American Lutheranism Volume II Part 2

His kind expressions of good will and sympathy and Christian love were warmly responded to by the President." (27.) The delegate to the German Reformed Church reported: "An opportunity was granted to your delegate to present the Christian salutations of our General Synod, to which the President of their body responded in a warm, fraternal, and most fitting manner." Delegate to the Presbyterian General a.s.sembly: "My intercourse with the brethren of the General a.s.sembly was peculiarly pleasant and satisfactory." (13.) The delegate to the "Unitas Fratrum" (Moravians) stated "that he was most cordially received by the brethren. There is something of the simplicity and love of primitive Christianity about them that renders their a.s.semblages charmingly attractive. The spirit of the Master was evinced in all their doings. Their discussions of some points of church-practises, diverging from their accustomed order, were spirited and thorough, but conducted in the scope of the Pauline sentiment: 'Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another.'" (34.) The General Synod declared: "Our principles not merely allow, but actually demand, fraternal relations with all Evangelical Christians, and especially with other Lutheran bodies in this country." (68.) At Canton, O., 1873, where Lutheran ministers preached in ten sectarian churches, the following letter of greeting from the United Brethren was read: "Our conference and Church duly appreciate every mark of good feeling and regard of sister denominations towards us, and admire the spirit which prompts it, which says, 'We are brethren,' 'We are one.' We are glad to note that the sharp corners of denominational antagonism are wearing away, that the watchmen are seeing eye to eye, that Christians can labor side by side in the common cause and in the same altars, and meet at the same communion, and each rejoice in the other's success. We also remember, with the utmost pleasure, the intimacy of some of the eminent men of your connection with the fathers of our connection,--instance Dr. Kurtz and W. Otterbein,--and trust that the sacred mantle of brotherly love which the fathers possessed may fall upon the sons to many generations.

We rejoice in the marked tendency to fraternal union among the evangelical churches of the United States, and are hopeful that we may get near together in all the essentials of Christian oneness. We take great pleasure in appointing a fraternal messenger to your general meeting at Canton, O." (34.) At Carthage, Ill., 1877, delegates were appointed to the General a.s.sembly of the Presbyterian Church, the Reformed (Dutch) Church, the Reformed (German) Church, the National Council of the Congregational Churches, the United Presbyterian Church, the c.u.mberland Presbyterian Church, the Provincial Synod of the Moravian Church, the United Brethren in Christ, and to the Evangelical Synod of the West. (26.) At Altoona, Pa., 1881, the following letter was received: "The Presbyterian Church greets, in the name of Christ, her twin-sister, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, born in the throes of the same spiritual reformation, sharing in common a glorious protesting history, marked with glorious deeds and names dear alike to both, a common glorious heritage, kindred symbols and polity, and a work for Christ side by side. May grace, mercy, and peace from G.o.d the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with all your ministers and congregations."

(54.) At Omaha, Nebr., 1887, thirty ministers of the General Synod preached in 18 sectarian churches, etc. Similar facts are recorded in the minutes of the General Synod down to its last convention in 1917.

32. Altar-fellows.h.i.+p Practised and Encouraged.--At Hagerstown, 1837, after a sermon delivered by Dr. Bachmann, "the brethren, united with many followers of Christ, of our own as well as of sister-churches, celebrated the Lord's Supper." (3.) At Philadelphia, 1845, the General Synod "cordially approves of the practise, which has. .h.i.therto prevailed in our churches, of inviting communicants in regular standing in either church [Lutheran and Reformed] to partake of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in the other, and of the dismission of church-members, at their own request, from the churches of the one to those of the other denominations." At York, 1864, and at Fort Wayne, 1866, the report of the Liturgical Committee was adopted, which contained the resolution "that on all subjects on which difference of doctrinal sentiment exists" (_e.g._, the distribution formula in the Lord's Supper), "Scripture-language, suited to either or both views, is to be employed without comment." (1864,26; 1866,23.) The result was that the union distribution formula was embodied in the Communion liturgy. The _Observer_, July 21, 1865, calling upon all Lutherans to join the General Synod, said: "And even if we, as Luther and the Reformed ministers at Marburg, do not think alike on the presence of the Lord in the Lord's Supper, let us have love to those who are in error, and pray G.o.d that He would enlighten them. What an offense to see so many thousands of intelligent and pious Lutherans live together like Jews and Samaritans though they all confess [?] the doctrines of the immortal Reformer and want to be disciples of Him who said: It will be one flock and one Shepherd." In 1868 the _Observer_ reported that at Findlay, 0., Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists, Weinbrennerians, and United Brethren celebrated the Lord's Supper in the Presbyterian Church, and adds: "That was a celebration of the Lord's Supper in the true spirit of the Gospel." (_L. u. W._ 1868,95.) In 1894 a conference of General Synod pastors in, and in the vicinity of, Pittsburgh published, in substance, the declaration: "We have open communion, and invite to it all members of the Evangelical Protestant Churches." (_L. u. W._ 1895,58.) Till 1899 the Communion formula of the "Ministerial Acts" of the General Synod contained a general invitation to all members of other Churches in good standing or to all who love the Lord Jesus. (_Luth. Quarterly_ 1909,33.) Though followed by a marked decrease in the indiscriminate invitation to the Lord's Supper, the omission of 1899 implied neither a criticism nor the abolishment of the un-Lutheran practise. In 1900 Pastor Butler wrote in the _Evangelist_ that he agrees with the brethren who make the Lord's Supper a communion with the Low and High-Church Episcopalians, the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, etc. "It is men of Dr. Storr's type,"

says Butler, "who, of all others, commend Christianity to thoughtful and devout people who care but little for the tweedledum and tweedledee shadings of truth, which divide the religious world." (_L. u. W._ 1900, 246.) Dr. Valentine, in the _Lutheran Cyclopedia_ of 1905: The General Synod "enacts no restrictive law against fellows.h.i.+p in pulpit or at altar, but allows to both ministers and members the freedom of conscience and love in this matter." (195.)

33. Other Forms of Unionism.--In his pamphlet _The General Synod and Her a.s.sailants_ J. A. Brown writes: "The General Synod was to aim not only at union among Lutheran synods, but to be 'regardful of the circ.u.mstances of the times, and of every casual rise and progress of unity of sentiment among Christians in general, in order that the blessed opportunities to promote concord, and unity, and the interest of the Redeemer's kingdom may not pa.s.s by neglected and unavailing.' This she has done by entering into correspondence with other denominations, and joining in general efforts to evangelize the world. She has cooperated with the American Bible and Tract Societies, and Sunday-school Union, and like agencies, and excited the contempt of her enemies by these 'unionistic efforts.' But it is believed she thus secured the approval of G.o.d and of His true Church, of whatever name."

