Now, if the
"Taufbuechlein," " Tract or Directory for Baptism," of Luther, _in which
Exorcism is commanded_, was thus prescribed and received [tr. note:
there is a space here which could be meant to contain the word "by"] two
or three principalities or provinces of Europe, the position of the
Platform is vindicated; but the truth is, it was received by entire
kingdoms and provinces, and retained in practice for centuries; so that
the Platform is more than sustained. Let us _first_ hear the testimony
of the best authorities of Germany on the subject, and _then_ sum up
the results.
(_a_) _Dr. Guericke, [Note 1] Professor of Theology at Halle, the author
of a well-known Church History, testifies: "Moreover, the Smaller
Catechism (of Luther) contained, even in the oldest known German
edition, (Wittenberg, 1529,) several forms of prayer, the Family
diretory [sic] or selection of Scripture passages on the
duties of all orders and conditions of men, and the Directory for
marriage and _baptism, all of which supplementary tracts were also
received into the_ FIRST _authentic edition of the German "Book of
Concord_." The baptismal directory was therefore received into the very
first authentic edition of the symbolical books.
(_b_) _Dr. Koellner_, Professor of Theology at Goettingen, in his
excellent "Symbolik," p. 501, states: "There was a Latin Directory for
Baptism extant, (in the Romish church,) which Luther translated into
German unaltered in 1523.
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