# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1882_S50
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 50 —

other congregations belonging to our body as a wrong on his part."

Thereupon some delegates further spoke as follows: Schmidt is quite right. We cannot put the questions to him in the form objected to, although the meaning was that which Pastor Koren has just stated. If the Conference sees fit to adopt the Missouri form, then, I believe, we demand nothing burdensome to conscience of Prof. Schmidt, and yet his answer will then suffice us. We said first what kind of people we cannot recognize, and then we said what we require of Schmidt accordingly, namely that he repent having reviled our doctrine, which we naturally believe to be contained in God's Word and attested in the Confession. He will naturally say: with that I have not reviled God's Word, but your doctrine, which I hold to be false. That is understood; in the position in which Prof. Schmidt is, one cannot expect that he will admit having fought against God's Word; for then he would be a Missourian again. We did not notice that we should also have commissioned the committee that delivered the report to formulate definite questions, and so it has come about that the form of the questions put to Prof. Schmidt is not quite correct. I did not notice that.

Another said: I should like to ask whether I misunderstood the protest or have fetched what I am about to say from another source. It seems to me that it is expressly said in the protest that as soon as Prof. Schmidt would accept these conditions, the Synodical Conference would be ready with joy to negotiate with him about the doctrine. That shows evidently that the question could not be put in the sense against which Schmidt protests.

A third remarked: With this we do not yet demand a change of mind of Prof. Schmidt. That would be a demand to make him a hypocrite.

The Synodical Conference therefore now considered it expedient to put definitely formulated questions to Prof. Schmidt, and indeed by unanimous resolution the following

Questions:

1. Do you confess that you have done wrong in that, hastily, without having taken the necessary steps, you publicly reviled our doctrine as Calvinism and defamed us before all the world as new crypto-Calvinists?

2. Do you confess that you have done wrong in that you broke into the congregations of the Synodical Conference and caused division and confusion in them?

3. Are you also willing to apologize for this publicly and penitently?