(24.) At Frederick, 1831, the Sunday-school Society of the General Synod appointed Dr. Hazelius and the treasurer of the society to publish German Sunday-school books and tracts in connection with a committee of the Reformed Sunday-school Society. (29.) At Baltimore, 1833, a committee was appointed to report on the advantages or disadvantages of a union between the Reformed and Lutheran Churches. At Hagerstown, 1837, the General Synod adopted the report of their committee stating with respect to the proceedings of the East Pennsylvania Synod: "The proceedings contain a resolution to be concerned as much as possible about a closer union with the Church of Christ, and that a complete union of the Evangelical Lutheran and of the Evangelical Reformed Churches would have the most blessed results." (10.) At the same convention the "Foreign Mission Society of the Evangelical German Churches in the United States" was founded, which, however, did not prove a success, having a temporary existence only. According to its const.i.tution, the Society was to embrace all churches or individuals of German descent agreeing with the const.i.tution and making an annual contribution. (39.) Moravians and Reformed were among its officers. The letter addressed in the interest of this Society to the Reformed and other German Churches, inviting them to cooperate, states: "It is our ardent desire that the German Church as such be united in this matter....

Because union in this as well as in all other matters is desirable for the sake of peace, of Christian fellows.h.i.+p, and of true piety,... we, therefore, cordially invite you, dear brethren [of the Reformed Churches, etc.] to cooperate. It matters not who leads the way, as long as he is in the right way." (44.) Synod resolved "that the invitations [to join the Foreign Mission Society] which had been extended to all German Churches without exception, suggest an appropriate admonition that, being convinced that we all are brethren in Christ, our sectarian divisions should be forgotten, and that they offer an occasion for the brotherly cooperation of two Churches which are so close to each other by national descent, similarity of doctrine, geographic neighborhood, and matrimonial relations.h.i.+p." (13.) Synod furthermore declared "that according to the meaning of this Synod the plan which is adopted should include a connection with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions." (13.) At Chambersburg, 1839, B. Kurtz presented a resolution in reference to some plan for a union of effort in the Foreign Missionary field with "our brethren of the German Reformed Church." (33.) At the same convention the Foreign Mission Society proposed organic union with the German Reformed. At Philadelphia, 1845, the General Synod approved of the Reformed publications of the American Tract Society, as also of those of the American Sunday-school Union, and of the extension of the former's operations to the German population. At New York, 1848, the Evangelical (Union) Synod of the West was invited to join the General Synod. The same convention resolved that they "regard with great pleasure the successful operations of the American Tract Society, among the dest.i.tute population of our land, and will cheerfully cooperate with them as opportunity may offer." (23.) A similar resolution was adopted in 1864, at York. (_L. u. W._ 1864,284.) At Dayton, 0., 1855, the General Synod declared its undiminished confidence in the American Sunday-school Union, and cordially commended it to the support and hearty cooperation of all churches. (23.) In 1859 (March 23) the _Olive Branch_, edited by Dr. S. W. Harkey, stated that many congregations connected with the General Synod were still using the union hymn-book. Throughout its history ministers of the General Synod served both Lutheran and sectarian congregations. (_L. u. W._ 1880,190.) In 1863 Harkey proposed a union of all Lutherans in America on the basis of the fundamental Christian doctrines, _i. e._, the doctrines held in common by all evangelical Protestants, including the doctrine of the divine obligation of the Sabbath which the Augsburg Confession rejects.

(_L. u. W._ 1863,91.) Reporting Dr. Crosby's statement with respect to the differences of the old and new-school Presbyterians, "We can agree to disagree," the _Observer_ exclaimed: "Oh, that the intolerant dogmatists of the Lutheran Church would have attained such a degree of Christian love and common sense!" (July 12, 1872.) In 1857 the arch-unionist Philip Schaff wrote in _Rudelbach-Guericke's Zeitschrift_: "To us America seems to be destined to become the phenix grave of all European churches and sects, of Protestantism and Romanism." The General Synod was certainly not a slacker in contributing her bit to fulfil this prophecy.

UNION LETTER OP 1845.

34. Overtly Renouncing Lutheranism.--In 1845, at Philadelphia, the General Synod appointed a committee to address, in a letter, the Evangelical Church in Germany, in order to defend herself against alleged detractors of her Lutheranism. But the signers of this letter, Schmucker, Kurtz, Pohlmann, Morris, and H. I. Schmidt (then professor in Hartwick Seminary), while believing that they were serving this purpose, in reality made an unreserved confession of the General Synod's complete apostasy from the Lutheran faith and Church. The letter states: The General Synod requires only essential agreement in doctrinal views, strict conformity being impossible in America. Peace can be maintained only by an eclecticism, which adheres to essentials and pa.s.ses over non-important matters. Accordingly, the position of the General Synod is not that of the Old Lutherans, but of the Union Church in Germany. "Now, as to our doctrinal views, we confess without disguise, indeed, confess it loudly and openly, that the great majority of us are not Old Lutherans in the sense of a small party [Breslauer], which in Germany bears this name. We are convinced that, if the great Luther were still living, he himself would not be one of them." "In most of our church-principles we stand on common ground with the Union Church of Germany. The distinctive views which separate the Old Lutherans and the Reformed Church we do not consider essential; and the tendency of the so-called old Lutheran party seems to us to be behind our age." "The great Luther made progress throughout his life, and at the end of his career considered his work unfinished." The General Synod, the letter continues, agreeing with Luther and the symbols in all essential points, was endeavoring to complete his work. "The peculiar view of Luther on the bodily presence of the Lord in the Lord's Supper has long ago been abandoned by the great majority of our ministers, though some few of the older German teachers and laymen still adhere to it. Regarding the nature and meaning of the presence of the Lord in the Supper, liberty is allowed as in the Evangelical [Union] Church of Germany. The majority of our preachers believe in a peculiar presence and in a peculiar blessing of the Lord, but of a spiritual nature only." "Nevertheless, we are Evangelical Lutheran.... We believe that we may, as honest men, still call ourselves Lutherans." The letter continues: Instead of organizing a separate Evangelical [Union] Church, as it exists in Germany, ministers coming to America should unite with the General Synod. They must, however, not come with the purpose of remodeling the American Lutheran Church according to European standards, which would but lead to failure, strife, and separations. Similar attempts had been made by German brethren through the _Kirchenzeitung_ [in Pittsburgh] and in Columbus Seminary, with the result that the paper was losing its support and the seminary was now suspended. (_Lutheraner_ 1846,43 f. Spaeth, 1, 330-348.) This blunderful letter was published in Germany in the _Zeitschrift fuer Protestantismus und Kirche_, Vol. 11, No. 4, Schmucker, Kurtz, and Morris being personally present in Germany to defend the letter. Loehe remarked: "We hope that they will carry the conviction from Germany that a time has arrived different from the one when Kurtz first preached and collected in Germany." (_Kirchl. Mitteilungen_, 1846,48.) A consequence of the letter was that, in 1846, four ministers (Kunz, Wier, Isensee, and Meissner, who immediately organized the Indianapolis Synod, which, however, had a temporary existence only) left the Synod of the West, declaring that they could no longer continue their connection with the General Synod because in her letter she had publicly confessed that she had abandoned a part of the Lutheran doctrine long ago. (_Lutheraner_ 1846,11.)

