# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1876_S9
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 9 —

practice which prevail in the General Synod, renounced it and yet continues to serve such de facto Unionist congregations. But such men come into conflict with the confession of our Church, above all however with God's Word. Let them consider that well! The word "in fact Unionist" stands in this thesis in order to indicate that a congregation may well be Unionist even though it does not call itself Unionist. If it does not, in fact, hold to the confession of our Church in doctrine and practice, one may conclude from this fact that it is in fact no Lutheran congregation, but one that has only the name "Lutheran." But the situation can also be the reverse. There are really such cases, that a congregation which bears the Unionist name nevertheless has the Lutheran doctrine. It stands right in doctrine and retains the Unionist name only for the time being, because changing it is bound up with great difficulties. But this too is something inadmissible. Such a congregation could not be received here into the association of an orthodox Lutheran synod until it had changed the Unionist name.

Paul writes to Timothy: "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our LORD, nor of me his prisoner" (2 Tim. 1:8). This testifies that it is not enough that one not be ashamed only of the Gospel, but one should also not be ashamed of the confessors of it. He would therefore be ashamed of the pure doctrine of the Gospel who, when asked, "Are you a Lutheran?" that is, "such a Christian as holds the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church to be the true one?", would answer: "No, I am evangelical." That would be a self-contradiction. One can now make it known by no other name whether one truly holds fast the pure doctrine of the Gospel or not, than by this adjective: "Lutheran." If, therefore, a congregation will not be called by this name and yet wants to be Lutheran, that looks very suspicious. It plainly neglects a duty of confession. The Lutheran Church has the pure confession of divine truth. If a congregation now wants to lay claim to having the same, it is its duty to confess itself to this Church, which has the divine truth pure and clear.

Hence Luther also, although he rejects it when people name themselves after him out of attachment to his person, nevertheless writes: "I see that a good admonition is needed, to be given to those whom Satan now begins to persecute. Among them are some who think they will escape the danger by saying, when one attacks them: I hold not with Luther, nor with anyone, but with the holy Gospel and with the holy or Roman Church; so one leaves them in peace. And yet they keep my doctrine in their hearts as evangelical and abide by it. Truly, such a confession helps them