At the time of Christ all the countries around the Mediterranean Sea were ruled by the Roman emperor. The Romans, and still more the Greeks, who were subject to them, excelled all other peoples at that time in science and arts. But they were heathens, and did not know the true God. Many had, however, lost faith in their own gods, and began to look about for salvation elsewhere. And with these the Gospel speedily found entrance. Paul had established Christian congregations in Macedonia and Greece; and even in Rome there was a large congregation. About one hundred years after the death of Christ there were congregations throughout the Roman empire. But heathenism was still very powerful, and many ridiculed the faith of the Christians, that One who had been crucified should be the Savior of the world, and sit at the right hand of God, and should return to judge the quick and the dead. They did not confine themselves to ridicule; many of the emperors permitted the Christians to worship their Lord and Savior in peace; but others persecuted them cruelly, as Nero had persecuted them in the days of the apostles. For about two hundred and fifty years the Christians were exposed to persecutions, and many were those who suffered death for Christ’s sake. Polycarp, who in his youth had heard the apostle John, was in his old age bishop of Smyrna, in Asia Minor. He was brought before the Roman governor, who promised him his liberty if he would curse Christ. But he answered: Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me aught but good; how can I then curse Him, my Lord and my Savior? The governor threatened to cast him before wild beasts. But Polycarp remained steadfast. He was sentenced to be burned alive, and he ascended the pyre, praising the Lord who found him worthy to suffer the death of a martyr.
Many both men and women remained steadfast during the tortures. Many heathens who beheld this were awakened to forsake their idols and believe on that Lord who could inspire His believers with such courage. And thus the persecutions served to open many hearts for Christianity.
Constantine, who has been called the Great, became emperor over the whole Roman empire in the year of our Lord 323. He was friendly toward Christianity, and proclaimed full religious liberty, so persecutions now ceased in all Roman countries. On his deathbed he confessed Christianity and was baptized. In his time magnificent churches were erected, and the clergy came to great influence and honor. Unfortunately he gave the Church, and especially the clergy, too many privileges, and helped to advance the power of the bishops. In the course of time this became more and more destructive to the Church.
At the time of Constantine there arose in Alexandria, in Egypt, a heretic by the name of Arius. He taught that Christ was not from eternity, but had a beginning, at the beginning of time, and was consequently a creature. Alexander, the bishop of Arius, defended the faith of the Church, that the Son was true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and One with the Father. Many took sides with Arius, and therefore Constantine called a council or synod of the Church at Nice, in Asia Minor, in the year 325. The Church had at that time eighteen hundred bishops. Of these, three hundred and eighteen met. Athanasius, who took the part of Alexander, especially exerted a great influence on the meeting through his clear exposition of the Word of God and by his great gift as a speaker. After a discussion lasting two months Arius was excommunicated from the Church as a heretic teaching false doctrines. His doctrine nevertheless found adherents for about three hundred years, and even at the present time we meet with them. The Church had to resist other heretics in subsequent times.
Southeast of Palestine the large peninsula of Arabia is situated. Here lived about the year 600 a man named Mohammed. He was a merchant, who for the sake of commerce visited many countries, and became acquainted with both the Jewish and the Christian religion. He was a clever man, and had great gifts as a speaker. He determined to start a new religion, composed partly of what he had heard and partly of his own inventions. He pretended, perhaps imagined, that the angel Gabriel had appeared to him in a cave, and had instructed him what to teach. His chief doctrine was: There is one God, and Mohammed is his prophet. God had sent many prophets into the world, such as Moses and Christ; but Mohammed was the last and the greatest. He promised his followers a paradise of sensual pleasures. There was at this time a great deal of division in the Church, and no single country was powerful enough to resist the Arabians. At the time of Mohammed’s death he ruled over all of Arabia; and his successors, called Caliphs, conquered many countries in Asia and Africa, and they nearly exterminated Christianity where they came into power. The Arabians penetrated even into Europe, and conquered Spain, where they existed for about eight centuries.
