I have added a translation of C. F. W. Walther’s Beiträge zur Vertheidigung der christlichen Religion (“Contributions to the Defense of the Christian Religion”), from Der Lutheraner I.5 and I.8 (1844). The English title is And they call that Enlightenment!

Briefly:

  • Scoffers claim that trusting Scripture means rejecting reason, and they call that “Enlightenment.”
  • Reason alone gives no sure or consistent answers about God, life’s purpose, or what follows death.
  • Reason is still a valuable gift for ordinary life, learning, and every subject within its proper limits.
  • The mysteries revealed in Scripture are above bounded reason, not contradictions against it.
  • Making reason the judge of revelation is setting the sun by the clocks—and they call that enlightenment.

The project page has the source citation, the full translation, and a PDF.

Read the translation: And they call that Enlightenment!