Biography

“I fear those ministers among us who seem to be terribly afraid of Pietism. They do not explain the distinction between a false and a true Pietism. To have ever a greater and deeper measure of the latter is surely one of our greatest needs. It fits so beautifully into our Lutheran system that it ought to be a part of its warp and woof. Indeed it is the very essence, the heart and life of true Lutheranism. God give us more of it!

4 Nov 2021

The Rev. Phineas D. Gurley, D.D., Mr. Lincoln’s pastor while President, writes: “I have had frequent and intimate conversations with him [Lincoln] on the subject of the Bible and the Christian religion, when he could have had no motive to deceive me, and I considered him sound, not only on the truth of the Christian religion, but on all its fundamental doctrines and teachings. And, more than that, in the latter days of his chastened and weary life, after the death of his son Willie, and his visit to the battlefield of Gettysburg, he said, with tears in his eyes, that he had lost confidence in everything but God, and that he now believed his heart was changed and that he loved the Saviour, and, if he was not deceived in himself, it was his intention soon to make a profession of religion."

29 Sep 2021

“Professor Jacobs is an exceptionally sympathetic and competent biographer… (He) has availed himself of all the latest sources of information, and done the needful work of selection and condensation with excellent judgment and skill.” — Christian Intelligencer.

13 Apr 2021

John Lehmanowsky was born in Warsaw in 1773 to a Jewish family, and as a young man he converted to Christianity. Through a series of events he became known to Napoleon, and took part in many campaigns including the destruction of the Inquisition at Madrid. He escaped from Austerlitz, and later prison. As an immigrant to the US, he served the church in many ways, and was a friend to Lafayette, Henry Clay, and others. Lehmanowsky explains:

7 Apr 2021

“The Life of Dr. Passavant should have been given to the Church at least a decade ago… Such lives are lived for others. They are not over when those who lived them are gone, but being dead they yet speak. The stories of these saints are written for our inspiration, for our warning and for our comfort. If posterity is to have the benefit of such lives, their story must be written. It ought to be written while the memory of the heroes is still fresh and the heart still warm towards them.”

6 Apr 2021

“In throwing these various adventures together, I have followed as nearly as possible the actual course of my journeying from one country to another, so as to form the whole into a sort of continuous narrative, though in one case I jump from Brazil to Texas in order to bring in some relevant incidents which occurred long after the one related in the first part of the Brazilian story.

5 Apr 2021

“Dr. Weidner was never affected by the wanderings and vagaries of liberal Theology. He stood four-square and firm on the old foundations of orthodox Lutheranism. He wanted every point proved by Scripture. He brought in a wealth of learning from collateral literature. He knew the trends and tendencies of the theological thinking of the day. He knew how to compare the new wine with the old. He was convinced and he could convince his students that the old is better. The old is better not because it is old, but because it is what God gave us, and it satisfies the deepest wants of the soul. Not every user of Weidner’s Dogmatics will agree with every detail that he worked out. Neither will every one agree always that his way of putting things is the best or the only way. But on the whole his teaching will be accepted as sound and Scriptural by loyal Lutherans.”

24 Feb 2021

“Amid other employments in this the evening of his long and useful life, Mr. East has, we think, been wisely guided to revise and publish these remarkable pastoral experiences. They include some exceedingly interesting cases of conversion and spiritual revival.” — John Macfarlane, from the Introduction.

18 Feb 2021

“This introduction business is seldom a satisfactory affair. Once when I was introduced as the main speaker, it was not much of an occasion, I was wondering what a remarkable man the chairman was talking about. When it dawned on me that I was the man, I realized with a pang what I might have been; now it was too late.

18 Dec 2020

“If ever any man was competent to write on true Christianity, that man was John Arndt. It had become his very life; it entered into the very center of his own experience; it was an essential part of his being, and hence it was only necessary to let the mouth utter that, of which the heart was full. We need not be surprised that this book, at its first appearance, met with undivided approbation and an extensive sale. It was properly regarded as the first book of devotion in the protestant church, and soon established for itself the character of a masterpiece of unperishable value.

17 Dec 2020