23. Gettysburg Subscription Limited.—At the time of organization of the General Synod, Samuel S. Schmucker and F. C. Schaeffer of New York apparently occupied a relatively advanced confessional position. According to a letter of Schmucker, dated Princeton, February 20, 1820, they had promised each other to labor with all earnestness that the Augsburg Confession should be raised again from the dust, and that every one subscribe to its twenty-one articles, and declare before God, by his subscription, that they agree with the Bible, notquatenus, butquia. (Singmaster,Dist. Doct., 44.) In 1826 Schmucker wrote, in defense of the Lutheran doctrine of the Person of Christ: "Only lack of insight and of clearness of intellect can mislead an honest opponent to impute a contradiction to the doctrine when it denies that the glorified body of Christ has the properties and is subjected to the laws which we call properties and laws of matter." (Lutheraner, April 12, 1852.) When, in 1825, the statutes for the government of the Seminary at Gettysburg were adopted, it was at the instance of Schmucker, the first chairman of the faculty and for nearly forty years a teacher at the Seminary, that the General Synod declared "that in this Seminary shall be taught in the German and English languages, the fundamental doctrines of the sacred Scriptures as contained in the Augsburg Confession of Faith," and that any professor may be removed "on account of error fundamental doctrines, immorality," etc. (5.) Article I, Section 2, of the Constitution of the Seminary, drawn up Schmucker and adopted by Synod, states that the Seminary is designed "to provide our churches with pastors who sincerely believe, and cordially approve of, the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures as they are fundamentally taught in the Augsburg Confession." Another article requires every professor-elect to publicly pronounce and subscribe the following declaration: "I believe the Augsburg Confession and the Catechisms of Luther to be a summary and just exhibition of the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God." And when Schmucker, September 5, 1826, was inducted into the "professorship Christian theology," D. F. Schaeffer, who delivered the charge, said: "As the Lord has signally favored our beloved Church, as her tenets are Biblical, and her veriest enemies cannot point out an important error in her articles of faith, no more than could the enemies of the truth at the Diet of Worms prove the books of the immortal Reformer erroneous, therefore the Church which entrusts you with the preparation and formation of her pastors, demands of you (and in her behalf I solemnly charge you) to establish all students confided to your care in that faith which distinguishes our Church from others. If any should object to such faith, or any part of it, or refuse to be convinced of the excellence of our discipline, they have their choice to unite with such of our Christian brethren whose particular views in matters of faith and discipline may suit them better. I hold it, however, as indispensable for the peace and welfare of a Church that unity of sentiment should prevail upon all important matters of faith and discipline among its pastors. Hence I charge you to exert yourself in convincing our students that the Augsburg Confusion is a safe directory to determine upon matters of faith declared in the Lamb's book." (Spaeth, 1, 336.) Accordingly Dr. Jacobs interprets the Gettysburg pledge as follows: "It was a pledge to a distinctively Lutheran position. Such an affirmation could never have been enforced in the proposed Lutheran-Reformed seminary which the ministerium [of Pennsylvania] had had in mind. It could not have been exacted of those who believed the confession to be in error on those points which divide the Lutherans from the Reformed. In justice, however, to those who might seem to have been acting a false part in making this affirmation while they believed the confession to contain errors, it must be stated, on the other hand, that the full force of the declaration was not so clearly apparent in a period directly following one when, as we have seen, the greatest living theologian of the Lutheran Church in America could distinguish no difference between the Augsburg Confession and the formularies of the Church of England." This interpretation appears to be in agreement with the solemn charge of Schaeffer, according to which the pledge refers to that faith which distinguishes our Church from others." However, Schmucker and his successors viewed the phrase "fundamental doctrines of the Word of God" as a restriction, limiting the subscription to the doctrines confessed by all evangelical denominations, thus eliminating from the pledge distinctive Lutheran doctrines. And the historical correctness of this view has never been satisfactorily refuted. Schmucker declared time and again: "The Augsburg Confession was not to be followed unconditionally; its binding force was expressly limited to the fundamentals. The professor's oath expressly limits our pledge to the Augsburg Confession to the fundamental doctrines of the Scriptures." He wrote: "After the abandonment of the General Synod, in 1823, by the Synods of Pennsylvania and New York, that body was chiefly sustained by the zeal and activity of younger men, in connection with a few beloved fathers who remained with us. At the very next meeting of the General Synod, in 1825, I had the pleasure, as well as honor, to introduce, for the first time in the history of that body, the recognition of the Augsburg Confession. At that time there were none amongst the friends of the General Synod who did not reject several tenets of the Augsburg Confession, such as private confession and absolution, as we all still do. Accordingly, the assent to the Augsburg Confession, expressed in the statutes for the Theological Seminary presented by me, was aqualifiedone; it should and was intended to bind only to thefundamentalsof the Scriptures as taught in the Augsburg Confession. The language was well understood then, and was deemed clear and satisfactory; it has always been interpreted in the same way since, except by some, of late, whose predilections would incline them to find in it, if possible, some support for their more rigidly symbolic views." (Spaeth, 1, 338.) In theEvangelical Review, April, 1851, Schmucker declared: The General Synod established her theological seminary "not for the purpose of teaching the symbolic system of the sixteenth century,—for her leading members had all relinquished some of its features,—but, as her Constitution, adopted in 1825, explicitly declares, to prepare men to teach, not all the doctrines or aspects of doctrine in the Augsburg Confession, but the 'fundamentaldoctrines'; and not those aspects of doctrine which might be considered fundamental peculiarities of that Confession, but 'the fundamental doctrinesof the Scriptures' those aspects of doctrine which Christians generally regard as fundamental truths of the Word of God. The symbolical books of the General Synod and the seminary at Gettysburg are the Bible and the Augsburg Confession, as a substantially correct exhibition of the fundamental truths of the Bible. To this the professorial oath of office in the seminary adds a similarfundamentalassent to the two Catechisms of Luther. For the professors to inculcate on their students the obsolete views of the old Lutherans contained in the former symbols of the Church in some parts of Germany, such as exorcism, the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, private confession, baptismal regeneration, immersion in baptism, as taught in Luther's Larger Catechism, etc., would be to betray the confidence of those who elected them to office, and to defeat the design of the institution." (Spaeth, 1, 338 f.)
24. Doctrinal Statements from 1829 to 1835.—The Pastoral Letter of the convention of the General Synod in Hagerstown (Haegerstadt), 1829, contains the following statements: The object of the General Synod is not to introduce absolute uniformity also in non-essential doctrines; such a unity did not exist in the early Christian congregations; it is sufficient to adhere to the fundamental tenets of the Reformation; every teacher and layman is entitled to use his Bible without being bound by any human confessions; the General Synod merely demands acceptance of the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel as taught in the Augsburg Confession, and leaves everything else unlimited; but she does not agree with those who absolutely reject all confessions of faith; the Church is in need of a confession in order to protect herself against the Socinians; most of the confessions, however, have lost themselves into minute (spitzfindige) and doubtful dogmas, and thus encouraged the spirit of superstition and schism, and naturally must continue to do so, the longer, the more; in every one of the different orthodox [evangelical] denominations, frequently, indeed, in the same congregation, there are persons who differ as much in their opinions as the confession of their Church differs from that of other Churches; accordingly, there is no reason why synods bearing the name of Luther should not unite with the General Synod, though differing in their views as to non-fundamentals; the General Synod has no power to call members of individual synods to account for aberrations in doctrine or life; the most it can do is to admonish such a synod to investigate the matter; however, a synod refusing to demand orthodoxy in fundamentals can be expelled from the General Synod; in brief, the four synods now constituting the General Body are so many independent ecclesiastical jurisdictions, united only in order to promote brotherly love, and to combine their forces in the execution of such things as are of general benefit, and which no individual synod could perform. (16.) "The General Synod therefore," says the letter of 1829, "only demands of those who are connected with her that they hold the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel as they are taught in the Augsburg Confession, and leaves all other things unlimited." "Why, then," the letter continues, "should not all those synods of our country that bear the name of our immortal Luther, and have always yet retained the chief traits of this sublime Reformer, be united by the tender bond of the General Synod, notwithstanding the different opinions which they may entertain in; some points which do not touch the foundation of the Augsburg Confession?" (16.) It was in accordance with the sentiments expressed in this letter when the General Synod at the same convention in Hagerstown adopted for its district synods a constitution with a form of licensure and ordination containing the questions: "Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God and the only infallible rule of faith and practise?" "Do you believe that the fundamental doctrines of the Holy Scriptures are taught in a manner substantially correct (wesentlich richtig) in the doctrinal articles of the Augsburg Confession?" (43. 45.) Prior to 1864 the General Synod as such, however, was not in any shape or manner committed to the Augsburg Confession constitutionally. In 1835, when the Constitution was amended, Synod as such remained non-committal. The doctrinal basis then adopted and embodied in the Constitution does not mention the Augsburg Confession. It reads as follows: "All regularly constituted Lutheran synods holding the fundamental doctrines of the Bible as taught by our Church, not now in connection with the General Synod, may at any time become associated with it by adopting this Constitution and sending delegates to its convention, according to the ratio specified in Art. II." (Proceedings1839, 49.) Evidently this deliverance, though marking an advance over the Constitution of 1820, intentionally omits a direct reference to the Augustana. Till 1864, then, the exact constitutional basis of the General Synod as such was not the Augsburg Confession, but the indefinite phrase: "the fundamental doctrines of the Bible as taught by our Church." All other confessional deliverances of the General Synod till 1864 may be summarized as follows: The fundamental doctrines of the Bible,i.e., the doctrines in which all evangelical (non-Socinian) Christians agree, are taught in a manner substantially correct in the doctrinal articles of the Augsburg Confession.