35. Letter Never Disowned by Synod.--The letter of 1845 is a frank confession and adequate expression of the spirit of unionism then prevailing in the General Synod. Indeed, several years later (1852, 1856), H. I. Schmidt, who had signed the letter, expressed his belief in the Lutheran doctrine of the Lord's Supper, and Dr. Morris declared the letter "the greatest blunder" ever committed by the General Synod. The General Synod as such, however, has never criticized, renounced, or withdrawn the letter. Moreover, in 1848, at New York, the letter, in a way, received official recognition by the General Synod. (19. 20. 50.) In his _Denkschrift_ of 1875 Severinghaus explains: "Even if this letter should have expressed the views of the great majority, it is, nevertheless, only the testimony of a committee, which indeed was never disavowed by the General Synod, but which can have no greater significance than was given it by the authority of the committee of that time." But Severinghaus continues: "Besides, it is _still_ true that the majority among us are not old-Lutheran, and that, in general, we occupy common ground with the Union Church of Germany in most of our church-principles." The truth is that the leaders of the General Synod, in 1845, did not occupy higher, on the contrary, even lower ground than the Lutherans in the Prussian Union. They were not merely unionists, but Calvinists, Puritans, and Methodists, openly defending Reformed errors and practises. While the greater portion of the Prussian Union retained the Lutheran doctrines and usages, the great majority of the General Synod had sacrificed everything specifically Lutheran: doctrines, liturgy, Scripture-lessons, church-festivals, customs, robes, etc. Loehe declared in 1863 that the General Synod was a Union Church, more so than any in Germany.

36. Actions in Keeping with Letter.--A number of subsequent actions of the General Synod were in perfect agreement with the compromising letter of 1845. At New York, 1848, the General Synod resolved "that Profs.

Reynolds, Schmidt, and Hay be a committee to correspond with the Evangelical Synod of the West, for the purpose of establis.h.i.+ng fraternal intercourse between them and this Synod, and also with a view to the union of all parts of the Evangelical Church in the great work of preaching the Gospel to the German population of the West, and with a reference to the organization of all parts of our Church in this country upon a common basis." (23.) At Dayton, 0., 1855, the committee (W. J.

Mann and S. W. Harkey), appointed to open a correspondence with the Evangelical Church Union of the West, report "that they addressed a letter to the Synod named, which was favorably noticed in their proceedings, and a delegate appointed by them to meet with us at this time." Harkey was appointed as delegate to their next meeting. (15.) At Pittsburgh, 1859, the delegate to the same body stated: "I wrote to that body, expressing the very deep interest which we feel in their union.

The communication was very fraternally received and a delegate appointed to meet us at this convention of General Synod, who is now present."

(32.) At the same convention the committee on Ecclesiastical Correspondence remarked: "You were pleased to hear Mr. Dresel's [delegate of the Evangelical Church Union of the West] statements by which you are a.s.sured of the near relations.h.i.+p of the body which he represents to the Lutheran Church generally. They, too, recognize the Augsburg Confession as a part of their confessional basis, although they have modified it by the admission of the Heidelberg Catechism and other Reformed Confessions to equal authority, standing as they do upon the basis of the United Evangelical Church of Prussia and other parts of Germany. It is not our business here to criticize the action of the State authorities in Germany by which that Union was established, or of our brethren who found themselves in this country sympathizing with the Church in which they had there been reared. It was enough for this body to be a.s.sured that these brethren are of an evangelical character, holding the great doctrines of Protestantism, and zealously laboring for the diffusion of Christian knowledge and unfeigned piety among their countrymen, especially in the great valley of the Mississippi. Although distinct in doctrinal position and church organization, our relations to them here are of the most interesting character, and you will be pleased to hear of the progress which they are making in various departments of Christian labor." (30.) At Was.h.i.+ngton, in 1869, the delegate to the Evangelical Church Union of the West reported: "These brethren are earnestly at work in the Master's cause, and in full sympathy with our General Synod. Hoping that our fraternal relations may grow stronger each revolving year," etc. (29.) In 1857 and 1859 the same cordial att.i.tude was a.s.sumed toward the Evangelical Church Diet (Kirchentag) in Germany, a letter, in behalf of the Diet, having been received from Bethmann-Hollweg, then Secretary of ecclesiastical affairs in Prussia.

(_Proceedings_ 1857,21.24; 1859,32.37.38.) In 1909 the General Synod approved of the admission (in 1907) of the _Vereins.l.u.theraner_ within the Prussian Union into the "Allgemeine Evangelisch-Lutherische Konferenz." (22.) Siding with the Evangelicals, the _Lutheran Observer_, October 9, 1863, declared: "The Evangelical Union of the West forms a wholesome balance against the old-Lutheran tendency of the Missouri Synod." (_L. u. W._. 1863,379.) It was, therefore, not in dissonance with the traditions of the General Synod, when, as late as 1909, the _Lutheran Evangelist_ proposed a union of the General and Evangelical Synods, maintaining that General Synodists and Evangelicals were natural allies. (_L. u. W._ 1909,180. 421.)

CHRISTIAN UNION.

37. "Father" of Evangelical Alliance.--At Chambersburg, Pa., 1839, the General Synod pa.s.sed the resolution "that the thanks of this Synod be presented to the American Society for the Promotion of Christian Union _for this acceptable present_." The present received by the members of Synod was Schmucker's "Appeal to the American Churches" or "New Plan of Apostolic Protestant Union." The purpose of this book was to promote union among the Protestant denominations on the basis of the ec.u.menical confessions. It proved to be a powerful factor in the movement which resulted in the organization of the Evangelical Alliance. Schmucker himself, together with Kurtz and Morris, attended the "World's Convention" at London in 1846, where they united with 800 ministers of 50 different denominations in founding the Alliance, which a.s.sumed the motto: "_Unum corpus sumus in Christo_," Schmucker, in particular being feted as the "Father" of this union. Naturally enough also the General Synod took a lively interest in the Alliance, though it was not a union of churches or of representatives of churches, but of individual Christians who were in sympathy with its aims. In 1869, for example, the General Synod "resolved that the delegates to the World's Evangelical Alliance, appointed at Harrisburg, be continued with the addition of Rev. S. Sprecher, D. D., and Rev. S. S. Schmucker, D. D." (64.) At the international conferences of the Alliance the General Synod was regularly represented, also at its last convention in 1914 at Basel. On a local meeting of the Alliance in 1902, at Easton, Pa., the _Lutherische Kirchenblatt_ (General Council) reported, in substance, as follows: "More than 60 delegates were present: Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, Evangelicals, Free Baptists, Lutherans (General Synod and General Council), Mennonites, Moravians, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Reformed, Reformed Presbyterians, and United Evangelicals. Resolutions formulated by a committee, of which Dr.

