# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1874_S25
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 25 —

to the mercy of God; but through this the wrong itself is never sanctioned! We have indeed come into this situation through circumstances which we could not have prevented. And even if we are well to be excused, the conditions nevertheless remain disorder all the same.

By this, then, the judgment is by no means to be pronounced on all such preachers and they condemned. It is certainly, for example, God's earnest will that church discipline be exercised. Now there are new congregations where a preacher cannot at once begin with the full exercise of church discipline. If such a pastor now hears a sermon on the necessity of church discipline, he will not and cannot say: That condemns me. He will rather agree with me completely in his conscience and, sharpened anew in conscience, will keep this goal in view all the more zealously and, as soon as it is possible, go to carrying it out. One sees from this that the principle set up earlier does not hold, that what one recognizes as absolutely necessary must also be carried out at once. That is not always absolutely necessary even with things expressly demanded by God. Whoever should introduce full church discipline at once into new congregations weak in knowledge, faith and love might in many cases act, instead of well-pleasing to God, only displeasing to God. For love is to be the fulfilling of the law. If there is danger that more will be destroyed thereby, then one should let even divine orders remain unexecuted. To say to such a preacher then: "You sin in not carrying this out," is quite wrong. For one should distinguish well: the principle, the truth, the rule, and then the carrying out of it. No one can deny that the natural principle of division for congregations is delimitation by territories. The use of reason teaches us this, nature teaches us this, even the state divides accordingly, the apostles therefore divided so, the whole Church has done so, love demands it of us. But whether this one right normal order should also be carried out at once is quite another question. As true as it is that this is the only natural division, it is by no means necessary that it be carried through hastily. For it is no direct commandment of God which, if it is not carried out at once, inevitably entails death and damnation. Therefore it is also said: Praecepta affirmativa obligant semper, sed non ad semper, that is, the commanding precepts bind always, but not in every case. And again: Praecepta negativa obligant semper et ad semper, that is, the forbidding precepts bind always and in every case.

How can what is said in the four reasons be called burdensome to conscience in our circumstances! Precisely because among other things love demands that the Church be geographically delimited, therefore

[In the print, handwritten underlining of "Unrecht selbst sanctionirt! Wir sind ja freilich aus Umständen, die wir nicht haben verhüten können".]