25. "A Solemn Farce."—The doctrinal basis of the General Synod, prior to 1864, is limited in more than one way. It does not embrace all of the Lutheran symbols. It includes only the twenty-one doctrinal articles of the Augustana. It binds only to the fundamental articles of the Bible. It presupposes that fundamental articles are such only as are agreed to by all evangelical Churches. It leaves the question whether all of those twenty-one articles of the Augsburg Confession are to be regarded as "fundamental doctrines of the Bible" undecided. It adopts the articles of the Augsburg Confession regarded as fundamental, not simply and absolutely, but merely as substantially correct." On the question of the ordination form of 1829 Krauth, Jr., commented in 1857 as follows: "What, then, is that question? We reply, in general: First, that the subject of her general affirmation is not the Book of Concord as a whole, but simply and purely the Augsburg Confession. Secondly, that not the entire Confession, but only the twenty-one articles of it which treat of doctrine, are specified in the affirmation. Thirdly, that only so far as these articles embracefundamentaldoctrines does she make an affirmation. Fourthly, that of these she affirms that they teach the doctrines in a correct manner, and defines the correctness as asubstantialone." (Spaeth, 1, 386.) J. L. Neve explains: "They [General Synod] considered what the Lutheran Church has in common with the other churches, and looked upon this as the fundamentals of Christianity, while the characteristic peculiarity of the Church of Luther, her special inheritance, was set aside as non-fundamental and unessential." (Geschichte, 90.) Accordingly, the General Synod, prior to 1864, did not subscribe to the distinctive doctrines of the Lutheran Church, but only to the doctrines held in common by the evangelical churches of Protestantism. Charles Philip Krauth, who was styled a Symbolist and Old Lutheran by the latitudinarians, declared in 1850, in his address before the General Synod at Charleston: "The terms of the subscription [to the Augustana] are such as to admit of the rejection of any doctrine or doctrines which the subscriber may not receive. It is subscribed or assented to as containing the doctrines of the Word of God substantially; they are set forth in substance; the understanding is that there are some doctrines in it not contained in the Word of God, but there is no specification concerning them. Every one could omit from his assent whatever he did not believe. The subscription did not preclude this. It is at once evident that a creed thus presented is no creed; that it is anything or nothing; that its subscription is a solemn farce." (Spaeth, 1, 370.)
26. Authentic Explanation of Doctrinal Basis.—In hisPopular Theology, published for the first time in 1834, S. S. Schmucker wrote: "The General Synod of the Lutheran Church has adopted only the twenty-one doctrinal articles, omitting even the condemnatory clauses of these, and also the entire catalog of Abuses corrected. No minister, however, considers himself bound to believe every sentiment contained in these twenty-one articles, but only the fundamental doctrines. Accordingly, the pledge of adoption required at licensure and ordination is couched in the following terms . . .: 'Do you believe that thefundamentaldoctrines of the Word of God are taught in a mannersubstantiallycorrect in the doctrinal articles of the Augsburg Confession?' The Lutheran divines of this country are not willing to bind either themselves or others to anything more than the fundamental doctrines of the Christian revelation, believing that an immense mass of evil has resulted to the Church of God from the rigid requisition of extensive and detailed creeds. . . . We can see no sufficient warrant for any Christian Church to require as a term of admission or communion greater conformity of view than is requisite to harmony of feeling and successful cooperation in extending the kingdom of Christ. . . . Had the early Protestants endeavored to select the principal and fundamental doctrines of Christianity, required a belief of them from all applicants for admission into their ranks, and agreed among themselves that discrepance of views on matters of non-fundamental nature should neither be a bar to ecclesiastical communion nor fraternal affection, they would have saved the Church from the curse of those dissensions by which piety was in a great degree destroyed and on several occasions the very foundations of Protestantism shaken." (Edition of 1848, 50 ff.) In 1850, attacking Reynolds in theLutheran Observeron account of his defection from American Lutheranism, Schmucker stated: From the very outset the General Synod had abandoned the distinctive Lutheran doctrines, and nevertheless retained the Lutheran name; in spite of his deviations from the Lutheran symbols he, with perfect right, could call himself a faithful Lutheran. (L., 6, 139.) Schmucker, "the most authentic interpreter of the Constitution of the General Synod and that of its theological seminary," never identified the "fundamental doctrines of the Bible" with the twenty-one articles of the Augsburg Confession. According to him the fundamentals are obtained by striking from the Augustana everything that is objectionable to any Evangelical Church and retaining the remainder as the substance of Protestantism. All of the fundamental doctrines, Schmucker declared, are contained in the ecumenical creeds; everything else is trans-fundamental, not required by the General Synod for Christian union and communion. In his sermon at the convention in Winchester, 1853, Schmucker maintained that the essential, fundamental doctrines in which the General Synod demands agreement, are "the cardinal doctrines of the Reformation, the points of agreement between the different creeds of the sixteenth century," distinctive doctrines being points of non-essential, non-fundamental difference. According to Schmucker the General Synod's motto, "Uniformity in fundamentals and charity or liberty in non-fundamentals," never meant anything else than uniformity in the doctrines in which the evangelical denominations agree, and liberty with respect to distinctive tenets, also those of Lutheranism. In hisLutheran Manualof 1855 Schmucker wrote: "The founders of the General Synod were men of enlarged, liberal, and Scriptural views of the kingdom of Christ. Convinced of the gradual abandonment of the whole mass of symbolical books in Germany, as well as from the personal examination of them, of their want of adaptedness to the age, they regarded it as the grand vocation of the American Church, released by Providence from civil servitude, to reconstruct her framework, assuming a more friendly attitude toward sister churches, and so organizing as to promote Scriptural union among Protestants, and to bring up our church-institutions to the increased light of Biblical study and Providential development. This enlightened, this millennial attitude of the founders of the General Synod, the writer can confidently affirm, from personal knowledge, having been well acquainted with the greater part of them, and having been present at Baltimore in 1819, when the formation of the Synod was, after ample discussion, resolved on; and at Hagerstown, in 1820, when the Constitution was formed. But the Constitution speaks for itself; for it invested the General Synod with power to form a new Confession of Faith, and new catechisms, suited to the progress of Biblical light and the developed views of the Church. Subsequently it was believed that the necessities of the case would be best met by the retention of the Augsburg Confession, on account of its importance as a link in the chain of historical Christianity, and by prescribing itsqualifiedadoption,viz., as to the fundamental aspects of Scripture doctrine. . . . It is an incontestable fact, which can easily be established, that the original standpoint of the General Synod, whilst controlled by the Pennsylvania Synod, was rejection of the binding authority of the old confessions. This is undeniably proved by their not even naming the Augsburg Confession in their Constitution, by their declining even a qualified recognition of it, and by their inserting a clause expressly giving authority to the General Synod to form a confession of faith; yea, even going further, and giving the same authority to each District Synod also. (See the original Constitution, Article III, Section 2.) It seems to me no intelligent and unprejudiced mind can resist this conclusion as to their doctrinal standpoint, whilst I and others who were present know it to have been as above stated." In his manuscript notes Schmucker says: "It is worthy of constant remembrance that during the first four centuries, under the immediate pupils of the inspired apostles and their successors, the voice of the universal Church under the whole heaven was that nothing more than fundamental agreement should be required for communion in the Christian Church and Christian ministry. Not a single orthodox church practised differently. All required assent only to the several ecumenical confessions, the so-called Apostles' and the Nicene Creeds. . . . No, the practise of binding the conscience of ministers and members to extended creeds, containing minor points, on which men in all churches and all ages have differed and ever will differ, and thus splitting up the Body of Christ without His authority, is, and must be, highly criminal. The fathers who founded the General Synod all considered the recognition of fundamentals as sufficient, and here, in this free country, determined to return to the practise of the earlier and purer centuries of the Church. These fathers were Drs. J. G. Schmucker, George Lochmann, C. Endress, F. W. Geissenhainer, Daniel Kurtz, H. A. Muhlenberg, P. F. Mayer, H. Schaeffer, and D. F. Schaeffer, Rev. Gottl. Shober, and Rev. Peter Schmucker, with their younger colaborers, Drs. Benjamin Kurtz, S. S. Schmucker [Charles Philip Krauth?]. [tr. note: sic] Holding this opinion, they did not introduce any recognition, even of the Augsburg Confession, into their original Constitution in 1820. But at the third meeting, in 1825, they adopted certain resolutions for the foundation of the theological seminary and statutes for its government, and bound its professors to the fundamental doctrines of Scripture as taught in the Augsburg Confession. They thus returned to the principles and practise of the earlier and purer centuries of the Church, when the influence of the Savior and His inspired apostles was more sensibly felt in the Church." (Spaeth, 1, 342. 337. 354.)
