# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1904_S14
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

14 Proceedings of the twentieth convention

that He exclaims: "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." They believe in Christ, and indeed in the whole Christ, and in all that He has done and given for them. They comfort themselves: He died for me and shed His blood for me for the forgiveness of sins. That the LORD says of them; but He does not say that they can examine themselves as to whether they believe, whether they have faith in these words: "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." The children are baptized. Being baptized requires faith. That the children have. The enjoyment of Holy Communion requires previous self-examination. This capacity the LORD does not ascribe to the children. Had He ascribed it to them, as He does faith, we should give the Sacrament to the little ones, quite unconcerned that our reason says they cannot examine themselves. But since Christ does not say this, it remains for us that they are not capable of it because of their childlike weakness, which lies before our eyes.

So perhaps also an adult who in the depth of his heart sincerely repents of his sinful nature and believes in JESUS Christ, his Savior, might yet declare that whether he repents his sin he does not know, whether he comforts himself with JESUS, his Savior, he cannot say, and we should judge of him that he is not ripe to receive the Sacrament, just as little as a man living in manifest sins who would declare that he does not see the perversity and sinfulness of his doing. These are people who cannot examine themselves, which the LORD demands of those who wish to go to the Sacrament; οὕτως [so] they are to eat and drink.

1 Cor. 11:26 St. Paul writes: "For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." The proclamation of Christ's death is not required here of those who administer the Sacrament, although these are of course included, but of those who eat and drink, of the communicants. What is the nature of this proclamation? How is it to take place? How does it take place? To what does "till he come" point? These are the questions that arise for us. In the Greek text it reads: ὁσάκις γὰρ ἂν ἐσθίητε τὸν ἄρτον τοῦτον καὶ τὸ ποτήριον πίνητε, τὸν θάνατον τοῦ κυρίου καταγγέλλετε, ἄχρις οὗ ἔλθῃ.

Καταγγέλλετε, "ye shall proclaim." The words in the Greek text that the holy writers use where Luther simply translates "verkündigen" [proclaim] are quite various. ἀγγέλλειν is used as a compound with ἀπό, ἀνά, διά, ἐξ, ἐπί and κατά. Is the change then arbitrary? No. Where a simple proclaiming, retelling, announcing is concerned, it is ἀπαγγέλλειν or ἀγγέλλειν. For example: Christ says after His resurrection (Matt. 28:10): "Go tell My brethren!" (ἀπαγγέλλειν); tell it to the disciples, John 20:18.