# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1875_S10
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 10 —

the all-wise God. With regard to church ordinances and customs we may not intend to bind consciences, but must freely confess: What not God but the church has ordained can be abolished. One may indeed sin in abolishing, but one also sins if one denies this freedom. Therefore our church confesses in the tenth article of the Formula of Concord that "the congregation of God of every place and every time has, according to its circumstances, good right, authority and power to change, to lessen and to increase the same [adiaphora] in an orderly and becoming manner, without levity and offense."

When it had been remarked that there are certain churchly acts that are not a direct expression and actual realization of the confession, but yet may not in deed contradict the confession; that adiaphora could never in themselves be sinful, but that the use of them is not indifferent and must therefore never be against the confession: the question was asked how the use of an adiaphoron could contradict the confession. Answer: We see that, for example, in the Interim controversies. Luther had fought for Christian liberty and had among other things declared the elevation, the mass vestments, episcopal polity, etc., to be free adiaphora. But later, at the introduction of the Interim, many so-called Lutherans asserted that in these adiaphora one could well yield to the papists, since it concerned only quite indifferent matters. But the faithful Lutheran fathers would rather let everything come upon them than yield to the enemies in these matters, for the papists used these things to cover and introduce their false doctrine with them. The faithful Lutherans declared that they could very well wear the bishop's miter, but they would not deny the truth of the Gospel under the appearance of freedom; in this they followed the example of the Apostle Paul, who at first used circumcision, but when certain false brethren wanted to rob him of his freedom in Christ, did not yield to them for an hour, so that the truth of the Gospel might continue. The same applies to the Reformed. Luther declared against Carlstadt: "Although I had intended to abolish the 'elevation' too, yet I will not do it now, out of defiance and spite, for a while, to the fanatical spirit, because he wants it forbidden and held to be a sin and to drive us out of our freedom. For before I would yield a hair's breadth or a moment to the soul-murdering spirit, in giving up our freedom (as Paul teaches, Gal. 5:1), I would rather become a strict monk tomorrow and hold fast all monastic practice as I have done. There is no jesting here with Christian liberty; we want to have it as pure and undamaged as our faith, even if an angel from heaven said otherwise. It has cost our dear, faithful Savior and LORD Jesus too much; so it is all the more necessary to us, and we may not give it up on pain of losing salvation." (Against the Sacramentarians. Walch XX, 255.)