27. "Lutheran Observer" Interpreting Basis.—Apart from its coarseness and fanaticism, especially during the thirty years' editorship of Dr. B. Kurtz, theLutheran Observerhas throughout its existence, from 1831 to 1916, always been an essentially correct exponent of the original doctrinal and confessional attitude of the General Synod. Consistently a General Synodist cannot disown theObserverwithout renouncing the General Synod itself. Now, according to theObserver, the General Synod has always stood for unity in essentials, or fundamentals, and liberty in non-fundamentals, understanding by fundamentals those doctrines only in which Evangelical Christendom is agreed, and by non-fundamentals distinctive tenets, also those of Lutheranism. Quoting from Dr. S. Sprecher's inaugural address at Wittenberg College, Springfield, O., theLutheran Observer, October 26, 1849, declared that Lutherans [of the General Synod], in adopting the confessions, "do not bind their conscience to more than what all evangelical Christians [denominations] regard as fundamental doctrines of the Bible. We are bound to believe only that the sublime plan of the Gospel is taught in the Augsburg Confession. This is the position held by the General Synod and by the American Lutheran Church in general, and this seems to have been the position also of the Church in the earlier and purer days of the Reformation." (L., 6, 57.) In 1860 theObserverdeclared that the General Synod was organized on the basis of a compromise with respect to doctrines of minor import, such as the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, of the power of Baptism and of absolution.Observer, April 8, 1864: "We ought to be one in the doctrine of faith which embraces the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, while we should practise love with respect to other things. By fundamental doctrines we understand such and such only as are necessary to make a man a true child of God. . . . Who can be a Christian and deny the essence and existence of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the atonement, the doctrines of repentance and faith in Christ, the necessity of justification before God and of sanctification of the heart, or the moral law as the rule of life, the doctrine of immortality and our future destination? These doctrines, which are essential to faith and Christian life, are fundamental and ought to be received by the heart and practised, while all other doctrines may be necessary more or less in order to perfect the Christian character and render it more symmetrical, but do not strike the heart of true religion." (L. u. W., 1864, 154.)Observer,March 12 and 19, 1869: "The doctrinal basis of the General Synod demands adoption of the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God as taught in the Augsburg Confession, but she has never determined which doctrines she regards as fundamental and which not. Formerly she was satisfied with the general judgment of the Protestant world with respect to the fundamental articles of Christianity . . ., but during the last decade the question was extensively discussed: What is fundamental? We see no reason why the General Synod could not and should not supplement her basis by a definition and enumeration of the fundamental doctrines. . . . According to the universal judgment of the Church the doctrinal opinions in which the orthodox Protestant Churches differ are not fundamental, but non-fundamental doctrines. Whether God's decree of election is absolute or conditional; whether the corruption of the fallen nature of Adam was propagated or only the guilt of his sin was imputed to his descendants; whether the atonement is universal or limited to the elect; whether justification occurs by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ to believers or by the imputation of faith; whether the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper is bodily or spiritual; whether the receiving of body and blood is by faith or by the mouth, is limited to believers or extends also to unbelievers; whether the church government is participated in by laymen or limited to the ministers; whether the Scriptural principles on this matter establish an hierarchy or democracy—these and many other questions are differently answered by different Protestant denominations, but without objectively destroying the ground of faith or subjectively the essence of faith. . . . In short, the doctrinal views which still separate the Protestant churches are not fundamental." (L. u. W., 1869, 121.)