Alleman of the General Synod was a member, were unanimously adopted according to which members of one congregation may be received by another in a manner 'that no question of church-polity or doctrine need ever arise.' It was furthermore resolved that in smaller cities and country congregations union services be held throughout the state."

(_Observer_, Dec. 26, 1903.) The following nine articles, which Schmucker viewed as a sufficient basis for every kind of Christian union and cooperation, were adopted by the Alliance at London: "1. The divine inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures. 2. The right and duty of private judgment in the interpretation of the Holy Scripture. 3. The unity of the G.o.dhead and the trinity of Persons therein. 4. The utter depravity of human nature in consequence of the fall. 5. The incarnation of the Son of G.o.d, His work of atonement for sinners of mankind, and His mediatorial intercession and reign. 6. The justification of the sinner by faith alone. 7. The work of the Holy Spirit in the conversion and sanctification of the sinner. 8. The immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, the judgment of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the eternal blessedness of the righteous and the eternal punishment of the wicked. 9. The divine inst.i.tution of Christian ministry, and the obligation and perpetuity of the ordinance of Baptism and the Lord's Supper."

38. "Apostolic Protestant Union."--The plan of Christian Union hatched by Schmucker and recommended by the General Synod is delineated in a report presented 1848, at New York, by the Committee of Conference on Christian Union appointed at the previous session of the General Synod, as follows: "The kind of union to which this body was disposed to invite the several evangelical denominations, and in which she felt it a duty and a pleasure to lead the way in hope of virtually healing the 'Great Schism' of Protestantism, is also definitely delineated by the following portraiture: 'The design to be aimed at shall be not to amalgamate the several denominations into one church, nor to impair in any degree the independent control of each denomination over its own affairs and interests, but to present to the world a more formal profession and practical proof of our mutual recognition of each other as integral parts of the visible Church of Christ on earth, as well as our fundamental unity of faith and readiness to cooperate harmoniously in the advancement of objects of common interest." (11.) "An article was prepared in which, after a glance at the solemn injunction of the Savior and His apostles to preserve unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, the nature and extent of the union prevailing in the primitive churches was delineated as consisting of the following features: a. unity of name; b. unity in fundamental doctrines, whilst diversity in nonessentials was concealed; c. mutual acknowledgment of each other's acts of discipline; d. sacramental and ministerial intercommunion; e.

convention of the different churches of the land in synod or council for mutual consultation or ecclesiastical regulation." (12.) "In contrast with this picture of primitive union, the present deplorable divided and conflicting state of the Church was delineated.... In hope of removing the princ.i.p.al evils of these denominational divisions, your committee projected a scheme of Christian union based (in the following four preliminary principles for the guarantee of the rights of individual conscience and denominational religious liberty: 1. This plan must require of no one the renunciation of any doctrine or opinion believed by him to be true, nor the profession of anything he regards as erroneous; nor does the accession of any denomination to this union imply any sanction of the peculiarities of any other. 2. It must concede to every denomination the right to retain its own organization for government, discipline, and wors.h.i.+p. 3. It must not prevent the discussion of the points of difference between the several a.s.sociated denominations, but only require that it be done in the spirit of love.

4. It must either in all or at least some of its features be applicable to all evangelical, fundamentally orthodox [non-Unitarian] churches, and each denomination may at option adopt any or all of its features." (12.) The plan of union offered in accordance with these principles by Schmucker and the committee embraces the following features: 1. Adoption of the nine doctrinal articles of the Evangelical Alliance. 2. Regular interchange of delegates between the supreme judicatories of the several denominations. 3. Cooperation of the different a.s.sociated churches in voluntary societies, notably such as Bible, Tract, Sabbath-school and Foreign Mission Societies. 4. The more extensive use of the Bible as a textbook in theological, congregational, and Sunday-school inst.i.tutions.

5. Occasional free sacramental communion by all whose views of duty allow it. 6. A general, stated anniversary celebration and smaller state celebrations, also representation at the ec.u.menical conventions of the Evangelical Alliance. (12.) The report concludes: "This plan was sent by your committee in the form of a proof-sheet to about fifty of the most distinguished and influential divines of ten different denominations, and these not only returned letters expressing their substantial approbation of the plan, but nearly all of them united with your committee in sending it out over their own signatures as an overture of Christian union, submitted for the consideration of the Evangelical denominations in the United States." (13.)

39. Endorsed by the General Synod.--"According to the conception of prominent leaders," says Dr. Jacobs, "the General Synod was nothing more than the realization of Zinzendorf's dream of 1742, which the coming of Muhlenberg had so quickly dissipated." (_History_, 304.) But judged by its minutes, what Jacobs limits to its "prominent leaders" is true of the General Synod as such. Synod certainly did not discourage Schmucker in his union schemes. In 1839, at Chambersburg, the General Synod was immediately interested in his "Plan of Apostolic Protestant Union." The committee appointed in the matter recommended "that Synod approve of the several features of the union plan, and submit it for serious consideration to its District Synods." (19.) A following convention appointed Schmucker, Krauth, and Miller as a Committee of Conference on Christian Union to confer with similar committees and prominent individuals of different denominations "on the great subject of Christian Union." At New York, 1848, Synod resolved that the report on Christian Union be adopted, and the Committee on Christian Union be continued." (15.) At Charleston, 1850, the Committee of Conference remarked in its report: "As the general principles of the Apostolic Christian Union, _adopted by this body_, were fully detailed in our last report, it is deemed unnecessary to enlarge on them in this place."

(21.) Schmucker continued his efforts till the year of his death, 1873, when again he made an appeal to the General Synod "for an advisory union among all Evangelical denominations" as an "additional aid to the promotion of the designs of the World's Evangelical Alliance." (53.) The committee to whom Schmucker's letter and his printed appeal was referred, recommended the resolution: "Resolved, That while this General Synod approves of the ends contemplated by the appeal, and commends the fraternal spirit of its author, yet it does not deem it necessary for the present to take any further action towards Christian union than that which is already upon record." (53.) Schmucker's ideas concerning Christian union, however, were not abandoned by the General Synod.

Moreover, in a way, his plans materialized in the Federal Council, consisting of about 30 Protestant bodies, at the organization of which, in 1905, the General Synod was represented by Wenner, Remensnyder, Grosscup, and Bauslin. (_L. u. W._ 1906, 33.) Theologically the Federal Council does not even measure up to the ideals of Schmucker, inasmuch as it reduced the nine points of the Evangelical Alliance, which Schmucker viewed as essential, to the meager confession of "Jesus Christ as their divine Lord and Savior," which even Unitarians will not hesitate to subscribe to. Besides, Seventh-day Adventists, Christians, Friends, and other bodies tainted with Unitarianism are even now connected with the Federal Council. In 1909 the General Synod "heartily endorsed the work of the Federal Council." (115.) In 1917 Synod adopted the report of its delegates to the Council which said, in part: "It was a great privilege to have partic.i.p.ated in this historic council. As the federation idea originated in the United States in the mind and heart of a learned and devout Lutheran, Dr. Samuel S. Schmucker, it was a great joy and satisfaction to see and partic.i.p.ate in this consummation of Dr.

