his heart's devotion to it made the sacrifice of time and energy and health in its behalf seem trivial. After fifteen years of unsparing service as its president, a rent in the General Council inflicted a wound upon him which even the new and larger union into which the Council entered in 1918 could not heal. In a letter dated June 18, 1918, to Dr. Abrahamson of the Augus- tana Synod, a strong supporter of the union, he writes what may be considered his valedictory, as follows : We shall indeed greatly miss our Augustana brethren whom we have learned to labor with and to love. Certain seats will always look empty at every convention. I believe it is a com- bination of different feelings and forces that produced this re- sult in your Synod. The lack of correlation between Augustana as a national body and the General Council as a national body seems to me to be the unnecessary emphasis of a theory. Of course there are diffi- culties, but with patience they could have been adjusted. There are many illogical realities in life that go on and suc- ceed very well indeed. And the worst of it is that these men will not get rid of their difficulties by the remedy they propose, 174 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK viz., a Federation. There would be the same national bodies paralleling and overlapping each other. And in a Federation we only get close enough together to learn to stand on our own rights and dislike each other ; and not close enough together to learn to love each other and labor together. So far as the mission frictions are concerned, the opponents of the General G>uncil have surely not improved the Augustana situation. To me, from an ecclesiastical point of view, the chief disappointment is that the Lutheran faith here in America, where it has had its largest opportunity, has not proven itself large enough to be universal ; but other considerations, whatever they may be, have proven themselves superior, and have risen once again to separate and divide. This is the great lesson, viz., the failure of our American Church to demonstrate the universalism, the catholicity, and the inherent power of our faith, when, for the first time in centuries, it had opportunity to do so. This is the submerging feature in the failure of the underlying principle that moved the fathers to form the General Council. They would shed tears today at this result. And it is this which fills my heart with sorrow. I have had no personal desires to accomplish in the presidency of the Gen- eral Council, but it has been my deep and steady wish to prove the proposition of our fathers, viz., that the Lutheran faith is a catholic faith, and that if given proper opportunity, it will show its inherent unity in its outer works, will show that faith is cap- able of uniting human hearts in a better way than does the ex- ternal ecclesiasticism of Rome; and that divisions and separatism are not an inevitable consequence of the Protestant Reformation. I am not one of those who have pressed for immediate union for the United Lutheran Church. I would rather have had it grow a little more slowly. But when the situation was forced upon us to decide, and we had to choose the one or the other, in view of the great events in which we are living, I felt that Provi- dence wanted us to act now. I am confident that you took the same broad view. CO-OPERATION WITH THE GENERAL SYNOD The course of Lutheran ecclesiastical love never did run smooth. As President of the General Council, Dr. A TRYING CONVENTION 175 Schmauk was in a position to realize the full force of this truth. Ever since his endeavor at the meeting of the General Synod in Dubuque, la., in 1901, where as delegate he secured favorable action for the appointment of a joint "Committee on Practical Co-operation," he became deeply interested in establishing friendly rela- tions between the two bodies. He never allowed himself to believe that it was for the best interests of the Luth- eran Church in America to adopt a policy of aloofness toward the General Synod. On the other hand, he was just as determined that co-operation should not be pur- chased at the expense of the General Council's position on questions involving the confessional principle and a practice accordant therewith. His letters to such friends in the General Synod as Drs. Bauslin, Keyser, Dunbar, Hamma and others were of a most cordial and intimate character. He was frank in pointing out to them the hindrances in the way of a closer affiliation between the two bodies, particularly when the question of adjusting the well-known mission difficulty which troubled both bodies from 1907 to 1915 was thrust upon him. Now that the two bodies have been united, it is not necessary to go into detail ; but through this whole period, when co-operation in missions and Sunday School literature was carried on with more or less difficuhy, he never lost faith in an ultimate har- monious solution, and bent all his energies toward that end. But the main issue he was striving to meet was the doctrinal one. In an interesting letter to Dr. Keyser, after the Buffalo Convention in 1907, he speaks of the mischief Profs. Richard and Evgen are doing in foment- ing trouble between the bodies on the Confessional ques- 176 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK tion, while he also laments the unwise utterances of Dr. Nicum on the General Council side. He then proceeds to show in quite graphic fashion how it happens that Lutherans do not get together as they should. He finds the seat of the difficulty in two extreme tendencies — a rigid, strait-laced Lutheranism outside of both General Council and General Synod, and a radical and liberal Lutheranism within the General Synod. Two incidents occurred which make it necessary to mention the name of Prof. Dr. Richard, whose attitude toward the Gen- eral Council was known to be unfriendly. He was a scholar of no mean attainments, but his native inclination to be polemical made the pathway toward unity between the two bodies difficult. At a meeting of Philadelphia pastors of both bodies to discuss the confessional ques- tion, he managed to be present and made the statement that "rather than subscribe to the Formula of Concord, he would have his arm burned ofif at the stake." Another was an attempt of his to sow discord between the General Council and the "General Lutheran Conference" (Alge- meine Konferenz). Dr. Schmauk therefore puts the situ- ation in the Lutheran Church to Dr. Keyser as follows : As to Lutheranism in this land, I believe it divides about as follows: 1. A self-complete ecclesiastical Lutheranism — with large foreign admixture. [Lutherans who keep aloof from both Qjun- cil and Synod.] 2. A complete Confessional Lutheranism — with elements American and foreign. [Lutherans of the General Council.] 3. A Lutheranism of fundamental p'rinciple — American. [Conservatives in the General Sj'nod.] 4. A nominal and accommodative and liberal Lutheranism — American and unstable. [Radicals in the General Synod.] It is 1 and 4 that make the trouble. It is 2 and 3 that suffer. 2 and 3 do not overlap any more than do 3 and 4. But 2 and 3 A TRYING CONVENTION 177 very often agree on square and hearty principle. There are seri- ous points of difference of principle, especiailly on inference; but they are capable of being fair to each other and of respect- ing dififerences of principle. 3 and 4 do not belong together any more than 2 and 3, if as much. Yet they are tied together. This, with the really deeper unities between 2 and 3, which are so exasperating to 4, keeps 4 continually worked up into fury and lashing the waters. Neither 2 nor 3 are by nature the aggressor ; but either 1 or 4 manages to keep 2 and 3 almost continuously in hot water. 2 has been in hot water, boiled on the hot stove of 1, ever since she was a little babe, and accepts periodic scalding from it. She ■has ail so been receiving many a scalding from 4, but since 4 has of late years been setting up to be the essence of real Luth- eranism, and has been assuming that she is 3 and 4, 2 has turned to 3, and has said, "What are you, my dear one? Tell us now. Are you 4? If so, you are certainly not 3, and still less are you 2. If you are really 3, then be so, even if it be necessary to loosen yourself from 4. We do not ask you to be 2, though we should indeed be very glad to have you, but we respect your principle. But we do ask you to be yourself, — else how can we deal with you? When we supposed that we were embracing you, lo and behold, our arm has gotten around 4, and the result was not consolation, but castigation. Now no maiden can expect to win a friend if, being 3, her suitor does not know whether it really is 3 or whether it is 4. Though the voice be the voice of Jacob, the hand after all turns out to be the hand of Esau." It seems to me that this is the situation in a nut shell, that it is the nature of the case, and that alongside of it, the Formula of Concord issue, while it touches to the root in a way, is not the reail sum and substance of the thing. But the Formula of Concord issue, being raised by 4, (please note it was raised by 4, and not iby 2), and raised so sneeringly and offensively, that 4 declared she would rather have her arm burnt off at the stake than ever accept the Formula as a test of Lutheranism, 2 could not do otherwise than take the issue as 4 tauntingly pressed it upon her. Why is it, that a man like Dr. Jacobs, mild-mannered, gentle- manly, forgiving and conciliatory, one who has always worked M 178 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK for peace, and one who has led in the effort to draw 2 and 3 together, would draw up such Theses as you heard at Buffalo? Those Theses did not come from the Germans. Neither were they a matter of aggrieved personality, but a matter of convic- tion. There is a situation here, which has simply been forced upon 2, one might say, in a most brutal way. I doubt whether conservative men outside of Eastern Pennsylvania realize what that situation has been, and how much some of us have done to try to avert it. It has been impossible. We have been obliged to meet 4. For years 3 has told us that 4 was nothing, and should not be considered, and we believe they believe it. But we have found by most sad experience that it is otherwise. 4 insists on being met. Hence Buffalo. We cannot ask 3 to manage 4, for 4 does not want to be managed and will not be managed. Neither can we ask 3 to separate from 4, for 3 loves 4; — and that is none of our business. Therefore we (by we, I mean 2, and not a few men of whom I am one personally ; for I am giving my explanation of a general situation) did the only thing that was left. The best solution that I see, is the one that the Lord has evidently not yet given His consent to, that is, for 2 and 3 to bind 4 hand and foot. 3 is now engaged in an effort to sew the mouth of 4 shut, for which I am exceedingly thankful; but I believe that the nature of 4's jaw is of such a character that even the most approved and thorough wire-stitching will not be able to keep its roar from being heard. This letter makes clear the difficulties that lay in the pathway of the union that w^as later consummated at New York. It is a frank and true statement of a situation that for years stood in the way of a closer affiliation and union among Lutherans, and its spirit will not be mis- interpreted. CHAPTER XVI "The Confessional Principle" (1907-1911) Dr. Schmauk as Seminary Professor "Doctrine w intellectual and spiritual bone. It is principle. Better have a dozen diverse living species, each separately ribbed and tempered, than amalgamate them all by removing the bones and boiling them dozm together into one great cake of sheep meat jelly. A church without distinctive doctrinal principle is a verte- brate ztnthout vertebrae." — Schtnauk. THE many-times President of the General Coun- cil had pitched his confessional song at Buffalo in a high key. Could he keep the Council true to that pitch? There followed much rejoicing because of the strong confessional note that had been struck. Letters of approval came from the Iowa Synod and created fresh hope that union with the General Council might result. Dr. Stell- horn, of the Joint Synod of Ohio, who had been in cor- respondence with Dr. Schmauk several years before and who entertained high hopes of the leading part the latter was destined to take to keep the General Council true to its confessional position, now expressed his joy at what had transpired at Buffalo. Others from outside the Gen- eral Council wrote to him in a similar vein. But after the enthusiasm had more or less subsided, Dr. Schmauk felt that the influence of that convention would be transient if it were not followed up with a more thorough discussion of the confessional principles that had there found expression. With the passing away of so many pillars who were in fullest sympathy with those principles, he feared a weakening of the confessional consciousness if something were not done to strengthen 180 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK it and keep it alive. There were indications on many sides that his fears were well founded. Hence, in the follow- ing year, as early as May 7th, we read in his diary, "Worked on Book." Later this item appears again and again. On September 9, 1910, we read, "Proofs of Confessional Principle," and on March 21, 1911, the words, "Confessional Index," appear. This volume of 962 pages had been completed some time earlier, when the book of Dr. Richard of Gettysburg entitled "The Confessional History of the Lutheran Church" appeared. He found so many misleading and harmful statements in this book that, after an immense amount of painstaking research, he prepared an "Histori- cal Introduction" in which the real facts connected with the history of the Augsburg Confession are brought out in such remarkably complete detail and accuracy as to be almost the last word on the subject. It was a con- vincing refutation of the positions taken in the "Confes- sional History" of Professor Dr. Richard. The theme of the Book may be stated in his own words in the pre- face : "Absolute dependence on the Word, that is, on the Holy Spirit in the Word, in the Church, has resulted in the Evangelical Lutheran Confession." In the prepara- tion of this work, he was assisted by Dr. C. T. Benze, who spent many days at Lebanon translating from Kolde and other important authors that proved serviceable. It called forth commendations from many quarters. On June 25, 1911, Dr. Jacobs wrote him the following brief letter: I have just finished a rapid examination of your book. I wanted to form an impression of it as a whole, before entering into the closer examination of details. It has held me fast all day, except when in church, and for two brief breathing spells. I have read enough to lead me without waiting longer to express THE CONFESSIONAL PRINCIPLE 181 my intense delight and most isincere gratitude. You have pro- duced an epoch-making book. Not only will it live, but its in- fluence may be more far-reaching than anything that has as yet appeared in the English language within our Church. You •have not left the least shred of an argument against the Con- fessional position unanswered. I am astonished at your patience in pursuing your opponent with the consideration of the most minute details on side questions, when you might have been con- tent with your triumphant overthrow of the main argument. Dr. Jacobs was inspired to write a series of nine long articles for The Lutheran touching on many questions suggested by this book. Others felt that a great defender of the faith had arisen. A Philadelphia lawyer (G. E. Schlegelmilch) wrote him a long letter in which he stated that he had never known what it was to be a Lutheran until he had read this book, and he hoped that many other laymen would also read it. More than one, including Dr. Jacobs, at once linked the author with Dr. Krauth. One letter that came to him expresses the general sentiment of all, a part of which reads thus : Dr. Jacobs voices my conviction when he virtually says that you have taken a long step in advance of Krauth and given us a message that goes to the heart of things even more than did his. You have brought Krauth up to date. Your book has given me fresh hope and inspiration. You have brought your great argu- ment home to the Twentieth Century. DR. SCHMAUK AS SEMINARY PROFESSOR "Apologetics is on a lower plane than Dogmatics, inasmuch as the intellect is below faith in the Christian's life." — "Science is our hold on nature; religion our hold on God. The object of science is to perceive the laws miderlying the complexities of natural phenomena; the object of religion is to supply the longing of the soul for communion atul kinship zvith the Find Source of life, love, goodness and truth — God." "Since ethics deals with the right conduct of life, its statidard viust necessarily be the perfection of life; and to us Christians 182 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK it has been set forth in the living personality of our Saviour. Life can only be measured and interpreted by life. Hence even if the Scriptures were a Book of Laws, which they are not, they could not be expected to contain an ultimate standard of ethics. Our absolute standard of perfect life is found in the life and character of God, and He has been revealed to us in His Only Begotten Son, full of grace and truth." — Schmauk. When, in 1910, Dr. Jacobs had urged Dr. Schmauk to consent to being nominated as professor, the latter in a lengthy letter gave reasons why he felt that he could be of greater service to the Seminary if he remained presi- dent of the Board. A few quotations will make his posi- tion clear: I really believe, and this is a matter of judgment as well as of inclination, that I can be of more service constructively to the Seminary and to the Church by remaining on the Board of Directors, and by standing in the broader fields of church activity, than by concentrating all my energy as a specialist in a particular department of investigation and teaching. I love literary work and teaching, and I do not care for ad- ministrative work or for business ; but I do not believe it to be possible, if I should become a teacher, for me to continue bearing the more general constructive burdens of the Church; and if I feel anxiety, it is really more respecting these, than respecting any one department in the Seminary. As I look at it the upbuilding work in our Board has just begun, and there is much hill climbing to be done quietly and conservatively, but steadily, still before us. Further, we are standing on the very brink of a change from the old to the new, and from the young to the old ; and I believe that I can probably be of more service to the institution in en- couraging growth and preventing revolution, on the Board, than if I were pinned down to a department in the Faculty. Still further, it would be a very difficult thing for me to give up the preaching office and pastoral work. I have my father's life as a minister before me, and it is a source of comfort and safety to me where I can follow in his footsteps. There are 1 — . ::. ■.;;;vfa| '"J J 10^ i V 1 IT' '1 \% <• •' ^^^»< SEMINARY PROFESSOR 183 many specific reasons that would enter into the statements made above, and which it is not necessary to allude to now, as I do not in my heart believe that I shall be required to meet this crisis. I might probably be willing, if the Church thought so, to enter into some special technical course on a lectureship and teaching basis, with limited hours, and which would be understood to be of a temporary nature, until the Church were more able to fill its needs. But I am not looking to this, or even considering it. And, so far as I can see now, it would only be to prevent another from entering the institution, whom I would regard as a great mistake, or if the Qiurch would insist, and would convince me that I am doing wrong, which I do not believe it will be able to do, that I would think of becoming a professor. In his diary of date May 19, 1911, are written the words: "Accepted call to professorship — to serve one year gratuitously — expenses to be paid by the Board." Dr. Schmauk was elected Professor at the Seminary at a Special Session of the Ministerium, held in St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, Feb. 14, 1911. The chair to which he was elected was that of "The Confession and Defence of the Christian Faith," a new chair, provided for in the report presented to the Ministerium at this Special Ses- sion by the Board. This added one more heavy responsibility to the many others he was already assuming. It had been hoped that he would resign as pastor at Lebanon and lay aside nu- merous other offices and duties he was discharging, and devote himself more or less exclusively to this new task. At this time he was serving as President of the General Council, President of the Board of Directors of the Semi- nary, Trustee of Muhlenberg College and Chairman of its Committee on Degrees, Editor of the Review, Liter • ary Editor of The Lutheran, Editor of Lutheran Graded Sunday School Lesson Series, Chairman of Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania German Society, Member 184 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK of Church Book Committee, and several other regular appointments that made drains upon his time and energy. But the friends who had urged him to hmit himself were mistaken. When once he had firmly taken hold of a task, acquainted himself with its problems, and planned for the furtherance of the interests that were involved in it, he was not the man to let go. What he began must be consummated before he would be willing to relinquish any responsibility he had assumed, and as he never saw the end of the task to which he was committed, he held on. Being deeply concerned in the carrying out of the Seminary's plans for progress and expansion, he remained its President and declined a full professorship. He was not content to be a mere figurehead in any office he assumed, and he kept his hand on the Seminary's afifairs down to the minutest details. He had an intelli- gent grasp of the business end of the administration and always came to the Board meetings well prepared with a complete outline of matters to be discussed and finally settled. He had well-matured ideas as to the conduct of the Library and took a hand in revising and reorgan- izing methods that proved to be no longer adequate. He was equally interested in a revision of the courses off^ered at the Seminary and of improved methods of teaching, particularly after the Schieren Professorship had been established. So then, as Dr. Jacobs says (Lutheran Church Revieiv, July, 1920), for nine years, at great sacrifice of time and labor, and at imminent risk to health and life, the two-fold Seminary burden of President of the Board of Directors and temporary incumbent of what amounted to a full professorship devolved upon him, in addition to his pastorate and his duties as chief administrator of almost numberless important Church responsibilities. So heavy and constant was the strain that no one man could be expected SEMINARY PROFESSOR 185 to bear it long. For he carried no duty lightly; not only were all details of each of his several avocations mastered, but this was done also with great expense of feeling. Every problem to be solved brought its peculiar anxieties. He was no transient visitor to these grounds, performing a certain round of duties perfunctorily, scarcely learning the names of students, and then hastening away to forget the Seminary amidst other occupations until the next week arrived. Much that was on his mind he would not wait to discuss until his next visit, but would com- municate in frequent and often long letters. Absence from fac- ulty meetings was very rare. He claimed his share and took his turn in almost all the extra duties his associates voluntarily assumed. Students he learned to know not only in the class room, but in close personal contact, in which he dealt with them as an elder brother, sympathizing with their perplexities and sharing even in their merriment. For their instruction, he was ever projecting what was fresh and new and could be of the •most practical use. He was always collecting new material and making new studies of the students to whom he was to impart what he gathered. Dr. Schmauk knew full well that the customary method of teaching Apologetics failed in large measure to lead to positive, constructive results, and he preferred to desig- nate the position he was to occupy as teacher, as the "Chair of the Christian Faith." Dealing with mere nega- tions and skeptical argumentations had little attraction for him. He believed in planting himself firmly on the solid vantage ground of faith and making that the start- ing point from which to venture forth to meet the foe. How he interpreted his task is set forth in the Seminary Catalogue of 1916 as follows: Apologetics has usually been regarded as the scientific defense of Christianity against any and all attacks. Its aim, too often, has not been investigation, but vindication. Instead of seeking patiently after the truth, and setting forth the results impartially, it has sought to overturn antagonists. This has been done by a 186 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK priori arguments and a summation of facts that are now a relic of a bygone age. A broader and more constructive view of the work of this department is to set forth the ultimate principles of Christianity in their inner relations to each other and to the problems of the human mind, as these have been developed his- torically, and thus afford the student an adequate basis and the materials for making up his mind and arriving at conviction on points of doubt and difficulty. The intellectual side of Christian- ity becomes scientific rather than militant. Christianity unfolds its own inner strength, and begets its own conviction in the mind. A positive and structural attitude, confident of the inherent rea- sonableness of Christianity, so far as the intellect is able to com- prehend it, takes the place of a mere defence. The need of the age is an insight into the inherent nature of Christianity, a search for, and an organic maintenance of its own inner value, a build- ing up of its own intellectual foundation, in their relation to modern issues. Hence the Department is regarded positively, as one of construction and maintenance. As was to be expected, piles of material in the form of lectures on this subject covering an immense field of thought and fact, were gathered which with some revision could easily be transformed into books. When, upon the death of Dr. Horn, the subject of Ethics was assigned to him, he launched into another boundless field of study and investigation, and soon had enough material assorted and arranged for several more books. The writer requested Prof. Emil E, Fischer, D.D., his successor, to furnish an outline of the subjects Dr. Schmauk felt called upon to teach. The reader will be struck with the richness and vastness of the field he at- tempted to cover, and with the peculiarity of his method, which was intended to enlarge the student's vision, to strengthen conviction, to broaden the scope of interest and to make lasting impressions rather than to impart mere knowledge on the basis of which the student could be examined. SEMINARY PROFESSOR 187 The following courses, including elective and degree courses, were offered by Dr. Schmauk during the years that he spent at the Seminary : The Christian Principle in Modern History. History of Thought, Ancient and Modem, in Its Relation to Christianity. Modern Criticism and its Application to Various Parts of the Old Testament Field. Principles of the General Council and Their Application to the Local Congregation and to Various Contemporary Tendencies and Movements. The Critical History of Unbelief in Modern Thinking, with Special Reference to the 19th Century Developments in Philosophy, and Science, and to 20th Century Problems. Grounds for Belief in Christianity. Philosophical Arguments for a Divine Being. The Psychology of Our Lord's Life. The Significance of the Philosophy of the Qosing Part of Our Lord's Life for Apologetics. Christianity and Current Schools of Non-Christian Thought. Theory of Christian Education. The Problems of the Church in Education and Christian Training. The Art of Teaching and of Christian Training. The General Council Graded Sunday School System, Sunday School Teaching and Management. The Training of Children, A Comparative Study of Biological, Moral, Legal and Christian Principles. Source Collections of Lutheran History in America. The Origin, Faith and Organization of Lutheranism in Amer- ica ; The Constitution of the United Lutheran Church in America. Present Problems in the Lutheran Church. Ethics of the Individual Christian Life. Ethics of Government, Ethics of Nations, of War, of Diplo- macy and Social Ethics. 