# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1941_S292
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

290 Intersynodical and Doctrinal Matters

1938, pp. 225, 226.) Even in regard to the doctrine of eternal election
the Declaration rejects only the terminology “in view of faith.”

4, Although Committee 16 felt that the A. L.C. is now agreed
with us in the doctrine of eternal election, this was a premature
judgment. For the commissioners of the A. L.C. have more re-
cently stated: “We are not sure that Scripture actually and ex-
pressly speaks of a ‘definite number’ of those elected from eter-
nity... .” (A Letter of the Committee on Lutheran Union, etc.,
Dec. 8, 1939, p. 8.) Compare their statement with the Brief State-
ment (§ 39): “... God... has chosen for His own a definite
number of persons out of the corrupt mass.”

5. In the light of past and current history Section I of the
Declaration is wholly inadequate as regards the confession of the
plenary verbal inspiration of Scripture. For although the aforesaid
section allegedly supplements the Brief Statement only with ref-
erence to the human factor, it actually does not limit itself to the
human factor in inspiration, but deals, inadequately, with every
phase of inspiration, thus supplanting the Brief Statement on this
matter.

6. Section I of the Declaration calls the Bible a means of grace,
although the Law, which forms a prominent part of the Bible, is not
a means of grace. (Cf. A Letter of the Committee on Lutheran
Union, etc., Dec. 8, 1938, p. 7.)

7. Section II, first paragraph, of the Declaration is misleading
with regard to the universal plan of salvation. The second and
third sentences of the aforesaid paragraph imply that God purposes
only to convert all men, restricting His purpose to justify, preserve
in faith, and glorify to some men.

8. Section V of the Declaration does not tell us all that is
publica doctrina in the A. L.C. in regard to the “Sunday question.”
For the Lutheran Standard of Aug. 10, 1935, says this (p. 2):
“Though Christians are not bound to keep any particular day of
the week for rest and public worship, yet God demands that on
one of the seven days they rest from unnecessary work and hold
divine worship.” ;

9. The three points under Section VI, A, of the Declaration are
no bar to chiliasm, because the unmodified expression “the return
of Christ,” in the mouth of a Chiliast, means His imagined return
before the Last Day. And we have no right to understand this
expression in the Scriptural sense; for a) this expression, as used
in the second paragraph of Section VI, B, 1, is chiliastic; b) the
false doctrines for which Section VI, B, seeks toleration, are usually
connected with chiliasm; c) the Iowa Synod, a part of the A. L.C.
since 1929, was chiliastic; d) the A. L. C. fraternizes with chiliasts in
the American Lutheran Conference.