Questions on Christian Topics: Answered From the Word of God

Carl Manthey-Zorn was born in Sterup, Schleswig, Germany in 1846. He was a graduate of the Leipzig Mission Institute in 1870 and served as a missionary of the Leipzig Mission to India (1871-1876). He left the Leipzig Mission after theological differences (the church survived) and came to America, where he served as a pastor in Sheboygan, Wisconsin (1876-1881), and in Cleveland, Ohio at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, the second oldest Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in Ohio (1881-1911). Among Lutherans, he calls the state churches of Germany, "sad." Listing the American synods of that time, he says The General Synod was a mess because it used the word "contained" in declaring the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures; The United Synod of the South was tolerating false doctrines; The General Council opened her pulpits to preachers of unorthodox sects; The Ohio Synod assumed a Lutheran coloring by declaring harmony with the Missouri Synod, but weakened its position by saying God has met us half-way, and where can you find that in the Bible; The Iowa Synod was sticking with Ohio and thus teaching that faith in Christ is not solely and entirely due to the grace of God; The Buffalo Synod was leaning toward popery and ordination to the ministry, and was so far afield it almost wasn't worth discussing. For Manthey-Zorn, finding an orthodox, true believing church was like herding cats, as it is for many of Gibson's and Warren's critics.