LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1965, Page 288

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

288 SUPPLEMENT TO CTCR REPORT

This Prussian Union was very distasteful to loyal
Lutherans, and those who favored the union were called
unionists (Unionisten). 18

The terms “unionism” and “unionist” were frequently
used by the fathers of the Missouri Synod, though also
the term “syncretism” (Synkretismus), which had been
generally used prior to 1817, and “mixing of religions”
(Religionsmengerei) were extensively employed.!4

In part these terms were used, as they had been in
Germany, to characterize the union of Reformed and
Lutherans without removal of the doctrinal differences
which divided them.

Later, however, the terms “unionism” and “unionist”
were frequently applied when Lutherans who were not
wholly agreed in doctrine and practice nevertheless
worked and worshiped together.!®

It is difficult to get a clearcut definition of unionism
from the literature of The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod. An official definition of unionism by the Missouri
Synod in 1932 reads:

We repudiate unionism, that is, church fellowship with
the adherents of false doctrine, as disobedience to God’s
command, as causing divisions in the church, Rom. 16:
17; 2 John 9, 10, and as involving the constant danger of
losing the Word of God entirely, 2 Tim. 2:17-21 (Brief
Statement ..., Par. 28).

It should be noted that here unionism is church fel-
lowship with adherents of false doctrine generally, not
only with Reformed, as the word unionism was origin-
ally used.

Another definition, later in time than the Brief State-
ment, appears to include in the concept of unionism far
more than church fellowship with adherents of false
doctrine, namely also “joint work of those not united in
doctrine,” and “mixed (promiscuous) prayer among
those who profess the truth and those who deny any
part of it.”

We quote the following, as embodying the essential
points, from the longer statement:

Religious unionism consists in joint worship and work
of those not united in doctrine. Its essence is an agree-
ment to disagree....
The statement then lists the familiar passages, a num-
ber of which have been treated exegetically above,
and adds:

In the light of these texts all joint ecclesiastical efforts

for religious work (missionary, educational, etc.) and

particularly joint worship and mixed (promiscuous)

prayer among those who profess the truth and those

why deny any part of it, is sinful unionism.16

In this last definition of unionism particular stress
is laid on activities which do not assume church fel-
lowship, like praying with Christians of another con-
fession. The last part of this definition of unionism
seemed to many to make impossible even the joint
prayer for the Holy Spirit’s aid by Lutherans of dif-
fering synods when they met to seek to overcome
their differences. It was also thought to brand partici-
pation in prayer at mixed gatherings, civic and patriotic,
as sinful unionism.

2. Separatism

Like the term unionism, so also the term separatism,
is not a Biblical but an ecclesiastical word. Webster’s
Third New International Dictionary defines separatism
as “a disposition toward secession or schism,” and a
separatist as a “dissenter from an established church.”

While unionism is often and variously defined in the
writings of our synodical fathers, the term separatism
occurs much less frequently. Eckhardt gives the fol-
lowing definition of separation and of separatism:

Separation, eine Trennung auf schriftgemaesse Weise
wegen falscher Lehre, und Separatismus, eine Tren-
nung wider die Schrift aus allerlei andern Gruenden.1?

It is evident that the concepts of unionism and
separatism are intimately related. Unionism is at-
tempted union when separation is in order, and
separatism is separation when union is in order.

3. Unionism and Separatism: Twin Dangers
to the Church

Both unionism and separatism constitute serious
dangers to the church. Unionism ignores genuine dif-
ferences in doctrine, and treats them as though they
were unimportant. It tends to foster laxity in doctrine,
which, like the little leaven, will in time leaven the
whole lump (Gal. 5:9). On the other hand, separatism,
as already St. Augustine clearly stated, sins against
love and divides the church, just as surely as unionism
undermines it. The church must therefore, for its own
safety, shun both unionism and separatism.

C. SUGGESTED GUIDELINES FOR THE CHURCH
IN THE PRACTICE OF FELLOWSHIP

The task of avoiding unionism on the one hand and
separatism on the other while faithfully performing
the church’s God-given tasks has proved difficult
throughout the ages, and will continue to prove diffi-
cult until her Lord’s return. Christians will at times
be puzzled in specific situations, particularly when they
are dealing with a church with which their own church
is not in pulpit and altar fellowship.

No statement, including this THEoLOcy or FELLow-
SHIP, can give complete guidance for every possible
ease. However, the following guidlines appear Scrip-
turally sound, and in harmony with the Lutheran
Confessions:

1. Our Synod should treasure the fellowship in the
Gospel and in the sacraments which it enjoys
with its sister churches and which it expresses
through what is usually called pulpit and altar
fellowship; and it should foster this fellowship
with all diligence;

2. Our Synod should work zealously for the exten-
sion of this fellowship by engaging in doctrinal
discussions with other churches in the interest
of achieving such fellowship where this can be
done without compromising sound doctrine;

3. Our Synod should understand that, in the case
of doctrinal discussions carried on with a view