Schmucker's hope of all Protestant bodies in council and cooperation in the one common task of propagating the kingdom of G.o.d in society and throughout the world." (27.) The ultimate aim of the Federal Council evidently is an amalgamation of all Protestant Churches. And there are, even now, General Synodists who are ready to countenance this eventuality. In the _Christian Herald_, December 12, 1917, Dr. J. B.

Remensnyder spoke of the essential unity of Protestantism separated only by minor differences, and of "the practical possibility of a larger union,--one world-wide Protestant Church of Christ," to be brought about by mutual surrender of secondary differences. "It will not come about,"

says Remensnyder, "by one denomination insisting absolutely on its doctrinal type." In the _Lutheran Church Work and Observer_, May 23, 1918, p. 7 f., a General Synod pastor wrote: "With forms of religion and denominational differences we have nothing to do.... Let each one have his own faith, his own light and hope." "There come moments when we forget our differences and our various labels, when we arise above the partial, the individual, and sectarian, when a common impulse drives us headlong into the arms of trust and general comrades.h.i.+p...."

THEOLOGY REFORMED.

40. Championing Reformed Doctrines.--Wherever Lutherans unite with the Reformed, the former gradually sink to the level of the latter. Already by declaring the differences between the two Churches irrelevant, the Lutheran truths are actually sacrificed and denied. Unionism always breaks the backbone, and outrages the conscience, of true Lutheranism.

And naturally enough, the refusal to confess the Lutheran truth is but too frequently followed by eager endors.e.m.e.nt and fanatical defense of the opposite errors. This is fully borne out by the history of the General Synod. As the years rolled on, the Reformed lineaments, at first manifesting themselves in unionism, came out in ever bolder relief. The distinctive Lutheran doctrines of the Lord's Supper, the person of Christ, Baptism, absolution, infant faith, the means of grace, the Sabbath, abstinence, separation of State and Church, etc., were all rejected and a.s.sailed by the most prominent leaders of the General Synod. And the unionistic spirit, with which also the most conservative within the General Synod were infected, paralyzed the courage of the men who, in a measure, saw and loved the light, and should have been bold in confessing the truth and uncompromising in defending it against the opposite errors. In 1831, in deference to sectarianism, the publication of the _Lutheran Observer_ was transferred to Baltimore, with Dr. Morris as editor, because it was feared that the Presbyterians might take offense at the t.i.tle "Lutheran" if, as was originally planned, it was published at Gettysburg with the professors as editors! It was in the interest of eliminating the specific Lutheran doctrines that, in 1845, at Philadelphia, a committee (Schmucker, Morris, Schmidt, Pohlman, Kurtz) was appointed to formulate and present to the next convention an abstract of the doctrines and usages of the American Lutheran Church, on the order of the Abstract requested in 1844 by the Maryland Synod, in which the Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence was rejected. The report was made at Charleston, S. C., 1850, but "laid on the table, and the committee discharged from further duty." (27.) In 1855 a bold effort was made to abandon the Augsburg Confession in favor of the notorious Definite Platform, from which all specifically Lutheran doctrines had been eliminated in order to open the way officially for the tenets peculiar to Reformed theology. Some of the fanatics were not even willing to tolerate Lutheran doctrine in the General Synod. When in 1852 the Pennsylvania Synod resolved to reunite with the General Synod, and called upon all Lutherans in America to follow her example, the _Observer_, December 21, 1852, published a declaration stating that the Augsburg Confession taught the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper and several other things, which were rejected by almost all of the friends and promoters of the General Synod, and that it was sinful to unite with Lutherans who adhered to such doctrines. (_Lutheraner_, Dec. 21, 1852.) Former members of the North Illinois Synod declared in the _Observer_ of January 20, 1860: "We do not believe in the bodily presence, baptismal regeneration, the ceremonies of the ma.s.s, and in similar nonsense." (_L. u. W._ 1860, 93.) As late as 1896 the Allegheny Synod refused to ordain a candidate because he did not hold that the Sunday was of divine inst.i.tution.

(_L. u. W._ 1896, 281.)

41. Sailing under False Colors.--Foremost and boldest among the Reformed theologians within the General Synod were S. S. Schmucker and B. Kurtz, who nevertheless insisted on sailing under the Lutheran flag. Brazenly claiming to be the true representatives of Lutheranism, they at the same time a.s.sailed the Lutheran and defended the Reformed doctrines with ultra Calvinistic zeal and bigotry. They opposed the adoption of all the Lutheran symbols (especially of the Formula of Concord), as well as the unqualified subscription to the Augsburg Confession, because they were imbued with the Reformed spirit and absolute strangers to, and enemies of, everything distinctive of, and essential to, true Lutheranism.

(_L. u. W._ 1866, 21.) In his _Popular Theology_, published for the first time in 1834, Schmucker says: "But whilst the Reformers [Luther and Zwingli] agreed in rejecting this papal error [transubstantiation], it is much to be regretted that they could neither harmonize among themselves as to what should be subst.i.tuted in its stead, nor consent to walk together in love, when they could not entirely accord in opinion....

Alas! that men, distinguished so highly for intellect, and chosen of G.o.d to accomplish so great a work, should betray such a glaring want of liberality toward each other; that, having gloriously cooperated in vanquis.h.i.+ng the papal beast, they should turn their weapons against each other, for a point not decided in Scripture, and therefore of minor importance!" (Edition 1848, p. 297.) With respect to the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper, Schmucker, in his _Popular Theology_, distinguishes between the substantial, the influential, and the symbolical presence and the bald symbolical representation. Then he continues: "After a protracted and unprofitable struggle, the Lutheran Church has long since settled down in the happy conviction that on this, as on all other subjects not clearly determined by the inspired Volume, her sons shall be left to follow the dictates of their own conscience, having none to molest them or make them afraid. In the Lutheran Church in this country each of the above views has some advocates, though the great body of our divines, if we mistake not, embraces either the second or third." (305.) Also in his _Portraiture of Lutheranism_ (1840) Schmucker maintained that the Lutheran Church no longer demands the acknowledgment of the real presence in the Eucharist, Luther himself, toward the end of his life, having admitted that he had gone too far in this matter.

42. Moses Stuart's Declaration.--Referring to the statements quoted from Schmucker's _Popular Theology_, Prof. Moses Stuart of Andover said in the _Bibliotheca Sacra_ of 1844: "I should not do justice to the Lutheran Church of recent times if I did not say that many within its precincts have loudly called in question the old doctrine of Luther and his compeers and successors in respect to consubstantiation [real presence]. The battle has been fought of late with great power; and scarcely a doubt remains that the more enlightened of the Lutherans are either renouncing his views, or coming to the position that they are not worth contending for. In this country such is clearly the case. Dr. S.

