# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1882_S38
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 38 —

Fourth Session.
Friday forenoon, 6 October.

The resolution formulated by a committee on the basis of the three protests reads, after some improvements, as follows:

"Whereas it has been sufficiently shown in the submitted protests of the delegations of Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin, and adequately proved by testimony, that Prof. Schmidt has publicly reviled the doctrine of the eternal election of grace, as it is contained in God's Word and set forth in the Confession of the Lutheran church, as Calvinistic false doctrine, and has defamed before all the world those synods of the Synodical Conference which have anew confessed this doctrine as Calvinists, indeed even as new Crypto-Calvinists;

and also, secondly, that he has broken into various congregations of the Synodical Conference, in part despite the protest of the pastor concerned, and has caused confusion and division: be it hereby

Resolved, that we can no longer recognize Prof. Schmidt as our brother in Christ and cannot grant him seat and vote in this body, so long as he does not penitently acknowledge these his sins and make public apology."

Originally it read in this wording: "as a brother in Christ." But since this can easily be understood to mean that we hereby no longer recognize Prof. Schmidt as a Christian at all and would thus place him under the ban, to which we have neither right nor power, it was resolved to say, instead of "a brother": "our brother in Christ." The sense is therefore this: we do not recognize him as our brother in the faith.

Two Norwegian pastors rose against the adoption of this committee report, namely the delegate Pastor Muus and an advisory member, Pastor P. A. Rasmussen.

The former pointed out that in his opinion we have assembled here in the Synodical Conference to discuss the most important things that concern men's faith and salvation. Now here is a case where a dispute about an important article has arisen between brethren. Instead of now looking into the matter and instructing in brotherly fashion those who do not stand rightly, that is, instead of about the most important