# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1890_S13
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1890. 13

that stealing is wrong, that murder deserves the sword, and it can also have the will to punish the thief and to put the murderer to death. To be sure, even this is corrupted by sin, and so there is no government on earth that could carry out everything perfectly even in these matters alone. But as far as natural reason, which all men have, extends, so far government too can judge, decide and order in these temporal, earthly things. But as soon as it comes to spiritual things, the possibility that lies in someone's being government ceases to be able to judge. That the king is a Christian is no guarantee that his successor too will be a Christian. And if spiritual, heavenly things belonged among the things over which, according to the divine order, the power of government extended, then, when a Christian king has died and an unchristian prince has become his successor, the character of this successor would have to be changed. Otherwise the subjects could declare: "This man cannot be our king, any more than a madman can be our king, whose commands we would have to obey. For he is to judge spiritual, heavenly things, and he understands nothing of them." — So it is with pastors of souls, with preachers. Certain functions are assigned to such a man. In that lies the requirement that he be in a position to judge these things. Therefore we also acknowledge it as a fully sufficient ground for the removal of a man who has come into the preaching office, if he does not have the necessary spiritual knowledge to judge the things he is to teach in order to make souls blessed. He may lead an exemplary life and speak fifteen languages, and we must still say to him: "You cannot be a preacher; for conscience' sake we must take your office from you. God has set a preacher tasks; you cannot fulfil them. But God wills that what he has granted and assigned to this office be done, and from this it is clear that you cannot be the man whom God wants in this office." — In this lies, then, indisputably, that government, as government, cannot be appointed to rule, to command, to punish and to reward in spiritual, heavenly things.

If we hold fast to this, that government as government may not count this among its powers, because government as such is not eo ipso in a position to discharge such a duty, then it does not offend us when in our Confessions government seems in some places to be granted more.

So it says, for example, in the Smalcald Articles (Müller, p. 339): "But above all kings and princes, as the foremost members of the churches, are to help and see to it that all kinds of error are done away and that consciences are rightly instructed, as God especially admonishes the kings and princes to this office in the 2nd Psalm: You kings, let yourselves