with declare our adherence to the satement, [tr.
note: sic!] 'The Bible is the Word of God,' and reject the error implied
in the statement, 'The Bible contains the Word of God.'"

92. Objectionable Features of Resolutions.--Among the weak points of the
resolutions of 1895 and 1901 are the following. First: It implied a
contradiction when the General Synod in her new resolutions, which give
an unqualified assent to the Augsburg Confession, at the same time
declared herself fully satisfied with, reaffirmed and set its seal of
approval on, the qualified basis of 1864. From the very outset the
leaders of the new confessional movement dodged the open acknowledgment
that the doctrinal basis of the General Synod, also that of 1864, was
misleading and un-Lutheran. In the resolution of 1895, Synod expressed
her "entire satisfaction" with the doctrinal basis of 1864. In the
resolution of 1901 she reaffirmed her "unreserved allegiance" to this
basis. In 1909 Synod declared: "We reiterate our firm belief that our
confessional basis [of 1864] is adequate and satisfactory." (58.) Again:
"The confessional resolutions referred to [of 1895 and 1901] are not
alterations of the constitution, and contemplate no alterations; they
are simply explanations of the meaning of the General Synod's
confessional basis. Therefore, it is not necessary to submit them to the
District Synods of the General Synod" (for adoption). (58.) The Report
of Dr. L.S. Keyser, delegate to the General Council in 1907, which was
adopted by the Richmond convention, urged Synod to defend, vindicate,
and maintain her doctrinal basis of 1864. Also the _Lutheran World_, the
organ of the conservatives, maintained that the General Synod's
resolutions of 1895 to 1909 were but "a restatement of its confessional
basis in harmony with all its previous statements." (_L. u. W._ 1909,
370.) Secondly: When the resolution of 1901 declared it contrary to the
basis of 1864 to make any distinction between fundamental and so-called
non-fundamental doctrines in the Augsburg Confession, this, too, was an
unwarranted assertion. The Richmond convention stated: "When the General
Synod says, in her formula of confessional subscription, that she
accepts 'the Augsburg Confession as a correct exhibition of the
fundamental doctrines of the divine Word, and of the faith of our Church
founded upon the Word,' she means precisely what she says, namely, that
the fundamental doctrines of God's Word are c