# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1875_S28
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 28 —

Let us therefore hold to what is certain: namely the secret connection contrary to God's Word, the brotherhood with the world, the religious acts, the oath in unknown things, and that one gives out works of self-interest for works of love; so we have reasons enough why we must combat the secret societies with great earnestness as synagogues of the devil. If we impose on these societies something of which their members cannot be convinced in their conscience, we blunt the edge of our own fight.

We are all agreed that not all secret societies are religious communities, and that they are not all societies with religious ceremonies and tendencies. We concede that among them there may also be religious societies, and then a Christian's joining such a society would be all the more terrible. But we can get out of the way of the difficulty that has arisen by leaving undecided whether secret societies are religious communities or not. To the objection that the General Council and the Iowa Synod could then attack our position and reproach us that we ourselves were not yet agreed on this question regarding the secret societies, and yet made it a church-dividing one between the Council and us, the answer was that it can be perfectly indifferent to us what those say about us in slander on this occasion. It is rather a sign of our sound position that we are not mere yes-brothers who accept everything without being convinced. Moreover our standpoint toward the secret societies has been clear and definite for years. The secret societies we reject one and all, because joining them involves a denial of the LORD Jesus, because it contradicts the clear Word of God to be yoked with unbelievers, to regard Jews and Mohammedans as the nearest brothers, whom, according to the laws of the lodge, one must rather help and assist in every need than spiritual brothers in Christ and bodily relatives joined by bonds of blood, and so on. What moves the one party to call the secret societies religious societies, the others also, who cannot subscribe to this designation, hold to be wrong and sinful. The fight against these societies is therefore carried on by both with equal earnestness and equal decisiveness. This designation "religious societies" is therefore not accepted by some as adequate, because they cannot find in the secret societies the justification of this concept, and because from applying this designation to secret societies it would seem to follow that all congregations which still have members of secret societies among them are purely united [unirte] congregations. That would be burdensome to conscience. But we reject altogether the practice that pastors still tolerate in their congregation such members as take part in the religious ceremonies of secret societies.