against the old, apostate synods. In Loehe's _Kirchliche Mitteilungen_
of 1847 we find the following: "Several Virginians came to St. Louis to
the Lutheran Pastor Buenger, and asked him whether he still adhered to
the old Lutheran faith, which he affirmed to their joy. Thereupon they
told of Henkel. . . . They had protested against an edition of Luther's
Small Catechism in which, with reference to Baptism, the words 'who
believe _it_' (die _es_ glauben) had been made to read 'who believe'
(die _da_ glauben)." (94.) The _Lutheraner_ of February 22, 1848,
published the Tennessee resolution, stating that they could unite with
the Synod of North Carolina "only on the ground of pure and
unadulterated Evangelical Lutheranism," and added the comment: "We
confess that a closer acquaintance has filled us with the best
prepossessions for this Synod. As far as we can see from the Report,
they are earnestly striving to preserve the treasure of pure Lutheran
teaching." At the convention of the Missouri Synod at Fort Wayne, in
1849, Dr. Sihler was elected a delegate to the Tennessee Synod. He wrote
to Loehe that "according to its Reports and confessions, this Synod
maintains an upright churchly position." "It would be a great joy,"
Sihler adds, "if we could enter into definite church-fellowship with
them, especially, as we, above all others, have been stigmatized as the
'exclusive Lutherans.'" (_Kirchl. Mitt._ 1849, 92.) Reviewing the
Tennessee Report of 1848, Walther remarked in the _Lutheraner_ of
January 23, 1849: "Like its predecessor, this Report proves that this
Synod belongs to the small number of those who are determined not only
to be _called_ Lutherans, but also to _be_ and to remain Lutherans."
After reporting their chief resolutions, including the one expressing
their delight over the organization of the Missouri Synod, and
recommending the _Lutheraner_ to their German-speaking members, Walther
continues as follows: "We close this extract with the sincere wish that
the Lord would continue to bless this Synod, which for almost thirty
years, in spite of much shame and persecution, has faithfully testified
and fought against the apostasy of the so-called American Lutheran
Church, especially against the General Synod, and which, as far as we
know, of all the older Lutheran synods, alone has preserved in this last
evil time the treasures of our Lutheran Church; and we also wish that
the Lord would make this Synod a salt of the e