188 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK The Ethical Teachings of Jesus. Analysis of the Growing Group. Consciousness in Social Life : What Will be Its Influence on the Church? Problems in Social Ethics : Poverty, Its Problems and Causes ; Wealth and Its Distribution. The Ethics of the Sermon on the Mount. Ethical Elements in Luther's Early Tractates. METHODS OF TEACHING As in everything else, Dr. Schmauk was unique in his method of teaching. His method is very fully described by one of his students, now the Rev. Arthur H. Getz, who for some time acted as his secretary and steno- grapher. He expresses at length what other students have more briefly said and written. We quote from him as follows : No phase of Doctor Schmauk's multifarious activities was closer to his heart than that of instructing his students at the Philadelphia Theological Seminary. He carefully and consci- entiously prepared for every hour with his classes. Though sometimes tired after wearisome committee meetings, and fa- tigued from traveling and lack of sleep, his buoyant spirit was revived the moment he entered the class-room and came into contact with his students. Who among his students can ever for- get his hearty, cheery, sincere greeting as he entered his class- room and said : "Good morning, boys. How are you this morning?" Every word of that greeting spoke of interest in every individual member of the class. A few addi- tionial remarks, perhaps upon the weather, perhaps upon some event in the life of the student body, perhaps upon some event recorded in the morning newspaper, served to arouse the attention of all present, and in every case served to lead directly to the Subject under consideration. A moment or two was spent in recalling to mind the subject last discussed and in connecting it with the subject next to be discussed, and then the work of the hour had begun. No one method of instruction was used to the exclusion of all others. Sometimes he employed the question and answer SEMINARY PROFESSOR 189 method; then he encouraged a free discussion; and often he lectured. Frequent reference was made to the natural phe- nomena, to the things familiar to the men in their every day life, to the trials and experiences with which all were familiar, and to the bonds which were dear to all. The intellect and mind, the heart and emotions, the fears, the doubts, the hopes, the mis- givings, the joys, the sorrows were all appealed to as occasion warranted, in impressing upon students eternal truths. For the thoughtful student Doctor Schmauk was the ideal teacher, and every hour seemed like a model class in pedagogy. He was always dignified in the class-room, and yet ever willing to come down to the level of the most humble student. Form for form's sake was annoying to him, but form for the sake of decency and order was an absolute requisite in his class-room. He never sought to impress the dignity of his position as a member of the faculty and as President of the Board of Direc- tors of the Seminary upon his students, but loved to assume the role of "Older brother." Nothing pleased him more than to see the whole class gather close to him, under his very eyes, so that he could speak to them out of the fullness of his heart. No interest of the class or of any member of the class was foreign to him, and the most trivial question was answered with an earnestness worthy of the most weighty philosophical problem. The most difficult subjects to teach in a Seminary curriculum are perhaps Ethics and Apologetics. For not only must cer- tain fundamental truths be discovered, and certain immutable laws adhered to, but these truths and laws must then be illus- trated from life so that the principles may be indelibly stamped upon the minds of the students. And frequently, due to the intensely practical nature of these subjects, there is room for diversity of opinion when the rules are to be applied to indi- vidual cases. Hence there is a double danger which the pro- fessor of these subjects must avoid: the danger of merely lectur- ing without allowing a discussion by the class, which would both clarify and deepen the impression; and the danger of allowing the discussion to over-emphasize minute points at the expense of the larger issues, and thus lead into by-paths. In order to avoid this double difficulty Doctor Schmauk closely followed a care- fully prepared manuscript. At times he would read word for word what he had written, but his reading was so eloquent that 190 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK it never became wearisome to the class. At other times he used a very full outline as the basis of his lectures. But whether the lecture was delivered from outline or from manuscript, the style was brilliant, sparkling, scintillating, fascinating, and he wlio had an ear for rhythmical sentences, an appreciation for figurative language, a mind for philosophical thought, could not help being thrilled by the words which fell from the lips of this master teacher. The person who is not intimately acquainted with the method which Doctor Schmauk used will wonder if his lectures were al- ways appropriate, for lectures read from manuscript, especially if years have passed since the manuscript was prepared, do not always present the most timely illustrations. However, in this case, the illustrations and the timeliness of every part of the lecture was one of the great sources of power. And this was due to the manner of preparation for lectures which the Doctor employed. At the beginning of the year a careful outline was prepared of the subjects to be treated in the course, with head- ings, divisions, sub-divisions, and sub-sub-divisions. This outline might be digressed from in the course of the year, due to ques- tions brought up by the class ; but it was never forgotten, and sooner or later there was a return to it. The outline was pre- pared at the beginning of the course, after an immense amount of reading which had been thoroughly digested, but the manu- script itself was written within a very short time before the lecture was delivered, often the very night before. This assured timely illustrations, harmony of thought and plan, and such brevity and conciseness that every word of the lecture counted. It is this careful preparation, almost immediately preceding the lecture, that accounts for the wonderful epigrammatic style used in the class-room. The student was at liberty to interrupt at any point of the lecture in order to ask a question. Such questions were always answered with a fullness of thought and knowledge that was astounding, with a suavity that was admirable, and with an earnestness of purpose that was truly inspiring. If a question required such detailed or minute information that on the spur of the moment he could not be certain of the answer, he frankly stated so, giving what he thought was the solution, and prom- ising to verify it before the next class, and in no case did he SEMINARY PROFESSOR 191 forget to give fuller information at the next meeting. He also made a mental note of all questions asked, and after class analyzed them, trying to find out what in the previous training or experi- ence of the man led him to ask the question. And if he discov- ered the least trace of anything that might prove dangerous to the man's thought, such as the influence of radicalism, he would again refer to the question at the beginning of the next meeting and clear up all difficulties. In order that he might do this the better he tried to learn what books the men were reading, and if there were any he was unfamiliar with, no matter what their character, he would secure them and give them his careful attention. Thus he maintained a firm hold upon students, and by his broad-minded discussion of the problems they were think- ing about, held their love and won their admiration. The information imparted to students in the class-room was valuable, and yet if all this information were forgotten, if every last fact related were blotted from the memory of those who sat at the feet of this esteemed teacher, the hours spent with him would yet be of lasting value, for his unshakable conviction of the truth of Christianity of very necessity strengthened the faith of all who knew him. His lectures were full of personal testi- mony, and which of his students will ever forget the impression made by the illustration of the blind man in John and the quot- ing of the words: "This I know; whereas before I was blind, now I see"? By the inspiration of Doctor Schmauk's faith, doubts were removed, new strength imparted, fresh courage imbibed; for to him the Gospel of the Scriptures were in very deed "the power of God unto salvation." CHAPTER XVII The Quadri- Centennial Celebration of the Reformation (1917-1920) "Faithful common action and common service come out from a common faith. Union is really a matter of vital growth from zmthin outwards, and cannot be hurried by casting away convic- tions. God brought m-en to America to unite. But, sir, it is to be by growth and breeding. It is to be by purifying the blood, not by removing the bone. Meanwhile, there are things zvorse than Division, htdifference is zuorse. IVorldliness is worse. Hypocrisy is worse. Proselytism is worse. Love of grand effect is worse. Wavering in faith is zvorse." — Schmauk. ALREADY in 1909 at the Minneapolis Convention of the General Council, its President was look- ing forward to a worthy celebration of the four hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Reformation. In his report, he recalls the "profound influence exerted upon the early part of the Nineteenth Century, and felt throughout the whole century, and even today, by the celebration of the Three Hundredth Anniversary of the founding of Protestant- ism," when Claus Harms in 1817 by his ninety-five theses "sounded the trumpet and awoke the hosts of the Lord against the prevailing rationalism and unionism into which Protestantism had been falling." He urges the import- ance of making "a mighty effort to do something hand- some for our educational and missionary work during the next eight years" in appreciation of God's blessings through the Reformation. He hopes to awaken an in- QUADRI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 193 terest among Americans in "the fundamental principles of liberty and law, of progress and conservatism which underlie the best life in this nation and which are found in the history and doctrines of the Church of the Con- servative Reformation." Again at the Lancaster Convention two years later, he embodies in his report the following : There remain but six years for the Lutheran Church to prepare a proper World Celebration of the Quadri-centennial of the Reformation. The celebration this year of the Three Hundredth Anniversary of the Authorized version of the English Bible has •shown that almost no English or American writers have taken cognizance of the part Luther's German Version played in the making of the English Version, and the lesson taught is, that, unless we take time by the forelock, as a Church, the beginnings of Protestantism will be celebrated here in America by Ameri- cans with Luther as a great and heroic historical character, but with the Lutheran Church regarded as some obscure sect which has barely heard of the Great Reformer. To the Jubilee Com- mittee of our Council has been committed the extraordinary financial task of raising two million dollars for the Church in honor of the Jubilee, and also of submitting plans at this session for the worthy celebration of the coming event. His enthusiasm for the forthcoming celebration was all the more strengthened because he hoped thereby to see an awakening of the confessional consciousness in his own and other branches of the Lutheran Church and a tidal wave of evangelical Christianity set in motion among Protestants to counteract the rationalism and liberalism of the day. At the Toledo Convention in 1913, he reports that invitations had been extended to the General Synod and the United Synod South to unite with the Council in a joint plan of celebration. There resulted in the follow- ing year, on September 1st, a joint meeting of the com- N 194 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK mittees of the three bodies at Atlantic City, and on Janu- ary 29th and 30th of 1915 another meeting at Pittsburgh with representatives of the Iowa and Ohio Synods also present. Thus was ushered in a united movement, with Dr. Schmauk as Chairman of the Quadricentennial Com- mittee, which was destined to result in a new epoch in American Lutheran history. This placed upon the shoulders of the Council's presi- dent an added burden of responsibility. The breaking out of the War, which had shaken the world with the force of an earthquake from center to circumference, made the task of creating Reformation enthusiasm exceedingly dif- ficult and seriously disturbed his peace of mind. He had much to contend with to establish orderly and effective modes of procedure because of loose and irresponsible activities and interference on the part of others. Because of the divided condition of the Church, there seemed to him to be too much overlapping of effort, and he com- plains : "These free lance methods are the bane of our Church, and makes those of us who believe in order often feel that it is not worth while to try for any higher union." He was speaking of an active committee operating in New York without co-ordination with his own committee. He writes to one of the brethren in New York late in 1916: "The root difficulty in the case is a looseness of general organi- zation of the Lutheran Church, which, then, in concentration upon any specific object such as this leads to multiplication of machinery and overlapping." Ten days later he complains to the same brother of the confusion created by not rightly correlating the machinery, in these words : "The multitude of details pour- ing almost daily into my office is so far beyond my strength that it at times almost fills me with despair." Nor were his difficulties lessened even when in the fol- lowing year some semblance of order was established; QUADRI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 195 for when the United States entered the war, there were those who feh the sting of the reproach that was so un- justly heaped upon the Lutheran Church by an insidious propaganda and at once urged that the celebration be abandoned. The very mention of the name Luther, who at times was spoken of as responsible for the war, and the coupling of the name of William II with the Luth- eran Church as if his militaristic philosophy and his mis- takenly supposed Lutheranism were synonymous, were not conducive to much Reformation enthusiasm, and the anomalous situation worried the directing genius of the Quadricentennial Committee more than a little. But while this chilled the movement, it did not chill Dr. Schmauk's resolve to proceed with the celebration, however unto- ward the circumstances might be. THE LUTHERAN WAR COMMISSION Then came the Lutheran War Commission. As Dr. Schmauk had a leading hand in the organization of this Commission, a few words must be said as to its inception. Steps to care for our soldiers and sailors had been taken by the Pennsylvania Ministerium and later by other eastern synods. As results were not satisfactory because the necessary co-ordination of activities on a larger scale was lacking, the President of the Ministerium of Pennsyl- vania (Dr. H. A. Weller) called a meeting of the commit- tees of the several synods. Dr. Knubel was present as one of the representatives, and when Dr. Weller suggested the formation of a National Lutheran Commission and that the President of the General Council be asked to call a meeting of all the presidents of Lutheran bodies or synods looking to that end, it was so agreed, and the same night, in the month of September, 1917, telegrams were sent by Dr. Schmauk to the various presidents, and 196 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK not long thereafter the National Lutheran War Commis- sion, with Dr. Knubel as its head, came into existence. As President of the General Council, he felt obliged to keep in close touch with its work and was in constant correspondence, giving counsel and direction, in order that the church body he represented might be sure to do its part in furnishing chaplains, camp pastors, Red Cross workers and funds to meet the needs of the crisis. His letters here again reveal his deep concern for orderly procedure and for the proper co-ordination of the agen- cies and the church bodies in this work. This soon be- came an accomplished fact, and with an able and efficient War Commission functioning for the whole Lutheran Church (excepting Missouri), in orderly manner, the ma- chinery moved along smoothly and without any serious hitches. While Dr. Schmauk was not an active mem- ber of the Commission, he did much by way of advice and direction to add to its efficiency. THE EVENTFUL MEETING OF APRIL 18, 1917 When the Quadricentennial Committee met at the City Club, Philadelphia, on April 18, 1917, a surprise was sprung upon its chairman and the other clerical mem- bers. The question to be discussed was "Federation or Unification of the Lutheran Church." Dr. Schmauk opened the discussion by stating that he "was opposed to federation." There was "too much states rights idea" about it. "This would only postpone real unity and even oppose it." He "was prepared to offer a sliding scale from a general to as much involved a union as the Lu- theran Church will stand. In a word, what we want is an organic unification of the whole, and not a strength- ening of individual units by a mutual league which will THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 197 encourage permanent maintenance of smaller bodies in their individual spheres." Then came the surprise. The Hon. J. L. Zimmerman immediately arose and said : 'The laymen have a plan of unification which will merge the bodies that enter it," and proceeded to read a resolution that had been adopted by the laymen in separate session the evening before: "Resolved, That this meeting request the Joint Lutheran Committee to arrange a general meeting of the Lutherans to formulate plans for the unification of the Lutheran Church in America." With his clear insight for orderly procedure, Chairman Schmauk, somewhat surprised and non-plussed, remarked: "This must be presented to and acted upon by the official authorities of the Church in a meeting of the men from all bodies participating. There must be proper authority to propose plans." "This plan will include all bodies willing to unite," re- plied Mr. Zimmerman. "It is essential to agree upon method before making the official proposal to any body if there is to be hope of its success," remarked Dr. Schmauk. Then Mr. E. Clarence Miller rose and said : "There is no committee in my opinion which has as much author- ity to discuss the union of the three bodies as this one. We are appointed with authority to arrange for a proper celebration of the Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Reformation. Nothing we can do can better mark this celebration than the union of the Lutheran Church, or at least our three bodies. At the first meeting of the Joint Committee at Atlantic City, I presented a resolution that the celebration should be marked by the union of the three bodies in the year 1917, but such a motion was 198 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK then considered premature. The time has now come for us to undertake this great move for our Church. This is the psychological moment, and I move that when we convene after lunch we discuss the basis of unity looking toward the union of the three bodies." The laymen had taken the meeting by storm and the motion carried without further debate. At the afternoon session, a definite plan for union was presented by Mr. Miller advocating the merging of the three bodies; the extending of an invitation to other Lutheran bodies after the plan should be approved by the three; the merging of all the boards except the Swe- dish and the German; and the appointment of a com- mittee to prepare a constitution. After further discus- sion by the laymen, there was no disposition on the part of the clergy to oppose the plan, though the question of divergence in practice was raised as a possible obstacle in the way. The Chairman was then requested to present a plan which he deemed to be feasible. His plan provided for a gradual growing together until the time was ripe for complete merging when the original bodies should cease to exist. He stated : "The essential difference between my plan and that proposed by Mr. Miller is that the latter contemplates an immediate merger of unities and mine contemplates an organic absorption of unities. My plan would go into gradual operation; that of the laymen into immediate operation." When asked for the difference between a Federation and a Unity of unities, he replied that A Federation, while more substantial than a league, is less so than a Union or a Unity. A League is a bundle of independent unities, tied together by binding compact or by treaty. The bond is external and does not imply permanent control. A Federation THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 199 is a series of separate sovereign states bound together by a com- pact or act of union which is not reconstructive of the unities, and which retains the internal sovereignty of each member un- impaired. The bond is internal, but not reconstructive. A Unity of Unities is a final and substantial entity, in essence, in which the units permanently give over general powers to the central unity and in which the central unity, to the extent to which it has powers, governs the whole organism. In the case of our Church, the General Bodies would go into the higher unity, not under pressure of an immediate or hasty merger, but would giv<'. up successively such functions as were ready to be merged. This leaves provision for the General Bodies to exist until they find themselves able to transfer all powers to the general unity and thus become absorbed in it. As will thus be seen, there was in Dr. Schmauk that sound Lutheran instinct which discounts union for union's sake but wants it to be rooted in an organic inner life. Church bodies should grow together and not be merely tied together. The instinct was true to the faith and spirit and character of the man. When it became known that the Quadricentennial Com- mittee had taken steps looking to an immediate union, the question was raised as to its authority to project such a movement. An editorial appeared in The Luth- eran questioning its authority. Both Drs. Jacobs and Schmauk, as their correspondence reveals, were opposed to so sudden a welding together of the bodies before the bodies themselves could have an opportunity to move in the matter. The former had offered a motion looking toward a more deliberate and gradual method of unifi- cation and had expressed himself as opposed to precipi- tate action. But the die was cast. Union in some way and in some form was now to be wrought out, and at the Chair's suggestion a committee was appointed to pre- pare a mode of procedure. (Dr. Singmaster later pre- 200 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK sented an admirable plan that was adopted). When af- terwards a motion was made that the presidents of the three bodies appoint a committee to draft a constitution, and that this committee receive from the boards plans as to their merging, the final result to be presented to the General Bodies the same year, the pathway was cleared for the union which took place at New York on November 11, 1918. A second sober thought on the part of not a few, en- dorsed the conviction of the President of the General Council, that haste could have been made to good ad- vantage a little more slowly. There were important issues involved, and fears were expressed that the Augustana Synod, and several German synods, might not be willing to enter so hard-and-fast a merger. Besides, such a union of the more Anglicized bodies would tend to alienate other Lutheran bodies that favored a Federation and thus post- pone the day of ultimate union. Dr. Schmauk feared this and it remains to be seen whether or not his fears were well founded. As before noted, he wanted no "Atlantic Coast Lutheranism" that would tend to foster an Eastern Lutheranism as over against a still narrower and more constricted type of Western Lutheranism. The future of the Lutheran Church in this country demanded a welding process that would give promise of linking both together so soon as nationalistic peculiarities should cease to control the situation. Three days previous to the eventful meeting of the Joint Committee on Constitution on May 31, 1917, at Harrisburg, there appears in his diary the brief notation: "Constitution Matters, etc." The following day it ap- pears again with the addition, "All working." (Dr. Schmauk had called to his assistance two men of large THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 201 experience in such matters — Drs. Weller and Keiter — and assigned them special tasks to work out and formu- late.) The third day it appears again, with the words, "All working till 11.00 P. M." added. Thus an elabo- rate form of Constitution, embodying the essential ele- ments that found expression in the Constitution of the United Lutheran Church, was ready for that meeting. It occupied thirty-two typewritten pages and many parts of it were written out in thetical rather than constitu- tional form so as to form the basis for fruitful discus- sion. At a preliminary meeting of the presidents of the three bodies about to merge, the various articles of their con- stitutions were placed side by side, only to demonstrate that neither of them, nor all combined, could furnish a satisfactory basis for the proposed union. When the entire Committee assembled. Dr. Schmauk offered to pre- sent his outline of fifteen "Points to be Considered in Preparing a Constitution." This, together with an ex- haustive statement of the Principles of Faith prepared by Dr. Jacobs, Sr., then became the basis for discussion. It is enough to say, that what was gained by a rich ex- perience in Dr. Schmauk's fourteen years' incumbency as President of the General Council has found its way into the Constitution of The United Lutheran Church, which is acknowledged on all sides to be chiefly his crea- tion and his monument. "A FAR-REACHING QUESTION" His concern for a union that would embrace more than the three bodies led him to put the question to the members of the Committee at this Harrisburg meeting: "Will the uniting of the Three General Bodies further 202 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK or hinder the uniting of the Whole Lutheran Church in America?" To this he gives the following answer : It will further it only if : 1. The contemplated step brings about no splits of minorities and the formation of one or more new bodies ; 2. If the respect which each of the Bodies now enjoys in the eyes of bodies outside be not weakened and destroyed; 3. If the new body show itself to be fair and open to a still larger unity; 4. Inasmuch as the new United Church will contain, at best, only one-third of all the Lutherans in North America, and prob- ably much less, and as it may still be overtopped in numbers by another General Body, should not this meeting give some con- sideration to an offer for a proposed federation of all Lutherans, based to some extent on the existing Ohio Constitution, into which the Augustana Synod could come? He then outlines a "Proposed Constitution of Federa- tion" and suggests as a name "The Federated Alliance of the Lutheran Church in America." Of this general body which was to meet every five years, the United Lutheran Church should then become a part. Later, how- ever, he became convinced that such a loose federation would retard rather than promote unity, and it was not further considered. As the first President of The United Lutheran Church, Dr. Knubel, enthusiastically told the writer: "It is a masterpiece of its kind, and the more I study it, the more I feel that I would not change a single sentence or phrase in it." The Declaration on Catholicity, which in essence is Dr. Knubel's creation, and which was adopted at Washington, is a clear-cut supplement and application of the principle of co-operation and is rooted in this matchless constitution. The merit of Dr. Schmauk's creation lies in the fact that it steers clear of the particu- THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 203 larism which federation would foster on the one hand and of the centraHzation of power in the hands of an Execu- tive, or of a Board, on the other. FACING DIFFERENCES AND DIFFICULTIES In his frank and open way, Dr. Schmauk from the very beginning insisted that differences in spirit and practice should not be ignored, and he prepared a "statement o a preliminary understanding as to existing differences of practice and possibly of principle" which reads as follows: We who are charged with providing a harmonious plan of unification, of putting it into workable order, should not ignore difficulties, but ought to consider and examine them where they exist and see what, if anything, can be done to prevent their future appearance as a disruptive factor. We must recognize that there are great differences of prac- tice in the bodies attempting to unite, and in some cases between the bodies. * „f t „tVi Our hope is that time, patience, honest workmg out of Luth- eran principle, will tend, as always does the power of the truth, to clarify and unify these things. Meantime, so as not to give offence to consciences, or to produce a more hopeless dismtegra- tion than that which we are attempting to heal, we must allow individual expression to both parties in any case of differences, and must seek an honorable modus vivendi under such difficulties. Our Constitution, in order to keep the main track of action clear and unencumbered, and to finally secure a just solution of these perplexing problems, has provided that they be referred to our Commission of Adjudication, wihich shall give itself to search for a just fundamental view covering the case and a modus Vivendi that will be Lutheran in principle, and fair m all ques- tions of practice. . The following are among the questions of differmg practice: Open Pulpits, Open Altars. Revivals, Great Movements of the Day Federal Council, Y. M. C. A.; Christian Unity, Member- ship in Secret Fraternities which have a Religion or a Worship and Ritual of their own, Co-operation with other Denominations. There is a difference between co-operation and fellowship. The 204 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK latter is a far more intimate thing. Co-operation is a working together in the support and execution of a common plan of action. Fellowship is a life together. Co-operation is a limited associa- tion for definite ends ; but fellowship is unlimited association in spiritual life. Modern Christianity greatly abuses the principle of fellow- ship, and in so far destroys its value and its sacredness. On the grounds of a broad humanity it would admit even those to the heart of the Church who despise the precious merits of the Head of the Church. This is not broad-mindedness, but latitudina- rianism. As an official act, to be distinguished from any kindly spirit which may animate it, it does injury, and is practically disrespect to the name of our Lord, which is the only name under Heaven whereby we are saved. We should ever bear an open, loving and helpful, not a closed attitude toward those outside of us who hold honest convictions different from our own, in the fear of God and with uncorrupt will. We should be patient, bearing all things, having pleasure in approval rather than condemnation; in concord rather than in discord. We should be willing and anxious to co-operate for the saving of souls and the upbuilding of Christ's Kingdom with all of God's children wheresoever they may be found. Yet we are prevented from co-operating if thereby an injury is done to the blood -bought treasure, the pure doctrine of salvation, the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, for which thousands of our fathers have laid down home, friends, worldly success and life. With those to whom the purity of the faith means little, or means less than friendship, blood, practical success, the spirit of the age, we are in danger. A Church which exists solely for the sake of the pure Gospel principle cannot be asked to commit itself to association with any people, plan, teachings, or temperament, which derogates from the truth, or conveys the impression that we have loosened our hold and relaxed our standard of the truth. Wherever we can work with a common Christianity, with the assurance that no harm, immediate or ultimate, will come to our own great purpose of witness to the truth, we are ready to do so with joy. On the other hand, unwillingness to co-operate with others, if it grow out of honest conviction, is not to be taken as sign of bigotry, or as evidence of a narrow outlook, but as a THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 205 willingness to stand by one's convictions, and to be loyal to Christ and His truth as we see it. Wherever we can co-operate on the foundation of unity in doctrine and faith and in the Sacraments, which is the criterion set up by the Augsburg Confession, we ought to do so; and in all cases we are to possess the temper of a sympathetic mind, the strong grasp of an honest heart, the sterling disposition which is true at once to faith and to charity, and which, m the long run, is the only one of ser^-ice in dealing with the problem of a common Christianity, a problem which we did not ourselves cre- ate and which God Himself will have a hand in solving. This leads to the following positions : 1 We will co-operate with all common movements with which we are on common ground, or which show such respect and understanding for our ground as not to minimize it or in- volve it in peril, or which will not lead to the appearance of fellowship and unity where in reality it does not exist. 