28. Krauth on "Fundamentals Substantially Correct."—The essential correctness of Schmucker's and theObserver'sinterpretation of the General Synod's doctrinal basis was acknowledged also by Charles Porterfield Krauth. "The very life," said he, "the very existence of the General Synod depends upon the distinction between fundamentals, in which agreement is required, and non-fundamentals, in which liberty is granted." And while his father had condemned the confessional basis of the General Synod as a "solemn farce," Krauth, Jr., in 1857, declared: "Let the old Formula stand and let it be defined." In theMissionary, April 30, 1857, Dr. Krauth explained: "The doctrinal basis of the General Synod, then, was designed to be one on which, without sacrifice of conscience, brethren differing in non-fundamentals might meet. It is a basis which, on the one hand, neither by expression nor by implication charges error upon any part of the doctrinal articles of the Confession, but as far as it touches the question at all, expresses or implies the very opposite; a basis, therefore, on which brethren who receive the Confession without reservation can rest, but which, at the same time, on the other hand, defines its position only as to what is fundamental, leaving entirely untouched the questions whether non-fundamental doctrines are taught in the Confession, and whether, if taught, they are taught in a manner substantially correct. Furthermore, in using the word 'substantially' to qualify the term 'correct,' in the affirmation as to fundamentals, the General Synod meant not to decide, but to leave untouched the question whether, as to its very letter as well as in its essentials, the Confession is a correct exhibition of Scripture doctrine. The position, in effect, implied this: Brethren may differ as to whether the non-fundamental doctrines as well as the fundamental doctrines are correctly stated in the Confession. Let them differ. We make no decision whatever as to that point. Both agree as tofundamentals; therefore fundamentals only shall be the object in this subscription. We affirm of them that they are taught correctly in the Confession. Of the non-fundamentals we affirm nothing and deny nothing. Neither their reception nor rejection has anything to do with this basis. But brethren differ on another point. Some receive the very letter of the Confession on all points of doctrine; others, who receive it to the letter on most points, receive it only as to its main drift on a few. Let, then, that which is apart from the substance be left out of view, and be the subject neither of affirmation nor of denial. Let us make the affirmation simply on thesubstantialcorrectness of the Confession, for on that all are agreed. Here, too, shall be the same absolute freedom toreceivewhat is apart from the substance as torejectit." Dr. Krauth proceeds: "The basis of the General Synod, then, does not imply that non-fundamentals are falsely taught, or that the correctness of the Confession on fundamentals ismerelysubstantial. The questions which touch non-fundamentals, or matters apart from the substance, aresimply waivedand left undetermined. Thus interpreted, the most devoted friend of the Confession, in all its parts, as well as he who is compelled to make a reservation as to some portions, can freely use the Formula. It was the best basis possible, under all the circumstances, and we are therefore satisfied with it." "If, when the General Synod affirmed that thefundamentalswere correctly taught, she had declared or implied that the non-fundamentals were incorrectly taught, no Lutheran who believed that the Augsburg Confession is sound onallthe doctrinal points it touches, or who believed that none but fundamental doctrines are set forth in the Confession, could have received the Formula. She satisfied herself, therefore, with an affirmative about fundamentals, making neither an affirmation nor denial in regard to non-fundamentals. She left the synods in absolute freedom in non-fundamentals, freedom to doubt, to reject, or to receive them." "So also when she declared that the fundamentals of Scripture-doctrine are taught in a mannersubstantiallycorrect, she neither declared nor implied that they were not taught in a manner absolutely correct, but … as all who believe that they are set forth in a mannerabsolutely correct, believe, necessarily, that they are taught in a mannersubstantiallycorrect; for that which is absolute embraces that which is substantial and something more; she simply makes an affirmation, so far as two classes (if thinkers are agreed, affirming nothing and denying nothing as regards that in which they differ, but having absolute freedom to doubt, reject, or receive that which goes beyond the substance, and embraces the minutiae of the form. The man who has a quarrel with this position of the General Synod has a quarrel not against something incidental to her, but against her very life. For on this position, expressed or implied, rested, and continues to rest, the ability of our General Synod to have a being." (Spaeth, 1, 402. 399. 401. 395 f.) According to Krauth, then, there was constitutional room in the General Synod for Schmucker and Kurtz as well as for Walther and Wyneken; room for all who accept the fundamental doctrines in which evangelical Christians agree, but deny the distinctively Lutheran doctrines, and room also for men who confess all doctrines of the Lutheran Symbols. As late as October 29, 1863, Krauth declared in theLutheran and Missionarythat there was nothing in the Basis of the General Synod to bar even the Missouri Synod from entering it with the whole mass of confessions in her arms. (L. u. W., 1863, 378.) Dr. Krauth overlooked the fact that a Lutheran who adopts the symbolsex animo, and does not merely carry them in his arms, is serious also with respect to the confessional damnamuses with which a unionism and indifferentism, as required by the General Synod, is absolutely incompatible. In 1901 theLutheran Quarterlysaid: "The damnamuses at the conclusion of several of the articles of the Augsburg Confession are inconsistencies . . . fundamental contradictions with the positive sense of the Confession." (359.) TheQuarterlycould have said, and probably wanted to say, that these damnamuses are fundamental contradictions with the doctrinal basis of the General Synod. In complete agreement with Krauth, theObserverwrote September 11, 1903: "The General Synod affirms and emphasizes what is universal in Lutheranism, and leaves the individual at liberty, within this generic unity, to receive and hold for himself whatever particularities of Lutheran statement may commend themselves to his acceptance. The only liberty denied him is that of forcing the particular upon his brethren who are content to rest in the full acceptance of what is universal in Lutheranism. It allows the same liberty in practise." (L. u. W., 1903, 305.)
29. Early Attitude.—The unionism which prevailed in all Lutheran synods since the days of Muhlenberg was freely indulged in also by the General Synod during the whole course of her history, in various ways, especially in the exchange of fraternal delegates and the fellowship of pulpit and altar. In 1825 the General Synod published with great satisfaction a letter received from Dr. Planck, of Goettingen, stating: Though there was in Germany no hope for a union of Protestants and Catholics, the sectarian hatred between the Lutherans and the Reformed had abated, indeed, disappeared, inasmuch as a complete union of them had been effected in Prussia, Hesse, Nassau, the Palatinate, Baden; these "reunions" had been brought about under conditions which guaranteed their permanence, since both parties had convinced themselves that there was no difference of views among them with respect to the foundation of faith, and had agreed that the difference which might still exist with respect to some points of the Lord's Supper could no longer be a hindrance to their unity of faith and spirit; this union, inasmuch as the parties no longer regarded themselves as divided, really existed in all Protestant states of Germany, even where, as yet, it had not been acknowledged formally. (24 f.) According to the Proceedings of 1827 "the Synod was gratified by the deep interest evinced by this letter [of Dr. Planck] in the affairs of our Church in the United States, and received the good wishes of its distinguished author with grateful feelings. The corresponding committee was directed to answer this communication." (5.) It was in keeping with the spirit of Planck's letter that the minutes of 1827 furthermore recorded: "The following gentlemen were present and [were] admitted as advisory members . . .: The Rev. Mr. Helfenstein, of Philadelphia, as delegate from the Bible Society in that city; and Rev. Mr. van der Sloot, as delegate from the General Synod of the German Reformed Church." (5.) "Resolved, That the General Synod of the Ev. Lutheran Church in the United States regard with deep interest the exertions of the American Tract Society, and recommend the design of said society to the churches under their care; to give it their aid by the formation of auxiliary societies, and such other means as have been recommended by the parent institution." (7.) "Rev. Mr. Hinsch appeared and presented to this body the minutes of the German Reformed Synod, and received a seat as an advisory member, whereupon it was resolved that an equal number of the minutes of this Synod be sent to the Synod of the German Reformed Church." (8.) "The subject of publishing a new hymn-book in the German language, adapted to the joint use of Lutheran and Reformed Churches, was now taken into consideration. After some discussion it was resolved that as the joint hymn-book for the Lutheran and Reformed Churches now in use is introduced in a large number of our congregations, as it is possessed of considerable merit, and as the introduction of a new one would be attended with much expense to our congregations and confusion in worship, therefore the General Synod deem it inexpedient to publish or recommend the introduction of a new one in the churches under their care." (11.) "Rev. N. Sharrets was appointed as delegate to the Synod of Ohio, and the Rev. B. Kurtz and Rev. J. Schmidt as delegates to the German Reformed General Synod." (12.)Proceedings, October, 1829: "Resolved, That a committee be appointed to report on the proceedings of the German Reformed Synod." (6.) "The delegates of the German Reformed Synod, the Revs. Brunner and Beecher, were cordially received as advisory members." (4.) The constitution adopted 1829 for the District Synods provides: "Ministers, regular members of other synods or of sister churches [sectarian denominations], who may be present or appear as delegates of such bodies, may be received as advisory members, but have no vote in any decision of the Synod." (31.)