S. Schmucker, the able and excellent exponent of the Lutheran theology in this country, in his work, called _Popular Theology_, has told us that they are 'settled down in the happy conviction that on this, and on all other subjects not clearly determined by the inspired Volume, her sons shall be left to follow the dictates of their own conscience, having none to molest or make them afraid.' The great body of Lutheran divines among us, according to the same writer, doubt or deny the corporeal or physical presence of Christ in the elements of the Eucharist. It is not difficult to predict that ere long the great ma.s.s of well-informed Lutherans, at least in this country, will be substantially united, in regard to this subject, with the other Reformed Churches." (Spaeth, _C. P. Krauth_, 1, 115.)

43. Reformed Att.i.tude of the "Observer."--Commenting on B. Kurtz, editor of the _Lutheran, Observer_, Dr. Spaeth says: "For years and years he was indefatigable in his coa.r.s.e and irreverential, yea, blasphemous attacks upon what was set forth as most sacred in the Confessions of the Lutheran Church. The loyal adherents of the historical faith of the Augsburg Confession were denounced as 'resurrectionists of elemental, undeveloped, halting, stumbling, and staggering humanity,' as priests ready 'to immolate bright meridian splendor on the altar of misty, musky dust,' men bent on going backward, and consequently, of necessity, going downward!" Every distinctive doctrine and usage of Lutheranism was ridiculed and a.s.sailed, in the _Lutheran Observer_, by Kurtz and his theological affinities. In its issue of June 29, 1849, C.P. Krauth, in an article on the question of Christ's presence in the Eucharist, wrote: "From this high position [of the Lutheran confessions, held by some Lutherans in America] there are almost all shades of dissent and descent, not only to that which is popularly called the Zwinglian, and of which the _Lutheran Observer_ may be considered the exponent, but yet lower to that which we may call, for want of a better name, Socinian."

(Spaeth I, 162.) A few weeks prior (June 8) Kurtz had declared that in the 60 Lutheran congregations in Maryland not 30 American-born members could be found who knew what "bodily presence" in the Lord's Supper meant, much less believed in it. The more the free-thinking, practical, and common-sense people the United States got acquainted with this doctrine, the less they would take to it. The same was true of other obsolete doctrines, such as baptismal regeneration. (_Lutheraner_, October 30, 1849.) In January of 1854 the _Observer_ announced that an old ma.n.u.script had been discovered in Germany, according to which Luther, shortly before his death, retracted his controversy against the Sacramentarians. (_Lutheraner_ 10, 108; cf. 2, 47.) In November of the same year the _Observer_ declared that Profs. Heppe and Ebrard had proved that the doctrine of the Lutheran Church on the Lord's Supper was not the one of Luther, but that of the later Melanchthon. (_Lutheraner_ 11, 71.) Ans.p.a.ch, coeditor of the _Observer_, stated in its number of November 12, 1858: "Difference of opinion concerning the Sacraments is tolerated in the General Synod, and although there are some among our brethren who believe in the real presence of our Savior in the Lord's Supper in a higher sense than others, they nevertheless hold that this takes place in a spiritual and supernatural manner." (_L. u. W._ 1859, 30.) In its issue of June 29, 1860, the _Observer_ protested: "We can never subscribe to the errors of the Augsburg Confession.... Let a separation take place. Let those who are able to swallow the errors of the sixteenth century, which have long ago been hissed from the stage, rally around the banner: 'The true body and the true blood of Christ in a natural manner in the elements,' and on the back side: 'Regeneration by Baptism and priestly absolution essential to true Lutheranism'! This is the theology of the symbolists. This papistical theology we cannot and will not subscribe to in America. For it is a theology which is not drawn from the Bible, but from the Roman Bible." In 1861 the _Observer_ remarked that the Missouri, Buffalo, and other Old Lutherans practise ceremonies and adhere to doctrines which are as odious to many of us as those in vogue in the Roman Church. (March 8.) Two years prior the _Observer_ had blasphemously scoffed at the Lutheran Communion Liturgy as "altar antics." (_L. u. W._ 1860, 31.) _Observer_, February 12, 1864: "Christ is at the right hand of G.o.d in heaven. How, then, can we speak of Christ's body and blood as present in the Sacrament since no such body did exist for these 1800 years, never since His ascension into glory?" (_L. u. W._ 1864, 125.) November 7, 1862: "But who exercises faith in infant baptism? Not the child, but the father or the sponsor,"

etc. (_L. u. W._ 1862, 373.) In 1904 the _Observer_ denied that a child believes and is regenerated by Baptism. (_L. u. W._ 1904, 471.) According to the _Observer_ of 1901 a man may become a true Christian even without any knowledge of the Gospel and of Christ. (_L. u. W._ 1901, 306.) _Observer_, March 27, 1868: "G.o.d's Book is a total abstinence book, and G.o.d's Son never made intoxicating wine." In 1867 the _American Lutheran_ (published by the Hartwick Synod and later merged with the _Lutheran Observer_), teaching the baldest Zwinglianism, maintained that Baptism is a mere sign and seal of members.h.i.+p in the visible Church on earth and no more regeneration itself than the sign-board "Hotel" is itself the hotel. (_L. u. W._ 1867, 125.) The _Lutheran Evangelist_, merged in 1909 into the _Observer_ and always disowning every doctrine distinctive of Lutheranism, stated January 20, 1899: The pastors of the General Synod are too sensible to believe "so foolish a dogma as infant faith." (_L. u. W._ 1899, 27.) The same paper had declared in 1892: "They are bad Lutherans who do not view the Sabbath as commanded by G.o.d. If the Augsburg Confession had been written in our day, it would have delivered no uncertain testimony with respect to the divine obligation of the Day of the Lord." The _Lutheran Church Work and Observer_, the official organ of the General Synod, wrote September 12, 1918: "The General Synod has always stood on the side of temperance.... Almost all her ministers have been abstainers and advocates of total abstinence. They have ever aligned themselves with the temperance forces of the country to put the American saloon out of business." The first resolution in favor of the temperance cause, referred to in the minutes of the General Synod, was adopted in 1831 by the Hartwick Synod. (9.)