2 That in any such movement we are always representmg our own principles and practice and are assuming responsibility only in those matters in which we are in complete harmony with the principles and practice of the movement. 3 That individual liberty of co-operation is to be determmed by the official declarations of the Church on the subject, and that committees and fraternal delegates are to go only so far as they represent the principles and declarations of the Church. DR. SCHMAUK'S IDEAL OF THE MERGER When once his conviction was formed that in the Providence of God the time for this umon had come, he poured the whole energy of heart and soul into it and became the very incarnation of the project. What may be termed a sort of salutatory and prophecy of the Merger finds expression in these words of his which appeared in The Lutheran previous to the New York Convention : My ideal of the Merger is to get together what belongs to- gether in Christ. It is to make supreme, over all incidental issues of territorialism, culture, language, or other incidentals. 206 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK our common conviction, trust, faith in the Gospel as we see it in its world-conquering power. It is to knit together into a com- mon organism and active life all those who are in the unity of the faith. Instead of an aggregation or string of tiny jangling bells, whose confused notes often neutralize each other, it is to fuse our precious metal into one great and deep-throated cathe- dral bell of testimony, whose tones, ringing true to the precious metal of which it is composed, shall vibrate its music of testimony to the ends of the earth. But this is not to be a mechanical consolidation, inspired by mere economic or other secondary motives. The fervor of our original individual life is not to be asphyxiated, crushed, or evapo- rated out of us. The most delicate flower of individuality, as God has created it in us, and as Christ has nourished it by His Holy Spirit, is not to be destroyed by the mechanism of unifor- mity. We are dealing with organic life, the life of the Spirit, and not with inert masses. Our problem is to grow into lib- erty and unity, one and inseparable. No one is forcing this movement of growth by a hot-house process. We are living today in a world ferment such as has not oc- curred for many ages. Providence has furnished us an oppor- tunity in this period of the rise of world movements among nations, which will not come to us again for generations. The nations of the earth, orient and Occident, are acting together in great and common volume such as has never been known before. The mind of the country is being educated to look to essential movements, and to drop that which is secondary. Everything is being organized along the line of its greatest strength and for the attainment of its supreme purpose. The American nation has been roused to enter the war for the purpose of upholding its own highest ideals, and of making them permanently effective in the history of the world. Such days as we are living in, big with issues of the future, have never dawned on any American generation. Shall the secular forces of humanity combine into a mighty brotherhood, under the in- fluence of common ideals and for the execution of ultimate pur- poses, while the brotherhood of the Lord lags far in the rear in fragmentary confession of its faith? Our faith is the sublim- est of all ideals, and if men of the world, appreciating the crisis THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 207 into which it has been brought today, are willing to offer life and treasure for the common cause, the Church of our Lord, with an ideal higher, more glorious, and more imperishable than them all, must assert her loyalty to her cause, must reveal her inner unity of faith in her actual brotherhood of life, and must step forth in the confidence of her strength in her victorious Lord to do things, to convince hearts, and to measure up to her oppor- tunities, far more fully than she has attempted in the past. WORKING FOR THE MERGER The years 1917 and 1918 proved to be extremely busy and eventful and made heavy demands upon his stren^h and energy. As Chairman of the Ways and Means Com- mittee to prepare for the merging of the three bodies, and as President of the General Council to keep the Swedes and Germans in sympathy with the movement, an enormous amount of labor and responsibility fell to his lot which, added to his pastoral, professorial, literary and other activities, often made him feel like an Atlas carrying the world on his shoulders. Notwithstanding many serious physical breakdowns, he did an amount of work which it would have been foolish for even three gifted men to attempt. Protests on the part of physi- cians and friends seemed useless; for the zeal of the Lord's House had eaten him up. A crisis was upon the Church and, whatever might happen to his body, his spirit must toil on in spite of the frail tenement in which it was encased. That indomitable will of his kept the spirit functioning, and it often seemed as if he lived more out of the body than in the body. However far afield his spirit might roam, it bore on its wings the motto, "I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work." When friends in several synods wrote to him expressing misgivings as to the wisdom of the Merger, he poured 208 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK forth long letters giving reasons why the Merger could no longer be delayed. To those who feared that the Luth- eran Church's position against secretism and union- ism would be jeopardized, he writes that these dangers cannot be warded off by legislation and discipline, but by an earnest and conscientious educational process. He complains that if the Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and other synods had united with the General Council in 1867 and adopted its educational method of dealing with these issues, the outlook for future historic Lutheranism in this country would today be very much brighter. He maintained that while Secretism was not specifically pro- hibited in the Scriptures, it was beyond a doubt a valid deduction from the Scriptures that it was an evil which Christians must avoid. "Should we withdraw from this Merger, or should we enter it and cast the weight of our teaching and influence against the evil?" is his ques- tion. "If the Lord desires this movement, we should not stand against it. If He does not desire it, we should oppose it" — such are his concluding words. The affection and confidence he had won from brethren in the New York Ministerium, and the Canada and Mani- toba Synods, enabled him after much effort to win their support for the Merger. When the General Council met in Philadelphia and celebrated its Golden Jubilee in the fall of 1917, the way had been so well prepared by its President (with the aid of Drs. Weller, Keiter and Frank Fry) for union with the other two Bodies that not a dissenting voice was raised against it. The meeting in Witherspoon Hall, with committees from the sister bodies, will not soon be forgotten. It proved to be a sort of tri- umphal procession into the "delightful Canaan" of a re- united Lutheranism that was to be given its final seal a THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 209 year later. Iowa was present in the person of a repre- sentative to declare that a fifty years' wooing was now to be ended, and Dr. Schmauk replied that if Iowa had been won, she would now be in a position to help de- cide whether the General Council should enter the Merger — otherwise not. No one could have been more loathe to surrender the Council's identity and speak the vale- dictory than was its President; but his eye was on the Lutheran Church's future and not on a particular organ- ized part of it, and he made the sacrifice manfully and hopefully. The one thorn in the flesh of his high hopes was the defection of the Augustana Synod at its meet- ing in Minneapolis on June 13, 1918. After hours of debate and in spite of strong pleas on the part of such leaders as Drs. Abrahamson, Brandelle and Lindberg, warm friends of the General Council, the vote against the Merger carried and the delegation from the East, headed by Dr. Jacobs, flashed the telegram over the wires to Lebanon: "Augustana will not enter the Merger." AGAINST COALITIONS IN THE CHURCH In a new body, such as that which was to be formed by a union of the General Council, the General Synod and the United Synod South, it was inevitable that much concern as to who should be its executive head should be felt by leading men in the Church. It was quite natural that some should be apprehensive as to what the future of the merged Church would be were it to fall into the hands of an unsafe leadership. It was that fear which induced him to allow the convention in New York to express itself by vote either for or against his election, though it was contrary to his personal inclination, as ex- pressed by him to many of his friends, to assume the responsibility of leadership in the new body which they O 210 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK believed him eminently qualified for. When he learned that coalitions were being arranged in behalf of certain men, himself included, and when he and certain others received letters with a view to forming some such com- binations, he became conscious of a grave danger that was threatening the peace and welfare of the proposed union at the very start and set himself like a flint against it. While thoroughly sympathizing with these friends, not of his own body, in their anxiety as to the future leadership, he left no doubt as to where he stood on this very important question. It alarmed him to think that church politics, so much in evidence in other ecclesiastical bodies, might find its way into the United Lutheran Church also. These letters reflect the true character of the man, and parts are well worth quoting. As I seem to be involved in this matter, I must in self-defense say that I am no politician. I believe in the control of move- ments, and my whole strength has been exerted in that direction, and I feel that the new Church would never have been what it is, if a number of the men of the Ways and Means Committee had not worked day and night to secure the present results. But I draw the line at men. I have always felt that the sacred cause of liberty, and es- pecially of Christian liberty, requires that a man vote in accord- ance with the dictates of his own conscience, and that the Church of the Lord ought set an example in this matter. Therefore I am no politician. I have never been a candidate for any office, and any honor that the Church bestowed on me would be bought too dearly if I had to manoeuver or manipulate for it. I have never, to my knowledge, expressed the desire or a will- ingness to hold any office, with a solitary exception, and that was in connection with the directorate of the Philadelphia Semi- nary. [He then gives his deep concern for the welfare of the institution as a reason.] I have been President of the General Council for quite a long period of years, but I never would have accepted this office or any other on a mere majority vote, or THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 211 on any vote less than one which would make me feel that the Lord had called me to that particular duty, and that I had the confidence of practically the whole constructive part of the body. Like other men, I see what I think I can do in organizing work, but I do not believe it to be right to engage in it in the Church unless there is a divine call coming from those duly authorized to speak. The honors of public office do not appeal to me in taste, and while I do feel deeply hurt and cut to the quick when I am ignored or pressed to the wall by the selfishness of others, I do not resent or resist, but my impulse is to at once step down and out. With this feeling, and my solicitude respecting the United Lutheran Church, you can see that I could not deliberately be- come active in maneuvering for the candidacy of any one, in- cluding myself, for office in The United Lutheran Church. If it is once demonstrated that methods such as these have pre- vailed, I might feel the call to antagonize them with all my heart, or to drop entirely out of the ranks. That this is my real innermost position, so far as my own public life is concerned, should be evident to any one who knows me. I have remained pastor of the only congregation that I ever served now for thirty-five years, in spite of temptations that have come to take me into higher fields. I feel that the United Church should seek to do the right thing, irrespective of old parties, and past conflicts, and should rise above them, and act in the fear and love of God. This registers his conviction that conscience should enter into a delegate's vote and that no Christian can feel that he is divinely called to an office in the Church when elected by worldly political methods. He did not stand alone in the fear that such methods might find their way into The United Lutheran Church. THE CONVENTION IN NEW YORK Dr. Schmauk came to the Merger Convention in New York on November 11th, just after the bells had rung out their glad notes that the World War had ended and that peace had come, in buoyant spirits, seemingly more 212 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK vigorous than usual. As Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, it fell to his lot to preside at the meet- ing while the details necessary for the consummation of the Union were being attended to in business session. These had been so thoroughly prepared and were so ably presented by the Chairman as to require little more than perfunctory motions to make The United Lutheran Church an established fact. When the necessary work on Nov. 15th was done, the temporary President turned to the three delegations, greeted each with the word "United", and declared that now The United Lutheran Church in Amer- ica had become a reality. The jubilation of the assembly found fitting expression in the singing of the grand old hymn, "Now Thank We All Our God." The towering personality and the leading and inspiring genius of that Convention was by common consent ad- mitted to be Dr. Schmauk. Had the question of service and leadership been decisive in the election for the presi- dency that followed, he would undoubtedly have become the first President of The United Lutheran Church. He deserved the honor if ever man did. But he lacked the necessary votes. The General Synod delegation was con- siderably larger than that of the General Council, and while he led in the first two ballots, it became evident that a man from the General Synod would be accorded that honor, and Dr. Schmauk more than once stated that he rejoiced that so safe and conservative a man as Dr. Knubel had been chosen to that high position. With characteristic sincerity and nobleness of spirit Dr. Knubel soon after the Convention asked for the hearty support and co-operation of Dr. Schmauk in the following earnest words : THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 213 Dear Dr. Schmauk: It is difficult for me to express to you all that is in my heart. Please try, however, to understand to the limit what I mean when I say that I should feel it impossible to do anything of this new work unless I had your heart's sympathy and prayer, and your great wise help. All of this I am convinced that I have from you. The evidence is plain to me both from your words and from your constant actions throughout the sessions. You can scarcely know how this upheld me. I felt like a child in taking hold of the work. I was and am confident of Christ's unfailing grace, yet it seemed to me that a large measure of that grace must come to me through you. The passing hours and days of the Convention increasingly manifested the nobility of your spirit and of your readiness to stand by. What is ahead of us none of us can know. We are sure, how- ever, that even larger and truer things for our Church are being held before us by our Lord. We must unfailingly trust His con- stant provision for our need. Your own experience and knowl- edge and wisdom are a great asset. Thus it is that I feel so grateful because of what these mean for the Church and of what they mean for me in my position. Thanking you then once more and asking you to know the fullness of what I have written, I am Very sincerely, F. H. Knubel. With equal sincerity and frankness Dr. Schmauk re- plies as follows on November 25, 1918: My dear Dr. Knubel : Yours of the 20th is before me and I deeply appreciate its devout and spiritual tone. I feel that you and I are surely at one on the oneness of the Gospel, and on the necessity of the preeminence of the Spirit in the workings of the Church. My heart rejoices to have found a man who desires to draw his strength from things spiritual and to know that it is such an one who is at the head of our beloved Zion. When you made your persistent argument for the word "Evan- gelical" in the Joint Ways and Means Committee, I felt the same way, and though I may possibly have taken the opposite position 214 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK — I do not recall— I really was most heartily at one with you in all that underlay your words. I do not see the use of organism, organization, finance, and earthly results, if the Gospel and the spiritual reconstruction of man by the Spirit through the Word be not kept central. As to my co-operation, it is most genuine and hearty on this basis, as well as along many lines of principle that are common between us. And since you have now spoken several times con- cerning it, it is probably right that I speak to you frankly and confidentially on the subject. I will put down my thoughts in the order in which they came to me during this ecclesiastical evolution, and without any designed logical connection. As the letter is very long, it is possible only to give the gist of it. He states that to co-operate in the highest sense, it will be necessary for him to be placed in the inner circle of confidence where he can have "the oppor- tunity of helping constructively to form the original judgment while the matter is still in plastic stage." He is willing, however, to co-operate in the outer circle in the support of any enterprise or plan, even if it does not come before him in its initial plastic stage, provided he can be "heartily in favor of it." He then adds: "But if I believe it to be the wrong thing, or the right thing with a poor method, I must reserve to myself the liberty of opposing it." As life is short, he feels the need of "selecting such things as seem to demand originative ac- tivity." There are so many spheres in which he feels "called to act creatively" that he has great reluctance "to stand by that which," as he says, "I have not compre- hended from the start in its length and breadth." Should Dr. Knubel prefer to have his co-operation "in the outer circle," he will most heartily and readily give it, but would like the assurance that no offense will be taken should he be obliged to oppose any plan or project, or should he fail to participate where he does not fully THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 215 understand for lack of an inner knowledge. In such par- tial co-operation, he asks "the full right to make original contribution" in matters he believes he understands with- out regard to what may have been planned without his participation. Should Dr. Knubel desire more close and intimate co- operation, he will cheerfully give it. He believes himself to be in full inner accord with the spirit, principles and aims of the President of The United Lutheran Church, but realizes that "there are certain principles, views and persons whose influence on the Church if it be allowed to go permanently into their control will become sub- versive of a great part of what you and I stand for," and he expects to oppose whatever he regards as likely to threaten the future welfare of the Church. He is ready to pour out his whole heart in confidence in this intimate co-operation with the understanding that the confidence be reciprocated. Nor should this confidential dealing abridge the President's freedom of action in any wise, just as little as his own freedom would be abridged. I am willing to trust you to the uttermost [he says] and want to feel that in consulting me you are simply helping to form your own judgment as the final arbiter and not getting information of which others shall be the judge. Nor do I mean to cut you off from any other source which you may desire to have, whether external or confidential, whether opposed to me or not, pro- viding that the faith between you and me be kept. So then two ways of co-operation are possible, first, one in which I take no initiative, or if I take it do so at my own risk, and in which you ask for my help after the plan has been pre- pared. The other is co-operation in which you and I discuss conditions creatively and intimately and in which I put you on the inside and you put me on the inside, so far as our own com- mon comprehension is concerned, and in which you agree to keep my treasures safe in the degree to which I am frank with 216 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK you, without however depriving yourself of the freedom to con- sult and be guided by any others, except the handing over of that which I would not want to have betrayed. My reason for being so exceedingly frank is because we are standing at the beginning of a long period of work, and because in my judgment it is absolutely essential — for we are both high- strung and keenly sensitive as to honorable dealings — to provide a way which will be well understood by both of us, and in which we both can work comfortably and feel mutually assured of the perfect squareness and the affection of the other, and can avoid any embarrassment of apparent complicity which despite our best efforts may arise on the surface of things. If we can find a fimdamental basis of common trust as be- tween each other, we can get along finely and helpfully, whether our co-operation be only in the outer circle, or in any one of the concentric circles converging toward the center. This was simply a plea for co-operation on the basis of full mutual understanding and confidence, without which no real co-operation is possible. DR. KNUBEL'S CHRISTMAS GREETING (1919) Following is a greeting from Dr. Knubel to his chief helper : "It is impossible to send greetings to all to whom I should like to send them, but I cannot refrain from a word of fervent thanks to the Executive Board at this Christmas, one year after the United Church's life. Next to the Lord of Christmas, you have been my support — and you have been wonderful. May that Lord give you richly real Christmas joy. Gratefully, F. H. Knubel. THE NATIONAL LUTHERAN COUNCIL The work of the Lutheran War Commission had brought the various Lutheran bodies co-operating to recognize the need of some organized form of affiliation in the future, after the war should be ended. Some THE NATIONAL LUTHERAN COUNCIL 217 thought of making the War Commission the basis of such an affiHation by giving it new functions for co-operartion in external matters. Dr. Schmauk at once recognized the futihty of estabHshing a co-operative unity on such a basis, and together with Dr. H. A. Weller, then president of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, prepared a form of organization for v^^hat was at that time termed a "Luth- eran Federal Council." The originator of the idea was not Dr. Schmauk but Dr. Weller; but when once it took root in his own mind, he became its advocate and con- structive genius. At a meeting of the presidents in Harrisburg in the summer of 1918, an outline for organization was pre- sented by him, and when later at a gathering of represen- tatives from the various bodies held in Pittsburgh on August 1, 1918 (at which meeting Dr. Weller acted as his representative), the War Commission-basis idea was again pressed, it was decided, after considerable dis- cussion, that a freshly-constituted meeting of represen- tatives should be called, to assemble in Chicago on September 6th. At this meeting Dr. Schmauk was pres- ent, accompanied by Drs. Weller, Keiter, C. M. Jacobs, Krauss, Stump and Rev. G. K. Rubrecht to represent the General Council. When it was learned that a meet- ing of representatives from other Lutheran bodies had met the day previous in Minneapolis and agreed to urge upon this assembly the organization of a "Lutheran Federation for co-operation in external matters," and when the presidents in preliminary session sprang this idea upon him, he protested against it with all the vigor at his command and was prepared to leave Chicago with his delegation forthwith. However, the latter prevailed upon him to remain and when all the representatives 218 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK assembled, he was asked to present his paper, "as a possible form of organization of a National Lutheran Council." He did so, and it passed item by item without change or amendment and "The National Lutheran Council" became a fact. It was he who nominated Dr. H, G. Stub as its first president. While he counselled much with Dr. Knubel and others and did much to help shape the policy of the Council, he was glad to place on other shoulders the responsibility for the direction of its aflfairs. His interest was most deeply manifested in the creative period ; that having passed, he asked to be re- lieved from participation as a member of the Executive Committee, though he was by no means indifferent to its workings and desired to be kept informed. While Dr. Schmauk was not present at the Chicago Conference on Faith and Practice, it goes without saying that no one present was more deeply concerned or more alive to the issues at stake than was he. CHAPTER XVIII The Closing of a Strenuous Life / have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.