30. Exchanging Delegates, Pulpits, Ministers.—In 1847, in a letter to Ph. Schaff, W. J. Mann describes the relation of the General Synod to the Methodists and Presbyterians as a "concubinage" with the sects. (Spaeth,W. J. Mann, 38.) The extent, nature, and anti-Lutheran tendency of this unionism appears from the minutes of the General Synod. At Hagerstown, 1837, a Presbyterian, an Episcopalian, a Reformedist, and a Methodist were received as advisory members. Two Lutheran ministers preached in the Reformed church, two others in the Methodist church, and Dr. Patton, of the American Education Society, in the Lutheran church. At Baltimore, 1848, delegates of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church and of the Dutch Reformed Church were received as advisory members. (5.) The minutes of the German Reformed Synod were received and submitted to the examination of a committee. (9.) Delegates were appointed to the Presbyterian and the German Reformed Church. (11.) At Charleston, 1850, delegates were appointed to the German Reformed, the Presbyterian, the Cumberland Presbyterian, and the Congregational Church. It was also resolved that "the minutes [of the General Synod] be sent to the Congregational Association of New Hampshire, to the Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterians, to the Constitutional Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and to the Synod of the German Reformed Church." (28.) At Dayton, O., 1855, sixteen sectarian ministers were seated as advisory members. (7.) At Reading, 1857, the Committee on Ecclesiastical Correspondence reported: "With the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church we have now been in correspondence for twelve years, and every interchange of delegates only strengthens the conviction expressed at its commencement, that it 'would draw more closely the bonds of Christian union, and so level the mountains and elevate the valleys of sectarianism as to prepare the way of the Lord in His coming to millennial glory.' We rejoice to-day to greet a delegate from that large and influential body of Christians, and tender to him our Christian salutations and brotherly love." (41.) At Pittsburgh, 1859, where fourteen sectarian ministers were invited to seats in the convention, the same committee stated: "The most interesting point to which your committee would call the attention of the General Synod is the prompt and cordial response of the Northern Provincial Synod of the United Brethren (Moravian) to the overture for correspondence made to them at our last meeting in Reading. Like ourselves, they acknowledge the Augsburg Confession as their common bond of union, and have, ever since the commencement of the last century, sustained a peculiar and intimate relation towards our Church. It is only by discipline and forms of church-government that we are separated, and we trust that the step which has now been taken will draw us still more closely together, and tend to our mutual edification and progress in Christian activity as well as in brotherly love." (30.) At Lancaster, Pa., 1862, the delegate to the German Reformed Church reported "that he was most kindly received by that body, and was charged by the same to return its cordial salutations to this Synod, with the hope on the part of our German Reformed brethren that the present fraternal correspondence between our Churches, twin-sisters of the Reformation, may never be interrupted. The President of that body was appointed as delegate to this Synod, and we rejoice to see him present with us now and taking an active interest in our proceedings." (64.) The delegate to the Moravian Church declared that "he takes great pleasure in stating that the fraternal greetings which he was charged to convey to the brethren with most cordially reciprocated, and the earnest desire expressed that the correspondence, so auspiciously begun between the two bodies, might be continued." (64.) At Lancaster it was also recommended to the District Synods that with respect to the Reformed, Presbyterian, and other Churches they adopt the rule: "Ministers and members in good standing, desiring to pass from one of these bodies to the other, shall, upon application to the proper body, receive a certificate of their standing." (16.) In accordance with this rule theLutheran Observer, May 17, 1867, advised Lutherans moving West to unite with sister denominations until a Lutheran congregation should be established at the place. (L. u. W.1867, 182.) At York, Pa., 1864, where sermons were delivered by Lutheran ministers in eight sectarian churches, S. S. Schmucker, delegate to the German Reformed Church, reported that "an invitation was given him to address the Synod, and that the feelings of Christian fellowship which he took occasion to express were cordially and liberally responded to by the presiding officer of the Synod." (31.) Dr. Sprecher, then President of the General Synod, said in response to the address of the delegate from the Presbyterian Church who had spoken of the unity of all Christians, and assured the convention of the sympathy of his brethren with its work, that he was happy to see that the time of exclusiveness of the different denominations had passed by, and that the Church was becoming more liberal in its views in granting greater liberty in nonfundamental articles. (L. u. W.1864, 220.)
31. Exchanging Delegates, etc., Continued.—At Fort Wayne, 1866, where delegates were appointed to the German Reformed Synod, the Presbyterian Church, the Moravian Church, and the Evangelical Church Union of the West, S. Sprecher, delegate to the Presbyterian Church, reported that he was most cordially received, that the fraternal greetings of this body were most heartily responded to by the moderator of the Assembly, and that "on your delegate's quoting, in his address, the Article of the Constitution of this General Synod, inculcating the duty of Christian union, as one of the earliest instances, if not the very first, of an ecclesiastical body's formally expressing such sentiments on this subject, he was pleasantly interrupted by a hearty expression of applause." (36.) In the minutes of the convention held at Washington, 1869, we read: "Dr. Gordon, the delegate from the Reformed (Dutch) Church, then addressed the Synod. The address was characterized by a truly earnest and Christian spirit, and by assurance of a hearty purpose to cooperate with us in every noble effort for the glory of God and the salvation of men. His allusions to Romanism were especially timely and truthful. The President responded in an address, happily conceived and forcibly expressed. On motion it was resolved that the overtures of the corresponding delegate of the Reformed Church concerning the proposed convention for the formation of church union and cooperative agency against a common foe be submitted to a committee to report during the present sessions of Synod." (26.) The delegate of the Presbyterian Church addressed the Synod "in a very pleasant and appropriate address. His kind expressions of good will and sympathy and Christian love were warmly responded to by the President." (27.) The delegate to the German Reformed Church reported: "An opportunity was granted to your delegate to present the Christian salutations of our General Synod, to which the President of their body responded in a warm, fraternal, and most fitting manner." Delegate to the Presbyterian General Assembly: "My intercourse with the brethren of the General Assembly was peculiarly pleasant and satisfactory." (13.) The delegate to the "Unitas Fratrum" (Moravians) stated "that he was most cordially received by the brethren. There is something of the simplicity and love of primitive Christianity about them that renders their assemblages charmingly attractive. The spirit of the Master was evinced in all their doings. Their discussions of some points of church-practises, diverging from their accustomed order, were spirited and thorough, but conducted in the scope of the Pauline sentiment: 'Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another.'" (34.) The General Synod declared: "Our principles not merely allow, but actually demand, fraternal relations with all Evangelical Christians, and especially with other Lutheran bodies in this country." (68.) At Canton, O., 1873, where Lutheran ministers preached in ten sectarian churches, the following letter of greeting from the United Brethren was read: "Our conference and Church duly appreciate every mark of good feeling and regard of sister denominations towards us, and admire the spirit which prompts it, which says, 'We are brethren,' 'We are one.' We are glad to note that the sharp corners of denominational antagonism are wearing away, that the watchmen are seeing eye to eye, that Christians can labor side by side in the common cause and in the same altars, and meet at the same communion, and each rejoice in the other's success. We also remember, with the utmost pleasure, the intimacy of some of the eminent men of your connection with the fathers of our connection,—instance Dr. Kurtz and W. Otterbein,—and trust that the sacred mantle of brotherly love which the fathers possessed may fall upon the sons to many generations. We rejoice in the marked tendency to fraternal union among the evangelical churches of the United States, and are hopeful that we may get near together in all the essentials of Christian oneness. We take great pleasure in appointing a fraternal messenger to your general meeting at Canton, O." (34.) At Carthage, Ill., 1877, delegates were appointed to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, the Reformed (Dutch) Church, the Reformed (German) Church, the National Council of the Congregational Churches, the United Presbyterian Church, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the Provincial Synod of the Moravian Church, the United Brethren in Christ, and to the Evangelical Synod of the West. (26.) At Altoona, Pa., 1881, the following letter was received: "The Presbyterian Church greets, in the name of Christ, her twin-sister, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, born in the throes of the same spiritual reformation, sharing in common a glorious protesting history, marked with glorious deeds and names dear alike to both, a common glorious heritage, kindred symbols and polity, and a work for Christ side by side. May grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with all your ministers and congregations." (54.) At Omaha, Nebr., 1887, thirty ministers of the General Synod preached in 18 sectarian churches, etc. Similar facts are recorded in the minutes of the General Synod down to its last convention in 1917.
