9. Who is to be admitted to Holy Communion.

9. Who is to be admitted to Holy Communion.

(Finis cui coenae sacrae.)

Christian congregations, or their public ministers, are not lords of the sacrament, but only administrators of it. Therefore, in the administration of the sacrament, which is not their foundation but Christ's, they must judge according to Christ's instruction.

1396) Gal. 5:4.<w:t>1397) Rom. 12:1,<w:t>1398) 1 Joh. 4:19.

1399) 1 John 4:11.<w:t>1400) Rom 5:1 ff.

444 > The Lord's Supper. [English ed. ~ 381-382]

On the one hand, they are not allowed so-called "open communion"; on the other hand, they must be careful not to deny the sacrament to those Christians for whom it is intended by Christ. Gerhard and Calov rightly treat the finis cui or obiectum of the Lord's Supper also in dogmatics. 1401)

First of all, as far as "open communion" is concerned, it is known to be advocated and practiced not only in Reformed fellowships but also in fellowships calling themselves Lutheran.1402) But a Christian congregation must bear in mind that Holy Communion is not intended for all men, but only for Christians. This is the difference between the sermon of the Gospel and the Lord's Supper. The sermon of the Gospel is to go over all men, believers and unbelievers. The Lord's Supper, however, is intended only for that part of men who have already come to believe in Christ. We can see this already in the normative example of Christ. Christ preached the Gospel to all the Jewish people and went from place to place for this purpose,1403) . However, he celebrated the First Supper in a closed circle, only with his disciples.1404) The apostolic church also did not practice "open" but "closed communion".1405) Luther says:1406) "Thus Christ did: He let the sermon go out into the multitude, as afterwards also the apostles, so that all heard it, believers and unbelievers; whoever caught it, caught it. So must we also do. But the sacrament should not be thrown into the heap among the people. When I preach the gospel, I do not know whom it will strike; but here I am to take it for granted that it has struck him who comes to the sacrament; there I must not cast it into doubt, but be sure,1407) that he to whom I give the sacrament has grasped the gospel and believes righteously."1408)

1401) Cf. Gerhard, L. de coena s., § 221 sqq.; Calov, Syst. IX, 195 sqq.

1402) Cf. on American Lutheran circles A. L. Gräbner in L. u. W. 1888, pp. 257 ff. 302 ff.: "On the history of the four points." RE. 3 I, 68.

1403) Matt. 9:35 ff.<w:t>1404) Luke 22:11, 14; Matt. 26:18, 20.

1405) 1 Cor. 11:20; 10:17.<w:t xml:space="preserve">1406) St. L. XI, 616.

1407) Namely, as far as a man can know this about another from his words and works.

1408) Walther, Pastorale, p. 144: "It is quite different with the Lord's Supper than with the sermon of the divine word. The word is not only given to keep a believer in the faith, but also to awaken a man from his sleep of sin, to bring him to the knowledge

445 > The Lord's Supper. [English ed. ~ 382]

of his sins and to bring him to faith; indeed, without the Word all this is impossible. Therefore, no one can and must be turned away from the sermon of the Word of God, for that would be to close the only door of grace to him. It is not so with Holy Communion: by it a man is not first to be brought to repentance and faith, but to be strengthened therein; by it a man is not first to obtain grace and become a Christian, but the grace obtained by the Word is thereby to be sealed to him, and he is to be preserved, and encouraged in Christianity; by this food a man is not first to be awakened to life from God, but, if he is already spiritually alive, to be nourished and refreshed. Therefore, whoever wants to enjoy Holy Communion worthily and for his salvation must have come to repentance and faith beforehand, must have attained grace beforehand, and must have become a true Christian. Enjoying Holy Communion is not a good thing in and of itself; rather, it depends on how one enjoys it. It does not work ex opera operato. It is not like a medicine that may be taken only to take effect; rather, it is a treasury whose treasures can be taken, grasped, and held by the hand of faith alone. He who has no faith, it is true, also enjoys the real and whole sacrament; for he enjoys not merely bread and wine, but in, with, and under these elements the body and blood of Jesus Christ, as a precious pledge of grace and forgiveness, really and truly with his mouth; but of the blessing for the salvation of his soul which lies therein he goes empty; for what can a pledge, however precious and valuable, help a man, and how can it serve him for the assurance of a thing, if he does not believe that it is such a precious and valuable pledge? But whoever partakes of Holy Communion without right faith and therefore unworthily, not only does not partake of the grace therein, but instead of grace he finds therein wrath, instead of life death 'instead of blessing curse; he becomes, as St. Paul writes, 'guilty of the Lord's body and blood; he eats and drinks judgment to himself, because he does not distinguish the Lord's body'. Terrible, then, is the sin which he commits who partakes of Holy Communion unworthily; and those who say, 'We must be glad that people still come to Holy Communion,' thus reveal how sadly stands their knowledge of this holy sacrament." It has been objected: Surely, in the administration of the Lord's Supper, in hearing the powerful and perfectly clear words of the Lord's Supper ("This is my body which is given for you," "This is my blood which is shed for you"), there could be evoked in a hitherto unbeliever both faith in the nature of the Lord's Supper (real presence) and faith in the purpose of the Lord's Supper (the forgiveness of sins). This possibility is to be admitted, as it is reported from the ancient Church of a pagan actor that he came to believe when holy baptism was performed on him on the theater stage in mockery of Christianity. But this possibility does not concern us. The church practice is determined by divine order. And the divine order reads: "Let man examine himself, and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and