— 2 Tim. 4:7, 8. DR. SCHMAUK, as has already been indi- cated, conducted a marvelously voluminous correspondence. He would sometimes dash off letters of great length that were comprehensive and brilliant in thought. He often answered letters under a spell of real inspiration, letters that would bear publication as telling articles on timely subjects. He worked methodically and under fixed routine, and would be much disturbed when his routine was broken into. He never opened letters from others until he was ready to answer them, so as to have the advantage of a first impression. In the mornings, when preparing to take the train for the Seminary, he would hurriedly eat his breakfast, and, with a stenographer at hand, dictate letters while eating. He worked till late in the night, and sometimes allowed himself but five or six hours of sleep. Nor did he lose his hold on his pastoral work in the congregation. In spite of the assistance rendered by his associate pastor, A. W. Liebensperger, during his busiest years, he kept in close touch with his people and did a large share of the pastoral work. His diary shows that he kept up a systematic visitation of the sick and needy, and often under great physical disability. To him, the 220 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK call to preach and teach the Gospel and to minister to souls was the supreme obligation of the ordained minister. It was the very capstone in the arch of his many-sided activities for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God. Irresistible as was his impulse to plunge into the larger work of the Church, had he been forced to choose be- tween the two spheres of activity, he would, as he more than once expressed himself, have labored as a preacher and a pastor rather than as an administrator or pro- fessor, much as he loved the work of the latter. Notwithstanding that he had been relieved of official responsibility when the General Council ceased to func- tion, the year 1919 was filled with issues and engage- ments of great importance. It was the testing period of The United Lutheran Church. To him it was perhaps the most trying year of his life. Would this newly formed body stand firm as over against the vagaries in faith and life and practice which the unsettled state of affairs in the world had washed as so much rubbish on the shores of the Church? This was his great concern. The interests of the faith — rather than those of any particular Lutheran Church body — were dear to his heart and caused him much anxious thought, and at intervals grave apprehension. The spirit of the times, with its superficial and spectacular movements in Church and State, made him feel deeply the crisis of the hour. Be- sides, much projected and unfinished work — particu- larly the proposed revision and simplification of the Graded Sunday School System — weighed heavily on his mind and heart. In 1920 a voluminous correspondence (in addition to the two latest books he issued) was conducted concerning important issues connected with The United Lutheran CLOSING OF A STRENUOUS LIFE 221 Church, European Relief, Sunday School Work, the Interchurch Movement, and the like. The amount of thought and energy he expended dur- ing the last two months of his life on vital matters that lay next to his heart goes far to explain why the end came so soon afterwards. Cares and concerns multi- plied and his soul was much in travail. He lost much of his wonted buoyancy of spirit. That buoyancy was always nature's best restorer in his case. Absorbed as he was in the many interests and problems of the Church, it was useless for friends to expostulate with him and seek to induce him to take a needed rest. He returned from a strenuous meeting of the Sun- day School Board of The United Lutheran Church at Harrisburg showing signs of weariness. He seemed much depressed. DR. SCHMAUK'S LAST SERMON His last sermon, preached with much labor on Feb. 29, 1920, was on the text found in the sixty-third chap- ter of Isaiah and the third verse : "I have trodden the wine-press alone." According to his notes, it began thus: "This is the cry of a soul out of the far past. It has the pathos of a great sorrow and strikes the deepest chord of the human heart. The appeal of a noble grief is profound and universal. It is one of the strange things of life that sorrow, which we treat as an enemy, from which we shrink and which we seek to banish, counting ourselves happy only when sorrow is absent — that un- welcome sorrow is the angel that opens the heart to life's most precious treasures. The memory of a great sorrow is never for- gotten, but becomes richer and more ennobling as the years go on. David's grief over the loss of Jonathan and his lament for Absalom; Rizpah's lonely watch on the rock of Gilboa; Job's soul cry in his uncertainty as to the goodness of God, — never 222 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK lose their power of appeal to the human heart. Deep calleth into deep in them. "The words of our text come from the book of Isaiah, and from a time when Israel was in captivity. The Hebrew nation was humiliated before the world and left crushed and bleeding in the dust. But it should not perish forever. It should become the suffering servant of Jehovah. There should arise in its midst out of the bruised nation One whose face indeed was marred more than the face of any man — One who was stricken, smitten of God and afflicted — One who was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. The piteous becomes glorious in beauty and power. "This silent Sufferer, who as a sheep ibefore his shearers is dumb, has saving power. It pleases the Lord to bruise Him and to put Him to grief. Out of this deep humiliation shall spring an immortal power that shall make the nations of the earth look up to Him in awe. "And this terrible burden He bears alone ! We see Him coming up out of the deep valley of conflict with garments dyed with blood, not with an army, but alone ! It is not the burst of single- handed victory, but the cry of a great and noble sorrow." He then pictures Him as the Innocent one. "The greatest sufferer is not the man who commits sin, but some innocent and blameless one that is tied to him by bonds of relationship and affection." "Sin is never so dreadful as when we see the Saviour with that blood upon His garments. His love is never so dear as when we see what it has cost Him to save us." "It is the Cross of Jesus that is the cure for the mystery of sorrow." After the morning service, he was brought home in a state of collapse. This proved to be the beginning of the end. Bad nights and days of agony and pain compelled him to suspend all work. But no sooner did he feel a little better than he essayed to pick up a few threads of his many-sided literary tasks by an inner necessity regardless CLOSING OF A STRENUOUS LIFE 223 of consequences. Efforts to dictate letters were followed by collapse. A letter, dated March 10, 1920, from Dr. Sailer, of Philadelphia, a friend and consulting physician, after ministering to him in his last illness, admonishes him to lay aside all work and worry and take an absolute rest. It reads in part as follows : "I wish I could tell you some way of getting well that would not interfere with your work. You will probably remember that Tasso dismissed his physician because he wanted him to live a more temperate life. I am risking the same advice to you. I am inclined to think that you have always been extremely in- temperate in work and if there is any form of excess in work that you could practice, you have always practiced it. For a while you must rest body and mind — the body in bed and the mind by refusing to consider any problems, and this can only be accomplished by keeping problems away from you. Rest first, then some remedies to reinforce the rest." But it proved to be too late to be of service. A change for the worse set in on March 14th, when he suffered excruciating pain; but while he was growing weaker steadily, his mind was clear and his voice strong for the next two days. Knowing that the end was drawing near, he spoke his parting words to his sister and friends with calmness, serenity and un- faiHng faith, and passed into life at 10.45 on the morn- ing of March 23d, without a struggle. Thus was brought to a close the final chapter of a wonderfully resourceful, fertile, fruitful and many-sided life. The esteem in which he was held within and beyond the bounds of the Church he served, and the conscious- ness that a great leader had fallen, were evidenced by an unusually large gathering of representative leaders and pastors from far and near at his funeral on March 224 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 29th, when his body was consigned to its resting place in Mt. Lebanon Cemetery. Dr. Jacobs, Sr., preached the leading sermon on that occasion, being followed by Prof. Dr. Benze, who ad- dressed himself to the older members of Salem in Ger- man. DR. JACOBS' FUNERAL SERMON John 2:17. — "And his disciples remembered that it ims written, The zeal of thine house Jiath eaten me up." As it is God's gracious will that believers should be conformed to the image of His Son, it would be strange if the words of the Psalmist (Ps. 69:9), which the disciples recognized as peculiarly applicable to the earthly life of their Master, could not be applied — albeit in a lower degree — to certain of his followers. The flame enkindled by God's Spirit cannot be confined; it must find an outlet. It goes forth by all the avenues through which the heart has contact with the outer world. All the energies of life are consumed in concentration upon one thing ; viz., the service of God in the upbuilding of his kingdom. So joyful this labor, so absorbing the interest it cultivates, so ever e.xpanding the opportunities offered, that life and health and strength are counted nothing, provided one can only discharge to the fullest degree the ministry which he has received of the Lord Jesus (Acts 20:24). The multitude that has come hither today from near and from far, many utter strangers to one another, to unite with this con- gregation in grief for the loss of their beloved pastor, and with this community in esteem for one of its leading citizens ; the many thousands all over the land whose hearts are at this hour turned toward this spot in fellowship of sorrow, and in recognition of the bond existing between us all, through our common love and admiration for this rarely gifted child of God, knowing him from so many different standpoints, must testify that what gave unity to a life adorned by so many diversified gifts and graces, was his zeal for the Saviour whom he preached and the faith which he professed. What an almost unprecedented record for a child to grow up to manhood in a congregation, and then returning to it, to serve CLOSING OF A STRENUOUS LIFE 225 it as its pastor for over a generation! How closely intertwined was his life with that of his people! It was a union which only death could sever. Living and moving among you, from day to day, year to year, he was verily "a living epistle, known and read of all men" (2 Cor. 3:2), a tower of strength, an energetic, ever alert and active force for truth and righteousness in Church and in State, a witness who always had the courage of his convictions, a careful and discriminating student and judge of men and tenden- cies at home and abroad. With the very tones of his earnest voice ineffaceably impressed on the heart, the Word which he preached, many of the very phrases which he used, will, through- out all their remaining years, continue to sound in the memory of many here present. His people he knew not simply collectively, but personally. No widening of his horizon, no multiplicity of engagements, no ab- sorption in his studies, no endeavor to keep abreast of everything transpiring, prevented him from being the gentle, tender, sympa- thizing friend of every individual, however humble his station, committed to his care. No familiarity with scenes of sorrow, where he was called upon to minister the consolations of the Gospel, ever deadened his sensibilities to the pain that was wringing other hearts. "Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is oflfended, and I burn not?" he could say as well as Paul. Some of us at the seminary will remember how deeply depressed he was at times, because of the suffering of this congregation dur- ing the agonies and suspense of the late war, where so many of your young men were at the front, and under the scourge of the fatal epidemic that desolated so many homes. The cheerful- ness and vivacity with which he rose above his griefs, came from no superficial view of the significance of suffering in a world of sin, but from his firm conviction of the truth of the Gospel message which he preached. The very fact that he was not unacquainted with the various forms of sceptical assaults, but was a patient reader— though it often caused him great pain — of all that might affect the spiritual life of those near and dear to him enabled him with the greater force to testify to the preciousness of the Christian faith. While if need arose, he could argue with the skill and training of a P 226 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK specialist in philosophy, his highest ambition, as a teacher, was to make God's Word plain to little children. From this city, in which five-sixths of his life was spent, no calls, however urgent, could withdraw him. The ordinary per- manency of the office of a pastor was a doctrine that had for him much attraction. Nevertheless his sympathies and interest could not be limited by the boundaries of city, or county, or commonwealth, or nation. They were world-wide. For in this parish, so long his spiritual home, he saw not simply a group of Christian people, detached from all others, but realized that at this spot, the One, Holy Church, throughout all the world, with all the testimony and resources of the Holy Spirit, is pres- ent, imparting all the gifts and graces, common to believers of every age and land. His zeal was enkindled in the parsonage, where, under an earnest and devout father, responsive to the calls of the awakening activities of the Church, the child caught the spirit of the home, in which he was reared, and of the influ- ences entering and sent forth from that center. It could not be otherwise than that going into the world, with principles already firmly established, his zeal became contagious, and that in every circle into which he came, the responsibility of leadership was thrown upon him. Burden after burden was assumed, sometimes as a trust, which he felt himself divinely summoned to bear, and sometimes it was eagerly seized because of the far-reaching results which his foresight discerned as possible. His sole aim was to crowd within his life, which he thought might be brief, all that could be done for the cause to which it had been conse- crated. What though he could not complete a task? He could begin it; and if it were of God, others would rise up to com- plete it. He had a constructive imagination, based upon a care- ful survey of available details, which, while faithful to the past, had no hesitancy, when the time came, to break away from beaten paths. The problem ever before him, was the readjustment of the old faith to new relations and conditions in a new world and a new age. The idealism of his philosophy and the realism of his historical temper were unified by the central principle of un- wavering faith in Christ, both as revealed in the Gospels, and as living and reigning in all human progress. His devotion to the Lutheran Church never quenched his sympathy for what was CLOSING OF A STRENUOUS LIFE 227 universally Christian; nor did his consecration to the ministry make him the less a faithful citizen and an ardent patriot. Thus through his participation in deliberative assemblies, through his voluminous correspondence, and through the produc- tions of his prolific pen in books and articles, in elaborate reports and editorials, as well as in educational projects of many forms, this congregation, through its pastor, has been setting forth ever multiplying and widening streams of blessing. Nothing grows like the work of a thoroughly earnest man. The tree planted by rivers of waters, ever sends out new boughs, each bough new shoots, each shoot new buds and blossoms and fruit. At this hour, we cannot recount the various offices which he held, or estimate the value of the services which were rendered in each. They will be subjects of study for years to come as they pass into history. But were grateful recognition not given here, of the statesmanlike grasp of his fifteen years' administra- tion of the General Council, or of his relations to the seminary, our silence would be misunderstood. Concerning the latter which occupied so large a share of his attention, and in which we were most closely associated, we would say, that, from his under- graduate days, when, under the stimulation of an exceptional inti- macy enjoyed above all other students, with his great teachers, Drs. Krauth and Mann, he already prepared an elaborate scheme for the development of the Library, and edited "The Indicator," which aroused the Church to the need of a new site for the institution, down to his last illness, when it was a comfort to him to have one of his students ministering at his side, he never wavered in loyalty to his Alma Mater. As President of the Board, he was ever discussing with the Faculty, and planning new pro- grams. Filling the place, but declining both the title and the compensation of a Professor, and rendered almost homeless by his weekly journeys during term time, his preparations for the class-room constantly involved new labor, while his various en- gagements were often protracted until late in the night. He lived among the students, tried in all things to gain their view- point, championed their cause, and cultivated their personal friend- ship, as though he were an elder brother. So heavy has been the blow, succeeding within barely a month the departure of the most venerable member of our Faculty, that. 228 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK as teacher after teacher has stepped almost from the lecture-room into the eternal world, we are bewildered. But whatever be the relations we have borne to the departed — and there are here representatives of many interests that are alike almost prostrated for the time — we have only to raise the standard that has fallen from his hands and to go onward. While the battle rages, we cannot nurse our grief. We live in com- munion with him by taking up his work, and prosecuting it with the consuming zeal which he displayed. We are cast down; but not in despair; or we would be false to the Gospel, to which the life of our departed brother was so brilliant a testimony. EXPRESSIONS OF SORROW That a great gap in the leadership of the Church had been made was expressed in many telegrams and letters that came to Lebanon upon the announcement of Dr. Schmauk's death. Dr. Knubel expressed the wide- spread feeling when he wired : "The sorrow and sym- pathy of the Church gather around Lebanon." Presi- dents of synods and leaders in the United Church with one voice poured out heartfelt expressions of their pro- found sense of loss. "A mighty leader has fallen" — "The whole Church mourns" — "His loss to the Church at large and to the Lutheran Church in particular is irre- parable" — "He was in a class by himself ; no one can take his place," — such are among the many mournful statements that found their way to Lebanon. Nor was the sorrow confined to The United Lutheran Church. From the President of the Augustana Synod (Dr. Brandelle) the following telegram was received: "The Augustana Synod weeps at the bier of Doctor Schmauk. In his death, it has lost one of its truest and most beloved friends, and the Church of our land one of its greatest, most ardent and most trusted leaders." EXPRESSIONS OF SORROW 229 A similar message came from the President of the United Norwegian Church (Dr. Stub). It reads as follows : "The message telling of Dr. Schmauk's death came unexpectedly. I hereby express my deep sympathy. The United Lutheran Church has sustained a great loss, as Dr. Schmauk was one of the ablest men — a real leader in the Lutheran Church. His mem- ory will live." ESTIMATES OF DR. SCHMAUK Among the many estimates of Dr. Schmauk's life and character and work, we must be content with three, which in substance express what multitudes who knew him feel. One is from Dr. Knubel, who wrote for The Lutheran as follows : "There is no man in our Church whose Christian consecration has been more evident, whose deep loyalty to the Church has been stronger, whose full participation in her thought and activity has been wider, whose counsel has been more constantly sought and given, whose influence has been more powerful and helpful than that of Dr. Schmauk. He is dead. How shall our hearts be saved from increasing heaviness? These days tell us that Christ's supreme blessing came to us through His death. May it be of all His disciples that they bless others more by what they suffer than by what they do. May it be that our Church will now receive even richer good from Dr. Schmauk than ever be- fore. One thing is sure, those of us closest to him in the last few years have received the fullest, ripest, greatest gifts he has ever given. His service to His Church goes on. We continue to thank our Lord for him." Another is from Dr. John Haas, president of Muhlenberg College, a life-long friend and co-worker. He says: "His life was to me a constant source of new inspiration to larger efforts in scholarship and in the practical work of the 230 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Church. In him I found the counter-balance to my desire to go further than is meet in the appreciation of what is true in modern thought and its development. The conservatism of Dr. Schmauk was a mighty force for good, and it was not a stagnant but a progressive development. His mind was not only analytical but also strongly synthetic. He possessed great constructive imagination. With a marvelous mastery of a multitude of de- tails, he never failed to marshall them for the demonstration of a great principle. A rich vocabulary enabled him to express his thought with striking exuberance and force. He joined the poet's appreciation with the orator's power. He could write with sim- plicity for the child and with philosophic insight for the thinker. The whole range of thought and expression was at his com- mand. All these gifts he laid on the altar of his Lord. "In his personal life he was tender, gentle, kind, considerate, and hungry for sincere friendship. He might fight like a lion for a great cause or a great principle, and yet personally he was always just to his opponents. There was no bitterness in his most vehement polemics. The sources of his spiritual life lay deep in his soul. Everything in him welled like a fountain out of the depths of his life. Even when he was playful, it was simply to prepare for the opening up of the hidden springs of his soul. His faith was sturdy, his love self-sacificing, and his hope bright and sweet and strong. "He was a born leader, and his leadership bore no marks of personal self-gratification or self-aggrandizement. It simply fur- nished him the occasion for larger and more arduous work. What he did, he did with all his might. We shall miss him in the future as a leader in Sunday-school work where he ranked as the pioneer in applying sound educational principles to religious teaching without destroying its substance. He thought construc- tively in his defense of the Christian faith, realizing the ne- cessity of upholding the Church's Confession of the Truth. His theology was never cramped by terminology. There was life in all that he expressed. He stood out as a leader in all the de- liberations, activities and interests of the Church. He knew how to fuse the diverse elements within the General Council. It was his influence which kept the Swedish brethren with us. His mind was the dominating force in the creation of The United Lutheran Church. Much of the best thought of its Constitution ESTIMATES OF DR. SCHMAUK 231 and its plans are his work. He was the greatest man on the floor of its first convention. No one else measured up to him. We are at a loss to understand why the Lord took him at this time when we needed him to help give strong and consistent character to the life of The United Lutheran Church. One thing is sure, his absence from us will turn the channels of the history of Lutheranism in a different direction. We only hope that it may be a direction that augurs good. He stood among the few great names in the history of our Church. Since the days of Muhlenberg, no one's influence was so universal and touched so many interests as that of Dr. Schmauk. He was not only a scholar like Dr. Krauth, he was not only a preacher like Dr. Spaeth, he was not only a teacher like Dr. Mann ; but in addition he shaped the life of a generation in the Sunday-schools, and made definite the policy of the leading boards of the Church. Truly his was the work of a great, brilliant, devoted, zealous servant of his Church and his Master." Another is from the Parish and Church School Board of The United Lutheran Church, where his wisdom and counsel will be greatly missed. A minute on his death reads as follows : "In the death of the Rev. Theodore E. Schmauk, D.D., LL.D., first president of the Sunday School Board of The United Luth- eran Church, a loss has been sustained which it is not in the power of words to express. For twenty-five years he had grap- pled with marvellous industry and resourcefulness with the problem of Bible instruction for the young in the Sunday-schools of the General Council, and had become the advocate and inspir- ation of a system of Graded instruction which, though far from being in its final revised form as contemplated and planned by him, was yet recognized at Washington as the pioneer in this field, and without a rival. It is with profound regret, a regret keenly felt in schools where the system had won fast friends and was in successful use, that we as a Board must face this un- finished work without the able leadership of this prince of Bible teachers. He had grasped the pedagogical principles, which must form the basis of any sound Scriptural system of graded instruc- tion, with a master mind. His intimate knowledge of the child 2Z2 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK mind and the child nature; his wonderful adaptability which en- abled him to stoop to its level and meet its needs; his thorough acquaintance with the whole range of literature that had any bearing, however remote, on the subject of religious instruction of the yovmg; his intense devotion and enthusiasm; and above all his unshaken faith in the Revelation of which the Scriptures are the unerring record; made him a leader par excellence in this field of Christian educational endeavor. We bow in deep humility be- fore that inscrutable divine Providence which saw fit to take him away in the midst of his unfinished work, and pray for wisdom and guidance as we attempt to take up the task where he has laid it down. A master workman has passed from our midst, but the work entrusted to our Board must and will go on." POSITIONS HELD IN THE CHURCH 233 Positions Held in the Church 1. Literary Editor of The Lutheran (1889 to 1920) 2. Editor of Lutheran Church Review (1895 to 1920) 3. Editor of Lutheran Graded Series and Com- mentary (1896 to 1920) 4. Member of General Council Church Book Committee and of Joint Committee of Com- mon Service Book and Hymnal ( 1895 to 1920) 5. Trustee of Muhlenberg College (1898 to 1920) 6. President of the General Council (1903 to 1920) 7. Chairman of Committee on Degrees, Muhlen- berg College (1903 to 1920) 8. Member of the Executive Committee of the International Lutheran Conference (1903 to 1920) 9. President of Trustees of General Council. ... (1907 to 1920) 10. President of Board of Directors of Phila. Theological Seminary (1908 to 1920) 11. Occupant of Chair of Christian Faith, Apologetics and Ethics, Etc (1911 to 1920) 12. Chairman Committee of Quadri-centennial Celebration of Reformation (1917 to 1918) 13. Chairman Ways and Means Committee for Organization of Unilted Lutheran Church. . (1917 to 1918) 14. Chairman of Committee on Constitution for United Lutheran Church (1917 to 1918) 15. Member of Executive Board, of Board of Publication, and President of Sunday School Board of United Lutheran Church (1918 to 1920) 16. Member of Committee on Relation of Con- stituent Synods of U. L. C (1918 to 1920) 17. Member of National Lutheran Council (for whose organization he issued the call) (1918 to 1920) 234 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Positions Outside the Church 1. One of Organizers of Pennsylvania Chautauqua (1892) and its Chancellor (1895-96). 