“He was an original man, and said and did things differently from other persons… A very good man, he suffered persecution for his zeal for the truth.” Table of Contents John Christopher Hartwig (1716-1796) Language Conflicts in New York City Attacked for His Orthodoxy at Rhinebeck, New York Hiatus in Pennsylvania Return to New York A Very Good and Most Eccentric Man Publication Information John Christopher Hartwig (1716-1796) Of the early history of this individual we have no information. He came to this country when quite a young man, in the capacity of Chaplain to a German regiment in the service of England, during the first French war, as it is called. He was intimate with our Lutheran ministers in Pennsylvania, and sympathized with them in their difficulties. He aided them in their efforts to build up the Lutheran church in this country, and seemed interested in the extension of Christ’s kingdom. He was a member of the first Lutheran Synod held in this country, in 1748, and preached the sermon on the occasion of Mr. Kurtz’s ordination, from the words, “His blood will I require at thy hands.”
“This discussion brings us to the important subject of capital punishment. Capital punishment is the legally enjoined punishment for the crime of murder. It is the conviction of many that the enforcement or non-enforcement of this penalty has much to do with the attitude of our people toward the Fifth Commandment, the first requirement of which is not to take human life. Notwithstanding, there are a great many who consider this punishment as contrary to the spirit of the age and of Christianity.”
Some idea of the high estimation in which Mr. Handschuh was held by the Christian community of different denominations, may be gathered from the account given in the papers of that day of the funeral services. It is said, that out of regard for the memory of the deceased, at one o’clock, P. M., eight bells of the Episcopal church were rung, in addition to the three of our own schoolhouse, which produced considerable sensation in the city [of Philadelphia].
The Fifth Commandment (“Thou Shalt Not Kill”) has not become antiquated… (In it) we have a statement of that Law of God which gives emphasis to the sacredness of human life, and throws about it the protecting shield of His care.
How refreshing the thought, that we too, if we are faithful, shall meet and mingle with those who lived and served God in past ages of the church, of whom the world was not worthy; that we shall recognize those whom as Christians we loved on the earth, but whom, as glorified spirits, we shall love still more in heaven.
Listen to what the Lord says through the mouth of St. Peter: “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether it be unto the king, as supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by Him. For so is the will of God.”
“Some there are, whose names will live, Not in the memories, but the hearts of men. Because those hearts they comforted and raised. And where they saw God’s images cast down, Lifted them up again, and blew the dust From the worn features and disfigured limbs.”
To live means more than having food and shelter or any degree of material prosperity. Merely to vegetate, to exist, is not truly to live. To spend an existence of isolated selfishness is not really to live. A round of useless or silly pleasures is a poor, shallow, unsatisfactory kind of life.
Moral courage was a striking trait in Dr. Keller’s character. He was adequate to any emergency, requiring its exercise. He never shrunk from the performance of any work to which duty called him. He was bold and fearless in the advocacy of such measures as he thought were right, regardless of the praise or the censure of his fellow men.
We have, in a measure, prepared the way for the consideration of this Fourth Commandment by our meditation on the Christian family. If all families were Christian families, if all parents lived and wrought in the midst of their families in the fear and love of God, and made it their chief concern to have their children follow them in this, then we should have the least possible trouble in having the Fourth Commandment fulfilled. Lovelessness and disobedience will never entirely perish from the earth so long as humanity carries about with it its sin-tainted flesh and blood, but they flourish least in the atmosphere of a true Christian home. And in such a home honor for parents, and loving obedience also flourish best.
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