446 > The Lord's Supper. [English ed. ~ 382-383]

But also not all Christians are to be admitted to the Lord's Supper,1409) but

1. Only those Christians who have already been baptized. About this order in the administration of the New Testament sacraments the necessary has already been said under the section "The divine order of the Lord's Supper";1410)

2. Only those Christians who are able to examine themselves. Spiritual self-examination is expressly mentioned by Scripture as necessary for the wholesome use of Holy Communion: "But let a man examine himself (δοκιμαζέτω δε ανϑρωπος εαυτόν), and so (όντως) let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup."1411) This excludes from the use of the Lord's Supper children, the sleeping, the unconscious, those in their last moments without consciousness, the insane, etc; 1412)

3. Only those Christians who believe the words of the Lord's Supper, that is, who believe both that they receive the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper and that Christ gives them this wonderful gift for the forgiveness of their sins. This

drinketh judgment on him himself, that he may not distinguish the body of the Lord," 1 Cor. 11:28-29. It is divine order that at the Lord's Supper, as Luther says, "we should know whom it befalls."

1409) Gerhard, L. de coena s., § 222.<w:t>1410) p. 342.

1411) 1 Cor. 11:28.

1412) Walther, Pastorale, p. 190: "Since, according to the Word of God, everyone who wants to go to the table of the Lord should first examine himself and distinguish the body of the Lord, Holy Communion is not to be served to children who are not yet capable of it. It was an obvious abuse, if this, as Cyprian's and Augustine's examples prove, with the approval of Innocentius I, out of misunderstanding of Joh. 6:53, what was understood by the sacramental part, happened quite generally in the third to the fifth century, which abuse also went on among the Bohemian Hussites and is still law in the Greek church today. Luther writes: I cannot agree with the Bohemians who give Holy Communion to children, although I do not therefore call them heretics. Among those who cannot examine themselves and therefore cannot be admitted to Holy Communion are also those who are asleep, unconscious, in the last stages of unconsciousness, insane, and the like. In support of this, Walther, as we have seen, points to the fact that Holy Communion does not, like a bodily remedy, have a physical effect, but presupposes consciousness and faith in the nature and purpose of the Lord's Supper. More details belong in the Pastorale, e.g., the question of whether insane persons, raving lunatics, and even physically possessed persons, if they have "lucid interims," are to be admitted to the Lord's Supper. Cf. Walther, op. cit. p. 192.

447 > The Lord's Supper. [ [English ed. ~ 383-384]

excludes Christians found in Reformed fellowships from the use of the Lord's Supper instituted by Christ. Certainly, there are true children of God in such Reformed fellowships where Christ's satisfactio vicaria is still preached. But because they do not believe the words of the Lord's Supper out of weakness in knowledge, they are not able to use the Holy Supper salutary. Explicitly the apostle Paul disqualifies, in regard to the use of the Lord's Supper, all those who do not believe the Real Presence, because with them the necessary discernment of the Lord's body (διακρίνειν το σώμα τον Κυρίου) cannot take place."1413) With the denial of the Real Presence, the finis cuius of the Lord's Supper also falls away for them, namely, that Christ's body and blood are received in the Lord's Supper for the forgiveness of sins. This, of course, also applies to those Lutherans who are in doubt about the Real Presence1414) or who, if they confess the Real Presence, do not seek forgiveness of their sins in the Lord's Supper, but ascribe to it a salutary effect ex opere operato;1415)

4. Only those Christians who do not have to dismiss a public offence beforehand. The details are dealt with in the Pastorale. In dogmatics, it should be pointed out that this practice — namely, the dismissal of a public offence before communion — is not based on human arbitrariness or legalism, but arises from the nature and purpose of the Lord's Supper. Because the Lord's Supper is not for Christians and non-Christians, but only for Christians, anyone who has called his Christianity into question for the congregation by a public vexatious act of sin

1413) 1 Cor. 11:29.