32. Altar-fellowship Practised and Encouraged.—At Hagerstown, 1837, after a sermon delivered by Dr. Bachmann, "the brethren, united with many followers of Christ, of our own as well as of sister-churches, celebrated the Lord's Supper." (3.) At Philadelphia, 1845, the General Synod "cordially approves of the practise, which has hitherto prevailed in our churches, of inviting communicants in regular standing in either church [Lutheran and Reformed] to partake of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in the other, and of the dismission of church-members, at their own request, from the churches of the one to those of the other denominations." At York, 1864, and at Fort Wayne, 1866, the report of the Liturgical Committee was adopted, which contained the resolution "that on all subjects on which difference of doctrinal sentiment exists" (e.g., the distribution formula in the Lord's Supper), "Scripture-language, suited to either or both views, is to be employed without comment." (1864,26; 1866,23.) The result was that the union distribution formula was embodied in the Communion liturgy. TheObserver, July 21, 1865, calling upon all Lutherans to join the General Synod, said: "And even if we, as Luther and the Reformed ministers at Marburg, do not think alike on the presence of the Lord in the Lord's Supper, let us have love to those who are in error, and pray God that He would enlighten them. What an offense to see so many thousands of intelligent and pious Lutherans live together like Jews and Samaritans though they all confess [?] the doctrines of the immortal Reformer and want to be disciples of Him who said: It will be one flock and one Shepherd." In 1868 theObserverreported that at Findlay, 0., Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists, Weinbrennerians, and United Brethren celebrated the Lord's Supper in the Presbyterian Church, and adds: "That was a celebration of the Lord's Supper in the true spirit of the Gospel." (L. u. W.1868,95.) In 1894 a conference of General Synod pastors in, and in the vicinity of, Pittsburgh published, in substance, the declaration: "We have open communion, and invite to it all members of the Evangelical Protestant Churches." (L. u. W.1895,58.) Till 1899 the Communion formula of the "Ministerial Acts" of the General Synod contained a general invitation to all members of other Churches in good standing or to all who love the Lord Jesus. (Luth. Quarterly1909,33.) Though followed by a marked decrease in the indiscriminate invitation to the Lord's Supper, the omission of 1899 implied neither a criticism nor the abolishment of the un-Lutheran practise. In 1900 Pastor Butler wrote in theEvangelistthat he agrees with the brethren who make the Lord's Supper a communion with the Low and High-Church Episcopalians, the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, etc. "It is men of Dr. Storr's type," says Butler, "who, of all others, commend Christianity to thoughtful and devout people who care but little for the tweedledum and tweedledee shadings of truth, which divide the religious world." (L. u. W.1900, 246.) Dr. Valentine, in theLutheran Cyclopediaof 1905: The General Synod "enacts no restrictive law against fellowship in pulpit or at altar, but allows to both ministers and members the freedom of conscience and love in this matter." (195.)
33. Other Forms of Unionism.—In his pamphletThe General Synod and Her AssailantsJ. A. Brown writes: "The General Synod was to aim not only at union among Lutheran synods, but to be 'regardful of the circumstances of the times, and of every casual rise and progress of unity of sentiment among Christians in general, in order that the blessed opportunities to promote concord, and unity, and the interest of the Redeemer's kingdom may not pass by neglected and unavailing.' This she has done by entering into correspondence with other denominations, and joining in general efforts to evangelize the world. She has cooperated with the American Bible and Tract Societies, and Sunday-school Union, and like agencies, and excited the contempt of her enemies by these 'unionistic efforts.' But it is believed she thus secured the approval of God and of His true Church, of whatever name." (24.) At Frederick, 1831, the Sunday-school Society of the General Synod appointed Dr. Hazelius and the treasurer of the society to publish German Sunday-school books and tracts in connection with a committee of the Reformed Sunday-school Society. (29.) At Baltimore, 1833, a committee was appointed to report on the advantages or disadvantages of a union between the Reformed and Lutheran Churches. At Hagerstown, 1837, the General Synod adopted the report of their committee stating with respect to the proceedings of the East Pennsylvania Synod: "The proceedings contain a resolution to be concerned as much as possible about a closer union with the Church of Christ, and that a complete union of the Evangelical Lutheran and of the Evangelical Reformed Churches would have the most blessed results." (10.) At the same convention the "Foreign Mission Society of the Evangelical German Churches in the United States" was founded, which, however, did not prove a success, having a temporary existence only. According to its constitution, the Society was to embrace all churches or individuals of German descent agreeing with the constitution and making an annual contribution. (39.) Moravians and Reformed were among its officers. The letter addressed in the interest of this Society to the Reformed and other German Churches, inviting them to cooperate, states: "It is our ardent desire that the German Church as such be united in this matter…. Because union in this as well as in all other matters is desirable for the sake of peace, of Christian fellowship, and of true piety,… we, therefore, cordially invite you, dear brethren [of the Reformed Churches, etc.] to cooperate. It matters not who leads the way, as long as he is in the right way." (44.) Synod resolved "that the invitations [to join the Foreign Mission Society] which had been extended to all German Churches without exception, suggest an appropriate admonition that, being convinced that we all are brethren in Christ, our sectarian divisions should be forgotten, and that they offer an occasion for the brotherly cooperation of two Churches which are so close to each other by national descent, similarity of doctrine, geographic neighborhood, and matrimonial relationship." (13.) Synod furthermore declared "that according to the meaning of this Synod the plan which is adopted should include a connection with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions." (13.) At Chambersburg, 1839, B. Kurtz presented a resolution in reference to some plan for a union of effort in the Foreign Missionary field with "our brethren of the German Reformed Church." (33.) At the same convention the Foreign Mission Society proposed organic union with the German Reformed. At Philadelphia, 1845, the General Synod approved of the Reformed publications of the American Tract Society, as also of those of the American Sunday-school Union, and of the extension of the former's operations to the German population. At New York, 1848, the Evangelical (Union) Synod of the West was invited to join the General Synod. The same convention resolved that they "regard with great pleasure the successful operations of the American Tract Society, among the destitute population of our land, and will cheerfully cooperate with them as opportunity may offer." (23.) A similar resolution was adopted in 1864, at York. (L. u. W.1864,284.) At Dayton, 0., 1855, the General Synod declared its undiminished confidence in the American Sunday-school Union, and cordially commended it to the support and hearty cooperation of all churches. (23.) In 1859 (March 23) theOlive Branch, edited by Dr. S. W. Harkey, stated that many congregations connected with the General Synod were still using the union hymn-book. Throughout its history ministers of the General Synod served both Lutheran and sectarian congregations. (L. u. W.1880,190.) In 1863 Harkey proposed a union of all Lutherans in America on the basis of the fundamental Christian doctrines,i. e., the doctrines held in common by all evangelical Protestants, including the doctrine of the divine obligation of the Sabbath which the Augsburg Confession rejects. (L. u. W.1863,91.) Reporting Dr. Crosby's statement with respect to the differences of the old and new-school Presbyterians, "We can agree to disagree," theObserverexclaimed: "Oh, that the intolerant dogmatists of the Lutheran Church would have attained such a degree of Christian love and common sense!" (July 12, 1872.) In 1857 the arch-unionist Philip Schaff wrote inRudelbach-Guericke's Zeitschrift: "To us America seems to be destined to become the phenix grave of all European churches and sects, of Protestantism and Romanism." The General Synod was certainly not a slacker in contributing her bit to fulfil this prophecy.