The teachings of Mohammed are contained in a book called the Koran. His adherents are called Mohammedans. The Turks are Mohammedans, but have taken the power from the Arabians, and the sultan of Turkey, residing in Constantinople, is the head of the “faithful.”
While Christianity suffered such great losses in Asia and Africa, it was spread by faithful workers over the whole of Europe. A monk by the name of Ansgar, afterward called Saint Ansgar, came from Germany to Denmark in 826, and labored there and in Sweden for the introduction of Christianity for forty years, surrounded by many dangers. He has been called the Apostle of the North. It took, however, a long time before Christianity was firmly established in these countries. In olden times the people of Norway, as well as of Denmark and Sweden, were heathens; their gods were called Asas. But at the time when Christianity reached Norway, the faith in Odin and Thor was not very firm. Many believed in nothing but their own strength. It is thus told about King Harald the Fairhaired, that he placed no trust in the Asas, but “believed in that god who was the strongest, and had made all and ruled over all.” The Northmen who first heard anything about Christ were Vikings, who sailed west and south on their robbing expeditions. Some of these were baptized, many only in order to receive the presents that were given those who were baptized. But such Christianity as this had no power, and we hear nothing of any efforts on their part to spread it when they came home. The Norse chief, Helge the Lean, who had been brought up in Ireland in the Christian faith, and later resided in Iceland, continued in his faith in Christ; but when he was on the sea or in danger he turned to Thor.
Haakon the Good, who in England had been brought up in the Christian faith, wished to introduce it into Norway, when he was made king. He even got some priests from England and built some churches; but the people of Trondhjem opposed his efforts, and Haakon himself was forced to sacrifice to the gods.
Haakon the Earl was the last heathen ruler of Norway. He believed so strongly in the power of the old gods that during the battle with the Jomsvikings he sacrificed his own son to obtain victory. In an insurrection he was killed by his own slave, and Olav Trygveson became king. He had accepted Christianity during one of his sea expeditions, and had been baptized. He was zealous for the progress of the faith, and traveled through the country to Christianize the people. Where this could not be accomplished with leniency, force was employed. Several who resisted baptism were tortured to death. He introduced Christianity in Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, but did not reign long enough over Norway to accomplish his purpose there. When he had reigned five years, he fell in the battle at Svolder, in the year 1000.
Olav Haraldson, afterwards known as Saint Olav, introduced Christianity throughout Norway. On one of his Viking expeditions he had been converted and baptized. He was of an earnest character, and Christianity made a deep impression on his mind. He resolved to Christianize the whole country, and for that reason went from one district to another, building churches and installing priests.
According to the custom of the times he often employed cruel means. The people were provoked and rose in rebellion, and Olav fled to Gardarike, or Russia. From thence he returned after a time with an army, and treated the people with great kindness, but they met him with a superior force at Stiklestad, where Olav was killed after a great slaughter, in the year 1030. He had then been king for about sixteen years.—Miracles were soon reported to have been wrought by his corpse, and after a few years he was canonized as a saint. His bones were put in a shrine, which afterwards was placed on the altar of the cathedral at Trondhjem, where they remained until the time of the Reformation. Pilgrimages were made to this relic from far and near; pilgrimages belonged to the superstitions of the times.
The bishop of Rome soon became the most powerful among the bishops and was called pope, that is, papa (father). Some popes were pious, God-fearing men, who were zealous for the advancement of God’s kingdom on earth; others endeavored only to extend their own power and importance; and some were downright wicked.
The popes claimed and claim to this day that they are the representatives of Christ on earth. They made the claim that Christ had placed Peter over the other apostles and over the whole Christian Church. Furthermore, that Peter was the first bishop in Rome, and that his power was inherited by the following bishops. As the vicegerents of Christ they, of course, must be infallible in doctrine; but they have nevertheless often advanced doctrines that were only human opinions, and even in direct opposition to the Scriptures. They established the doctrine to worship the virgin Mary and other dead men and women, and canonized them as saints. They claimed that these saints prevailed greatly with God, and therefore prayers must be offered to them for intercession and help. These saints were said through works of penitence and good deeds to have done not only enough to be saved themselves, but to have had a surplus of holiness. This treasure of sanctity the popes had a right to dispose of, and could even sell it for money. Thus arose the horrible sale of indulgences.
