# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S1152
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

INTERSYNODICAL AND DOCTRINAL MATTERS 605

Concerning “A Statement”
(Memorial 614)

Wuereas, “A Statement,” a document sent to all pastors of
Synod in September, 1945, and subsequently given wider publica-
tion, sets forth the following doctrines, namely: 1. That deviation
in doctrine or practice from certain teachings of the Bible (“de-
tails of doctrine”) is not divisive of church fellowship (Point 11
of “A Statement”). 2. That not all acts of joint religious work and
worship with persistent teachers of false doctrine or their ad-
herents are to be regarded as religious unionism forbidden by
God’s Word (Point 9). 3. That any two or more Christians may
meet and pray together if they do so for a good purpose (Point 8).
4. That Rom. 16:17-18 is not to be applied to all Christians who
differ from us in certain points of doctrine, but that this passage
is limited in its application to those who are not Christians
(Point 5); and

Wuereas, The above-nientioned doctrines are false doctrines,
in disagreement with, and in opposition to, God’s clear Word, the
Lutheran Confessions, our synodical Catechism, the Constitution
of our Synod, and the Brief Statement of the doctrinal position of
our Synod (see Rom. 16:17-18; The Formula of Concord, Conclud-
ing Statement, Concordia Triglotta, p.1095; Revised Synodical
Catechism, Question 186 D; Constitution of Synod, Articles II and
Ill; The Brief Statement, Par.28); and

Whereas, The agreement of Synod’s President, in 1947, ‘with
the signers of “A Statement” specifically declares that this docu-
ment is not retracted, in the words: “The withdrawal of ‘A State-
ment’ as a basis of discussion shall not be interpreted as a retrac-
tion”; and

Wuereas, This agreement was reported to Synod in conven-
tion assembled in 1947 but not corrected by the convention, Synod
in convention assembled thus permitting the doctrinal errors set
forth in the unretracted “A Statement” to stand side by side with
the truth within our fellowship; and

Wuereas, As a result of this failure of Synod specifically to
reject the errors set forth in “A Statement,” these errors have
continued to be taught officially and practiced within our Synod
in numerous instances; and

Wuereas, The only God-pleasing way to remove doctrinal dif-
ferences which have arisen in a confessional church body is to
require the specific public disavowal and retraction of all errors
publicly disseminated in its midst (1 Cor. 5:6-7; cf. Gal. 5:9; 1 Tim. |
5:20; Titus 1:11, 13); and

Wuereas, By the failure to exercise doctrinal discipline a