dered as divisions of the Church; their
standard of unity was far more noble, and exalted: the pure Scriptural
doctrines of the Augsburg Confession of Faith was their meridian sun,
which they viewed with united eyes; and anything less, such as local and
temporary regulations, never influenced their minds, even to think of
divisions. The Church proceeded peaceably, until the unhappy and fatal
period of 1819 arrived, when a meeting was called to Baltimore,
consisting of some of the Synod of Pennsylvania and an individual from
North Carolina, for the purpose of devising a plan for the establishment
of the General Synod, etc. (17 f.) Article III, Sec. V, which provided
that "the General Synod shall take good care not to burden the
consciences of ministers with human traditions," called forth the
following comment: "The General Synod shall not burden the consciences
of ministers with human traditions, yet at the same time the very
institution of the General Synod is nothing but human laws and
traditions! How vehemently our Savior upbraided the Pharisees for their
human laws and the traditions they imposed upon the common people! By
means of human laws and traditions popery was established.--Why are
preparations made now again to introduce that horrid beast? How careful
individual synods should be not to impose human traditions upon the
Church, but to remember that they do 'not assemble for the purpose of
making laws for the Church, but only to devise means to execute those
already made by Christ." (B. 1821, 26; R. 1821, 28. 29.) In an
additional "note" David Henkel remarks: "The unity of the Lutheran
Church doth not consist in any external forms or ceremonies, or
government established by men. It is independent of any general head
except Christ. The Seventh Article of the Augsburg Confession of Faith
points out the true nature of her unity. . . . It is the same as if it
had said: the Church of Christ is but one united body, consisting of
innumerable members; but what unites them? All believers believe in one
invisible Lord, by whom they are governed, for He is their King; they
are anointed by the same Holy Ghost, for He is their Comforter and
Guide. This is an invisible, godlike union, not discerned by the carnal
eye, nor doth it imitate the unity of the kingdom of this world. Christ
is its polar star, the Bible its charter, ministers who proclaim sweet
words of peace, its heralds, Baptism and the Lord's Supper its seal,
bond