Baptism and the old confession of faith, or the three Articles of Faith, remained unchanged; but the Lord’s Supper had been greatly changed. Laymen may only eat of the bread, but must not drink of the wine.
The popes tyrannized conscience and assumed the power to release any one from the oath he had sworn. Whosoever would not submit to the command of the pope were placed under the ban, that is, they were in a solemn manner excommunicated from all the blessings of the Church and surrendered to eternal damnation.—The worst of all was, that the people were prohibited from reading the Bible, so they could not see how erroneous the doctrines of the Church were in many respects.
Besides the regular priesthood, the monks were also considered servants of the Church. Some of the monks dwelt alone in secluded places, and were then called hermits. Others dwelt together in large buildings, called convents or monasteries. Their superior is called abbot. The abbot is under the control of the pope, who thus has the monks in his service. Women dwelling in convents, and in general subject to the same rules as the monks, are called nuns. Their female superior is called abbess. The monks were in the beginning pious and God-fearing men; besides this they were industrious, and labored for education. Later on they became worse, they were indolent and riotous, and too many of them broke their promise of chastity. No one else spread so many superstitions and errors among the people as the monks.
The heresies of the Church were so numerous and so great that many could not help perceiving them. But the popes were for many centuries so powerful that any one who dared to oppose them would fare badly. John Huss in Bohemia had preached against the sale of indulgences, and was therefore burned alive at a great church meeting held in the city of Constance, even though the emperor had given his word that he should be permitted to depart in peace from the meeting. The emperor was informed that he was under no obligation to keep his word to a heretic.
Meanwhile more and more people began to have their eyes opened to the condition of the Church. Education became greater and more extended, for the art of printing had been invented.
About one hundred years after Huss was burned, Martin Luther stood forth and began that great improvement in the condition of the Church which is called The Reformation. Luther was born in 1483, of poor parents, in the city of Eisleben, Saxony, in the center of Germany. According to the intention of his father he was to read law, but on account of his anxiety for his soul’s salvation he, at the age of twenty-two, entered a convent and became a monk. Here he faithfully performed all the requirements of a life in the convent: prayed, fasted and mortified his flesh; but he could not find peace for his soul. An old monk advised him to seek consolation in the old, then almost forgotten words: I believe in the forgiveness of sins. These words Luther took to heart, and as he diligently read the Bible and the writings of the church fathers[8], he at last clearly saw that man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. After Luther had been in a convent for three years, he was called as teacher to the university at Wittenberg. Hither came a hawker of indulgences, a monk named Tetzel, who with the greatest audacity sold forgiveness of sins for money. At this, Luther was filled with indignation, and on the 31st of October, 1517, he nailed on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg ninety-five theses against the sale of indulgences and other errors. These theses were quickly circulated throughout Germany, and many pious and educated men acknowledged that Luther was right. It was not Luther’s intention to attack the pope, for he yet believed that the papacy was instituted of God, and thought that when the pope should be informed of the true condition of the case, he would grant his approval of Luther’s act. But they thought differently in Rome. Luther was placed under the ban of the Church. In the meantime he had diligently read the Bible and history, and it was clear to him the papacy was not instituted of God. He therefore paid no attention to the ban, but took the bull[9] of the pope and burned it under an oak outside of the city of Wittenberg. He was now summoned to appear before Charles V., emperor of the Roman empire, at the diet held in the city of Worms, 1521. Many dissuaded him from going; they reminded him of the fate of Huss; but Luther answered: If there were as many devils in Worms as there are tiles on the roofs, yet would I go. When he came to Worms, he was ushered into the diet, an assembly where the emperor, the legate of the pope and many princes and bishops were gathered. It was demanded that he at once should recant everything he had taught; but Luther answered: Unless I am convinced by the Scriptures, or by clear and binding reasons, I neither can nor will recant; for it is not advisable to do anything against conscience. Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise. God help me! Amen.
