# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1872_S52
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 52 —

the very feeble Tennessee Synod. That was the only one still concerned with pure Lutheran doctrine; everywhere else there was at least a unionistic practice. But one cannot call a church truly Lutheran in which unionistic practice rightfully exists. There were, to be sure, preachers Lutheran in name, but few among them actually owned the symbolical books [the Lutheran Confessions], and not a few had never even seen them. If such men were nevertheless required to subscribe to the symbolical books of the Lutheran Church, that too belonged to the Romanizing direction. For it is popish when someone is bound to books and swears to believe and teach something he has never read. One is reminded here of that man whom the pastor tried, with many arguments, to convince of the resurrection of the flesh, and who finally declared: Well, Pastor, for your sake I will believe it, but you'll see, nothing will come of it. To say "I believe what stands written there" without knowing what that is — that is called a collier's faith [*Köhlerglauben*, blind, uninformed faith], of which Luther writes: God grant us not too much of that kind of faith. It is right that the Church Council presses for subscription to the Symbols; but one must ask whether all the men who sign them have also read and understood them. If not, such a signature is worthless. What glory is there, in such a case, in everyone signing the Symbols unconditionally? At bottom the matter is made only worse by letting people sign unconditionally when it would first need to be investigated whether they have even read what they are signing. In the old Lutheran Church, of course, one would not have done such a thing. There, a man might have been willing to swear a hundred oaths, and still would not have been admitted to subscribe until he knew the symbolical books thoroughly. But now people think they have already gained much if someone merely signs, even though he does not yet know the content. It further belongs to this that it is flatly declared a shameful sectarianism when we maintain that a true Lutheran Church must be united in all articles of the faith. That much alone people will not acknowledge — still less that we give no one the right to preach or to take the Holy Supper with us who is not united with us on all points of doctrine. People say: it is after all the confession of the Lutheran Church that there are people elsewhere who are saved, so such people must surely be acknowledged as well. Yes, certainly that would be so if we could see into people's hearts; but we cannot, and in this life God has therefore directed us to the outward confession. That is why we say: if you confess the true faith with us in word and deed, then you are our brother; if you do not, we will not condemn you — for that is not ours to do — but neither can we declare you free [of error]. If you confess rightly, you may of course still be a hypocrite toward us. But it is not for us to judge that; we judge you according to your confession. Therefore