1414) When doubts about the Real Presence had been aroused in some by Carlstadt and the enthusiasts, Luther (XX, 201) gave the counsel: "If there is someone who is so weak that he might not have borne the blow, and doubts the sacrament, let him counsel and meanwhile remain without the sacrament and otherwise practice the Word of God, faith and love, let those handle it who are certain in conscience. You are not condemned if you remain without the sacrament." Likewise XX, 734.

1415) Luther (XX, 748 ff.): "It is not enough that we know what the sacrament is, namely that Christ's body and blood are truly there, but it is also necessary to know why it is there, and why or for what purpose it is given to us to receive. … But this is what we call the right custom, not that it is only done and the obedience of the church is fulfilled. It is not to be done for the sake of the work, but that your heart may be strengthened, as the words are, 'That is given for you, that is poured out for you.'"

448 > The Lord's Supper. [English ed. ~ 384-385]

should, before communion, allow the congregation to judge that he has risen from his fall by God's grace. In Scripture, therefore, we also find the express prohibition of associating with such as have fallen into gross, grievous sins as brothers in the faith, that is, to associate as if nothing had occurred. "If any man be called a brethren, and be a fornicator, or a covetous man, or an idolater, or a drunkard, or a robber: with him also ye shall not eat."1416) Whose grievous sin has become known to the congregation, his repentance must also, before he communes with the congregation, have become known to the congregation. It further follows from the nature and purpose of the Lord's Supper that persons who live in the sin of unforgiveness are to be suspended from the use of the Supper. The Lord's Supper is the means of forgiveness of sins, and only those who seek forgiveness of their sins in it use it properly. Forgiveness of sins from God can in any case only be sought by those who are willing from the heart both to forgive their neighbor's sins and to seek reconciliation with their neighbor.1417) Furthermore, since all Christians are forbidden to hold to such teachers as depart from apostolic doctrine,1418) it also goes without saying that those who have hitherto been members of a heterodox body must declare their assent to the right doctrine and leave the heterodox body before communing with der congregation. Communion is certainly faith fellowship or "church fellowship."1419) Nor is it to be forgotten that the Lord's Supper is a private absolution. However, according to the divine order, we are to grant private absolution only to those

1416) 1 Cor. 5:11. The prohibition of the σννεαϑίειν applies to table fellowship in general (“neither having him at the table nor being at the table with him,” Meyer), and especially the communion of the Lord's Supper.

1417) Cf. Walther, Past., p. 194 f. Luther in the "Sermon on Confession and the Sacrament," XI, 585: “God will not be gracious and forgive a man’s sin unless he also forgives his neighbor. Besides, a man’s faith cannot be sincere unless it bears this fruit, that he, too, forgives his neighbor and asks his forgiveness; otherwise man may not appear before God. If this fruit is missing, his faith and his first confession [his confession “before God”] is also not sincere.”

1418) Rom. 16:17: "Depart from the same!"

1419) Walther, Past., p. 145.

449 > The Lord's Supper. [ [English ed. ~ 385-386]

whose penitent mind has become known to us, as far as men can judge. To the impenitent we are not to say, "Thou shalt live," but to call out to him in warning, "Thou must die!"1420) Therefore, Walther rightly judges that by practicing "open communion" a pastor "becomes an unfaithful, careless, and conscienceless pastor."1421) Luther also points to this soul-dangerous mixture of law and gospel when he says, as we have already heard, "When I preach the gospel, I do not know whom it strikes; but here I am to take it for granted that it has struck whoever comes to the sacrament." 1422) Luther expresses this even more crudely when he recalls what a faithful pastor has to say to the impenitent in individual application, namely this: "Repent and do right; if not, you can just as easily go to the devil without me and my absolution [individually] as you can go to the devil twice with my absolution and take me with you through your fault without my fault. No, man, it is said, you go, I remain here; I am not a priest, that I go with everyone to the devil, but that I bring everyone with me to God."1423) — In vain one invokes love for open communion. In fact, this practice is contrary both to the love of God and to the love of neighbor. Indeed, it both ignores God's order, which we find in Scripture concerning the use of the Lord's Supper, and it becomes the occasion for the neighbor to sin through unworthy use of the sacrament. This is true, of course, of the so-called "hospitable admission" of Reformed persons to the Lord's Supper.1424)

Therefore, a Christian congregation acts conscientiously with regard to the administration of the Lord's Supper only if the registration for the Lord's Supper (usually called "registration for confession") is a fixed order in its congregation. It is obvious that only in this order is there the possibility of

1420) Hesek. 3:17-18.<w:t xml:space="preserve">1421) Past. p. 146 f.

