Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 20:77 (Jan 1863)
Article: The German Reformed Church
Author: E. V. Gerhart

BSac 20:77 (Jan 1863) p. 1

The German Reformed Church

Rev. E. V. Gerhart

The present form of theology and state of practical religion in the German Reformed Church of America, stand connected with the internal forces and external circumstances of every period of her history. Each period has exerted a determinative influence on the succeeding one; and, all together are the factors of the final result as it meets us at this time. Hence an isolated statement of prevailing theological opinions, disconnected from the process to which they belong, would be comparatively meagre and unsatisfactory. It could afford, at best, but a narrow conception of the character and condition of the church.

We propose, therefore, to follow the order of time, and furnish a historico-theological monograph, in which the various causes, influences, and associations of the past shall be allowed, as far as possible, to appear in their true relation to the present.

BSac 20:77 (Jan 1863) p. 2

Two Original Tendencies

The German Reformed church of America is an unbroken historical continuation of the Reformed church of Germany and Switzerland. As the final result of the deep reviving work of Christ going on in the Roman Catholic church during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the great Reformation began simultaneously in Zurich and Wittenberg, and from these centres of light extended its power rapidly over Europe,— the movement meeting a prompt response from the felt moral and spiritual wants of all classes of the people. Zuingli and Luther, the principal organs of the Reformation in its incipient stages, though of one mind in their opposition to the errors and corruptions of Rome, yet differing in temperament, psychological organization, moral character, education, and political as well as social relations,—became the types of two tendencies in theology, worship, church government, and practical life. These tendencies, Reformed and Lutheran, one as to their life-principle, developed their points of difference from the beginning, giving rise to two Protestant confessions which, with various modifications, have been perpetuated down to the present time. The difference is general rather than particular. It lies in the genius, or spirit, pervading the whole character of each confession, rather than in peculiar dogmas, ecclesiastical organization, or forms of worship. The most satisfactory view is obtained, not by reading the theological controversies, or looking at the peculiarities of external manifestation, but by a thorough study of the entire history of Lutheranism and Reform.

Yet the difference, as it appears in the sphere of theology, may serve as an index to the general character of the two confessions.

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