Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1954, Page 197

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Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America, 1954 197

I

Whereas, At the first meeting of the Synodical Conference,
Milwaukee, Wis., July 1872, the original Norwegian Synod, a char-
ter member of the new organization, came with a question regard-
ing “universal absolution,” or “objective justification,” which was
answered in detail by an essay on “Justification” read to and ac-
cepted by this first Synodical Conference Convention; and

Whereas, : This essay contained such statements as:

“This doctrine (of universal justification) is expressly stated
in Rom. 5:18; and it is, therefore, not only a Biblical doctrine but
also a Biblical expression that ‘justification of life has come upon
all men’ (Luther’s translation). Only a Calvinistic interpretation
could explain this passage so as to make out that only the elect
have been justified... . Those who say that God has made the
whole world righteous, but deny that He has declared the world
righteous, deny thereby in reality the whole of justification; for

the Father raised Christ from the dead” (Syn. Conf. Proceedings,
1872, p. 43, translated from German); and

WHEREAS, This doctrine has been denied and questioned by
many Lutherans; therefore :

We sincerely ask the Synodical Conference to go on record
reaffirming its adherence to the doctrine stated above by adopting
the paragraph here quoted.

II

WHEREAS, When the Synodical Conference was organized in
1872, there were many who asked: “Why did not the synods con-
cerned join one of the already existing federations of churches,
such as the General Council?”: and

Wuergas, The stand on unionism which was adopted by the
Synodical Conference as one of the fundamental principles of its
organization (Syn. Conf. Report, 1872, pp. 9-30) is expressed
briefly in the article on “Unionism,” which appears in the Con-
cordia Cyclopedia, 1927, pp. 774—5, where the following definition
of unionism is given:

“Religious unionism consists in joint worship and work of
those not united in doctrine. Its essence is an agreement to dis-
agree... . All joint ecclesiastical efforts for religious work (mis-
sionary, educational, etc.) and particularly joint worship and mixed
(promiscuous) prayer among those who confess the truth and
those who deny any part of it, is sinful unionism” (Cf. also the
definition of “fellowship” in the Syn. Conf. Proceedings, 1940, p. 89);
therefore

We sincerely ask the Synodical Conference to go on record
reaffirming its original stand against unionism in all its forms by
adopting the foregoing definition of unionism as its own.