1422) St. L. XI, 616.<w:t xml:space="preserve">1423) X, 882.

1424) This "admission by guest" contains a self-contradiction. If American-Lutheran synods wanted to keep the rule: "Lutheran altars only for Lutheran communicants", but wanted to allow exceptional cases besides, they thereby transferred the admission to the Lord's Supper again to the area of human arbitrariness, thus actually dropped the rule as a divine rule.

450 > The Lord's Supper. [English ed. ~ 386-387]

serving the Lord's Supper only to those persons who are to use it according to God's will. As for the exploration to be made at the time of registration for the Lord's Supper, it goes without saying that it is only appropriate for such persons whose faith and life are unknown to the pastor. Very correctly Walther says that the exploration before admission to the Lord's Supper is not based on a law, but merely on the need of souls. Exploration not only can but should be omitted in all cases where the pastor is dealing with righteous Christians known to him. In this case, to make an exploration would be an unnecessary burden both for the pastor and for those registering for the Lord's Supper. Likewise, Luther says: "Someone would like to be so understanding that he would only be asked once in his life, or not at all."1425)

On the other hand, the pastor and congregation must be careful that no one for whom Christ has ordained the Lord's Supper is refused or kept away. Even Luther in his time had to warn not only against laxity, but also against legalism and unnecessary strictness. He wrote to Balthasar Thüring in Coburg: "I have written to the pastor that he should not torture the ignorant by long trials if they want to go to the Lord's Supper, but not leave them completely untried and unheard. For that they should be left untried is of no avail. We reprove the adversaries that they serve the belly; but ours

1425) Walther, Pastorale, p. 152. It would be quite contrary to Luther's meaning and opinion if we wanted to transfer everything that Luther says with regard to the necessary "interrogation" before admission to Holy Communion to our church relationships without further ado. Because with us it has come to the formation of Christian congregations, to which belong only those "who earnestly desire to be Christians" — a condition which Luther strove for but could not attain — the pastor is as a rule personally acquainted with all the members of the congregation, that is, also with their state of Christianity, and an exploration of them before the Lord's Supper is therefore unnecessary. The following reminder is also in place here: If the pastor, as pastor, has to reproach a member of the congregation in a punitive manner, he should not postpone this until the next communion of the person concerned. If the pastor follows this postponement practice, it can come to the point that the registration for the Lord's Supper becomes a general day of judgment in the congregation, which is neither good for the pastor nor for the congregation. Walther therefore used to give the counsel to arrange a necessary rebuke, where possible, before the registration for the Lord's Supper, even if it is only for one day.

451 > The Lord's Supper. [English ed. ~ 387]

are hard and cleave to wrath. I ask you, therefore, for God's sake, to make every effort to ensure that the doctrines of the gospel are taught in an unbiased manner.1426) In order not to prevent or even discourage those who are weak in knowledge from taking communion, Walther gives instructions on what and how the pastor is to explore when such persons register for communion whose state of mind is unknown to him. The applicant should not be subjected to a "rigorous examination," but should be brought, if possible by way of conversation, to the point that he both speaks out about his personal state of Christianity and says himself what the Lord's Supper is and why he desires it. But even apart from the case of those who are unknown or not sufficiently known, the pastor must not lose sight of the fact that it is precisely with regard to the use of the Lord's Supper that the innate opinio legis is stirred up among the communicants — and probably also among the pastor himself. It is thought that because Christ's body and blood are received in the Lord's Supper, the wholesome use of the Lord's Supper also presupposes a special degree of one's own holiness and a strong faith. Therefore, especially among serious Christians who feel their great frailty, there is a tendency to postpone the use of the Lord's Supper until they feel more fervent in spirit, have become stronger in faith, and have made satisfactory progress in sanctification. But these are perverse thoughts based on forgetting the grace-means character of the Lord's Supper. It is true that in the Lord's Supper Christ's body and blood are received. But this wonderful gift stands in the service of the presentation and promise of God's free grace, which is based entirely on Christ's satisfactio vicaria and requires no worthiness of its own. That Christ accepts sinners, he wants to express, as in the other means of grace, so especially through the Lord's Supper. Luther says:1427) "The sacrament is only ever instituted so that we may be comforted and strengthened by it. Therefore you should not let yourself be driven by it in any way. If you feel your foolishness, good for you! For you must feel your infirmity." And before that:1428) "Thou must not make a tyrant of Christ, but, as he is true, let him be vain rich superfluous grace. If you feel in your

1426) Walch XXI, 1348. quoted by Walther, Past. p. 157.