44. General Synod Involved as Such.--In spite of its noncommittal policy as to doctrine, the General Synod also as such has not been able to conceal its distinctively Reformed complexion. The letter of 1845 admits and approves of the fact that Luther's doctrine of the bodily presence of the Lord's Supper had long ago been abandoned by the great majority of the ministers of the General Synod. It was the Reformed theology, taught in the books of Schmucker, in the books of Kurtz, in the _Observer_ edited by Kurtz, and in the _Hirtenstimme_, published by Weyl, against which Wyneken protested in 1845, at Philadelphia. But his appeal for true Lutheranism over against Reformedism impressed the General Synod merely as funny (spa.s.shaft), and his motion in the matter was tabled. Wyneken was compelled to sever his connection with a body whose every prominent feature was Reformed. The confessional Resolution adopted 1864 at York rejects, as will be explained later, the Lutheran doctrines of the real presence, absolution, and the Sunday. The minutes of the General Synod contain frequent resolutions in favor of the sectarian views of the Sabbath, total abstinence, the introduction of the Bible into the State schools, etc. At New York, 1848, Synod declared "that we heartily approve of the 'New York City Temperance Society, organized on Christian principles,' and believe it to be the only system of operation that will be ultimately successful and triumphant; that we commend this Society to the attention of the Synods in connection with this body, and to our churches generally, and urge them to prosecute this great and philanthropic enterprise upon the Christian principles adopted by this Society." (8.) At Harrisburg, 1885, the resolutions were adopted "that we do hereby declare our belief in the divine authority of the Christian Sabbath as a day of sacred rest and religious instruction and wors.h.i.+p of Almighty G.o.d; that we recommend to the respective Synods of the General Synod that they take such action from time to time as shall lead to more frequent and earnest appeals from all the pulpits of our Church upon this all-important subject; that with uplifted hands to that G.o.d who is the Father of us all we unceasingly implore that the day be hastened when all the earth shall be freed from the power of sin, and when life shall be one universal Sabbath to the ends of the earth."

(69.) (_Proceedings_ 1848,44; 1853,28; 1864,45; 1883,46; 1887,61; etc.) In 1854 T. N. Kurtz of Baltimore published a "Lutheran Almanac,"

featuring on its t.i.tle-page the pictures of Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin as "those great Reformers," and listing as "great theologians of the Lutheran Church" also the names of Herder, Paulus, Ammon, Bretschneider, Wegscheider, Gesenius, Roehr, etc. (_Lutheraner_ 10,15.) This is a true-to-life picture of the General Synod in her palmiest days-- Zwinglianism, Methodism, Rationalism being the most protruding features.

(4,198.)

45. Verdict of Contemporaries.--In his pamphlet _The Distress of the German Lutherans in America_, Wyneken said with special reference to the English part of the General Synod: "They have totally fallen away from the faith of the fathers. Though enthusiastic over the name 'Lutheran'

and zealous in spreading the so-called 'Lutheran' Church, they, in a most shameful and foolhardy manner, attack the doctrines of our Church and seek to spread their errors in sermons, periodicals, and newspapers, notably the doctrines of Baptism and the Lord's Supper and the connected important doctrines of grace, of the two natures in Christ, etc. ...

Besides, they are ardent advocates of 'new measures' and altogether Methodistic in their method of conversion." In 1845, after severing his connection with the General Synod on account of its refusal to renounce the Reformed doctrines and usages advocated by Schmucker, Kurtz, and Weyl, Wyneken denounced the General Synod as "Reformed in doctrine, Methodistic in practise, and laboring for the ruin of the Church, whose name she falsely bears." (_Lutheraner_ 1845,96.) In a letter to Walther, dated December 11, 1844, Dr. Sihler wrote: "Our main enemies here in Ohio are not only the Methodists, but also the false brethren, the so-called General Synod, which, as generally known, is decidedly Reformed in the doctrine of the Sacraments, and in its practise decidedly Methodistic." Again, in 1858, Sihler branded Kurtz, Schmucker, and others as "open counterfeiters, Calvinists, Methodists, Unionists, and traitors and destroyers of the Lutheran Church." (_L. u. W._ 1858, 137.) The _Lutheran Standard_, October 27, 1847, declared: "History has already recorded it for posterity that the General Synod is not an Evangelical Lutheran body, inasmuch as it fails to adhere to just those doctrines by which the Evangelical Lutheran Church differs from other denominations. History declares that the General Synod has expressly and without disguise renounced the distinctive doctrines of Lutheranism, and at the same time declared herself in favor of Union and Methodistic practise." (_Lutheraner_ 2,56; 4,46.) The _Evangelical Lutheran_, published at Springfield, O., remarked that Schmucker and his compeers were engaged in selling Reformed goods under the trademark of Lutheranism. (April 9, 1868.) Dr. Mann, who himself for many years had intimate connections with Philip Schaff, wrote in the _Lutherische Zeitschrift_ of November 17, 1866: "It is the peculiarity of the un-Lutheran party [of the General Synod] that it is essentially committed to Reformed sentiments. Dr. Schmucker has long ago openly confessed views which are in open conflict with the doctrines of the Lutheran symbols, but harmonize with those of the Reformed confessions, especially of the Zwinglian type. In this sense many of his publications are written, and in this sense he has taught for many, many years in a Lutheran seminary. He is inspired by a Zwinglian-Reformed spirit, and has endeavored to imbue his scholars with it. It has never dawned on him and them what is properly the Lutheran view of Christianity. He himself has not the least sympathy for it." (Spaeth, _A. Mann_, 189 f.) In 1873 the _Lutheran Visitor_ in the South charged the General Synod with fostering disloyalty to, and causing defections from, the Lutheran Church by destroying the peculiarly distinctive marks of Lutheranism.

(_L. u. W._ 1873,94.)

REVIVALISM.

46. "Justification by Sensation."--According to the Bible and the Lutheran Church the divine measures for converting sinners are the preaching of the pure Gospel and the administering of the unadulterated Sacraments. "New-measurism," then, as the very term indicates, is a human makes.h.i.+ft. Indeed, the Lutheran Church approves of all methods, also new measures, which merely serve to bring the divine means of grace into motion and men in contact with them. But it condemns all methods and measures, new or old, which hinder or corrupt or eliminate the divine means of grace. The new measures introduced by revivalism, however, are just such corruptions of, and subst.i.tutes for, the divine means of grace. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of G.o.d"--of this truth New-measurism is a denial _in toto_. New-measurism denies the Gospel-truth that G.o.d is already reconciled and has already pardoned sinners. It denies that this pardon is freely offered in the unconditional promises of G.o.d's Word and in the Sacraments, the seals of grace. It denies that justifying and saving faith is the mere trust in these promises of G.o.d. It denies that faith in these promises alone engenders divine a.s.surance of pardon. It mistakes, as C. P. Krauth put it, justification by sensation for justification by faith. (Spaeth 2, 35.) It holds that one cannot be a.s.sured of grace without certain peculiar sensations, emotions, and feelings in his heart. It denies that faith is purely a gift of G.o.d, and teaches that man must cooperate in his own conversion. It insists that special measures must be resorted to in order to frighten men into doing their share of conversion, and to produce the emotional and neurotic conditions which warrant a.s.surance of grace. As such measures it prescribes emotional appeals, shrieking and shouting in preaching and praying, special prayer-meetings, the anxious bench, protracted meetings, camp-meetings, etc. Revivalism brands men as spiritually dead and unconverted who, like Walther and Wyneken, base their a.s.surance of grace, not on alleged feelings and spiritual experiences, but on the clear and unmistakable promises of G.o.d in His Word and Sacraments. New-measurism condemns and ridicules the old methods of catechetical instruction, doctrinal preaching, and of administering the Sacraments as spiritually ineffective and productive merely of head Christianity and dead orthodoxy. "Jist git the spirit started," said a Methodist to C. P. Krauth, "and then it works like smoke." "Very much like smoke, I guess," answered Krauth. (1,67.) Indeed, Pelagianists, who believe that conversion is a mere outward moral improvement, effected by man's own free will; Romanists, who teach that man can and must by his own efforts and works earn the grace of G.o.d; Arminians and Synergists, who believe in man's ability to cooperate in his own conversion and salvation; Calvinists, who, denying universal grace, base their insurance on special marks of grace in their own hearts and lives; Reformedists and enthusiasts, who deny that Word and Sacraments are the only means of grace, collative as well as operative; Pietists, who insist that the terrors of conscience must be of a peculiar nature and degree, and that faith must be accompanied by a happiness and a sanctification of a special kind and measure before a sinner may fully be a.s.sured of his pardon and conversion,--they all may be, and, in fact, naturally are, in sympathy with one or the other form of New-measurism and revivalism; but Lutherans, who believe in a Gospel of real pardon and power--never. If the Lutheran doctrine of grace and the means of grace is Scriptural, then the work-nerve-and-emotion Christianity of New-measurism is wrong, and _vice versa_. Not Lutheranism, but Arminianism, Enthusiasm, and Reformedism are the premises of revivalism. The fact that New-measurism was enthusiastically hailed, defended, and extensively introduced by her leading men, is but a further proof that the spirit then rampant in the General Synod was not the spirit of Lutheranism.

