choharie
congregations, which he served beginning with the year 1795, he vowed
that he would preach the truth according to the Word of God and "our
Symbolical Books." Before long, however, he began to reveal the true
inwardness of his character. In his revised edition of Kunze's
catechism, which appeared in 1804, authorized by Synod, the 94th of the
"Fundamental Questions," which treated of the real presence of the body
and blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper, was omitted. Ten years later,
1814, in his own catechism, which was likewise published with the
approval of Synod, he omitted and denied such fundamental doctrines as
those of the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, the Vicarious Atonement,
Justification for the sake of Christ, etc. In this book Quitman and the
New York Ministerium declare: "The Gospel teaches us that Christ
suffered and died in order to seal with His blood the doctrine which He
had preached." (533.) Two years later a "Lutheran Hymn-book" appeared,
containing an un-Lutheran order of service, the Union formula of
distribution, a rationalistic order for the celebration of the Lord's
Supper, rationalistic prayers to the "great Father of the Universe,"
etc. Also this book appeared "by order of the Ev. Luth. Ministerium of
the State of New York," and with a preface signed by President Quitman
and Pastor Wackerhagen. (535.) When the tercentenary of the Reformation
was celebrated, Quitman, again by order of the New York Ministerium,
published several sermons bearing on this event. Here he says: "Reason
and Revelation are the only sources from which religious knowledge can
be drawn, and the norms according to which all religious questions ought
to be decided. . . . Are not both, Reason and Revelation, from heaven,
always in agreement and the one supporting the other?" Again: "The true
sense which the Reformers connected with the term 'faith' is still more
apparent from the XX. Article of the Augsburg Confession, where they
explicitly declare that faith 'which is productive of good works
justifies man before God.'" (653.) This rank Socinianism and
Rationalism of Quitman and the Ministerium became firmly intrenched and
was protected from attack by the constitution of 1816, which contained
the paragraph: "And we establish it as a fundamental rule of this
association that the person to be ordained shall not be required to make
any other engagement than this, that he will faithfully teach, as well
as perform all oth