He was now declared an outlaw, and any one could with impunity kill him. He was, however, permitted to leave Worms in peace. But the elector of Saxony, his prince and protector, caused his own servants to seize him as he was departing, and had him secretly carried to the castle of Wartburg. Here he abode unknown for ten months, and the world believed he was dead. In this place he began his excellent translation of the Bible into German, and finished the New Testament. At the end of that time he returned to Wittenberg and continued to labor by preaching and writing. In 1529 he published his Small Catechism, to be used in the instruction of children and youth, and his Larger Catechism as an aid for the teachers.
Luther’s adherents daily became more numerous. Among them were many princes. At the diet of Augsburg, in 1530, they laid before the emperor a confession of their faith, written by the learned and gentle Philip Melanchthon, and approved by Luther. In the Augsburg Confession the Lutherans had now secured a confession, in which they all united. All who would could now see for themselves that Luther did not teach a new doctrine, but the old, true Christian faith.
When Luther died, in 1546, his doctrine was spread over half of Germany, the whole of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and had gained adherents in England, France and other countries.
Contemporaneously with Luther, Ulric Zwingli stood forth in Switzerland against the sale of indulgences and other errors. His work was continued by the Frenchman, John Calvin. Calvin’s adherents are called Calvinists, or Reformed; they differ from the Lutherans in the doctrine concerning the Lord’s Supper, predestination and some other doctrines. The Reformed confessions are held in Switzerland, Holland, Scotland, England, and to some extent in France. Lutherans and Calvinists are called, although historically improperly, with one common name, Protestants, in opposition to the adherents of the pope, who are called Roman Catholics.
Hans Tausen, a Danish monk, had studied at Wittenberg and heard Luther. On his return to Denmark he preached the Evangelical doctrine, and it was adopted in 1536 as the religion of the country.
In about the same manner it went in Sweden. Two brothers, Olaf and Lars Pehrson, had studied in Wittenberg, and brought the Evangelical faith home on their return. It was in 1544 adopted as the religion of the country.
Norway was but poorly prepared for the Reformation. Education was poor. A German monk named Anton preached the Evangelical doctrine in Bergen in 1528. His preaching found favor with the citizens, and the bishop, an indolent man, moved to his residence outside of the city; but we find no account of any general awakening. Anton afterwards became priest in the city.
Norway was at that time united to Denmark. When the Reformation, therefore, was introduced into that country, it was as a natural consequence established in Norway, in 1537. At first it found small favor with the people, who remained Roman Catholic, and in several places even used violence against the Evangelical clergy. Little by little, however, the Evangelical doctrine became better known and found more favor with the people. This was owing more to the bishops Geble Pedersen in Bergen, Jens Nilsen in Oslo and Jørgen Eriksen in Stavanger than to anybody else. Eriksen has been called “the Luther of Norway.”
The Lutheran Church was transplanted to North America in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by the immigration of Lutherans from France, Holland, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and other lands.
The Lutheran Church in America has always been in spirit and loyalty, in character and institutions, an American Church.
According to the “Lutheran World Almanac for 1927-1928” there has been a growth in membership from 900 in 1562 to 4,112,680 in 1927.
The Lutherans of America are divided into 21 general bodies, as follows: United Lutheran Church, consisting of 35 constituent synods, 1,311,167 baptized members; Joint Ohio Synod, 256,575; Iowa Synod, 214,257; Buffalo Synod, 11,083; Jehovah Conference, 1,500; Augustana Synod, 308,943; Norwegian Lutheran Church, 488,108; Lutheran Free Church, 43,094; Eielsen Synod, 1,200; Church of the Lutheran Brethren, 1,600; United Danish Church, 29,259; Danish church, 19,200; Icelandic Synod, 7,936; Suomi Synod, 35,300; Finnish National Church, 8,032; Finnish Apostolic Church, 50,000; Missouri Synod, 1,086,953; Joint Wisconsin Synod, 212,558; Slovak Synod, 13,131; Norwegian Synod, 7,611; Negro Mission of Synodical Conference, 5,123.
