# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1954_S61
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

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Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America, 1954 61

visiting, himself (cf. Manual, p. 9), but under the stipulation that
all denominational tenets must be respected and enjoined, in other
instances, to enlist the aid of false teachers of other denominations.
A Protestant chaplain “provides a worship service which is accept-
able and meaningful to the maximum number of Protestant per-
sonnel in the command” (Manual, p. 4) and thus is limited when
preaching the Word. “A R 660-10 requires chaplains to conduct or
arrange for appropriate burial services ... upon request” (Manual,
p.7) even though the deceased may not be entitled to the min-
istrations of a called servant of the Church. A more detailed
discussion of the objectionable features of such duties is reserved
for another section of the essay. Here they are merely listed as
examples of duties of a chaplain “which are in direct violation of
the divine call of a Lutheran pastor” and therefore also play their
part in making the chaplaincy a field of service which the Church
and its ministers cannot enter.

Il. The Chaplaincy and the Principle of Separation
of Church and State

The second point of the Wisconsin Synod 1941 resolutions on
the chaplaincy reads: “The appointment to chaplaincy and the reg-
ulation of the chaplain’s duties by the War Department are a
violation of the principle of separation of Church and State.” The
pages of the Bible and of the history of the Church and the world,
record over and over again the sad report that the separation of
Church and State has not always been maintained. But Scripture
teaches that there can and should be a separation of Church and
State. It assigns to both Church and State definite and distinct
domains, definite and distinct functions and purposes, definite and
distinct tools to fulfill these functions and achieve these purposes.
It urges the believers to appreciate this separation and to do all
in their power to maintain it. On the basis of this Scriptural prin-
ciple, enunciated most clearly in the “Render” passage, Matt. 22: 21,
our Augsburg Confession says, Art. 28, 12: “The power of the
Church and the civil power must not be confounded.”

The Appointment of Chaplains Undermines the Principle
of Separation

The principle of the separation of Church and State is, however,
undermined by the chaplaincy system, in which the State estab-
lishes by law the post of chaplain, “the religious and spiritual
leader of the military community” (Manual, p.8), and maintains
it by public funds. By providing this religious ministry, the State
is going beyond its prescribed field and function. This basic fact
should not be overlooked, nor can it be canceled by considerations
like these: the government is interested in maintaining a high
standard of civic righteousness, especially in its soldiers in time of
war; or, the State permits the Church to call chaplains and traces
their spiritual authority to spiritual sources; or, the government
is fair to all in dealings with various denominations. No matter
from what good motive or under what extenuating circumstances
or with what attempts at indiscrimination, the fact remains that
in the chaplaincy system the State invades the realm of the Church.

The main counterargument of apologists — the word is used
in its original meaning — for the chaplaincy can be found in the