ld introduce other books. 5.
According to the _Planentwurf_, the General Synod could reject all
articles of faith or omit them entirely. 6. Neither the Augsburg
Confession nor the Bible was designated as the foundation of the General
Synod, nor even so much as mentioned in the _Planentwurf_. (52 f.) 7. The
General Synod was striving to establish a dominion over all Ministeriums,
as appeared from the statement: "Until the permission or approval of the
General Synod shall have been formally obtained, no newly established
body shall be regarded as a Ministerium, nor shall an ordination
conferred by them be considered valid." "Accordingly," they said, "one
had as much liberty as the rope permitted." (54 f.; 1822, 10.) 8. The
General Synod claimed the right to specify the "ranks universally valid
for the ministry." "Catechist," as the Report of 1820 has it,
"candidate, dean, and pastor will no longer suffice; who knows but
something higher will be required, such as bishop, archbishop, cardinal,
or even pope!" 9. Pastors were granted the right to appeal from the
decision of their synod to the General Synod. "Accordingly the case of a
pastor, be he ever so bad, may drag on for years; and if, owing to
extreme distances or other circumstances, the witnesses are not able to
attend, he may finally even win it. This provision renders the matter
similar to a temporal government, where appeals are commonly made from a
lower to a higher court." 10. "One cannot be sure that a spirit desiring
as much power as appears to be granted by this _Planentwurf_ will be
able to rest and not seek further power." 11. No one was able to
guarantee that this Lutheran General Synod would not later on unite with
the General Synods of the sects to form a National Synod, in which the
majority would then determine all articles of faith and all
church-customs. 12. Such a National Synod would be able also to change
the Constitution of the United States and compel every one to unite with
this National Synod, impose taxes, etc. (50 f.) By resolution of Synod
the reasons why some pastors in Ohio, influenced in their action by Paul
Henkel, rejected the _Planentwurf_ were also appended to the Report of
1820. Among them were: 1. The fear "of falling into the hands of a
strong hierarchy" by accepting this _Planentwurf_, since they knew from
church history that the Papacy had developed rapidly along similar
lines. (64.) 2. The General Synod would soon become English,