# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1874_S18
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

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the parishioners were not permitted to separate from their pastor without need." (Allgemeines Kirchenrecht der Proteſtanten [General Church Law of the Protestants], edited by Chr. E. v. Windheim. Helmstädt 1760. pp. 360 ff.)

Mosheim cites Acts 2:46. There it says: "And they were daily and continually together with one accord in the temple, and broke bread from house to house." He believed therefore, and certainly with full right, since there were thousands of Christians at Jerusalem and they could not come together in one house (and yet it says that they did this daily, that they came together and broke bread), that the Christians held together in different houses, delimited by locality. Since seven deacons were then chosen, he conjectures that the Christians were delimited into seven parishes.

Rom. 16:14, 15 says: "Greet Asyncritum, and Phlegontem, Herman, Patroban, Hermen, and the brethren with them. Greet Philologum, and Julian, Nereum and his sister, and Olympan, and all the saints with them." — "With them" means here as much as: in their house. It was not a so-called family congregation, but a certain part of the congregation that was assembled at the house of one or another for churchly purposes.

Mosheim calls this jus divinum imperfectum, that is, a derived, indirect, mediate divine right. For God has often commanded something that I cannot carry out without also doing something else which God has not expressly commanded also. This latter is indeed not juris divini (of divine right); for to assert such a thing, a clear divine commandment is required. It would be sin if we were to put forward such territorial delimitation as a matter of immediate divine right. The ancients therefore call it jus divinum imperfectum, that is, an imperfect divine right.

Let it now be well noted that these citations are meant to be only a historical, not a dogmatic proof.

When now, in the present state of things here in America, where for the most part there is still no geographical delimitation of the orthodox congregations belonging to different synods, it is often urged that "it goes very well anyway," it is well to consider that it goes well only because we live in a time of special blessed visitations of God. Every preacher is anxiously concerned not to disturb the blessed work of union in love on the ground of the truth. But should such a mood be lost (as can happen quite unexpectedly all at once), we would learn practically that division according to geographical boundaries is an absolute necessity. One must not count on God always giving such a burning, zealous spirit. Soon, all too soon, the spirit of rivalry can creep in among us and our congregations. If it has gone well so far, it is

[In the left margin beside "Mosheim calls this jus divinum imperfectum ...", four slanting handwritten pencil lines, mostly illegible; words such as "mittelbar", "göttl. Recht", "imperfectum", "indirect" can be made out. Underlined by hand in the print: "ein abgeleitetes, indirectes, mittelbar göttliches Recht", "geboten", "unmittelbar".]