# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1860_S40
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

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forgiveness of sins — also through the manner in which it usually
speaks of faith, by presenting faith more and more from the side of
its heart-renewing power than from the side of receiving and taking
— the doctrine of justification and of faith is not insignificantly
thrown into obscurity, and consequently this unevangelical handling
of the doctrine of justification and of faith must also obscure and
diminish absolution and rob it of its comforting power.

4. The doctrine of the romanizing Lutherans concerning
absolution, as an exclusive prerogative of office belonging to
ordained pastors — whereby lay absolution retains little or no room
and is explained merely as a comforting word without any real
conveyance of the forgiveness of sins — grossly offends against the
doctrine of the immediate power of the Word and the Sacraments, and,
so far as lies within it, deprives the sinner of the fullness of
comfort that lies in Luther's doctrine of absolution as a power to
forgive sins given to the whole Church and to every individual
Christian.

After the whole of the foregoing paper had been read in its
entirety, each individual thesis of it, together with the supporting
evidence from Luther's writings and the [Lutheran] Confessions, was
heard again and thoroughly discussed; and the Synod deliberated in
this manner on the first part of the paper, namely the first six
theses. As for the 7th and 8th theses, the Synod indeed declared that
they did not properly belong to this paper (for which reason they
were not further discussed), but resolved nevertheless that they
should be printed along with it in the synodical report. Unfortunately
no time remained for discussing the second part.

First Thesis: Absolution, or the pronouncing of forgiveness of
sins, is, according to Luther's teaching, the Gospel, whether
it is proclaimed to many, or to individuals.

After it had been remarked how exceedingly important this thesis
was, and how desirable it would be for all of us to become truly
clear and united on the truth expressed in it — since in our time a
truly Babylonian confusion prevails on this very point, and there is
certainly no lack of unclarity on it even among us — it was first
stated that, when absolution is here called the preaching of the
Gospel, the holy Sacraments are by no means thereby excluded but
rather included, since the administration of the Sacraments is
likewise a preaching of the Gospel, indeed a visible one, and is for
that reason called by the old Lutheran theologians "the visible
Word."

Next the question arose: whether the concept of absolution was
not too broadly framed in the definition given — whether every
preaching of the Gospel is really an absolution? To this it was
answered: Indeed, every preaching of the Gospel is absolution; for
such preaching is nothing other than the presentation and
distribution of the forgiveness of sins that exists and is contained
in the Gospel, whether this happens publicly, to the assembled
crowd, or specifically, to the individual.