2. One of Organizers of the Pennsylvania German Society (1891) and Chairman of its Executive Committee (1895), and its President (1896). 3. One of Organizers of Lebanon County Historical Society (1898) and Member of its Executive Committee (1898). 4. Life Member of Pennsylvania Historical Society (1898). Author of Following Books Dr. Schmauk was the author of the following : "The Negative Criticism of the Old Testament" (1894) ; "Catechetical Outlines" (1892); "The Voice in Speech and Song" (1891); "The Charms and Secrets of Good Conversation" (1889); "History of Old Salem in Lebanon" (1898) ; "Heartbroken" (1893) ; "Hypnotism" (1890); "Bible History" (1899); "Manual of Bible Geography" (1901); "The Early Churches of the Lebanon Valley" (1902); "History of the Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania from the Original Sources" (1903); "Bible Facts and Scenes" (1905); "The Christian Kindergarten" (1906) ; "The Confessional Prin- ciple and the Confessions of the Lutheran Church" (1909) ; "Annotated Edition of Benjamin Rush's Account of the German Inhabitants of Pennsylvania" (1910) ; "In Mother's Arms" (1911); "How to Teach in Sunday School" (1920); "Annotated Bibliography of Religious Education and. Child Psychology" (1920). DR. SCHMAUK ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES DR. SCHMAUK ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES No biography of Dr. Schmauk can he satisfactory if not supple- mented with extracts from his letters and other writings bearing on living questions and issues ivhich absorbed much of his best thought and energy. It is the purpose of this supplementary matter to let him speak for himself. ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST (In the last hour with his class in 1919 he intended to summarize the course he had given in apologetics but was interrupted by a question which asked the difference between Jesus and the great Eastern eachers. Immediately seeing his opportunity he combined his object of summar z- ing the course with the answer to the question, and without a momerit s thought, without the use of any kind of notes, he . delivered a lecture which will never be forgotten by the class. The following is a stenographic report of the lecture, as presented by one of his students.) Many wise men, Socrates, Confucius, Plato, Buddha, have said some of the things that Jesus said, but none was what He was. None said the things in actions as He did. What Jesus says is final and absolute. He never speaks specu- latively, never merely as a moralist, never merely as a human reformer. He always speaks categorically, declaring either truth or fact, and as rooted in the absolute. What He says is so final that it finds response in our hearts, and in our hearts we know it to be true. No prophet ever lived who spoke with such certitude of Himself as at once the Son of God and the Son of Man. In all the fullness of a world vision, with all the anticipa- tion of a future, with the real knowledge of a historic past. He stands up without, as we say, an education, and He begins to speak the truths that are as mighty and true today as in the past. He lays down the laws that are the same yesterday, today, and forever. No one ever did as this man, no one ever spake as this man, no one in this world could have begun to utter what He uttered Other teachers are at best conscious that they point to a realm of truth ; alone among leaders of the soul Jesus absorbs the highest principles into His own personality. To the seeker after light He says, "Follow me;" to one who would know the Father He says, "Hast thou not known me?" He says He is the Truth. 238 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK The vision of God is in Him. He cannot merely point to rest and pardon, but they are in Him. Moses and the prophets did not dare to speak so, nor Buddha, nor Plato, nor G>nfucius, nor Socrates, nor any other teacher in the world. Jesus Christ is the source of spiritual reality. The spirituality of God, the spirituality of the First Cause of all things, the spirituality of the Ultimate Principle, of man, of life, of all worship, of the Kingdom that will prevail over all the world, of man's heart, of the reign of righteousness, of conduct, has all been introduced into the foundation of the world, into the history of mankind, in and through Jesus Christ. Spirituality is the emphasis of the truth of God as the great and conquering reality of life. Our Saviour in His personality is the one sublime exposition of the conquering of the spiritual in the midst of the visible. He was equally at home in the bosom of nature and of God. He is the Light of the world. He is the Life of men. "In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." He possesseth all power in heaven and earth, so that Christ is ever standing at the center of things, drawing all men unto Him. By Him were all things created, visible and invisible. He is before all in us, and in Him stand all things together. All things come together in Him, have order in Him. In Him and around Him all things converge. . Jesus Christ is far more to us than the source of spiritual reality. He is the revealer of God. He is God made manifest in the flesh. He lives as the embodiment of God. The Son reveals the Father. The one is the manifestation of the other. Through the Son the Father reveals Himself to the world, and thus God comes as the Father. So the tabernacle of God is now with men. We dwell in Him, and He dwells in us. Any explanation of Christ which stops short of presenting Him as God loses power. The secret is that He brings God to man and then man to God. God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Christ shows God to us as a power which releases from evil. The light and glory of the Lord comes through Him — "I in thee, and thou in me." Therefore it is life eternal to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, and it is through Him alone that we are saved, for, "No man," says He, "cometh to the Father save by me." ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 239 The more I study Him, the more sure I am of Him. I know whom I have believed because I know what He is. The world has had wonderful seers whose visions have shone like a beacon across the ocean of time. Scientists have made important dis- coveries which have advanced the world's progress ; historians have compiled data and imparted information of the greatest value; Homer, Virgil and Milton have charmed our senses by their poems ; the philosophers have stirred us by the profoundness of their thoughts ; but none of these, nor all of them together, would be a compensation for the single life of Christ, for there is only One who will take us straight to the heart of the Lord, and straight to the Source of Life. There is only One who will remove from us all sin and depravity and crime, who will free us from pain and fear, who can lift us with His tender hand and cheery word, pure and joyous, out from the depths into which we have fallen. There is only "One who hath redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, from sin, death, and the power of the devil with His holy and precious blood in order that I might be His." There is Only one who can say, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Our poets paint the myriad-hued bubbles of time ; our Saviour controls and verges the tides of eternity. Even a Shakespeare stands in this world, but to Christ this world is but a small seg- ment in the circle. Christ is not of this world. Christ takes a man right to God. The great questions of faith and of life and death, the great problems of righteousness and sin, the great- est hopes, the greatest fears, the greatest joys, the greatest judg- ments, the greatest rewards, are those which Emerson and Spen- cer leave untouched, and which jMilton and Dante clumsily im- agine, but which Christ takes up as part of Himself in simple and substantial certainty. Other great men offer us their thoughts, but Christ offers us Himself, Himself on the cross. Himself on the Right Hand of the Father as our Advocate and Defender. Chaucer's men and women are more to us than Chaucer ; Dante's dreams are greater than Dante ; Milton's words are mightier than Milton; but Christ's words are only a commentary on Christ. It is not the word, nor the intellect, nor the imagination, but the person that draws us unto Christ. To see Him, to come to Him, to be drawn to Him, to abide in Him, to follow Him, to learn of 240 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Him, to find rest in Him, to believe in Him, to be saved by Him, is our desire and hope, for we are from beneath but He is from above. He is the One that could say "He that loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me." Let us hold on to Christ as our life. He Himself is the sum total of our unfolded humanity. He neither does nor shows, but is. The truth that others speak, He is. The life that others feel and dream and describe, He is. He is Alpha and Omega. In the shadow of His hand will He hide thee and make thee a polished arrow, and in His quiver will He keep thee close. ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY (The follozifing is a letter, imtten to his sister Emma zvhen attending college, to counteract the rationalistic teaching concern- ing God which a certain pro-fessor of physics was disseminating.) The doctrine of the Trinity does not rest on I John (which is a comparatively unimportant writing, and one whose text in this connection may not ibe definitely known) ; but upon the whole frame-work of Scripture. The doctrine of the circulation of the blood or of the sphericity of the earth does not rest so much on a single detached fact (as, e. g., on the beating of the pulse, in the former case) as on a great and broad background of more indirect, but more substantial proof. The doctrine is to be found in three classes of Scripture ; those which teach the unity of God ; those which teach a plurality in God; and those which teach that there is a real and not simply a formal or modal distinction indicated by the plurality. The entire body of Scripture is impregnated with the truth of the Trinity; just as the entire human body is impregnated with the circulation of the iblood ; though in the latter case the blood nozvhere appears on the surface. If such a great, deep, mysterious truth which is the fundamental thing in the being of God, were exposed openly on the surface, it would be altogether contrary to what is natural and to be expected. Surely the laws of God's own inner hidden being are not to be supposed to be more easily opened up than the laws of biology, chemistry, physics, etc. Nature flaunts none of these latter on the surface. And Nature's God on the same principle, would not be expected to open out the truth concern- ing Himself (who is greater than any of His works) at first ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 241 blush ! And there is the mistake that amateurs in theology make, when they pass their remarks in such a flippant way on super- ficial examination. If your Professor in Physics needs instru- ments and tests, etc., ad infinitum, and will not commit himself at all yet on many scientific problems — what right has he to speak on theological problems until he has given at least as much exact research to them as to his physics. (This is said with no animus, but merely to is'how how foolish it is for learned men who claim to be experts in their own de- partment to depart from their own principles of exactness and pass off-hand judgments in other departments. It is not only your Professor, but many of us, you and I both, who often are tempted to do this.) The Old Testament is full of the Trinity in a latent way ; but as is the case with redemption, immortality and the other great doctrines, there is not much patent in this introductory stage. The Son and Spirit as well as the Father are spoken of in Psa. 2; Isaiah 48:16; and forms of speech are employed, indicating the mighty mystery of Trinity in unity in Num. 6:23-26; Isaiah 6:3. In the New Testament already at the annunciation of the birth of Jesus, it was stated that it should be through the Holy Ghost, and that he should "be called the Son of the Highest" (Luke 1 :35). Here is the Trinity. When Christ was baptized, the Spirit of God, in a bodily form, descended upon him, and there was a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Here is a distinct revelation of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. When Christ gave His deepest and final teachings to His disciples (preparatory to His death and ascension) (John's Gospel), we have ample statements of the distinction and of some of the relations existing between the persons of the sacred Trin- ity, (e. g., John 17 and preceding and following chapters.) God the Father has sent forth God the Son into the world. The Son had left the glory he had with the Father before the world was, and came to earth to suffer and die. He is about to return again to the Father, having accomplished his mission. But another will be sent, the Holy Spirit, who will abide with the disciples. Coming from the Father and the Son, he will guide the disciples into all truth. John 14:15-26; 15:26; 16:13, 15. Here is the Trinity. 242 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK When Christ was about to leave the world, and gave over the continuance of the work which he had simply begun, to his dis- ciples, he commissioned them to go out into all the world and preach to and baptize all people "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Matt. 28:19. Here is the Trinity in the most important and official commission the Church ever received. It would be an incomprehensible thing, if it were meaningless. "In the name of Ferdinand and Isabella" surely means much as to the relation between Ferdinand and Isabella in an official document formally delivered. The apostolic benediction (2 Cor. 13:14) is in the name of the Triune God. Both Baptism and Benediction, the most important practical things in the new life of the Christian, are not in the name of God, or of Christ, or of the Lord; but of the Trinity. The whole thought and speech of the Apostles teaches the Trin- ity. Thus Paul, "For through him (Christ) we both have access by one Spirit, unto the Father. Eph. 2:18. Again, speaking of the great salvation, "which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord (Christ), and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him, God (the Father), also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders, etc., of the Holy Ghost." Heb. 2:3, 4. So Peter says "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." I Peter 1 :2. Language could not be plainer on so difficult a subject. But Take the Second Class of Passages 1. Names or Titles of Divinity Applied to Each of the Three Persons of the Trinity A. The Father Deut. 32:6; I Chron. 29:10; Isaiah 64:8; 53:16; Mai. 1:6; 2:10; Rom. is:6; I Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 11:31; Gal. 1:3, 4; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2; I Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2; 2 John 3. B. The Son Jer. 23:6; Isa. 41:1, 8, 10; 11:1-3; (w. John 12:41); John 1:1; 20:28; Acts 20:28; Rom. 9:5; I Tim. 3:16; Tit. 2:13; i John 5:20; Heb. 1:8; Rev. 19:17; I Cor. 15:47; Acts 10:36; Rev. 17:14; 19:16. C. The Holy Ghost Ex. 17:7; Ps. 95:7. 8; (w. Heb. 3:7-11); 2 Sam. 23:2; Acts 5:3. 4; 2 Cor. 3:17. ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 243 2. Divine Attributes Ascribed to each of the Three Persons : Etsrnity Father — Deut. 33:27; Ps. 90:2; 93:2; Isa. 57:1s; Hab. 1:12; i Tim. 1:17. The Son—Fs. 4S:6; Isa. 9:6; Mk. 5:2; John 1:1; 8:.s8; 17:5; Col. 1:17; Heb. 13:8; Rev. 1:7. Holy Ghost — ^Heb. 9:14. Omnipresence Father — i Kings 8:27; Jer. 23:23, 24; Eph. 1:23. Son — Matt. 28:20; 18:20; John 1:18. Holy Ghost — Ps. 139:7; i Cor. 12:10-13. Omnipotence Father — Gen. 17:1; Jer. 32:17; Matt. 19:26; Rev. 11:17; i9:6. Son — Heb. 1:3; Isa. 9:6; Matt. 28:18; Rev. 1:8. Holy Ghost — Luke 1:3s; Rom 15:19; Heb. 2:4. Omniscience Father — Ps. 147:5; Isa. 11:28; 46:9; Acts 15:18; Heb. 4:13. Son — ^John 11:25; 21:17; Rev. 2:23; Acts 1:24. Holy Ghost — i Cor. 2:10, 11; John 14:26; 16:13. Creation Attributed to Each Father — Gen. 1:1; Neh. 9:6; Isa. 42:5; Heb. 3:4; Rev. 4*.ii. Son — John 1:3, 10; Col. 1:16, 17; Eph. 3:9; Heb. 1:2, 10. Holy Ghost — Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13; Ps. 33:6; 104:30. Preservation and Providence Father — A long list. Son—Ueh. 1:3; Col. 1:17; Matt. 28:18; Isa. 9:7; i Thess. 3:2; i Cor. 15:25; Rev. 11:15. Holy Ghost — Ps. 104:30. Redemption and Salvation Father — John 3:16; i John 4:9; Isa. 53:16; 45:21. Son — Matt. 1:21; Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7; Heb. 9:12; Acts 4:12; Heb. 2:10; John 4:42; 1 John 4:14. Holy Ghost— 'Heh. 9:14; Tit. 3:5; 2 Thess. 2:13; Rom. 5:5; i Pet. 1:2. To the Father the Son declared, "Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24). The Father "hath committed all judgment unto the Son." Here there is certainly distinction of persons. Again, against the Holy Ghost there is a blasphemy distinguishing it from other sins against the Father and the Son, and distinguishing Him from the other per- sons of the Trinity. Matt. 12:31. The Holy Spirit is grieved, which can only be true of a Being possessed of personality. Kepler's laws are not as important to the average man as are the laws of earthly temperature. Neither are they as clearly revealed. But they are more fundamental. So the Trinity is not of as great practical importance to us as our redemption, righteousness, providence, etc. But the Trinity is back of and 244 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK more fundamental than all these; and He would be a poor scien- tist who denies it simply because it is so far in the background. ON THE FREEDOM OF WILL (Another letter to his sister Emma to protect her against certain philosophical teachings at college.) There is no problem more difficult and complicated than that of the Freedom of the Will. There are many large treatises on the subject both from the metaphysical and from the experimental point of view. Your young man lecturer seems to take the posi- tion of Emanuel Kant. Kant's fundamental position on conscious- ness is sound; but in the way he followed it out in his Critique of Pure Reason, he denied not merely the freedom of the will but the possibility of objective knowledge to the reason. Having thus by pure philosophic process made shipwreck of the intel- lectual and moral nature of man (without the freedom of the will and responsibility there can be no moral nature), he tried to save the latter in his Critique of the Practical Reason, by setting up his Categorical Imperative, and the normative ideas of God, Liberty and Immortality. But there is a fallacy in all this. A man cannot hold one thing philosophically, and another morally. We cannot teach one way scientifically, and the contrary privately. Our mind will not permanently tolerate such a dualism. If you hold to your private view, you admit the impotence and the failure of your scientific method. If you maintain your scientific view, you cut away every honest and real foundation and cannot legiti- mately find a valid point of rest for your second position. This is a case where philosophically "No man can serve two masters." If the man is convinced by both elements in a contradiction, the only true course is to say : Here are two things contradictory to my mind. I must believe in a hidden and ulterior harmony in both, which I cannot now see ; or in some mistake in my reason- ing on the one or the other side; and therefore I do practically the best I can and wait for more light toward the solution. Otherwise there is a permanent dualism of principle in the mind which invalidates thought and either paralyzes or corrupts action. ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 245 ON NEGATIVE THEOLOGY (A letter to his sister Emma ivhile at College.) I am surprised at the nature of the books you will use. Instead of being largely philosophical, they are strictly theological, and will not give you the metaphysical training you so much desired in a college education. And — what is more important to me — the course is even more negative and rationalistic than I supposed. These works are all specialties in the line of theology, and I do not see where your philosophy comes in. They do not teach anything outside of criticism, and history, on a theo- logical theory which we Lutherans condemn from top to bottom. I know that Father would never have consented to my taking up such a theological course, even after I had gone through the university, much less when I began my college course. My own position is a little different. I feel that you have a right to examine into these teachings if you feel that you ought; but I also feel that it is not fair to the orthodox Bible truth that you should do so before you have given your mind an opportunity to examine the other and more positive side. In other words, it is right first to be well grounded in positive and orthodox teaching; and only then are you doing justice to the faith of the fathers. To take up the criticism of the orthodox, before you have studied the orthodox, is not fair to the latter. It is hearing only the one side, the side now popular and current ; and is re- versing the proper historical order. You will not hear both sides either at or at any other secular institution in the land, and you can hardly fail to be influenced by certain general ways of thinking and by the atmosphere in which the new spirit lives. The whole subject is strictly technical and one cannot weigh it judicially by a few years' college work on it, and yet one will hardly ibe able to escape the infectious spirit prevailing. One cannot argue with the Professors or take the opposite side because the greater weight of learning is against you. It is only if you are a thorough expert on the details, at first hand, that you can undertake argument with those whose knowledge of facts is so large and comprehensive, and whose theories are so plausible. I know, my dear sister, through what a conflict I passed for years before I reached my present position by honest conviction, and I know how many learned men in theology are miserable today 246 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK because they are unable to come to conviction, and I would spare you the treading of the terrible path if I could. If you enter it, you will either have to go through your work perfunctorily and artificially, determined not to present the funda- mental issues to your mind and to remain orthodox at all costs ; or you will present issues and reach results in sympathy with your surroundings (and undermine your faith as you have held it) ; or you will have to fight your way through the thralldom and fascination and weight of learning of all your authorities and professors — a terrible undertaking; one which you are capable of, but which I do not see the use or value of, unless you expect to make theology your one single specialty. I cannot advise you what to do, not being on the ground or understanding the circumstances, nor would I feel authorized to say much to you in influencing you, except for the deep love I have for you as a ibrother. What you are to learn is what I am giving my life and strength and all the powers of my mind to antagonize ; and it is my hope and prayer that these views will never take possession of the Church. I am not preju- diced against them, however, in so far as they are questions of fact, and my mind is fairly open to all evidence these men may be able to present. I have said enough. THE LUTHERAN CONCEPTION OF SALVATION Our trust is not salvation by science, and therefore we are against rationalism which sets man's own thinking above the truth of God. Our salvation is not by religious ceremony, and there- fore we are against ritualism, which externalizes the service of God into a sacred and passing show. Our salvation is not iby tumultuous feeling, and therefore we are against emotionalism which makes light of facts and history and centers all on passing currents in the soul. Our trust is not in salvation by meditation, and therefore we are against mysticism which raises the soul to God by an inner and poetic sight. These are extremes and one-sided. From them spring Sweden- borgianism, spiritualism. Christian Science, theosophy, occultism, and many of the superficial religions of the moment. Lutheranism clings to God's Written Word. Her motto is the ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 247 Word of God, the whole Word of God, and nothing but the Word of God, not as a prescriptive letter, but as the power of God unto salvation. . In the law and the prophets, in the Gospels and Epistles, we find one mighty principle, the man who can stand before God and live, the man who is counted just in His sight, so to say the good man, is so by faith only. He is saved by his confidence in that which he f^nds in the written Word of God, by his trust in the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanseth us from all sin. ON CONFESSIONALISM In a letter, dated November 22>, 1907, he writes : The diflference between the Confessions of the Church and modern and up-to- date personal confessions is this, that the great confessions of the Church were born out of the heart of the Church's history, are a fruitage of the travail of the human race, and are a precious possession given to us by the Providence of God. Such confes- sions are only possible in great epochs of faith, like the Refor- mation, and not in mere critical epochs, such as our own Twentieth Century. i. , ^i. The Lutheran Church can never survive unless she takes tne ground that Confessionalism is the Church providentially guided to put the Bible into a nut-shell in order to guide the faith of her children ; and that this guidance is as necessary today as ever. Too much is made of the thought that the old Confessions are not f^nal. They are final so far as they go, that is so far as their doctrines are concerned. The important thing about any confession is its doctrine, and not its form. We must not give our rising generation the idea that the old Confessions are not final They are final, until God in His Providence raises up a mighty and terrible spiritual epoch, in which a new confession will be, not written by the hand of man, ibut born out of the heart of history. And this new Confession will be but a re- echoing of the old truths in a certain sense. The Confession is more powerful for ecclesiastical use than the Scripture itself. The Scripture is like a field of wheat. It is sown promiscuously into all kinds of ground into the fields of history. The Confes- sion is the kernels gathered together, ground into flour, and put into a loaf of bread. In other words, confessions are the vital 248 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK principles of truth separated from the historical Scriptural en- vironment in which they have sprung up. The Church's con- fession is as important to it as the individual's Confession of the Lx>rd Jesus is important to him. Confessions are Scripture assimilated, and ready for the production of new strength. Now to regard them simply as human is doing them an injustice. It is to put all stress on the assimilating process, which is human, ibut necessary, and it is to ignore the divine elements which fur- nish the strength of that assimilation. There are only two roads possible to a great Church, the one is the road of opportunism; and the other is the road of principle. Opportunism magnifies organization, and other outer facts. Confessionalism magnifies the real substance of the Word of God. It is true that we must guard against hyper-con fessionalism. But there is very little danger of that today. Half a century ago, when Dr. Krauth was in his prime, that danger was to be reckoned with. But the pendulum has swung to the other side since then, and we must similarly realize that which will meet the opposite danger. LUTHER AND THE NEW THEOLOGY Luther was not a lawyer, and was not drawn to the decrees of God. Luther was not a judge, and was not inclined to the abstract truths of God. Luther was not an artist and was not affected by the imaginative and scenic side of faith, in which salvation is portrayed as a subjective thing, as ideal as a painted ship upon a painted ocean. Luther was not a society man, and did not regard the Church as an institute for the development of social values. Luther was not a reform man, reform being the exception and not the happy habitus of his life. Luther was not a mystic, but Luther was an honest, humble-hearted sinner, sinking under the inner burdens of conscience, and needing and finding the Son of God to set him on his feet and restore his peace. In Christ he found everything, and his heart was at rest. Luther was the heart- man. He was the man of reality, of trust and confidence, of the great elemental common precious things of life. Therefore Lutheranism has a faith that appeals ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 249 to the home feeling and goes straight to the heart, like the old song "Home Sweet Home," with no one-sided or fanatical, but with a healthy, emotion. The Lutheran Gospel is the Gospel of salvation, and therein we differ from the new theology. The new theology is a modern paganism which glorifies the existing goodness of human nature (and believes in its uhimate perfect evolution). The new theology rises (beyond the authority of Scripture, and declares that philosophy and science have given the final concep- tion of the universe. Scripture is not the only rule of faith, it is not a direct revelation, (and its ethical and religious value are just as strong after its historical character is disproven). The new theology sets aside the doctrine that Christ is our propitiation and that we are saved through the blood of Christ. To it divinity is of the essence of all humanity, and all humanity's greatest thinkers are inspired. It urges that instead of trying to believe that we are lost sin- ners, we should (at once, without repentance) realize that we are the children of God, and that this child-like relation is the essence of all religion. The new theology declares that if we have done wrong, we shall resolve to do right, and God will receive us. It does not believe that there is no other name under heaven than the name of Jesus whereby men may be saved, but it believes that the good God (who is the Father of us all), has put some good into every heart, and that if we give this good, ivhich u'a^ born i» us, a chance, we shall be saved. The new theology follows Erasmus and not Luther. It does not say, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit." Its chief prayer is not, "Create in me a clean heart, O God. