LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1965, Page 284

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284 SUPPLEMENT TO CTCR REPORT

ican Lutheran Church Bodies of German Background,” in
Vilmos Vajta and Hans Weissgerber, The Church and the
Confessions (Philadelphia, 1963), pp. 73—83.

49 For statements of Walther in Der Lutheraner that
bear this out, see the article by Erwin Lueker, “Walther
and the Free ‘Lutheran Conferences,” Concordia Theological
Monthly, XV, 8 (Aug., 1944), 537 f.

50 Cf. J. P. Beyer, Stenographisch Aufgezeichnetes Col-
loquium der Vertreter der Synode, etc. (Chicago, 1868), p. 1:
“Begonnen wurde mit einem liturgischen Gottesdienste, den
Pastor F. Lochner als Pastor loci leitete, auf welche Weise
auch alle folgenden Sitzungen eroefinet wurden.”

51 Cf, Erwin Lueker, ed., Lutheran Cyclopedia (Saint
Louis, 1954), s. v., “Free ‘Conferences,” p. 390.

52 Cf. Lueker, “Walther and the Free Lutheran Con-
ferences,” op. cit., pp. 543—559.

53 C. F. W. Walther, “Warum sind die symbolischen
Buecher unserer Kirche von denen, welche Diener der-
selben werden wollen, nicht bedingt, sondern unbedingt zu
unterschreiben?” Der Lutheraner, XIV (1858), pp. 201 ff.

54 Augsburg Confession, VII, 2 f.

55 The importance of churchly practice (kirchliche
Praxis) also for church fellowship was discussed on the
basis of Eighteen Theses on Church Fellowship drawn up
by Wilhelm Sihler at meetings of the Evangelical Lutheran
Synodical Conference in the years 1873—77 and 1879. Six-
teen of the 18 theses were discussed at length and approved
almost unanimously. See Verhandlungen der Ev.-luth.
Symodal-Conferenz (St. Louis, 1874 ff.) for the years indi-
cated except 1873, for which see Verhandlungen der zweiten
Versammlung der Ev.-luth. Synodal-Conferenz von Nord-
amerika (Columbus, 1873), pp. 5 ff.

Subsequently there was an essay by A. L. Graebner,
“Die kirchliche Praxis,’ Verhandlungen der sechzehnten
Versammlung, ete. (St. Louis, 1896); an article, “Lutherische
Praxis,” in Der Lutheraner, XLVII (1891), pp. 91f., signed
“GQ” [Martin Guenther? ]; and an essay delivered by. George
Stoeckhardt before the Central District, “Unsere Missouri-
synode ist eine wahrhaft evangelisch- lutherische Gemein-
schaft, denn sie schoepft alle ihre Lehren aus dem klaren
Schriftwort,” Verhandlungen der dreiunddreissigsten Jah-
resversammlung des Mittleren Distriktes (St. Louis, 1895),
pp. 9—96.

56 Cf, Verhandlungen, 1873, pp. 7 ff.; and see below, foot-
note 62.

57 Graebner, “Die kirchliche Praxis,” p. 5.

58 G., “Lutherische Praxis,” pp. 91 f.

59 Stoeckhardt, “Unsere Missourisynode, ete.,” p. 45.

60 Graebner (note 55), p. 7.

61 , p. 91.

62 Cf. Verhandlungen [Synod. Conf.] 1873, pp. 5—8:

Thesis 11

Es widerspricht ferner dem Bekenntnis, wenn die kirch-

liche Koerperschaft es sich gefallen laesst, dass ihre

Pastoren keinen ordentlichen, sondern nur einen zeit-

weiligen Beruf von ihren Gemeinden haben, oder sie

gar selber diese Unordnung durch das Licenzwesen
staerkt.

Thesis 12

Es ist ein schreiender Widerspruch wider das Bekennt-

nis, wenn eine lutherisch sich nennende und lutherisch

sein wollende kirchliche Koerperschaft keinen Ernst und

Eifer beweist, rechtglaeubige Gemeindeschulen, was an

ihr liegt, in Gang zu bringen, wo sie nicht vorhanden sind.

PART THREE

Specific Questions Regarding the Practice
of Fellowship
As stated in the Preamble, the document, THEOLOGY
or FELLOWSHIP, grew out of studies initiated by a reso-

lution of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod at
the St. Paul convention in 1956 requesting a restudy of

the question of “fellowship, prayer fellowship, and
unionism.” }

The committee appointed to make this study
searched the Scripture, particularly the New Testa-
ment, with great care to glean all passages which have
a bearing on fellowship. Its findings are embodied in
the TuroLocy or FELLowsurP, Part I. The committee
found that “Fellowship, both between the believer and
his God, and between the believer and his fellow be-
liever, looms large in the Holy Scripture in both
Testaments.” 2

The findings in Part I may be summed up briefly
as follows: God created man for fellowship both with
Himself and with his fellowmen. Man destroyed this
fellowship by the fall into sin, by which he became
an enemy of God and brought strife and enmity into
the human family. However, God in His great mercy
in Christ redeemed man from sin in order that He
might restore him to fellowship with Himself and with
his fellowmen in the Christian church.

The Scripture, particularly the New Testament,
abounds in passages which extol this fellowship.3
Therefore Christians should consider fellowship, also
church fellowship, the normal thing in their relations
with one another. They should desire such fellowship,
and should constantly be concerned to extend the
blessings of this fellowship to others.

However, the New Testament also contains a num-
ber of passages which warn against persons, teachings,
and actions which are injurious to Christian fellowship,
and commands Christians to avoid such persons, teach-
ings, and actions.

The committee appointed to restudy the question of
“fellowship, prayer fellowship and unionism” saw as
one of its tasks to study with great care the passages
which command separation from or avoidance of certain
persons in the interest of fellowship.

Part III of THEoLocy or FELLowsHr addresses itself
to a study of the Scripture passages which command
separation and seeks to give answers to questions con-
cerning “fellowship, prayer fellowship, and unionism.”

A. AN EXAMINATION OF THE PASSAGES
WHICH COMMAND SEPARATION

The passages of Scripture which command Chris-
tians to separate themselves from certain persons,
teachings, and practices are in particular the following:
Matt. 7:15, 16; Gal. 1:6-9; Acts 19:8-10; 2 John 9-11;
Rom. 16:17, 18; Titus 3:10; 2 Cor. 6:14-18.

These passages do not appear to have been used by
Luther and his co-workers in the manner in which they
have often been used in our time: to forbid all work
and worship with men with whom they are not wholly
in accord doctrinally; nor are they so used in the
Lutheran Confessions.

John Gerhard, the great orthodox Lutheran dogma-
tician, whose celebrated Loci Theologici was first issued
in 1620, makes no such use of these passages. We find
him quoting Matt. 7:15; Rom. 16:17; Gal.1:9; 1 John 4:1;
and 2 John 10 to show that the church must guard

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