# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1884_S24
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

24 Proceedings of the tenth convention

Professor Loy and Lehmann spoke in July 1877, and only in October 1877 did the Missourians treat of election. So those men cannot possibly have been led by these to the above statement. And today Prof. Loy says: The expression "in view of faith" is the only correct and legitimate one! (See "Lutheraner" of 1881, p. 116 f.)

Further, the Ohioans say: The Fathers of our Church held this doctrine of the Intuitu fidei at all times. That too is not true. This doctrine was first put forward in the last decade of the 16th century, about 1590, by Aegidius Hunnius against Samuel Huber. Before that there is not a word of it to be found in Luther, Brenz, Osiander, Heshusius, Chemnitz. A single time Jacob Andreä tried to justify against the Calvinists the "in view of faith," saying that it need not necessarily be Pelagianizing. Beza had, namely, charged the Lutherans with this. Probably certain lesser spirits had made use of this expression and the good Andreä then sought to justify it at the Colloquy of Mömpelgard in the year 1586, thus only nine years after the drawing up of the Formula of Concord. Either, therefore, the Ohioans write this against their better knowledge, or they must think that a Luther and others do not belong to the teachers of old of our Church. If now among our opponents some, in their appeal to the Church Fathers, perhaps also think thus: Suppose we err, then highly esteemed Fathers of our Church have erred too, by whom we have been guided; if one does not dare to condemn these, one may not condemn us either: so there is no danger in it; only leave us with our faith, we expect to get into heaven as well as the Church Fathers — if they think thus, let them hear what Luther judges of their comfort, in whose time the papists generally comforted themselves so. What? they cried to Luther, do you want to condemn the Church Fathers? Luther answered: No, I do not condemn them. Well, they said, then leave us in peace too, for we can prove our doctrine from the Church Fathers; if we have erred, they have erred too; and that harms us as little as them. To this Luther answered as follows: "Do we not see in Augustine many errors, which he retracts? Which would have been damnable for him there had he not been preserved by his faith; for they are for the most part against the faith; but the confession and the fear of God made them harmless to him. Whoever followed them followed to his ruin. As happens to many who follow the sayings of the Fathers without discretion, as if they were divine truth. From this it is plain that the saints at times err, also in faith, that is, they are not yet perfect, and on account of their begun, growing faith they do not perish. But they perish who take their error for truth and as to one

[SCAN: washed-out first scan; text from the rescan, PDF 26.]