47. Lutherans Vying with the Fanatics.--The pietism and unionism of Muhlenberg and his colaborers was the door through which, in the days of Wesley and Whitefield, revivalism had found an early, though limited, entrance into the Lutheran Church. And in the course of its history the General Synod was zealous in cultivating and developing the evil inheritance of their fathers. It sounds like a warning against the threatening contagion when D. F. Schaeffer, in the Pastoral Letter of 1831, admonishes: "Let us faithfully adhere to the Word of G.o.d and follow its precepts unswervingly; let us not follow after those whose enthusiastic behavior is more apt to promote disorder and confusion than true edification. Against such we would warn in a most friendly manner, even if they be never so beloved. As Lutherans we admonish you: 'Be ye therefore followers of G.o.d, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to G.o.d for a sweet-smelling savor.'" (25.) But the General Synod herself had already opened the door for, and encouraged, the movement. According to Chapter XVI of the const.i.tution adopted 1829 for the District Synods, the annual Special Conferences were to meet for two days, especially in order "by practical preaching to awaken and convert sinners and to edify believers." (41.) In the following year the Hartwick Synod was organized, in order more fully to satisfy the craving of their members for revivals. At the convention of the General Synod at Frederick, 1831, a committee reported that the Hartwick Synod, having unanimously voted to join the General Synod, was divided into two conferences which were to meet as often as possible, and whose chief business it was "by earnest and practical sermons to awaken and convert sinners, and to encourage and edify Christians." (9.) At Baltimore, 1833, the Ohio Synod was censured for certain utterances against the "new measures" adopted within the General Synod. Finding revivalism in the Hartwick Synod not advanced enough, a few of its members, in 1837, organized the Franckean Synod, in order to press "new measures" to the extreme. On the Hartwick Synod the withdrawal acted as an impulse for a greater activity in the same direction. At Chambersburg, 1839, a committee reported on the meeting of this synod held in 1838: "We take particular pleasure in remarking that the proceedings of this Synod, especially the statements contained in the annual address of its President, afford the most satisfactory evidence that this Synod is decidedly in favor of revivals of religion. Protracted meetings have been held in various parts, and the Lord has especially blessed them; from which we have reason to believe that true and undefiled religion is more and more abounding within its limits. All the religious operations of the day, such as Tract Societies, Temperance Societies, etc., etc., enjoy the hearty support of this Synod." (13.) The minutes of the General Synod, of the District Synods, the _Lutheran Observer_, etc., soon began to teem with reports on revivals, visitations, outpourings, refres.h.i.+ng showers, etc. (_L. u. W._ 1857, 27.) At the convention of the Maryland Synod in Frederick, 1842, Harkey proposed the publication of the _Revivalist_, a monthly to be devoted to the history and defense of revivals, revival intelligence, the best measures and means of promoting and managing revivals--a plan which Synod declined as "inexpedient." At the same convention B. Kurtz, the advocate of the wildest revivalism, succeeded in having a committee appointed to draft a minute expressive of the views of Synod in regard to "new measures." The report was discussed for two days, when it was referred back to the committee, and at the next meeting of Synod the committee was excused from further consideration of the subject. (Spaeth 1, 111.) As late as 1876 the _American Lutheran_ declared that the great majority of the pastors and congregations of the General Synod favored revivals; that they managed them on the lines of those conducted by Moody and Sankey; that some of the congregations employed sectarian preachers for protracted meetings. (_L. u. W._ 1876, 182.) When, in 1877, the _American Lutheran_ merged into the _Observer_, Dr. Conrad solemnly promised to continue defending revivalism. (_L. u. W._ 1877, 60.) In 1908, referring to revivals still occasionally reported in the _Observer_, the _Lutherische Herold_ remarked that this sort of enthusiasm, formerly the rule in the Eastern and Central States, had as yet not nearly died out, _e. g._, in the General Synod congregations of Eastern and Central Pennsylvania. (_L. u. W._ 1908, 322.) Down to 1918 occasional revivals were held or partic.i.p.ated in by congregations and ministers of the General Synod. Several years ago Rev. Bell cooperated in a revival conducted by Billy Sunday in Toledo, etc. According to _Church Work and Observer_, November 9, 1916, the General Synod church at Gettysburg, Pa., conducted a joint revival with Presbyterians, Methodists, and United Brethren.

48. "The Lever of Archimedes."--In the revival agitation which swept over America in the decades following 1830 practically all of the English Lutheran churches (the German churches, in part, stood aloof) caught the contagion in a malignant form and in great numbers. While even Prof. J. W. Nevin, Schaff's colleague at Mercersburg, in his book _The Anxious Bench_ (1844), antagonized the extravagances of a movement which was germane to his own church, Lutherans such as Schmucker, Kurtz, Harkey, Pa.s.savant, and many others, became extremists in practising, and fanatics in advocating, "new measures" as the most needful and only effective methods of accelerating and deepening conversion and reviving the Lutheran Church. Vying in their wild extravagances with the most fanatical of the sects, Lutherans, in not a few places, condemned as spiritually dead formalists, head and memory Christians, all who adhered to the sound principles and old ways of Lutheranism. (Gerberding, _The Way of Life_, 197 ff.) S. L. Harkey, himself a fiery New-measurist, describes a revival held in connection with the convention of the Synod of the West, in 1839, as follows: "In an instant every soul in