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me." ON PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATISM (In reply to a letter requesting an opinion on "Progressive Con- servatism in the Lutheran Church," he writes on October 25, 1912) : A progressive conservatism seeks that which is of value, that 250 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK which is specific and distinctive in its own root, and strives to develop it to flourish in growth along the lines of its own divinely- ordered life. If conservatism has become too fossilized and degenerated, it may be necessary to graft a more vigorous shoot in the old stock, but it should be a shoot of the same species, and should look to the bringing forth of its own perfections, and not to an imitation of the perfections which are found in other species of spiritual vitality. The Lutheran Church will never grow as long as we are looking for our progressiiveness to what others outside of us are doing and are using up our strength in adopting their devices and in imitating them. We shall never be able to reproduce their finest fruit or flower, and we shall be depreciating and failing to give attention to our own. Let us take the strong elements and qualities and character of faith and life that inhere in our own Gospel, in our own confes- sion, and in our own Church; let us plant this seed without doubt. Let us be assured that it is the richest, the strongest, and the most genuine Christianity in the world. Let us labor patiently to keep the soil cultivated, to prune the trees, to keep them free from all parasitic and other destroyers, and our own inherent vitality will assert itself and bring forth splendid results. Progressive conservatism is the application of our own treasures in an up-to-date way, to the problems of the Kingdom of God and of the life about us. This application should not 'be anti- quated, but should be vigorous and enlightened. It should begin with that which is nearest at home to us, in the greater issues of faith and life, within our own congregation, and should only be extended outward as we gather a sufficiency of internal strength to gradually assume the larger and larger burdens of the greater world beyond. In this view I am in direct conflict with the Modem American religious spirit, which will assume to itself all the protblems of God's Kingdom and society in the heavens above, in the earth beneath and in the waters under the earth, and will pass resolu- tions attacking them all, and institute energies touching them all, but thoroughly disposing of none of them. In my judgment the Church, like the individual, has the duty ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 251 of refusing to do good; if, thereby, she is kept in a swamped and over-weighted condition, and is unable to do any eflFective good anywhere. It is our duty to select that which is most important and most pressing and to keep on selecting up to the full limits of our strength, and when we have once removed a burden, to keep on continuously and never cease until we have disposed of it victo- riously, and meantime, as strength accumulates, taking on new loads of responsibility. It is also our duty to leave many fields of endeavor absolutely untouched, on our part, and until we are able to support the new growth which we have induced. To call up new growths on every side is progress indeed ; but to let them perish as soon as the heat of the day begins to be felt, is worse than not to have attempted so large a task. ON LUTHERAN UNION (The following questions submitted to him in 1916 were an- swered as follows) : Question i. — Do you think there are any doctrinal barriers, sufficient to make organic co-operation betxveen the general body of which you are a member, and the other Synodical bodies in the follomng list, impossible: Getteral Council, United Synod of the South, German loiva Synod, Joint Synod of Ohio, General Synod? It is my belief that there are no such impossible doctrinal bar- riers. The chief impediments, to my mind, are those that arise from other sources : 1. From practices in the various bodies which are inconsistent with the doctrine which the ibodies profess; 2. From a failure to speak right and judge generously of those outside of ourselves ; 3. From a narrow desire to put one's own Synod or General Body before the welfare of the Church as a whole; that is, from the habit of interpreting the life, work, and progress of the Church in the terms of one's own organization. Question 2. — Is the time ripe for such organic federation? Would you welcome a movement in that direction? I do not believe in federation. Federation is no solution. Its 252 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK aim is to continue the independence of each separate unit with only a nominal general alliance. The time is ripe for actual co-operation of the various General Bodies with each other along all lines in which the practical works of the Church are being carried out through parallel organi- zations that are willing to co-operate, e. g., Missions, Home and Foreign, Publications, etc., etc. Question 3. — What should be the functions and scope of action of such a general body? In other words, what should such "organic co-operation" amount to? I do not think that the start should be made by organizing a new General Body, but that a standing joint committee should be appointed to investigate the facts in each department of activity, and, in consultation with the various boards representing these activities, should recommend what steps of co-operation are pos- sible in the immediate future, and what further steps will be possible in a few years to come. Thus the work of the Church should be knit together along the lines of the most promising possibilities, and where there is least resistance, with a growing unity step by step, and looking toward a larger and final unity. This final unity should not be pushed, but should at any given time, embrace such conjoint activities to the extent to which, and not further, each particular sphere is willing to join in with other spheres in the other bodies. After this work has been inaugurated and has been growing, at some favoralble season, the general bodies should hold a regu- larly elected delegate convention, to organize a final general body which, in the beginning, would take over only such functions as have already become organically united in practice. This is the experimental and practical method of attaining Church unity, starting from the concrete and growing naturally toward the general. I am satisfied that by the use of this method a united Lutheran Church will become an actual and effective fact in this country long before it could be reached by a theoreti- cal construction begun through the immediate organization of a tentative general body. I do not believe that Federation will ever arrive at unity. ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 253 ON LUTHERAN PULPITS FOR LUTHERAN MINISTERS (When asked his opinion about the Galesburg Rule by a Luth- eran pastor, he writes, February 24, 1917, as follows) : We must (be careful not to degenerate into undue emphasis upon mere mechanical dogmatic rule on external decisions. I do not believe that any Conference does its duty if it merely passes a rule on the subject and does not systematically attempt to reach the conviction of the people by a plan of instruction which will give the laity as well as the clergy the right conscience on the subject. In general, for an officer of the church, or a Conference, or a minister, to enforce any rule on the Church without first making a serious attempt to enlighten the minds and gain the convictions and consciences of the people in behalf of that rule, is a legalistic, Reformed, and not a Lutheran, principle. To carry the laity with you in your convictions involves a vast amount of labor and patience, and less radical methods, but it not only pays in the end, it is also the right principle. It seems to me that the keynote of our position is that we hold to the Lutheran principle including the Four Points just as strongly as they (Ohio and Missouri) do, but that we do not approve of a legalistic method of enforcing our position, because 1. It is a matter of unenlightened conscience. Three of the Four Points are nowhere taught in so many words in Scripture. They are not revealed in clear specific passages, such as are the doctrine of the Resurrection, the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins, etc. They are legitimate deductions from Scripture, but still deductions, and it requires much training, insight, and many other qualities, to enable a mind which is sympathetically and broadly constituted by nature to assume so firm a position. 2. The day of categorical assertion, with simple obedience thereunto by the laity, is gone. The day of the closed mind in religion is gone. Dr. Loy had such a closed mind, and it is a type characteristic of both Ohio and Missouri. All things in heaven and earth are fixed and settled in iron framework. It is the duty of the faithful simply to be obedient thereunto. Investi- gation for one's self, and the toilsome process of arriving at a conviction of the truth by considering the force of the opposite 254 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK side, is not a method for which these people leave much place. Yet this is the American method. Doctrine and truth must stand on their merits, and not on the assertion of the pastor or of the Church. The old German the- ory of obedience to authority cannot be successfully maintained as a permanent thing. We must not only tolerate, but we must welcome intellectual openness. As a conclusion from this it follows that we must not hurriedly close the doors against those who are uncertain, who are eager to be in the right, but who do not yet see the right as we see it. 3. The legalistic attitude, through which Church discipline is put theoretically on the same level as the preaching of the Gospel is one that cannot but result in the end in the subverting of the Gospel and in the prevalence of pharisaism. (In another letter to a Lutheran pastor he writes on August 27, 1914) : Life is larger than logic, and God is greater than man. Hence man has no right to press his logic on others by force, and the Church must not devote herself chiefly to police acts of repression. The Word of God gives us inspired principles and some inspired rules. But a rule which has human logic in it, that is, which is an inference from inspired principle, still retains some possibility of error, especially as to its form and application. It is really rationalism to back up such a rule by the force of the Kingdom of God. We may feel sure that we are right, and we may be almost right, and still be lacking the divine sanction for the use of force. God's Church will never prevail, and the world will never be saved, through discipline, and as soon as it becomes the prevailing spirit, we are on the wrong track. Yet discipline ought and must be exercised by the Church, but not as a rule, but only as the last and extreme resort. And discipline cannot be exercised on the basis of canons or rules that are laid down by the leaders ibut only as the universal conviction and consciousness of the Church responds to their ripeness. You cannot legislate Gospel convictions into the people, and you cannot discipline on the basis of those convictions where they ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 255 do not exist, without laying yourself open to autocracy, and in some cases to hypocrisy. But where, through education, real con- viction has been brought about, there there will be least need for discipline, and if its need should occur, it should be exercised promptly and fully. Our "educational" position is correct, but our weakness lies in this : that where discipline really ought be carried out, e. g., in gross and open sin, we fail to do so. I am inclined to think that Missouri herself often fails similarly. But if we were able to show that where our convictions un- doubtedly are at one, there discipline would be effectively carried out, our position would be impregnable. At a conference of German synods in the United Lutheran Church in 1917 he said: "No union of the Lutheran Church will ever take place if the 'Four Points' (Galesburg Rule) are made the condition upon which it is to be based. The child of union was killed before it (the General Council) was born when the Four Points came into discussion." ON LUTHERAN DISUNITY The plain, bare and painful fact is that there is no Lutheran Church in this country, which can as suoh deal with itself or with others. We are not a United States, but a lot of South American republics. Before we get at leasit some treaty relations between ourselves, we cannot act as a unit toward others. Our internal disability makes any proposed external effort superficial, presumptuous, and even dishonorable. As a business proposition, we have not even a paper capitaliza- tion. In business I do not believe in going in beyond the limits of proper capitalization. In religion we must not over-capitalize the confidence of the Church beyond what we have fair reason to believe is the limit of our backing. Many a business man must leave tremendous opportunities go by because his capital ability is so small that his venture would be almost purely speculative. If he goes beyond, he is a gambler. This brings us to the question. What amount of confidence have we as our backing? How will the Church ultimately support us? In the rapid shifts of today, this is a great problem. Outside the merger, can we command Joint Synod of Ohio, Norway and 256 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Iowa? We cannot on this issue in any other focus than the men of the National Committee. If they give their affirmative judgment, I am wilHng to take the risk. If they do not, we will not fairly represent Lutheranism to an American public. We represent only a minority. And, at this moment (i. e. until the end of June), it is uncertain how much capital even the small United Church will represent. In other words, to me it seems our main and intensive problem as the internal one, the getting of sufficient confidence capital to honestly and honorably entitle us to- represent Lutheranism be- fore the outside world. If we have only a comparative minority back of us, we dare not in conscience move as the representatives of the whole or the large majority. However painful and paralyz- ing it is to our cause, honor compels us to admit that Lutheranism is nothing in a unity sense, that we must mend ourselves, before we appear before others. We have succeeded in the mending in the soldiers and sailors cause, but that cause is more compelling in moving the ivhole heart of the Church, than are any of the permanent issues. If we can use that one point to draw in and convert strength for our more regular issues, we can act also with respect to them, we can move. But if not, we are mere opportunists, adventurers, and take a gambler's risk, and we shall come to grief. Here is my difficulty. We must put ourselves in a position to be able to deliver the goods, before we enter into contract to fur- nish it to outsiders. Righteousness is here at stake. Power with- out righteousness is not permanent, and will ruin our American principle. ON THE LODGE AND PULPIT-FELLOWSHIP (The follozving statefnent vifos submitted by Dr. Schniauk to a committee of the National Lutheran Council in 1920.) 1. The attaching one's self to any life-brotherhood outside of the brotherhood in Christ with principles and rules of obedience which may or may not be in conflict with the Church of Christ, but which operates independently of it, sets up a divided allegiance. Our Saviour said emphatically, "No man can serve two mas- ters"; and it is especially true of the minister, who is under solemn vow to obey Christ alone, and who is the official repre- ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 257 sentative of the Church of Christ in all relations, that there are many situations which will divide his allegiance. A whole-souled loyalty to two life-covenants, each claiming to be supreme in any field, even though neither in itself be harmful, is impossible. 2. Secret and selective organizations of a few among the many is un-American, and is a relic of Old World and aristocratic mediaevalism. America stands for openness and publicity in all associative action and for equality in fraternity. The Gospel itself breaks down walls of special partition in the brotherhood of men. Fraternity in special privilege, especially when combined with secrecy of direction and the hidden use of influence, is against the spirit of democracy, which stands on public and open merit. The world is today seeking to rid itself of covenants, cabals, treaties, and brotherhoods that operate by private and secret un- derstanding, that block square deals without assigning the reason why, that do not open the door of opportunity freely and equally to every one of merit wheresoever he may be found, and that cul- tivate the habit and attitude of planning and acting without public revelation of purpose. If a minister be united in a special selective and secret brother- hood with a few of the members of his congregation in this (brotherhood, while the great majority, including women and chil- dren, are outside of it, it will be well-nigh impossible for him to follow and apply the common principles of Christianity on the common and American ground of equal privileges and responsibili- ties for all, to every member in his congregation. Please note that the term "secrecy" comes from the Latin secernere, to put apart, to separate. The fundamental idea is to shut out the common brotherhood of man, to keep from it certain knowledge and purposes, and to give to selected ones the special privileges of an exclusive fraternity. This is consonant neither with the principles of the Gospel nor with those of the American people. I think, too, that if the Lutheran Church takes a position that in general its fellowship in pulpit and altar is not for non- Lutherans, that that fact in itself has a direct bearing on the principle of secret societies. Not only non-Lutherans, but Unita- rians, Jews, and non-Christians, are admitted to membership and participation in the religious fellowship and burial of these R 258 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK societies. Any organization that claims the right to bury a man with its own rite which is outside of, even if not contradictory to, the rite of the Christian Church, predicates a fellowship of faith and eternal life which is different from that of Christianity in our pulpits and at our altars, and we cannot in consistency refuse to draw those lines also at the grave. ON UN-CHRISTIAN SOCIETIES Any association or society which has religious exercises from which the name of the Triune God or the name of Jesus, as a matter of principle, is excluded, or which teaches salvation through works, must, according to Holy Scripture, be regarded as in its very nature incompatible with the faith and confession of the Christian Church and more especially the Lutheran Church, whether this be realized or not. ON CO-OPERATION 1. There is no point of doctrine involved in membership in the American Bible Society. The Bilble is a common heritage of Christianity, and it is a good thing for Lutherans to aid in its common distribution. To do so is as little wrong for a Lutheran as it is for the Lutheran Church to make use of the King James version in her services. 2. Membership in a company of Bible revisers stands on the same grounds, though, if the said company of revisers should insist on translating such a passage as "This is my body," by "This is an emblem of my body," a point of doctrine would be involved in the co-operation. 3. There is no point of doctrine involved in attendance on any higher educational school, whether it be a college, a university, or summer school, so long as the public impartation of religious truth be not one of its objects. The Pennsylvania Chautauqua, for instance, especially in its earlier days, was a summer school of this type. It was, we believe, the only institution of the kind in the country which did not adopt the principles of the Mother Chautauqua, and had no dependence upon it. That it did not originate as a mild type of religious camp-meeting, with union religious meetings and some educational institution thrown in. ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 259 is due prdbably to the efforts of the writer more than to any one else. In order to prevent an institution of this kind from becoming a religious pleasure resort in the heart of Lutheran Lancaster and Lebanon counties, the writer went into the move- ment in its incipiency, and, at the time of his resignation was probably the only one of the first originators still actively inter- eS'ted. The institution was carried on strictly as a school for some years, with the heads of the public school system of the State of Pennsylvania in close official touch with it ; and, even at present, we believe, the institution is a part of the public school system of the state, receiving an appropriation of several thousand dollars a year from the State Treasury as one of the state's educational institutions. The writer has not been connected with this insti- tution for many years, to the unanimous regret (so they said) of the Chautauquans, and resigned partly because he found that his name on the letter head of the blanks of this institution, and his oflficial contact with men of all kinds of religious convictions from an agnostic like John Fiske and evolutionists like Lyman Abbott on the one hand, to Roman Catholic priests on the other, was so liable to be misunderstood as a religious endorsement, and made such great demands on his time to prevent a religious com- promise on his part, that he considered it safe, as a Lutheran, since the institution was no longer in a situation to aflfect the contiguous territory in a religious way to resign his connection. In this he was supported by the word of his friend. Dr. Trumbull, who himself also on very different grounds always declined to notice any of the Chautauqua movements in this country. That word was that "there is a duty of refusing to do good." 4. There is no point of doctrine involved in attendance or par- ticipation in a common service at sea, at a hotel on a night too stormy to venture forth to places of worship, or at any point where participation would not naturally be understood, or be taken advantage of by any others as an acceptance and endorse- ment, and where the situation is a temporary one. Of course there may very easily be a compromise here. The writer does not believe that he could, as a Lutheran, participate in such an institution as Northfield, because it is the center of a prevailing type of religion, and of many new expounders of new religious types, which as a Lutheran he would probably not be able to 260 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK endorse. While probably he could not participate in the move- ment, it might be proper for him to attend the meetings. 5. Lack of participation does not involve any personal dis- respect, nor necessarily condemnation. In particular it does not involve condemnation of any part of common faith. 6. Individual attendance is a different thing from clerical participation, especially in cases where denominations are apt to presume a complete unity in the brotherhood, and to assume the other's official recognition. DANGERS TO THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN CO- OPERATING WITH REVIVAL MOVEMENTS 1. The revivalist slurs the Church as corrupt, and church members as hypocrites. The pious, humble-minded, devout, meek worshipers, who are well-pleasing in Christ's eye for their in- conspicuousness and fidelity, are discounted, and the agitator is set on a pedestal. 2. The true spiritual method of regularly sowing the seed of God's Word in the heart, and allowing it to grow graciously and gradually, is discounted in favor of volcanic upheaval. 3. Not only is reverence for sacred things destroyed, but the taste for modesty, purity, and refinement are set in the back- ground. The dramatic staging and imagery of the saloon, brothel and the horsemarket are set ibefore school children as vehicles of religious instruction. 4. The Lutheran doctrines of both Sacraments are completely ignored. 5. The Lutheran method of catechetical instruction, and Christian nurture in general, is ignored. 6. The Lutheran doctrine of ordination, and especially the Lutheran teaching of pulpit fellowship, and the general teaching of the Church order in the ministry, is ignored. The sanction, guarantee and call of a revivalist is in his success, cUid not in his relation to pure doctrine and the Word of God. 7. A minister who joins honestly in a union movement would have to admit the evangelist or revivalist into his own pulpit, and allow him to partake of the Lord's Supper. He would thereby be eliminating everything distinctive for which the Lutheran Church stands. ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 261 8. Lutheran people get accustomed to hearing the liturgy of their service and all ritual condemned and abused. 9. Lutheran people acquire a distaste for the regular preach- ing of the Word of God, and for services that are devout but not sensational. They neglect their regular duties and regular giving in favor of these extraordinary efforts. By joining in these union movements the Lutheran Church endorses and abets the preaching of the worst errors and even of heresies on the part of irresponsible evangelists, such as salvation by character, and as confusing the descent of the Holy Spirit with mob in- stinct and emotional craziness. Lutherans cannot have fellowship with errorists. 10. The Lutheran Church has a terrible example behind it, which has set it back for two generations, which split the Luth- eran Church into two, and created untold woe, in the support of union movements and revivals given by part of the Lutheran Church in 1837 and later. The General Synod has only in these las't years ibeen recovering from the mistake which she then made in entering into union movements. 11. The Lutheran Church has never gained from such move- ments. In union movements converts to Christianity are made on a very slender basis. Usually walking down the sawdust trail, or shaking hands, completes the transaction. Many of the people who are thus heralded as converts are excited and misinformed church members. Nearly all of the reported gains which are turned over to Lutheran pastors from such movements are found to be composed of people in their own church who have been caught by the revival feeling, and who, though they may have been good Christians all their life, stand up to be prayed for, or go front to the altar to be saved. 12. The Lutheran Church cannot preserve her distinctive doc- trines and being, and yet enter heartily into revivals inaugurated by the Reformed type of Christianity. If we are impeding the cause of Christ by not entering into these revivals, the question arises whether we are not impeding the cause of Christ by main- taining a distinct denominational existence. If the Lutheran way of salvation by the pure preaching of the Word of God, and the use of the sacraments, is not the right way, or not efficient, then the ques- tion is a much larger one than merely entering into union move- 262 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK merits. For us to enter into union movements is to confess the failure of Lutheranism. 