There are 27 Lutheran Publication Houses, publishing in 1927 177 papers, having 1,699,385 subscribers; also 541 new books, 237 reprints, 106 pamphlets, a total of 3,126,510 copies.
Of Higher Schools there were 159: Theological Seminaries, 33, with 180 teachers and 1,637 students; Colleges, 36, with 779 teachers and 14,203 students; Junior colleges and academies, 90, with 793 teachers and 15,813 students;—a grand total of 1,752 teachers and 31,653 students, 18,614 boys and 13,039 girls.
Each Synod maintains or supports some Foreign Mission work, both through its regular Board of Missions and voluntary agencies, particularly the women’s federations and young people’s societies. The chief mission fields are in: China, India, Japan and Kurdistan, Liberia, South Africa, Tanganyika, Madagascar and New Guinea; also among Indians of North and South America, Negroes and Eskimos. 881 missionaries and 6,727 native workers are engaged in the foreign fields among a baptized membership of 262,760, on an annual budget of $2,681,963.00.
The Home Mission Boards, with an annual appropriation of $2,352,125.00 try to gather the unchurched Lutherans of America into the Church and aim also to bring the Gospel to the unchurched neighbors of every race and color within the United States and Canada.
The work of Charity is pushed in many ways by Boards, Committees, Societies and Institutions. Of institutions there are 73 Orphans’ Homes, with 597 employees, caring for 4,700 children; 69 Homes for the Aged, with 387 employees and 2,499 inmates; 106 Hospitals and Homes for Defectives, with 3,884 employees and 236,228 patients. There are 11 Deaconess Homes. The 31 Home Finding Societies, with 100 employees, placed 473 children in homes during 1927.
There are also many other activities, congregational, synodical and intersynodical. One of the chief intersynodical agencies is the National Lutheran Council, organized in 1918 to meet emergencies requiring common action. This Agency has expended several million dollars during the decennium in relief and reconstruction work in the countries afflicted by the World War; also in rescuing the foreign mission fields affected by the War.
The Lutheran Church in America emphasizes the importance of Biblical teaching and preaching and strict obedience to the Word of God by its members.
The Norwegian Lutheran Church of America was organized on June 9, 1917, by the union of the Hauge Synod, the Norwegian Synod and the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America.
After the Reformation, Christianity has been proclaimed in far distant lands by missionaries. Hans Egede, a clergyman in Vaagen, Nordland, Norway, resigned his charge to go and preach the Gospel in Greenland. None had gone there with the Word of God since the Black Death in the fourteenth century.
In 1842 the Norwegian Mission Society was organized. Schreuder went as its first missionary to southern Africa. He labored mostly among the Zulus, among whom he died in 1882. Many followed his example and went out to heathen nations to bear witness of Christ. The society later on began missionary work in the island of Madagascar, where it has established many large Christian congregations.
The Norwegian Lutheran Synods in America have also been engaged in mission work among the heathen, as follows: the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America has its field at Hupeh and Honan, China, with 70 missionaries and 873 native workers; in southeastern Madagascar, with 31 missionaries and 450 native workers; in Natal including Zululand, South Africa, with 8 missionaries; among the Indians of Wisconsin, with 2 missionaries; among the Eskimos of Alaska, with 3 missionaries. (The figures are for 1927.) The Norwegian Lutheran Free Church has its fields in southwestern Madagascar and Honan, China; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Elling Synod), among the Indians of Wisconsin; the Lutheran Synod of the Brethren, in Honan, China. In addition to these synodical missions, the Norwegian Lutherans of America have conducted independent missions among the Jews of Palestine, Russia and the United States, the Santals of India, the Nestorians of Chaldea, the Mohammedans of Kurdistan and the Negroes of the Southern States and the Soudan.
