nihil inesse, quod discrepat à scripturis, vel ab Ecclesia Catholica, vel ab Ecclesia Romana quatenus ex scriptoribus nota est. Quòd cùm ita sit, inclementer judicant isti, qui nostros pro haereticis haberi postulant. Sed dissensio est de quibusdam abusibus, qui sine certa auctoritate in Ecclesias irrepserunt, in quibus etiam, si qua esset dissimilitudo, tamen decebat haec lenitas Episcopos, ut propter confessionem, quam modò recensuimus, tolerarent nostros, quia ne Canones quidem tàm duri sunt, ut eosdem ritus ubique esse postulent, neque similes unquam omnium Ecclesiarum ritus fuerunt. Quanquam apud nos

magna ex parte veteres ritus diligenter servantur. Falsa enim calumnia est, quòd omnes ceremoniae, omnia vetera instituta in Ecclesiis nostris aboleantur. Verùm publica querela fuit, abusus quosdam in vulgaribus ritibus haerere. Hi quia non poterant bona conscientia probari, aliqua ex parte correcti sunt.

APPENDIX NO. II.

FORMULA

FOR THE GOVERNMENT AND DISCIPLINE OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH.

[Published by the General Synod of said Church.]

CHAPTER I.

Preliminary Principles.

SEC. 1. We believe that from an examination of the works of nature and the course of events, we may derive evidence of the existence of God and the prominent truths of natural religion.1

SEC. 2. But that the evidence of natural religion is not such as to afford us a satisfactory knowledge of the nature of God and our relation to him; nor its influence sufficient to urge us to duty;2 and that therefore a further revelation from God is desirable.

SEC. 3. We believe that such a revelation God has given, at sundry times and in divers manners, unto the fathers, and in later days by his Divine Son Jesus Christ, and his inspired servants,3 and that this revelation is contained in the books known in protestant christendom, as the Old and New Testament; that every individual is bound to receive this as his infallible rule of faith and practice, and to be governed by it.5

1 Rom. 1: 20.

4 2 Tim. 3: 16.

2 Acts 4: 12.
5 John 5: 39.

Rom. 3: 1.2.

3 Heb. 1: 1. 2. Acts 17: 11. John 14: 16. 17.

SEC. 4. We hold that liberty of conscience and the free exercise of private judgment in matters of religion, are natural and unalienable rights of men, of which no government, civil or ecclesiastical can deprive us.1

SEC. 5. As order is necessary to the prosperity of every associate body, and as Jesus Christ has left no entire, specific form of Government and Discipline for his church; it is the duty of every individual Church to adopt such regulations as appear to them most consistent with the spirit and precepts of the New Testament, and best calculated to subserve the interests of the church of Christ.

SEC. 6. And as men exercising the right of private judgment, agree in the opinion, that Christianity requires a social connexion among its professors, and as experience proves that men will differ in some of their views of doctrine and discipline; and as too much difference of opinion would be prejudicial to the objects of the association; therefore reason dictates that those of similar views should associate together, that it is their duty to require for admission to church-membership among them, or for induction into the sacred office, and for continuance in either, such terms as they deem most accordant with the precepts and spirit of the Bible.

SEC. 7. Upon the broad basis of these principles, was the Evangelical Lutheran Church founded immediately after the Reformation. Adhering to the same principles, the Church in America is governed by three Judicatories: the Council of each individual Church, the District Synods, consisting of all the clergy and an equal number of laymen from a particular district of country, and one GENERAL SYNOD formed by representatives from all the dif ferent Synods of the Lutheran Church. The ratio of clerical and lay-representatives is determined in the Constitution of the GENERAL SYNOD; and the powers of this body are only those of an Advisory Council.

1 Rom. 2: 13. 15. and others. Dan. 6: 1. 23. Acts 4: 19.

SEC. 1. The true or invisible Church of Christ is the collective body of all those of every religious denomination in the world, who are in a state of grace.2

SEC. 2. The true Church of Christ is a spiritual3 society, consisting of members whose qualifications are spiritual, and who are associated for spiritual purposes.5

SEC. 3. It is a catholic or universal society: its members not being confined to any particular nation or religious denomination.

PART II. OF THE EXTERNAL OR VISIBLE CHURCH.

SEC. 1. The visible church is the collective body of those who profess the Christian religion; consisting of all those who have been admitted to membership by baptism,7 and have not been deprived of it by excommunication.

SEC. 2. Of this society our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the true and only head;8 having neither abandoned his church nor appointed any vicar in his stead.

SEC. 3. As the spirit of Christianity leads its possessors to social intercourse 9 with each other; and as such a connexion is essential to the accomplishment of the object of the Christian church; and as such a relation can subsist only among persons of contiguous residence; therefore Christians living near together have from the time of the Apostles 10 formed themselves into societies for the 2 Matth. 7: 21. 12: 50. Acts 10: 35. 4 1 John 4: 13.

1 Eph. 4: 1. 7. 3 John 18: 36.

5 Eph. 4: 12.
6 1 Cor. 1: 2.
7 Matth. 28: 19.

1 Thess. 5: 11.
John 10: 16.

9 John 13: 34. 35. Eph. 4: 3.

10 Acts 2: 41. 1 Thess. 2: 14.

Rom. 12: 4. Eph. 4: 4. 6.

8 Eph. 5: 23. 24. 1:22.
5: 19.
Gal. 1: 22.

better attainment of the objects of the Christian institution. And every society participates in the duties of the whole church.

SEC. 4. It is the duty of every such society and of the visible church at large, to have the word and sacraments administered in their purity, to give an adequate and just support to the pastor or pastors who minister unto them, to provide for the perpetuation of an able and faithful ministry, and to endeavour to propagate the gospel to the ends of the earth.3

SEC. 5. It is the duty of the church to watch over the purity and faithfulness of her members.4

SEC. 6. The jurisdiction of the church is purely spiritual; it ought to have no connexion with the civil government,5 neither ought its decisions be enforced by the arm of civil power.

SEC. 7. The power of the church is purely declarative, whether exercised by an individual church council, or by any other ecclesiastical judicatory, i. e. the Bible is their juridical code, and their decisions are valid only because founded on scripture.

SEC. 8. The visible church is not an association to which we may belong or not at our option; but it is the duty of every one who has an opportunity to be a faithful member of it."

CHAPTER III.

Of the Officers of the Church.

OF PASTORS.

SEC. 1. Our Lord and Saviour himself instituted the clerical office in the New Testament church, and made it of perpetual standing. The persons filling this office, are in scripture designated

1 1 Tim. 4: 6. 6: 3. 5. Gal. 1: 8. 9.

2 Tit. 1: 5. 2 Tim. 2.

4 1 Cor. 5: 7. 13.

6 Matth. 28: 19. 11: 28. 29.

3 Matth. 28: 19. 20.

5 John 18: 36.

7 Matth. 28: 19. 20. 2 Tim. 2: 2. Tit. 1: 5.