34. Overtly Renouncing Lutheranism.—In 1845, at Philadelphia, the General Synod appointed a committee to address, in a letter, the Evangelical Church in Germany, in order to defend herself against alleged detractors of her Lutheranism. But the signers of this letter, Schmucker, Kurtz, Pohlmann, Morris, and H. I. Schmidt (then professor in Hartwick Seminary), while believing that they were serving this purpose, in reality made an unreserved confession of the General Synod's complete apostasy from the Lutheran faith and Church. The letter states: The General Synod requires only essential agreement in doctrinal views, strict conformity being impossible in America. Peace can be maintained only by an eclecticism, which adheres to essentials and passes over non-important matters. Accordingly, the position of the General Synod is not that of the Old Lutherans, but of the Union Church in Germany. "Now, as to our doctrinal views, we confess without disguise, indeed, confess it loudly and openly, that the great majority of us are not Old Lutherans in the sense of a small party [Breslauer], which in Germany bears this name. We are convinced that, if the great Luther were still living, he himself would not be one of them." "In most of our church-principles we stand on common ground with the Union Church of Germany. The distinctive views which separate the Old Lutherans and the Reformed Church we do not consider essential; and the tendency of the so-called old Lutheran party seems to us to be behind our age." "The great Luther made progress throughout his life, and at the end of his career considered his work unfinished." The General Synod, the letter continues, agreeing with Luther and the symbols in all essential points, was endeavoring to complete his work. "The peculiar view of Luther on the bodily presence of the Lord in the Lord's Supper has long ago been abandoned by the great majority of our ministers, though some few of the older German teachers and laymen still adhere to it. Regarding the nature and meaning of the presence of the Lord in the Supper, liberty is allowed as in the Evangelical [Union] Church of Germany. The majority of our preachers believe in a peculiar presence and in a peculiar blessing of the Lord, but of a spiritual nature only." "Nevertheless, we are Evangelical Lutheran…. We believe that we may, as honest men, still call ourselves Lutherans." The letter continues: Instead of organizing a separate Evangelical [Union] Church, as it exists in Germany, ministers coming to America should unite with the General Synod. They must, however, not come with the purpose of remodeling the American Lutheran Church according to European standards, which would but lead to failure, strife, and separations. Similar attempts had been made by German brethren through theKirchenzeitung[in Pittsburgh] and in Columbus Seminary, with the result that the paper was losing its support and the seminary was now suspended. (Lutheraner1846,43 f. Spaeth, 1, 330-348.) This blunderful letter was published in Germany in theZeitschrift fuer Protestantismus und Kirche, Vol. 11, No. 4, Schmucker, Kurtz, and Morris being personally present in Germany to defend the letter. Loehe remarked: "We hope that they will carry the conviction from Germany that a time has arrived different from the one when Kurtz first preached and collected in Germany." (Kirchl. Mitteilungen, 1846,48.) A consequence of the letter was that, in 1846, four ministers (Kunz, Wier, Isensee, and Meissner, who immediately organized the Indianapolis Synod, which, however, had a temporary existence only) left the Synod of the West, declaring that they could no longer continue their connection with the General Synod because in her letter she had publicly confessed that she had abandoned a part of the Lutheran doctrine long ago. (Lutheraner1846,11.)
35. Letter Never Disowned by Synod.—The letter of 1845 is a frank confession and adequate expression of the spirit of unionism then prevailing in the General Synod. Indeed, several years later (1852, 1856), H. I. Schmidt, who had signed the letter, expressed his belief in the Lutheran doctrine of the Lord's Supper, and Dr. Morris declared the letter "the greatest blunder" ever committed by the General Synod. The General Synod as such, however, has never criticized, renounced, or withdrawn the letter. Moreover, in 1848, at New York, the letter, in a way, received official recognition by the General Synod. (19. 20. 50.) In hisDenkschriftof 1875 Severinghaus explains: "Even if this letter should have expressed the views of the great majority, it is, nevertheless, only the testimony of a committee, which indeed was never disavowed by the General Synod, but which can have no greater significance than was given it by the authority of the committee of that time." But Severinghaus continues: "Besides, it isstilltrue that the majority among us are not old-Lutheran, and that, in general, we occupy common ground with the Union Church of Germany in most of our church-principles." The truth is that the leaders of the General Synod, in 1845, did not occupy higher, on the contrary, even lower ground than the Lutherans in the Prussian Union. They were not merely unionists, but Calvinists, Puritans, and Methodists, openly defending Reformed errors and practises. While the greater portion of the Prussian Union retained the Lutheran doctrines and usages, the great majority of the General Synod had sacrificed everything specifically Lutheran: doctrines, liturgy, Scripture-lessons, church-festivals, customs, robes, etc. Loehe declared in 1863 that the General Synod was a Union Church, more so than any in Germany.
36. Actions in Keeping with Letter.—A number of subsequent actions of the General Synod were in perfect agreement with the compromising letter of 1845. At New York, 1848, the General Synod resolved "that Profs. Reynolds, Schmidt, and Hay be a committee to correspond with the Evangelical Synod of the West, for the purpose of establishing fraternal intercourse between them and this Synod, and also with a view to the union of all parts of the Evangelical Church in the great work of preaching the Gospel to the German population of the West, and with a reference to the organization of all parts of our Church in this country upon a common basis." (23.) At Dayton, 0., 1855, the committee (W. J. Mann and S. W. Harkey), appointed to open a correspondence with the Evangelical Church Union of the West, report "that they addressed a letter to the Synod named, which was favorably noticed in their proceedings, and a delegate appointed by them to meet with us at this time." Harkey was appointed as delegate to their next meeting. (15.) At Pittsburgh, 1859, the delegate to the same body stated: "I wrote to that body, expressing the very deep interest which we feel in their union. The communication was very fraternally received and a delegate appointed to meet us at this convention of General Synod, who is now present." (32.) At the same convention the committee on Ecclesiastical Correspondence remarked: "You were pleased to hear Mr. Dresel's [delegate of the Evangelical Church Union of the West] statements by which you are assured of the near relationship of the body which he represents to the Lutheran Church generally. They, too, recognize the Augsburg Confession as a part of their confessional basis, although they have modified it by the admission of the Heidelberg Catechism and other Reformed Confessions to equal authority, standing as they do upon the basis of the United Evangelical Church of Prussia and other parts of Germany. It is not our business here to criticize the action of the State authorities in Germany by which that Union was established, or of our brethren who found themselves in this country sympathizing with the Church in which they had there been reared. It was enough for this body to be assured that these brethren are of an evangelical character, holding the great doctrines of Protestantism, and zealously laboring for the diffusion of Christian knowledge and unfeigned piety among their countrymen, especially in the great valley of the Mississippi. Although distinct in doctrinal position and church organization, our relations to them here are of the most interesting character, and you will be pleased to hear of the progress which they are making in various departments of Christian labor." (30.) At Washington, in 1869, the delegate to the Evangelical Church Union of the West reported: "These brethren are earnestly at work in the Master's cause, and in full sympathy with our General Synod. Hoping that our fraternal relations may grow stronger each revolving year," etc. (29.) In 1857 and 1859 the same cordial attitude was assumed toward the Evangelical Church Diet (Kirchentag) in Germany, a letter, in behalf of the Diet, having been received from Bethmann-Hollweg, then Secretary of ecclesiastical affairs in Prussia. (Proceedings1857,21.24; 1859,32.37.38.) In 1909 the General Synod approved of the admission (in 1907) of theVereinslutheranerwithin the Prussian Union into the "Allgemeine Evangelisch-Lutherische Konferenz." (22.) Siding with the Evangelicals, theLutheran Observer, October 9, 1863, declared: "The Evangelical Union of the West forms a wholesome balance against the old-Lutheran tendency of the Missouri Synod." (L. u. W.. 1863,379.) It was, therefore, not in dissonance with the traditions of the General Synod, when, as late as 1909, theLutheran Evangelistproposed a union of the General and Evangelical Synods, maintaining that General Synodists and Evangelicals were natural allies. (L. u. W.1909,180. 421.)
37. "Father" of Evangelical Alliance.—At Chambersburg, Pa., 1839, the General Synod passed the resolution "that the thanks of this Synod be presented to the American Society for the Promotion of Christian Unionfor this acceptable present." The present received by the members of Synod was Schmucker's "Appeal to the American Churches" or "New Plan of Apostolic Protestant Union." The purpose of this book was to promote union among the Protestant denominations on the basis of the ecumenical confessions. It proved to be a powerful factor in the movement which resulted in the organization of the Evangelical Alliance. Schmucker himself, together with Kurtz and Morris, attended the "World's Convention" at London in 1846, where they united with 800 ministers of 50 different denominations in founding the Alliance, which assumed the motto: "Unum corpus sumus in Christo," Schmucker, in particular being feted as the "Father" of this union. Naturally enough also the General Synod took a lively interest in the Alliance, though it was not a union of churches or of representatives of churches, but of individual Christians who were in sympathy with its aims. In 1869, for example, the General Synod "resolved that the delegates to the World's Evangelical Alliance, appointed at Harrisburg, be continued with the addition of Rev. S. Sprecher, D. D., and Rev. S. S. Schmucker, D. D." (64.) At the international conferences of the Alliance the General Synod was regularly represented, also at its last convention in 1914 at Basel. On a local meeting of the Alliance in 1902, at Easton, Pa., theLutherische Kirchenblatt(General Council) reported, in substance, as follows: "More than 60 delegates were present: Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, Evangelicals, Free Baptists, Lutherans (General Synod and General Council), Mennonites, Moravians, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Reformed, Reformed Presbyterians, and United Evangelicals. Resolutions formulated by a committee, of which Dr. Alleman of the General Synod was a member, were unanimously adopted according to which members of one congregation may be received by another in a manner 'that no question of church-polity or doctrine need ever arise.' It was furthermore resolved that in smaller cities and country congregations union services be held throughout the state." (Observer, Dec. 26, 1903.) The following nine articles, which Schmucker viewed as a sufficient basis for every kind of Christian union and cooperation, were adopted by the Alliance at London: "1. The divine inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures. 2. The right and duty of private judgment in the interpretation of the Holy Scripture. 3. The unity of the Godhead and the trinity of Persons therein. 4. The utter depravity of human nature in consequence of the fall. 5. The incarnation of the Son of God, His work of atonement for sinners of mankind, and His mediatorial intercession and reign. 6. The justification of the sinner by faith alone. 7. The work of the Holy Spirit in the conversion and sanctification of the sinner. 8. The immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, the judgment of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the eternal blessedness of the righteous and the eternal punishment of the wicked. 9. The divine institution of Christian ministry, and the obligation and perpetuity of the ordinance of Baptism and the Lord's Supper."