13. Union movements of the day are really an invasion of ibusiness and of the layman into the province of the ministry and the church in the belief that he has principles which are better than the old-fashioned proclamation of God's Word. It is a part of the democratic socialization of the age, and rests on an indifference to God's pure doctrine and a disregard of proper order or authority in the church. — (Probably written in 1915.) THE LUTHERAN CHURCH AND EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS (In 1907, when the question of union and co-operation among Lutherans was discussed, the writer had requested theses from Dr. Schmauk on the still larger question of the Church's relationship to non-Lutheran communions, for publication in The Lutheran. Eighty-three such theses were prepared by him; but he later considered them to be of such im- portance as to need careful revision. The promised revision was not made. When The United Lutheran Church was formed, the writer called Dr. Knubel's attention to those theses as being of value in helping to shape the new body's policy in its relation_ to the much-mooted questions of interdenominational union and co-operation. Correspondence with Dr. Schmauk resulted in the enlargement and revision of the Theses. They set forth what he conceived to be a correct and safe attitude on this im- portant question, the main portion of which is herewith given.) STAGES OF PARTICIP.\TI0N IN THE COMMON WELFARE 1 . Neighborliness This, according to the Gospel involves love ; such love as the Father has for all when He makes His sun to shine on the just and unjust, and as Christ manifests to all in his relations, even to those who were opposed to Him. It involves the expression of good-will, but does not imply an3i;hing as to the approval of either the principles, the character, or the action of our fellowmen. Most particularly it also involves help to our neighbor, no matter what his faith or character, in special time of need. 2. Intercourse. (a). Formal. This involves recognition on the basis of a common hwnamty which we meet, even if our paths cross, and does not involve either recognition or endorsement of any particti- lar claims advanced by our neighbor. (b). Infortnal. This involves sympathy, without special obli- gations, (but to be felt and manifested wherever it is possible so to do. ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 263 3. Dealings Here there is a common act, usually an exchange of values, a transaction which is mutually satisfactory, which is complete and final in itself, and entails no consequences or obligations for the future, but which is of help to each, that is, of common benefit to both parties. It does not commit either party to any principle or transaction outside of that involved in the dealing. Dealings may lead to common, unformulated understandings, and to many customs of helpfulness which, however, neither party is in honor bound to continue to maintain, but each party is free to break oflf whenever he believes or finds it to be to his advantage to do so. This is the essence of business relations, and is well under- stood and universally practiced by business men of honor without special diflSculty or danger of being involved in misunderstandings. 4. Covenants Covenants are a mutual agreement extended into a long time future in virtue of which each party agrees to be and to act towards the other as is stipulated in the basal articles of the understanding. The sanction of a covenant may be some element of force, or it may rest upon the abiding trust in the integrity each of the other. 5. Co-operation Co-operation is mutually supporting action along lines of policy of which each party approves, and the goal of which both par- ties desire to see attained. The co-operation may be along spe- cially and mutually agreed on and understood lines, or it may be of a more general character. There is some danger in a general understanding of co-operation in that one or the other party may innocently or wilfully presume on the aid, sympathy, or use of the name and good will of the other without the full consent of the other. It is safe to exercise care in arriving at an under- standing and in sufficient delimitation before committing oneself to general co-operation. 6. Alliances Alliance is the lining up of the forces of each or all parties toward specifically mentioned ends. There is no intention here of touching, altering, or modifying the individualty of any of the participants, but the agreement is to engage in a common undertaking which, without compromising anything outside of that 264 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK undertaking, will secure common action toward the mutually desired end. Alliances are frequently offensive and defensive. They may be entered into for the purpose of suppressing or de- stroying a common foe, or for the purpose of building up and constructing a common good. 7. Union Union is a permanent and general alliance on all the greater matters in any ^i^ere of activity, which, however, will take suf- ficient care to continue to guard the individuality of each of the participants. In the larger matters of common danger and some- times of a common progress, the individual will have to yield certain rights to the whole ; but this yielding can never be carried so far as to destroy the individuality of the parts. The United States, composed of many individuals, is a rich illustration of the nature of union. 8. Fellowship Fellowship involves not only all the lower and preceding stages just mentioned, but the propriety and willingness of each indi- vidual to give over his full self, principles, feelings and desires, to the other, in a close intimacy of association which practically identifies the one with the other in the public eye, and which causes each individual to feel and say of the other "We are one." Fellowship, by its very nature, and if the right of self- determination of personalities of persons and peoples ibe granted, can never become universal. There must be neighborliness, there should be intercourse, there may be dealings and co-operation, there may be covenants and alliances, but fellowship is of the inner and the soul-life and by its very nature partakes of the more per- sonal and private relationships. A limited co-operation is just, but fellowship, by reason of the extent of the identification of each with the other, cannot justly be regarded as necessarily universal. The basis of fellowship rests on brotherhood, but it is distin- guished from ibrotherhood in that it is a conscious appropriation and exercise of the latent unities that exist in brotherhood in the joyous knowledge of a complete harmony and identity of trust. It has potencies of brotherhood, self-chosen, mutually reciprocated, and carried into all the walks of inner and outer life. ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 265 9. Unity Unity is indivisibleness. It is a oneness of constituent parts running through and binding all (however diverse in quality) to singleness of purpose, plan and activity. It is the spontaneous and yet necessary co-operation of all the members on the basis of a fundamental and dominating principle which results not only in organic harmony of existence, but in a s.ingleness of out- ward action. Communion is a conscious and happy participation of our inner life in unity. 10. Communion G>mmunion is more than union and more than fellowship. It is union intensified into active fellowship. But the fellowship is not a mere subjective participation of feelings, taste or conviction in the common life of another. It is a fellowship arising out of an objective ground provided by our Lord Jesus Christ in His redemption, constituting its participants into a special brotherhood, into which they are called by the Gospel. In it they are taken up into the brotherhood of the body of Christ, and in it they participate in the Holy Communion in receiving that real body. It is a brotherhood, not of feeling, or of subjective intellectual faith, or even of a common conviction, but it is a brotherhood in the life and death of Christ as shared out to us in His Word and in the communication of His own body, which, so far as it is a visible act, becomes a distinguishing mark of brotherhood. It is more than fellowship because it is not a fellowship on the ground of a common feeling or faith, but a feeling on the ground of a common brotherhood in Christ given to us in a common Word, and renewed, maintained and manifested in a common participation in the actual body of Christ. Communion is union intensified. It is not merely an occasional sharing of one's self or one's feelings in a common and voluntary association of ibrotherhood, but it is an identification of our whole life with the life of another in and through our brotherhood in Christ. It is a life fellowship on the basis of the greatest of life realities. In Communion we give to and receive our whole selves from another, viz., Christ, in and through what He gives to us, and on this ground we give and receive ourselves to and from each other. It is not merely a sharing of life convictions, not a mere life fellowship, but it is Christ Himself, drawing us as 266 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK members of His brotherhood, into the fellowship of that which He offers as the ground of our unity with each other. Hence a communion is a body of persons united on a common principle, viz., Christ, and in fellowship by reason of community of faith, love, hope, and all other spiritual interests. A Com- munion in the Lutheran sense, is a body of believers bound to each other in Christ, that is in the common bond of the pure Word and Sacrament, and in a fellowship in the same. The supreme act and visible proof and test of this fellowship is a common participation in the fruits of Christ's atoning redemption as offered and received in the real body of Christ in the Lord's Supper. A Communion is a special type of brotherhood united in the fraternal bonds that issue from their common origin and that exercise themselves in common forms under the impetus of their unity. THE COMMON GROUND (1) Many devoted and sincere Christians that we know are not Lutherans ; and many more have never heard of Lutheranism. There are two extremes in dealing with these multitudes. The one extreme will have nothing whatever of any kind to do with them, will make no attempt to recognize or to co-operate even with that which is common; the other extreme will extend the hand of most intimate fellowship and take into its bosom person- alities who are exponents of principles which are radically divergent from those on which their own faith and life is founded. (2) There is a common ground for all Christians in Christ. Those whom Christ recognizes, despite their errors and imper- fections, are already one with us in Christ. They may not be one with us in mind and faith, they may not be one with us in those particular parts of our mind and faith which we feel divinely called to stand for and exposit, and hence we may be unalble to feel and say that they are in a common brotherhood of faith because we earnestly believe that, although Christ can receive them as they are unto Himself without danger to His truth we cannot do so with the same safety. Christ can do all things. We must do in accordance with our convictions. (3) Nevertheless there is some actual agreement of all Christians. (4) There is also much disagreement among Christians. This ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 267 is a necessary consequence of Protestantism. If the self-deter- mining rights of a people or a personality be conceded, we are thereby and in that act setting up a standard of individuality. (5) The differences of Christians, despite the self-determined right of individual Christians, are not pleasing to God. God wants every man to have his own honest conviction. Yet as a matter of fact the sum of convictions do not agree and they introduce schism. Just how to bring harmony of conviction on the one truth is the problem of the ages. (6) External union of Christians will not bring about that harmony. It will simply transfer the points of divisiveness to a place within the common circle. These points may then, indeed, through closer association be resolved into unity. This unity will be the unity of the most persistent wearing down of those who are more retiring and yielding. The Lutheran Church has suffered tremendously from such unities with other Protestants, particularly the more assertive and strident kind. Or, if they are exceeding keen and fundamental in the minds of those who hold them, they will lead to internal disunity and to final rupture. Hence the safe way of unifying Christianity is to gain internal union of principle which can then properly be expressed in an external union of organization. (7) The real union of Christians is a joining of the same mind in the same faith, and a fellowship in the life and work of the church. (8) There is now no such union, but there are some principles of Christianity common to all Christians. To suppress, or to ignore these common principles is to go ibeyond what our Lord has intended in the matter of divisiveness. The common ground, if it be sufficient, and if it can be de-limited from that which is not common, so as to avoid all misunderstandings, is to be used as a basis in limited co-operation. But as there is a living vitality in faith, and it is a vitally connected organism, a common ground abstracted by theory, as a partial entity, is a dangerous basis for co-operation or fellowship, without clear and strong safeguards. OF CO-OPERATION (1) There is a co-operation that affects doctrine as well as practice, and as doctrine or principle is precious in the sight of Lutherans, and its preservation a matter of great importance, 268 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK the kind of co-operation here referred to must be decided on the basis of doctrine. (2) There is a co-operation that affects practice. Where such co-operation does not involve the implication of a common doc- trine, or where the common doctrine involved is held mutually by all participants, the problem of co-operation can readily be solved. (3) Co-operation must be: (a) Orderly; (b) Consistent; (c) Avoiding internal weaknesses. If in a single transaction, it may ibe of the nature of business dealing. If in a continuous line of policy, it may be secured by a covenant relationship. (4) The importance, worthiness, or goodness of an object is not the sole determining factor in considering the advisability of co-operation. The method of co-operation also is important. (5) The method of participating in co-operation, or of abstain- ing from it, may condemn the participation, or the abstinence. (6) A good Object with a bad Method will probably develop bad features, and may bring on bad results. (7) It is easier to oppose co-operation in the bad that is all ibad, than to oppose co-operation in the good that is mingled with some bad. Nevertheless, because of the delusiveness to many people who do not see the bad wrapped up in the heart of the good, to oppose a good mingled with bad may be as important as to oppose the totally bad. (8) Much good may be accomplished in this world by imper- fect efforts, or even efforts mingled with evil principles, in any earnest endeavor to overcome Satan and the power of darkness. And even where the Church be unable to associate itself with others "because of their erroneous principles" in these efforts, yet, since there is so much sin in the world, and so much to be done for Christ's sake, the Church should not decry this good, nor waste her money and mayhap ruin her spirit of love by attacking these methods which she cannot approve. If, however, these efforts set themselves up in her own midst, as perfections, and as something better and higher than the efforts in which she trusts, in her own defence, in order to preserve her own in- tegrity and consistency, the Church's warning must be clear, strong, and in no uncertain tone. The more stern, and frank, and bold her defence of her own is, and the more clear her rebuke ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 269 of unjustifiable presumption, at the start, the more kind and charitable will the action really be in the end. OF IMPROPER AND PROPER PARTICIPATION (1) Effective co-operation is not by one part or one individual acting independently of his Communion, who ignores the church that is behind him. A fundamental American principle is that a representative does not represent unless he is appointed. Indi- vidual co-operation, even where it is right and lawful, and where the communion's failure to join in is wrong, is attempting unity without introducing disloyalty and disunity within. The common tie binds the individual, so long as he remains within, on points on which the communion as a whole has taken a position. Disloyalty is a primal crime. The first duty of such an individual is to get the communion to see its wrong position. If he cannot do so, it becomes a matter of conscience with him as to whether he can, with his convictions, abide in the communion. For divisiveness caused by genuine conscience, he is entitled to honoralble separa- tion. If his conscience continues to permit him to act divisively and disloyally to his brotherhood, the brotherhood must make its position clear by testimony or by action. (2) A church, if it has a right to exist, has a right to stand for something, and be heard on the subject of co-operation, before being committed to it. It has a right to appoint its representa- tives, and to expect them to represent it, rather than themselves. (3) True co-operation begins at home, and wins the nearest to itself. (4) A part of a church has rights of its own, when in a minority. It also respects the rights of others. (5) Where there is a community of brotherhood, fellowship and rights, true co-operation will precede action by consultation. (6) When a part of a church bears the honor of a common name, it will respect the common character for which it stands. PRINCIPLES PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO THE LUTHERAN CHURCH (1) Christianity is wider than Lutheranism. (2) Christianity is wider than inter-denominationalism. (3) Christianity is wider than Protestantism. (4) Protestantism (and inter-denominationalism) has its dan- gers as well as Catholicism. 270 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK (5) A broad and consistent co-operation must be prepared to take in the good zuhcrever found, whenever it can be done safely. (6) There are upright men outside of the Church. (7) Christians must be broad enough to co-operate (under 5) with such men whether in the Church or out of it. This point is an issue today. (8) The Lutheran Church is broad enough to do this. (9) The real principle of the Lutheran Church is the broadest possible; and there is no more liberal principle in any church of deep and live convictions. (10) The principle is to support and co-operate with all good, wherever it may be, whenever possible. The rule is made prac- tical by making clear to all that this is not a unity of brotherhood, not a fellowship in brotherhood, but a common act of two entities, for a purpose common in both; and by then defining the nature, prescribing the just limits, making clear the purpose, and keeping clean and true the means and methods of the cooperation. (11) The principle is sufficient to guide the Lutheran Church in its relations to all forms of association, civil or religious, among men for the upbuilding of the good, the suppression of vice, the salvation of souls, and the development of character. But every claim must be tested on its own merits. SOME BROAD LIMITATIONS TO CO-OPERATION (1) Prudence, until a test as to the righteousness and feasi- bility of common action has become satisfactory, is an ordinary business principle. (2) Refusal to co-operate is not condemnation. There may be reasons why my neighbor's business, without any reflection on him, should ibe kept entirely separate from my own. He realizes that, and respects me for attending strictly to my own affairs ; and Christian business men must be made to realize that religion is at least as serious a thing as business. (3) There is a limit of human ability somewhere and at some time to co-operation toward that without. Neither nature nor grace confers unlimited energy on man. There is no such thing as an unlimited stewardship or trust. (4) Since co-operation with those outside of communion and fellowship is necessarily selective, refusal is not an indication of ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 271 bigotry or narrowness. Dr. Trumbull has emphasized "The Duty of Refusing to do Good." (5) Specific religious work may be more effective without co- operation, for the following reasons : (a) Consolidated effort, especially of a loosely jointed char- acter, has its disadvantages and evils. The family is often better off, as a training institution, under its own vine and fig tree, than when joined with many others on the flat of a modern apartment house. The same is true of the Church and the school. (b) Large voluntary concerns, if not compactly organized, are as a rule less manageable, and more consumptive of energy, than small ones. It is the duty of the Church to conserve its energy, and use it with the least waste, though this often prevent a branching' out into co-operative endeavor. (c) A decision once introduced, and very largely used, through- out the Church, especially if it be sound, is to be respected. (d) The Lutheran Church has introduced and established a fundamental precedent in co-operation: in working against the co-operation of its young people under Christian Endeavor, and for co-operation of its young people under Luther League. (e) It a second time estalblished this principle, this time in the sphere of Sunday School work, in uniting four general bodies (General Synod, General Council, United Synod South, Joint Synod of Ohio) on common Lutheran picture charts (in place of International charts existing). (f) It has a third time established this precedent in the co- operation of two general bodies in the founding of a Lutheran Sunday Scliool paper (in place of inter-denominational papers). The common liturgical work, and common co-operation in mission work, between several of these bodies, duly authorized, are pre- cedents in the same line. (g) On the other hand, there has never been established in a vital and organic or other than in a sporadic way a duly author- ized precedent in the opposite direction. (6) Co-operation is a mutual affair; and is based on the common consent of both parties, not of one only. (7) Co-operation, especially if it be inter-denominational, is of general body with general body; not of a general body on one side and a party or some individuals on the other. 272 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK (8) An organization of individuals, each not authorized to represent a denomination, is not inter-denominational co-operation. (9) Inter-denominational co-operation does not carry with it the right of a general organization to enter a denomination by- circular, letter, or in person, without consultation or permission of this denominational general organization; nor to give said denomination advice, instruction, or even "direct calls from God" which are at variance with the belief or practice of the said denominational general organization. (10) It is not inter-denominational co-operation for a general inter-denominational organization to intermingle its activities in a specific denominational field, with that of a general denomina- tional organization, without previous consultation and common action with the general denominational organization of which the congregation is a part. (11) It is not true co-operation for the outside co-operator to bring on a conflict of authority in any internal field. (12) It is not true co-operation for any individual, without authorization and the consent of the Church, to represent a national or state movement in behalf of a church, to which move- ment a large part of the church is opposed. (13) It is not true co-operation for an individual, to represent in a general ecclesiastical field or in a denominational field both the general and the denominational work, when the denominational body through its regular representative withholds approval of the same. A church in its own field should have but one general policy, consistent and not self-conflicting. (14) This policy if it is to be carried out by an individual, should be determined before it is executed, and determined through the regular ecclesiastical channels. No ecclesiastical institution is strong enough to long endure a divided policy in its manage- ment, without great injury; and anything that would impair its respect before itself and others, in a single line of irregular con- flict, will gradually extend to all lines. A church that knows not its own mind on a question of general policy is like a house divided against itself. (15) It is not true co-operation for an individual to represent both the inter-denominational and the denominational work, when ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 273 the denominational body through its regular representatives with- holds approval of the same. SOME MOVEMENTS WITH WHICH LUTHERANS IN AMERICA CAN CO-OPERATE ON THE BASIS OF CIVIL RIGHTEOUSNESS (1) For the suppression of vice. (2) For good laws. (3) For the furtherance of patriotism. (4) For the poor, weak and criminal classes. (5) For schools, universities and professional institutes. (6) For scientific study of the truth, including ecclesiastical topics and the Scriptures. SOME MOVEMENTS WITH WHICH LUTHERANS IN AMERICA CAN CO-OPERATE ON THE BASIS OF A COMMON CHRISTIANITY (1) The maintenance of a Christian spirit in business, social and educational life. (2) The upholding of the principles of Christianity in the common law of our land. (3) The translation of the Scriptures. (4) The common use of hymns, books of devotion, and Litera- ture from which Lutheran principles are not bleached out; or un-Lutheran principles printed in. (5) The proper use of unobjectionable parts of the above. (6) Common institutions like the American Bible Society. But not the unconditional support of common institutions like the American Tract Society, or the American Sunday School Union, or the Federal Council of Churches, or the Y. M. C. A. The support of specific portions of such work might Ibe accomplished if it can be combined with the most positive testimony and action against unevangelical parts of its work. (7) In each of these cases, the movement is to be tested by the principles and actions laid down above. SOME REASONS WHY THE ORGANIZED INTER-DENOMINATIONAL TEACHING AND PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL IN CHURCH AND SCHOOL IS NOT POSSIBLE TO LUTHERANS IN AMERICA (1) Because Lutherans believe we are saved by faith alone; whereas many persons in Christian churches today believe and practically teach that works have a good deal to do with salva- tion. S 274 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK (2) Because the Lutheran Church, the Mother of Protestantism, takes her stand only on differences of vital principle; whereas many Protestants divide from each other on grounds of customs, modes of administering ordinances, and method of church govern- ment; while they may undervalue the great things of inner principle. (3) Because Lutherans believe in a square, open, broad, deep life, rather than in one which is ecclesiastically diplomatic, which is courteous on the surface, and of an appropriative spirit beneath the surface. (4) Because the great and crucial Lutheran doctrine of the Word and the Sacraments is not generally acknowledged and solely (or even partially) used in many Evangelical movements. (5) Because Lutherans do not believe in prayer as a means of grace, or in many other human "means of grace" on which many inter-denominational movements rely. THE HISTORIC PRECEDENTS AGAINST THE ORGANIZED INTER- DENOMINATIONAL TEACHING OF THE GOSPEL (1) For Lutherans, Martin Luther is not a bad authority on this point. (2) In America, prior to Muhlenberg, the pious Justus Falckner in New York, the Rev. Berkenmeyer, and the Rev. John Caspar Stoever, are examples to the Church. The fate of the Old Swedes Church in Pennsylvania, and its total absorption into another denomination, points to what would have occurred in early American Lutheranism, if an inter-denominational co-operation had prevailed. (3) Muhlenberg from the day of his arrival in America to the day of his death, was opposed to inter-denominational co- operation. [He remarks that "this point needs explanation."] (4) The period when plans for denominational union were most strongly broached was the most critical period of the Luth- eran Church in the East. Had they been adopted, the Lutheran faith would have been eclipsed. (5) The historic American Synods, under great temptation, neither united with the Reformed Church, nor established what might have become the first and original Northfield in this country, and have shed its influences of Christianity throughout the land, two-thirds of a century earlier than any of its successors. ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 275 This principle and its proper settlement involves the very life of the United Lutheran Church. As was said twenty years ago: "If our dear Church is to have any future before her, she cannot give up this principle. In doing so, she would give up herself." TWO GREAT LESSONS OF PROVIDENCE Providence has been teaching us anew and with compelling force the two great lessons of universality and individuality. St. Paul in his day declared that God made of one blood all the nations of the earth. And in these latter days, when the whole world is connected up closely in air, sea, and land to such an extent that national isolation, withdrawal, seclusion, or retreat. from all others has become impossible, and when the great powers of the world have come to the sober conclusion that a world society of nations is inevitable, the lessons of providence to all mankind and to the Church itself are too plain to need explica- tion. On the other hand, by the very fact that a withdrawal from world activities can no longer be regarded as physically possible or morally right, it becomes all the more necessary to erect some barriers against a pitiless publicity and unwarranted intrusion into the just privacy to which every individual entity is justly entitled. The two principles at stake are first that man must share a common public life with all his fellows; and that man is entitled all the more because of the universal publicity to certain rights for the development and exercise of his oitm indi- viduality. In national affairs these two lessons may be phrased as follows : First, the good will and welfare of all must be contributed to by each ; and secondly, the peculiar right of a people, no matter how small, if it be truly an individual nationality is entitled to its own self-determination. To put it briefly, the les- sons are : a stronger and more intimate participation by each in the affairs of all, and a guarding of the rights of even the weakest in those things in which they are entitled to be left alone. (1) The Lutheran Church should do all in her power to edu- cate her pastors and people in the two great lessons which Provi- dence is enforcing on us at this moment, viz., the universality of the Church of Christ, the Communion of Saints; and the strong individuality of our own Lutheran Communion. She should make clear the grounds, internal and fundamental, on which the uni- 276 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK versality of Christ's Church is founded; and make equally clear the ground on which solely the Lutheran Church is entitled to her own individual existence, under the conviction that her principle best represents the universality of the Church. Lutheran pastors and people, and the whole Christian world outside of us, should also be educated to an appreciation of our right to individuality, by being caused to clearly understand it ; and of our principle of co-operation. (2) That principle is as follows : Toward the Christians and Christian communions without us, we are to show neighborliness, to have intercourse and sympathy to the extent of our common Christianity, provided that this involve no special obligations, recognition or endorsement beyond what is actually in common. We may have dealings mutually advantageous of a common busi- ness character. We may enter into covenants on basal articles which in no wise compromise each other. We may enter into co- operation on lines of common policy provided that those with whom we co-operate formally, officially and practically recognize the bounds and limits, and that our own people are clearly taught them. We may enter into union with those with whom we are in the inner unity of fellowship and communion. This fellowship and communion is not a matter of our own determination, or of our feelings or tastes, but is a fact in Christ. It is determined Iby a common participation in His pure Word and Sacraments which constitute our brotherhood in Him. We cannot unite in a supreme act of communion and fellow- ship which is not founded on the supreme and most real though most mysterious offer to us of Christ's organic body and His complete redemption. Commimion and Fellowship are not marks of universality, or extension, but they are marks of the intimate sharing of inner life. They are not the broad basis but the personal and select culmination of inner fellowship. We have many brethren in Christ, but the Sacrament is the mark of special, complete, organic and perfect brotherhood, and not that of an external or any general brotherhood founded on sentiment or on human association. (3) It is the duty of the Lutheran Church to teach her pastors and people that fellowship implies life loyalty, is the sacred and ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 211 intimate act of brotherhood which only arises between those who are spiritually at one, that it requires exclusive and life- long loyalty ; and that it consequently does not admit of other fellowships whose principles, purposes and practices are based on a different view of this life, or of eternal life, or of the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Hence fellowships that are outside of the Qiurch of Christ, and yet require a life loyalty, except those specifically recognized by our Lord, viz., in the case of the family and of the state, are a partial surrender of our life loyalty to Him, and hence should not be entered into. There is only one divine fellowship for the Christian, and that is in Christ. Fellowships demanding life loy- alty as offered iby human associations in life membership in human organizations and fraternities, whatever be their good or their bad teachings, are at variance with our complete and absolute surrender, and our perfect incorporation into the body of our Lord. Minister and people alike should say, "I am determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified." "That I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph. 4:9, 10). Hence "our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ" (John 3:3). "That we may be found in Him, not having our own righteous- ness, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteous- ness which is of God by faith; that we may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering" (Phil. 3:9, 10). "God is faithful by Whom we were called by fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I ibeseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be per- fectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1 Cor. 1:10, 11). THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS (From a letter dated Jutie l6, 1915) It is exceptionally important for the Lutheran Church to stand 278 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK for the true conception of the duty and work of the Church in the present day, when, under the influence of scientific social ideas, and the weakening of all doctrinal principle, including particu- larly the facts of divine grace, the operation of the Holy Spirit through the Word alone, the atonement, justification by faith alone, and similar fundamental spiritual truths, the tendency is to make of the Church a social community, almost identical with a perfect civic community, and to load upon it all the moral respon- sibilities of civic life. The historical and social philosophy of our colleges interprets Christianity as valuable only when it serves the community. Its chief activities are regarded as being philanthropic. Its great olbject is the creation of a new and better human race on earth, and a great human brotherhood, into which all the better elements of every community are to be gathered irrespective of denomina- tional faith. The real aim of the Church, according to this view, degenerates into social and political betterment, and into civic righteousness. The individual, with his immortal life, is depressed for the benefit of the common social state, and the Church's chief use and end is found in the local uplift it gives to every specific locality, and to the higher grade of state and national issues. This is an interpretation completely in harmony with the new science of social economy, represented especially Iby the two socialistic writers, Prof. Rauschenbusch of Rochester, and Prof. Vedder of Crozer. To them Christ is the representative of a purely social religion, and Christianity's chief duty today is to help in abolishing red light districts, eliminating tuberculosis, furthering eugenics, forbidding child labor, introducing pure drug laws, eliminating corruption from politics, and preventing men from becoming drunkards. The welfare of society is the funda- mental conditioning factor of the Church's present outlook and duty. But while much can be gathered from Scripture to support this teaching. Scripture itself, interpreted as a whole, by no means supports it. In Scripture the spiritual and not the social life is supreme. Christianity even as far as it is social, does not find its great motive in economic or external moral interests. There is a great ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 279 difference ibetween the preaching of John the Baptist and the preaching of Jesus in this respect. The Apostle Paul's treatment of Onesimus, whom he sent back to Philemon, shows how social questions are to be dealt with. Paul had no social program for changing human society by the prohibition of slavery. He over- came the evil of slavery in this case through the power of spir- itual brotherhood, and not through the law. The abolition of slavery was an effect of Christianity, but not its aim. The social results of Christianity are the result of its religious powers, and the Church exists to maintain, sustain, and propagate its religious powers. Christianity does not seek to change society first, and thus remove sin by the pressure of social environment. Christianity seeks to eliminate sin through justification and re- generation, and thus to reform society by the new and inner life of the individual. In other words, Christianity and the Kingdom of God are a new society or communion of a spiritual order. And this spiritual order is the main thing. To make the spiritual order culminate in an external civic order is the mistake of our age. It leads to an emphasis on the externals of life, and this leads to an elimi- nation of the chief mission of Jesus Christ. {From a letter in reply to one from Prof. Walter Rauschen- bxisch) : We do believe in a vigorous and thorough treatment of social questions (by Christians in the State, but we believe that this work should be done by them as citizens, and not as Christians. We do not believe it to be the province of the Church to enter as a Church upon the problems of society or of the body politic. We believe in the old-fashioned doctrine, which is good also for America, of the complete separation of the functions of Church and State, and in the training of the people in the Church to such a point of principle and of conscience as that they will carry their Christianity into the State. We believe that the organization of the Church for the passage of society measures bears many evils in its train, not the least of which ultimately is the Roman principle of the right of the spiritual power to rule legally over society. 280 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK ON CHRISTMAS There is no religion, but one, with a festival whose center is child-life. Christmas is always fresh. The world grows old, but Christmas never. The world weaves around itself an annual shell of selfishness. Christmas comes to shatter it. Glory, peace, good-will is the song of the season. THE TRICKY CONTROVERSIALIST In controversy, the victory is not always to the deserving. There are antagonists which a noble and fair mind can not afford to engage. An unscrupulous and mean-minded combatant will al- ways be seeking and seizing small advantages, evading direct issues, and gliding away under cover of personalities. He will be venturesomely wicked in the unblushing use of mendacious sarcasm, knowing that it is impossible for a noble man to stoop to similar retort. He will carry the issue away from the main question, to a very unexpected and perhaps a personal quarter. The tricky contestant can have the truthful-minded man completely at his mercy. It will be impossible to explain and unravel all his interposed innuendoes, without becoming so tedious and dif- fuse that the public will no longer be willing to listen. The more indignant you wax the more assiduously will he continue the worriment. It is the old story of the fly and the elephant. Never argue with a mean mind. ON POSSIBILITIES OF UNION If Presbyter ianism may be summed up, philosophically, as con- sistency of thought combined with fixity of government, and Episcopalianism may be summed up as public organism of re- ligious life with authority of worship, and Lutheranism may be summed up as proclamation of the authoritative Word of God bringing justification, and Methodism may Ibe summed up as practical organization for generating spiritual experience and cultivating Christian fruits, these Anabaptist reactions against the historic ecclesia, Protestant as well as Roman, may perhaps be summed up as fixity of New Testament fact and ordinance, with liberty of interpretation and organization. The Presbyterian idea is theological, logical and political. The Episcopal idea is ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 281 political, institutional and liturgical. The Lutheran idea is theo- logical, spiritual and practical. The Methodist idea is experen- tial, methodic and practical. The Anabaptist idea is primitive, ceremonial (as to ordinances), without perspective, and practical. When the Faith and Order movement toward union of the Episcopal Church requested his co-operation as President of the General Council, he nfrote to its secretary in 1910 as follozvs : In the correspondence with the secretary of the Commission, I said on ibehalf of the General Council, that we agree with the Commission "that the beginnings of unity are to be found in the clear statement of those things in which we differ, as well as of those things in which we are at one;" and that we are in accord with the Commission in the desire "to lay aside self-will, and to put on the mind which is in Christ Jesus;" that, however, we do not regard "Faith" and "Order" as being on the same essential plane; that we do not believe that a Unity of "Order," or the union of the Church Visible, i. e., of ecclesiastical denominations, is the unity to which our Saviour referred in His prayer to the Father; that we do not believe that there is any unity in the Church which is not a unity in principle; that we do not believe that unity in the Faith can be reached by any agreement to agree; that we do not regard a unity of government or of order, or that "outward and visible reunion" of Christendom which is the ulti- mate object of this Conference, as important, or as desirable, in advance of a unity of principle; that our branch of the Lutheran Church is very conservative and will not yield on its principles of faith; that we do not look on other Protestants as rivals, from whose ranks we should make proselytes; that we believe in acting on our faith as a matter of conscience, until such a time, if the Lord brings it about as the conscience of Christians be cleared to hold the same faith ; and that, meantime, we do not regard an externally divided Protestantism as a disgrace to Chris- tendom, in so far as differences are a matter of faith and con- science; and that an official invitation to co-operate in this move- ment would probably be referred to a committee of our body to be considered fundamentally and report at a later stage. INDEX OF PERSONS Abrahamson L. G. M., D.D ••••••• - ' ' -^'^S' ^^^ Benze, C. T., D.D Berkemeier, G. C, D.D ••' ^^^ Berkemeyer, H • '.'.'.'.'.209. 228 Brandelle, G. A., D.D ^^^ Carlsson, Erland ^^ Christ, Father, Lebanon Roman Priest ^^ Croll, P. C 3 Demme, Dr. C. R jj, Dunbar, W. H., D.D Egle, Dr. W. H '.'.'.'.'.'..'.'.'.'. .73 Esbjorn, C. M ^^^ Evgen, Rev. Dr ^^^ Falckner, Justus '^'^^ ^g^ Fischer, Etnil E., D.D ^^^ Frick, Rev. W. K.. D.D Fritchel, Drs. Sigmund and Gottlieb ^^^ Fry, F. F., D.D ^ ■.■■.;■.:■.■.:■.;;'. 140 Geissinger, D. H., D.D ^ ^gg Getz, Rev. Arthur H Grandparents, Deaths of • • • Haas, John A. W., D.D., IX.D. '°°' "^ Hark, J. Max Harms, Claus, on 1817 Celebration ^^ Hasselquist, T. N ' ^^ Haupt, Dr. Lewis M ^^ Haws, Mrs. G. W Hensel, Hon. W. U., of Lancaster • ^ Hingel, Catherine ^^^ Hoffman, Dr. Emil " ' „, Horn, Edward T., D.D., LL.D "7, ^^ Houck, Henry Hunton, W. L., D.D o""o""' J. Jacobs, H. E., D.D., LL.D U. 34. 133. 180, 184. .09. «4 Jacobs, C. M., D.D ••• Keiter, W. D. C, D.D '47. ^01. 208, 27 Keyser. Leander S., D.D "«' '33. 176 Knubel, F. H., D.D.. LL.D '95. ^o^, 213. 229 Kohler, Rev. Dr. J ^^ Koons, Prof., of SwaUra Krauss, Prof. Elmer F., D.D ^7 Krauth. Charles Porterfield, D.D., LL.D '5, 34, loi Krotel, Gottlieb F., D.D., LL.D ' 284 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Leibensperger, A. W 219 Lindberg, C. E., D.D., LL.D 209 Loy, Martin, D.D 253 Luther, Martin 274 Lyte, Prof. E. 70 Mann, William Julius 2 McKinley, Sermon on Death of 97 Miller, Mr. E. Clarence 197 Morris, Dr. J. G lo Muhlenberg, Dr. F. A 15 Muhlenberg, Henry Melchior 274 Nicum, J., D.D 176 Norelius, Dr. E 163, 173 Otto, Robert i Paulsen, Pastor of Kropp, Germany 1 50 Pfatteicher, Ernest P., D.D in Proehl, Prof., of Dubuque Seminary 157 Rauschenbusch, Prof. Walter 279 Reinoehl, George H no Repass, S. A., D.D 140 Richards, Captain H. M. M 96 Richard, Prof. J. W 175, 180 Rommel, Hon. Edmund 106 Rubrecht, G. Keller 217 Sadtler, Dr. S. P iS Sandt, G. W., D.D 82 Schaeffer, William Ashmead, D.D 140 Schaff, Dr. Phillip 2 Schlegelmilch, G. E., Esq 181 Schantz, F. J. F., D.D 74, i39 Schmauk, Benjamin Friedrich i Schmauk, B. W., Death of i , 3. 4, 109 Schmauk, Miss Emma 7. 244, 245 Schmauk, Johann Gottfried i Schmauk, Theresa 2, 7. 44 Schmauk, Wilhelmina Catherine 4, i39 Schuette, President of Joint Synod 161 Seip, Frank M no Shimer, Dr., Assistant Superintendent of Schools in N. Y. on S. S. Lesson System 90 Singmaster, J. A., D.D., LL.D 199 Spaeth, Adolph, D.D., LL.D 152 Stahr, John F., D.D 7° Stellhorn, F. W., D.D 179 Stewart, Dr. George B., of Auburn, N. Y 61 Stoever, John Caspar 274 Stub, Rev. H. G., President of N. L. C 218 Stump, Joseph, D.D 217 Taft, Ex-President Wm. H loi Thompson, Dr. Robert Ellis 18, 21 INDEX 285 Trumbull, H. Clay 55 Voigt, A. G., D.D., LL.D ^o Warfield, Dr., of Lafayette College 6i Waters, Oren J., M.D 54 Weller, H. A., D.D I9S, 201, 208, 217 Zimmerman, Hon. J. L, '^7 INDEX OF PLACES Annville, Congregation at • • ■ • 47 Atlantic City, Joint Committee on Quadricentennial meets in, Sept. I. 1914 '" Buffalo Convention of General Council '27 Catasauqua, Pa., Supply Pastor at Trinity 33 Chicago, 111., Dr. Schmauk Presenting S. S. Literature in 91 Chicago, 111., Meeting of National Council 217 Dubuque, Iowa, General Synod at '75 Gettysburg, Theological Seminary at 3 Harrisburg, Pa 201, 217, 221 Holland, Sailed from, in 1819 ' Lancaster, Pa 3 Lebanon, A Paradise 40 Lebanon, Pa., Father Called to 6 Lebanon, St. James Mission 47 Lebanon, Trinity Mission 46 Milwaukee, Wis., Convention at ''7 Minneapolis, Minn., Convention at '°3 Mt. Gretna, Chautauqua Grounds at 60 Mount Lebanon Cemetery 224 New York, The Convention in 211 Norristown, Pa., Convention of General Council ii7 Orphans' Home at Germantown 3 Passavant Hospital, Milwaukee, Wis 54 Pennsylvania, Student at University of 'S Philadelphia, Ancestors Landed in i Philadelphia, Pa., Jubilee Meeting of G. C 208 Philadelphia Seminary, Student at 26 Pittsburgh, Pa 124, 194. 217 Salem, Lebanon, Pai, Call Accepted 39 Swatara Institute '° Toledo Convention 167 United States Commissioner of Education Recognizes Graded System 92 Waterloo Seminary, Canada '54 Wuertemburg, Germany, Home of Forebears 1 Zion Church, Philadelphia, Pa 2 Zion's-St. Michael's Parish, Philadelphia 3 286 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK GENERAL INDEX Administrative Probknis 141 Alliances 263 Altar Fellowship 203 Apologetics, Interpretation of 18 1, 185 Art, Knowledge of Ecclesiastical 113 Atlantic Coast Lutheranism, Wants No 169, 200 Augustana Brethren and Dr. Schmauk's Mutual Attachment 172 Augustana College 172 Augustana Synod 161, 164, 172, 200, 209, 228 Author of What Books 234 Benjamin Rush's Account of German Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, Annotated 234 Bible Biography, 1901 89 Bible Facts and Scenes, 1906 89, 234 Bible Geography, 1899 89, 234 Bible History, 1898 88, 234 Bible Literature, 1903 89 Bible Outlines, 1912 89 Bible Readings, 1905 89 Bible Story, 1897 88 Bible Teachings 89 Books That Influenced 22 Books, Two Latest 221 Born at Lancaster, Pa 6 Boyhood Characteristics 8 British Propaganda, Dr. Schmauk on 105 Buoyancy of Spirit 221 Calls Considered at Graduation 37 Camp Pastors 196 Canada Synod 208 Catechetical Outlines 234 Catholic Lutheranism 130 Catholicity, The Declaration on 202 Centennial of Old Salem Church no Centennial Exposition 16 Centipede Literary Society 11 Chaplains 196 Chairman of Ways and Means, Presides Over Consummation of Union 212 Conversation, "Charms and Secrets of Good" 51 Chautauqua, The Pennsylvania 60, 64 Christ in the General Council 128 Christ, Person of 237 Church Book Committee, Member of 81 Church Year, Observance of 84 Citizen 94 Civil Righteousness, Co-operation on Basis of 273 INDEX 287 Coalitions, Against '°^ Conwnon Christianity, Co-operation on the Basis of 273 Common S. S. Literature for Lutherans, Planned, 1897 ■• ^S Common Service Book, Service Rendered as Estimated by Dr. H. E. Jacobs g Common Ground for Relationships Community Welfare ^6 Confession and Defence of Christian Faith, Chair of 183 Confessional High Water Mark 127 Confessional History of the Lutheran Church 180 Confessionalism ■ ^'*7 Confidential Dealing ^'5 Confessional Principle ' 79i 234 Confirmed at Fifteen '^ Conservative Body, General Council the One ii9 Conservatism, Progressive ^49 Constitution, Fifteen Point® to be Considered 20» Constitution of United Lutheran Church 20° Constitution, Suggested Addition to '70 Controversialist, The Tricky 280 Conversation, Charms and Secrets of Good 234 Co-operation 136, i7S. 204, 216, 258, 263. 267, 269. 270 Correspondence, Voluminous and Brilliant 219, 220 Courses Offered by Dr. Schmauk '^7 Critical and Anxious Days 52 Death, March 23, 1920 ^^3 Death, Serious Losses by '3 Delaware Water Gap on Foot ^^ Denominations, Lutheran Church's Relation to 80 Differences and Difficulties, Facing 203 Disunity, Lutheran ^55 Editor and Author 79 Editor and Chairman of Sunday School Work, 1899 84 Editorial Survey of the Year 80 Education, Symposium on "O Educator, Schmauk as °° Estimates of Dr. Schmauk 229 Ethics, Definition of ■• • '°' European Relief ^^^ Evangelism, Declaration on Modern '21 Expansion, Era of 45 Faith and Practice, Chicago Conference on 218 Faith, Matter of Deep Concern, in 1919 ''° Father's Affection for Young Theodore 7 Father's Letter on 21st Birthday 3i Federal Council 2°3 Federal Council, Plan for a Lutheran 217 Federation and Unity of Unities Differentiated 198 Federation, a Proposed Constitution for 202 Federation Movement '7'. 200 288 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Fellowship 138, 264 First Sermon to Salem Congregation 43 Foreign Church, The Lutheran Church not a 107 Foreign Mission Field, Division Advocated by Swedes 167 Founders, Passing Away of General Council 118 Four Points 253 Freedom of Action Asked and Guaranteed 215 Funeral Services 223 General Conference of Lutherans, 1904 124 General Council Golden Jubilee 208 General Council, Permanency of 120 General Council, President of 81, 117 General Council Representatives at National Council Meeting, Chi- cago, Sept. 6, 1918 217 General Council Sunday School Plans Date Back to 1869 85 General Synod, Co-operation with 133, 174 General Synod, Delegate to 114 General Synod Invited to Co-operate in Quadricentennial 193 General Synod in Washington in 191 1 135 Germans, Dr. Schmauk and the 147 Germans, Keeping in Sympathy with Merger 207 German Synods, Attitude of 200 German Translations 89 Graded Instruction Plans Formulated in 1888 84 Graded System Completion Announced at Lima, O ii6 Graded Sunday School Instruction, Pioneer in 84 Graded System, Development of 88 Heart-Broken, Booklet on Death of Sister 45, 234 Heart Glow Papers 50 Historical Precedent Against Interdenominational Teaching 274 Historian, Schmauk as 66 History of Old Salem Church iii Home Mission Board's Actions in the Northwest 168 How to Teach in Sunday School 234 Hypnotism 45, 234 Indicator, Founder and Uditor of 29 In Mother's Arms, 1910 90, 234 Improvements in Graded Instruction Planned 92 Influences During Student Days 24 Ingersoll, Sermons on 45 Inspiration at Pittsburgh, Articles on 125 Interchurch World Movement 221 Interdenominational Teaching and Preaching Not Possible to Lutherans 273 International Lessons Begun in 1873 86 International System, Dr. Schmauk on Basic Difference 86 Iowa and Ohio Theses at Toledo 160 Iowa Synod, Relations with 156 Issues and Engagements of 1919 220 Japanese Translations 89 Joint Synod of Ohio 179 INDEX 289 Kindergarten, The Christian 234 Lancaster Convention on Quadricentennial 193 Languages, S. S. Literature in Other 85 Life, Closing of a Strenuous 219 Lebanon County Historical Society 74 Lebanon High School Graduates, Historical Address to 66 Lebanon Valley, Early Churches of 234 Letter to Father, Oct. 18, 1880 27 Liberty Loan Drives, Orator for I04 Library, Work in Seminary 28 Lima Resolutions on Co-operation iiS Literary Activities Begin 49 Literary Editor of The Lutheran 83 Lodge, The 256 Luther and the New Theology 248 Lutheran Church Review, Editor of 79 Lutheran Church, an American Church 106 Lutheranism in America Classified 176 Manitoba Synod 208 Marriage of Parents 3 Melanchthon and the Church Fathers 80 Men's Organizations '44 Merger, Dr. Schmauk's Ideal of Stated 205 Merger, Working for 207 Minneapolis Convention on Quadricentennial 192 Minnesota Conference of the Augustana Synod 163 Missions, Call as Superintendent of 47 Mission Chapels 46 Missouri Synod 196, 253 Mother, Death of i39 Movements, Great and General 203 National Lutheran Council 216, 218 Nature Lover '3 Negative Criticism S8, 234 Negative Critics, Tendency Toward Among Younger Scholars 124 Negative Theology 245 Neighborliness 262 New Theology, Luther and the 248 New York Ministerium 3o8 Norelius Resolution, Disposition of 165 Ohio Synod 253 Organ and Its History 113 Parents, Companions 7 Participation in the Common Welfare, Stages of 262 Pastoral Work 47. 219 Pastorate, Early Pastorate with Father in Lebanon 37 Patriot and Public Speaker 94 Pennsylvania Germans, Defence of 69 Pennsylvania-German Society, Organization of 70 Pennsylvania, History of the Lutheran Church in 334 T 290 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK Pennsylvania Ministerium's Steps to Care for Soldiers 195 Personality, Towering 212 Philosophy, Under Dr. Krauth 21 Physician's Advice 223 Politician, Not a 210 Positions Held in the Church 183, 233 Positions Outside of the Churc'h 234 President of The United Lutheran Church, Election of First 212 Primary Department, The Three Grade 89 Prize as Popular Pastor Refused 46 Prize Contests, Competes in 20 Providence, Two Great Lessons of 275 Public Schools, Interest in 95 Pulpit Fellowship 203, 256 Pulpit, Prevalent Errors in 80 Pulpits, Lutheran for Lutheran Ministers 253 Quadricentennial 172, 192, 193 Quadricentennial Committee, Dr. Schmauk Chairman of 194 Questions and Issues, Dr. Schmauk on Live 23s Red Cross Workers 196 Reformation, Quadricentennial of 192 Relationships, Lutheran Churc'h and External 262 Religious Education and Child Psychology, Biography 231 Resolutions in Diary 12 Revival Movements, Dangers to Lutherans in 203, 260 Salem, Lebanon, History of 234 Salem, Memorial Chapel 1 1 1 Salvation, Lutheran Conception of 246 Schieren Professorship 184 School, Young Schmauk at 8 Scriptures, General Council and the 132 Scripture Lesson Quarterlies for Seniors on Church Year Plan 85 Secret Orders 203 Seminary Board, President of 182, 184 Seminary Professor i8i, 183 Sermon at Funeral 224 Sermon, Dr. Schmauk's Last 221 Social Problems, The Church and 277 Societies Un-Christian 258 Sorrow, Expressions of 228 Spanish Translations 89 Spiritual Life, Influences Which Deepened the 35 Sunday School Board, Strenuous Meeting 221 Sunday School Graded System, Revision of. Weighed Heavily .... 220 Sunday School Leader 79 Sunday School Times, Contributor to 55 Sunday School Work 221, 231 Swedes, Efforts to Influence 207 Swedish Translations 89 Teacher in Allentown High School 33 INDEX 291 Teaching, Methods of '^^ Teacher Training Quarterly, 1914 '^ Telugu Translations ^' Text of Last Sermon ^^' Timidity as a Child ' Trinity, The Doctrine of the ^4° Unification or Federation, Which '^6 Union ^^4 Union, Definite Plan for '98 Union, Difficulties in the way of '^^^ Union, Drs. Schmauk and Jacobs Opposed to Sudden • • • i99 Union Favored in Meeting April 18 196, i99 Union, Influence in Meeting, April 18 '99 Union, Lutheran ^5' Union, Possibilities of 280 United Lutheran Church in America Declared a Reality 3'2 United Lutheran Churdh, Testing Period of 220 United Synod, South Invited to Co-operate '93 Uniting the Whole Lutheran Church, A Far-reaching Question 201 Unity 203. 26s Vagaries and Unsettled States, Matters of Concern 220 Versatility Illustrated ^3 Village Blacksmith Letters 49 Voice in Speech and Song 5i, 234 War Commission, Origin of the Lutheran '95 War, Dr. Schmauk During the i°4 Wartburg Castle, Ivy from ' ' 3 War, the World War, Effect on Quadricentennial Plans i94 Ways and Means Committee, Chairman of 207 Will, Freedom of the ^44 Women's Missionary Society '4^ Women's Organizations '44 Worker, a Methodical 219 World, The Lutheran, on Buffalo Convention i34 Y. M. C. A *°3 DATE DUE ^A£ilLl^ **»«^**f«* m . Ih- 1 GAYLORD -...T.O,.U..S... 1 >^» V