Liberty in Bavaria, Germany
By J. T. Boettcher
Some time ago the readers of the Review were told how hard it was to proclaim the truth of God in Bavaria. To-day we are glad to say that God has worked in our behalf; for “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” We believe this to be another sign of the times. For a number of years we have tried, by way of petitions to the department of the interior for church and school affairs in Bavaria, to obtain freedom for our gospel work; but all in vain. All our petitions seemed to be disregarded. All our missionary efforts had to be done in secret; nevertheless God blessed the laborers in giving them many souls. Our baptisms were performed in the night, away from the city. The ordinances of the Lord’s house were held in the private rooms of our brethren; not in the same place twice in succession, for fear of being found out. Finally I concluded to go to Munich and have a personal interview with the minister of the interior. But before I could see this gentleman, I had to have an audience with the chief counselor of the government, who has all such affairs in hand, and through whom alone I could gain admittance to the minister. When I entered his office, he simply ignored me, and said that the Seventh-day Adventist people were not wanted in Bavaria, and that I would not be permitted to see the minister of the interior. The next day I called again, and asked what steps I should take in order to get to the minister. The chief counselor was rather surprised to see me back again so soon, and offered me a chair. I thanked the Lord for this. Then he began to ask questions, and wished to know what we believed. I took my Bible out of my pocket, and gave him a short synopsis of the different points of our faith. He was much interested in the prophecies of Daniel 7, especially when he learned that these symbols are engraved over the portals of the city hall in Nuremberg. “Well,” he answered, “I am a Catholic; you will not make an Adventist out of me.” I replied that I was only showing him what the Bible taught. “Suppose,” he said, “you write this down and send it in. But I won’t promise you anything.” I told him that we would pray for him so that he could not do otherwise than speak a good word for us. I asked if he would read some of our books. He replied that he would, so the third day I took a nicely bound copy of “Christ’s Object Lessons,” wrapped in fine silk paper, and handed it to the gentleman. He was still more surprised to see me come the third time. He took the book, and thanked me very cordially for it. Afterward we sent in the following petition:— “The undersigned respectfully submit to the Kingly Minister of Interior for Church and School Affairs of Bavaria, the following petition: A religious organization has been formed in Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Alsace-Lorraine, and Hessia, also in countries outside of Germany, holding the name ‘Seventh-day Adventists.’ In southern Germany they are organized as the South German Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. This religious body is organized very thoroughly. All the members in the world compose the General Conference, with headquarters in Washington, D. C., United States of America. The General Conference is divided into union conferences, the union conferences into local conferences. The South German Conference is a part of the German Union. In nearly every large city we have members; the city of Berlin alone has over four hundred members. Also in Bavaria, in Hof, Bayreuth, Nuremberg, Aussbach, Neu-Ulm, Augsburg, Memmingen, and Munich there are members. “This society is based on nothing else than the Bible, and is therefore Christian. It differs, however, from other Christian bodies in the fact that its members observe the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday), the day which God instituted. They believe that Christ was made flesh, and by his life and death on earth redeemed mankind. As the name Adventist indicates, they believe the second coming of Christ to be near at hand. However, they are not fanatical, and set no time. Their endeavor is to do as Christ taught: serve God and uplift humanity. They further believe it to be the duty of every man to keep the moral law as found in the ten commandments. Their public service consists in prayer, where each one prays for himself, and not according to some written form; in religious songs; and in the reading of the Bible. They also conduct public lectures. “These principles have found their way to many hearts. The lives of these people are a proof of their high endeavors and aims to help sinful man. They also have large institutions where the principles of health reform are taught, and disease eliminated. They educate their young people to become missionaries and nurses, and send them out into all the world. “In order that the members in Bavaria can give themselves unreservedly to the furtherance of their cause, and conduct their meetings in harmony with their belief, they petition the Kingly Minister of State:— “The Kingly Ministry of State of the Department of the Interior for Church and School is asked to kindly examine the above petition, and upon approval present it to His Royal Highness in behalf of liberty for the Seventh-day Adventists in Bavaria.” For a long time we heard nothing, so we filed another petition. During the year 1906 we had two filed, one in June and another in the fall of the year. We were told to keep on asking, and so we did, like the importunate widow in the Bible. Of course our people prayed to God every day over the matter. In the meantime we organized temperance and17Bible societies under another paragraph of the law. April 19, 1907, the prince regent granted us full liberty. When the news came to me, a number of brethren were at my house, and we had a prayer-meeting, and tears of joy and thankfulness were shed. The following is, in short, the wording of the document sent to us:— “In the Name of His Majesty the King. “His Royal Highness Prince Luitpold, Regent of the Kingdom of Bavaria, has graciously granted that the Seventh-day Adventists be permitted to freely perform their religious services in Bavaria in accordance with the paragraphs 32 and ff. of the II addition to the Constitution. “The president of the conference of Seventh-day Adventists is to be informed accordingly, and should be expressly given notice that this permission to the Seventh-day Adventists as a private church society certainly does not in any respect affect the general citizen obligations of their believers, especially as far as the school and military service are concerned. “[Signed] DR. VON WEHNER.” This to us means much. Now we have been openly acknowledged as a church society. In other parts of Germany this has not yet been done. The Lord has certainly been good to us, and therefore we dedicate ourselves anew to his service. Now we are called to a still harder field, Russia, where we pray that God may go with us.