38. "Apostolic Protestant Union."—The plan of Christian Union hatched by Schmucker and recommended by the General Synod is delineated in a report presented 1848, at New York, by the Committee of Conference on Christian Union appointed at the previous session of the General Synod, as follows: "The kind of union to which this body was disposed to invite the several evangelical denominations, and in which she felt it a duty and a pleasure to lead the way in hope of virtually healing the 'Great Schism' of Protestantism, is also definitely delineated by the following portraiture: 'The design to be aimed at shall be not to amalgamate the several denominations into one church, nor to impair in any degree the independent control of each denomination over its own affairs and interests, but to present to the world a more formal profession and practical proof of our mutual recognition of each other as integral parts of the visible Church of Christ on earth, as well as our fundamental unity of faith and readiness to cooperate harmoniously in the advancement of objects of common interest." (11.) "An article was prepared in which, after a glance at the solemn injunction of the Savior and His apostles to preserve unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, the nature and extent of the union prevailing in the primitive churches was delineated as consisting of the following features: a. unity of name; b. unity in fundamental doctrines, whilst diversity in nonessentials was concealed; c. mutual acknowledgment of each other's acts of discipline; d. sacramental and ministerial intercommunion; e. convention of the different churches of the land in synod or council for mutual consultation or ecclesiastical regulation." (12.) "In contrast with this picture of primitive union, the present deplorable divided and conflicting state of the Church was delineated…. In hope of removing the principal evils of these denominational divisions, your committee projected a scheme of Christian union based (in the following four preliminary principles for the guarantee of the rights of individual conscience and denominational religious liberty: 1. This plan must require of no one the renunciation of any doctrine or opinion believed by him to be true, nor the profession of anything he regards as erroneous; nor does the accession of any denomination to this union imply any sanction of the peculiarities of any other. 2. It must concede to every denomination the right to retain its own organization for government, discipline, and worship. 3. It must not prevent the discussion of the points of difference between the several associated denominations, but only require that it be done in the spirit of love. 4. It must either in all or at least some of its features be applicable to all evangelical, fundamentally orthodox [non-Unitarian] churches, and each denomination may at option adopt any or all of its features." (12.) The plan of union offered in accordance with these principles by Schmucker and the committee embraces the following features: 1. Adoption of the nine doctrinal articles of the Evangelical Alliance. 2. Regular interchange of delegates between the supreme judicatories of the several denominations. 3. Cooperation of the different associated churches in voluntary societies, notably such as Bible, Tract, Sabbath-school and Foreign Mission Societies. 4. The more extensive use of the Bible as a textbook in theological, congregational, and Sunday-school institutions. 5. Occasional free sacramental communion by all whose views of duty allow it. 6. A general, stated anniversary celebration and smaller state celebrations, also representation at the ecumenical conventions of the Evangelical Alliance. (12.) The report concludes: "This plan was sent by your committee in the form of a proof-sheet to about fifty of the most distinguished and influential divines of ten different denominations, and these not only returned letters expressing their substantial approbation of the plan, but nearly all of them united with your committee in sending it out over their own signatures as an overture of Christian union, submitted for the consideration of the Evangelical denominations in the United States." (13.)
39. Endorsed by the General Synod.—"According to the conception of prominent leaders," says Dr. Jacobs, "the General Synod was nothing more than the realization of Zinzendorf's dream of 1742, which the coming of Muhlenberg had so quickly dissipated." (History, 304.) But judged by its minutes, what Jacobs limits to its "prominent leaders" is true of the General Synod as such. Synod certainly did not discourage Schmucker in his union schemes. In 1839, at Chambersburg, the General Synod was immediately interested in his "Plan of Apostolic Protestant Union." The committee appointed in the matter recommended "that Synod approve of the several features of the union plan, and submit it for serious consideration to its District Synods." (19.) A following convention appointed Schmucker, Krauth, and Miller as a Committee of Conference on Christian Union to confer with similar committees and prominent individuals of different denominations "on the great subject of Christian Union." At New York, 1848, Synod resolved that the report on Christian Union be adopted, and the Committee on Christian Union be continued." (15.) At Charleston, 1850, the Committee of Conference remarked in its report: "As the general principles of the Apostolic Christian Union,adopted by this body, were fully detailed in our last report, it is deemed unnecessary to enlarge on them in this place." (21.) Schmucker continued his efforts till the year of his death, 1873, when again he made an appeal to the General Synod "for an advisory union among all Evangelical denominations" as an "additional aid to the promotion of the designs of the World's Evangelical Alliance." (53.) The committee to whom Schmucker's letter and his printed appeal was referred, recommended the resolution: "Resolved, That while this General Synod approves of the ends contemplated by the appeal, and commends the fraternal spirit of its author, yet it does not deem it necessary for the present to take any further action towards Christian union than that which is already upon record." (53.) Schmucker's ideas concerning Christian union, however, were not abandoned by the General Synod. Moreover, in a way, his plans materialized in the Federal Council, consisting of about 30 Protestant bodies, at the organization of which, in 1905, the General Synod was represented by Wenner, Remensnyder, Grosscup, and Bauslin. (L. u. W.1906, 33.) Theologically the Federal Council does not even measure up to the ideals of Schmucker, inasmuch as it reduced the nine points of the Evangelical Alliance, which Schmucker viewed as essential, to the meager confession of "Jesus Christ as their divine Lord and Savior," which even Unitarians will not hesitate to subscribe to. Besides, Seventh-day Adventists, Christians, Friends, and other bodies tainted with Unitarianism are even now connected with the Federal Council. In 1909 the General Synod "heartily endorsed the work of the Federal Council." (115.) In 1917 Synod adopted the report of its delegates to the Council which said, in part: "It was a great privilege to have participated in this historic council. As the federation idea originated in the United States in the mind and heart of a learned and devout Lutheran, Dr. Samuel S. Schmucker, it was a great joy and satisfaction to see and participate in this consummation of Dr. Schmucker's hope of all Protestant bodies in council and cooperation in the one common task of propagating the kingdom of God in society and throughout the world." (27.) The ultimate aim of the Federal Council evidently is an amalgamation of all Protestant Churches. And there are, even now, General Synodists who are ready to countenance this eventuality. In theChristian Herald, December 12, 1917, Dr. J. B. Remensnyder spoke of the essential unity of Protestantism separated only by minor differences, and of "the practical possibility of a larger union,—one world-wide Protestant Church of Christ," to be brought about by mutual surrender of secondary differences. "It will not come about," says Remensnyder, "by one denomination insisting absolutely on its doctrinal type." In theLutheran Church Work and Observer, May 23, 1918, p. 7 f., a General Synod pastor wrote: "With forms of religion and denominational differences we have nothing to do…. Let each one have his own faith, his own light and hope." "There come moments when we forget our differences and our various labels, when we arise above the partial, the individual, and sectarian, when a common impulse drives us headlong into the arms of trust and general comradeship…."