Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1954, Page 29

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Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America, 1954 29

in a manner satisfactory to the demands of human reason. In spite
of this divine mystery, however, the doctrine was upheld as a com-
forting article, if properly treated, i.e., if viewed in the light of
the Gospel, and particularly if sola gratia as well as gratia uni-
versalis were kept inviolate, since it afforded the glorious comfort
that no one could pluck us out of the almighty hands of Christ
and that the church of God would exist and abide in opposition to
all the gates of hell.

We mention this early historical background merely to refresh
our memories on some of the basic principles involved in this doc-
trine. A careful reading of the Formula of Concord will show how
tenaciously these fathers remained with those truths only which
were clearly revealed in Scripture, and how vigorously they re-
pudiated every type of heretical view which had arisen in con-
nection with this doctrine, so that the clearly revealed sola gratia

‘and gratia universalis of Scripture might stand side by side over

against all the attempts of human reason to investigate or inquire
curiously about a mystery which God had reserved for His wisdom
and knowledge alone.

Approaching the more recent period of Lutheranism in Amer-
ica, we find that serious aberrations from the truth of this doctrine
again became apparent. Surely we are all acquainted with the
Gnadenwahlstreit of past decades. Without even attempting to give
a detailed presentation of all the arguments, we merely wish to
present in brief the erroneous views which again cropped out. The
Ohio Synod taught in 1881 that “the elect were predestinated into
eternal life in view of faith (intuitu fidei)” (Synodical Proceedings,
1881, p.39). Faith was thereby introduced as a cause of man’s
election rather than as a result. Election was made dependent in
the last analysis on the conduct of natural man, which God had
foreseen from eternity. The old Iowa conception of predestination
as defined by Dr. S. Fritschel differed somewhat from this, to the
extent that he discarded the intuitu fidei theory and defined election
as the universal gracious will of God as far as it was realized in
them that were saved. In the end it was also nothing more than
an election in view of the different conduct of natural man. The
fact that one could speak of a “different conduct on the part of
man” presented no problem, as we have seen in the distinction
between natural and willful resistance in our treatment of the
article on Conversion. Both Iowa and Ohio maintained that to
describe faith as a result rather than a cause of election was
a Calvinistic conception. They also took violent exception to the
teaching of Scripture and the Confessions that God elected or
ordained a specific number of persons unto faith and eternal life
(Personenwahl, Form. Conc., XI, par. 23), calling Dr. Walther’s
statements in support of this doctrine a horrible doctrine (Allwardt,
Die jetzige Lehre der Synode von Missouri von der Gnadenwahl
Gottes, 1909, p.36). They could not understand how God should
have elected a number of human beings without seeing something
in them to cause this decree. Not that they went so far as to say
that man’s refraining from willful resistance could be considered
a cause in man or an act of co-operation on the part of man. God’s
universal will of grace extended to all men. This will of God’s
grace, they firmly maintained, is carried out by the Holy Ghost
alone, who without co-operation on the part of natural man over-