Both Catholics and Reformed have, during the last century, been energetic in missionary work. In 1926 about 750 Protestant Missionary Societies were in existence, carrying on missionary work amongst the heathen in every part of the world. Four hundred and fifty of these societies were working in Asia, 200 in Africa, 200 in North America, 110 in South America, 60 in Australia and the South Sea Islands.
The earliest Bible society was the Canstein of Halle, founded in 1712. The largest Bible society is the British and Foreign Bible Society, founded in 1804. It has translated the Bible or parts of it into many languages and dialects, and has distributed about 400,000,000 Bibles and New Testaments. There are also other important Bible societies, of which we shall mention two: the Norwegian Bible Society, organized in 1816, which has issued about 3,000,000 Bibles and New Testaments; the American Bible Society, organized in 1816, which has issued over 185,000,000 Bibles and New Testaments. In 1926 the Bible was translated into 800 languages and dialects. Of 10 million copies given away in 1926, China alone got almost 4 million copies.
The Gospel has never before been preached in so many countries as at present, but yet the prophecy is far from being fulfilled, that there shall be one Flock and one Shepherd. In 1927 the population of the world was 1,850,000,000; and of these only 683,000,000 were nominally Christians, while 15,000,000 were Jews, 209,000,000 were Mohammedans, and 943,000,000 were heathen.
The country known by the names of Canaan, Palestine, the Holy Land and the Promised Land is located in Asia, at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, and not far from Africa. It is not far from Europe, and consequently very near the center of that part of the earth which was known to the ancients. It has an extent of less than six thousand square miles, being about one twenty-second part of the size of the kingdom of Norway. It has now about three hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, but had formerly a great many more. When King David numbered the people, he found one million three hundred thousand who could bear arms. One-fourth of a population is generally considered able to bear arms, and the number of inhabitants at that time must have exceeded five millions.
The country is very mountainous. To the north, in Syria, is Mount Lebanon, ten thousand feet at its highest, and east of this is Mount Hermon. Lebanon was famed for its magnificent cedars. From Lebanon and Hermon two mountain ranges extend southward through the whole length of the country, one to the west, the other to the east of the river Jordan. Jerusalem lies two thousand five hundred feet above the ocean. The river Jordan runs two hundred miles from north to south, and divides the country into two parts. It flows through the Lake of Gennesaret, which has been and is yet very rich in fish, and empties into the Dead Sea, which is forty-five miles long and ten miles wide. The Dead Sea lies thirteen hundred feet lower than the Mediterranean Sea. The water has a bitter taste and is very salty. Neither animal nor vegetable life can exist in it. If a fish happens to stray from the Jordan into the lake, it dies. Such is now the condition of that plain which once upon a time was as the garden of Eden.
Palestine lies far south; its summers are therefore hot, and the winters mild. In Jerusalem, which lies at such great altitude, snow may occasionally fall in January and February, but melts immediately.—The land used to be very fruitful, producing grain, wine, many kinds of fruit, and had good pastures. In the Bible it is called “a land flowing with milk and honey.” Now it is entirely different. The country has through many centuries been badly governed, and the saying appears to be true that where the Turk sets his foot, grass will grow no more.—Of forests may be mentioned the Woods of Ephraim, where Joab slew Absalom. The cedar wood, with which Solomon ceiled the temple, came from Lebanon.—The camel was a beast of burden, and used mostly in traveling.—Of wild animals there were lions and bears, as we read in the stories of Samson and David.
The country was at first divided into twelve parts among the twelve tribes. Later on it was divided into the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. At the time of our Savior it was divided into four parts: Judæa, Samaria, Galilee and Perea. Judæa was the southern, Samaria the middle, Galilee the northern part west of the Jordan river; while Perea was east of the Jordan.