ice
Carl Swensson, writing in the _Lutheran Church Review_, gave to the
disrupted synods of the Lutheran Church in America. (_L. u. W._ 1903,
146.) With respect to the doctrinal differences between Ohio and
Missouri the _Lutheran Church Review_ wrote in 1917: "There are less
clear doctrines which despite the honest, sincere, and persistent
efforts of men to state them in harmony with the divine Word admit of an
honest difference of opinion." (450.) "There has been," says Dr. Jacobs,
"no controversy within the General Council on the subject of election,
and, therefore, no official declaration by the Council on the subject
that has so largely occupied the attention of a number of synods."
(_Dist. Doctr._, 1914, 116.) That applies to practically all of the
doctrines controverted within the Lutheran Church of our country. In
reference to them it has always been the policy of the General Council
to maintain a wise neutrality. In _Lutherisches Kirchenblatt_, December
29, 1900, Rev. Wischan of the General Council hit the nail on the head
when he said: "As to our doctrinal position, we find ourselves in a
peculiar situation. When questioned concerning our attitude toward those
doctrines which have been discussed in the most spirited manner, and
partly have become the occasion for ecclesiastical separations, we are
embarrassed for want of an answer. We know exactly what the position of
Missouri is in the doctrines of conversion and predestination. We know
also what Ohio teaches in opposition to Missouri. But who can tell us
what the General Council teaches on these points? Possibly, many among
us agree entirely neither with Missouri nor with Ohio. Possibly some
incline to the views of Ohio, while others prefer the Missourian
doctrine. But at present there is no clarity in these matters in our
midst, everybody apparently having the privilege of choosing his own
position without fearing that the Church might call him to account. Very
convenient indeed; but surely it is not the ideal. Or do those questions
lie on the periphery to such an extent that an answer is a matter of
absolute irrelevancy to a Lutheran Christian?" (_L. u. W._ 1901, 53.)

141. Not in Sympathy with Missouri.--The unionistic and indifferentistic
position of the General Council with respect to the differences in
doctrine and practise prevailing within the Lutheran synods of the
United States naturally led to a high degree of animosity and unfriendly
charges again