1427) St. L. XI, 660.<w:t xml:space="preserve">1428) XI, 653 ff.

452 > The Lord's Supper. [English ed. ~ 387-388]

heart that you do not believe, and yet you would like to believe, you must not despair and flee from the sacrament, but seek help there so that your faith may be kindled and increase. For though some have been horribly punished for receiving the sacrament unworthily and without faith, yet these alone are they whom we have spoken of above, [namely] the hardened and reprobate hearts. But thus shalt thou do, thinking, Lord, behold, here is the word, here is my infirmity and sickness; so thou hast said thyself, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.' Matt. 11:28. Do you think that he said these things to those who are already burning and strong in the faith? His kingdom is not to promote the righteous, but to help sinners, and also to make them righteous; therefore, he that is infirm and feels it, let him go and be helped." Luther also cites his own example: "It has also often happened to me that I have shied away from it and thus only stepped away more; until I saw that nothing helped, then I had to go. So you will also find that you see that it is the devil's ghost that draws people away, so that the more they shy away and want to wait until they feel faith in their hearts, the further they get away, so that at last, if they remain in the sense, all desire and craving in them go out, both for the Gospel and the Sacrament, so that they never get there. Therefore, you must put aside your mind and shyness and go and ask God to help you. If you do this often, you will feel that you will gain more and more desire for it, which you would not have gained otherwise. Therefore, I would like you to do the same and to have many who go to the sacrament in such an opinion, so that they may gain more and more desire for it and become stronger and stronger; otherwise, if you do not go, you will always remain cold and only become colder and colder." In order to prevent unjustified rejections of the Lord's Supper and at the same time to spare the pastor unnecessary discomfort of conscience, it is further to be remembered "that in regard to those whom he should and will admit to the Holy Supper, a pastor need not be certain that they are Christians standing in the living faith — for who could do this? — but only that their unchristianity must not be demonstrable or evident. To act according to one's moral convictions when admitted or rejected from the Lord's table is an

453 > The Lord's Supper. [English ed. ~ 388-389]

irresponsible dominion over consciences".1429) This judgment is not too harsh. Suppose the pastor were allowed "according to his moral conviction," that is, according to a "conviction" which he cannot prove to be correct before the congregation, to refuse someone from the Lord's Supper, both the congregation and those desiring the Lord's Supper would be exposed to the pastor's arbitrariness. This leads to the discussion of the pastor's right of suspension.

The pastor's right of suspension. As is well known, this is a question that has been discussed a lot in old and new times. Even the old Lutheran theologians do not have the same speech here.1430) We have to state: Because the pastor is responsible not only to the congregation but also personally and directly to God for whom he administers the Lord's Supper, the pastor has not only the right but also the duty of suspension in all cases in which admission to the Lord's Supper would be contrary to God's will and order. Walther specifies thus:1431) "If a person registering had fallen into, or lived in, manifest mortal sin and was unrepentant about it; if he had committed theft and yet would not repay what he had stolen; if he had offended and angered someone, whether an individual or a whole congregation, or had been offended by someone and would not reconcile with the offended or offending party (Matt. 6:23-25; 18:28 ff.; Luke 17:3), etc.: then the pastor, though without power to put a member of the congregation under excommunication, is in the position of not being able to administer Holy Communion to him. Under such circumstances the necessity of the so-called suspension from Holy Communion arises, by virtue of which Holy Communion is refused to a member of the congregation … until the matter is settled, or a postponement of its consumption is demanded, namely until the person desiring absolution and Communion shows marks of repentance, or is reconciled with his neighbor, as much as there is in him, and the like. As certainly as a pastor may not and cannot participate in the sins of others (1 Tim. 5:22), so certainly must he have the right of suspension from Holy Communion in all such cases in which, by admission to the Lord's Table, he would knowingly assist in the commission of a grave sin, thus making himself a participant in the sins of others. Therefore, as decidedly as our old orthodox theologians

1429) Walther, Past. p. 192.<w:t xml:space="preserve">1430) Walther, Past. p. 163 f.

1431) Past. p. 162.

454 > The Lord's Supper. [English ed. ~ 389-390]

deny to the pastors the right to recognize the excommunication without the congregation, they decisively concede to them the right to suspend from Holy Communion." It should be noted, however, that the pastor's suspension from the Lord's Supper is by no means an excommunication, as has often been erroneously asserted, but only a postponement of the use of the Lord's Supper until the person desiring the Lord's Supper shows marks of repentance or other obstacles to the use of the Lord's Supper according to the Word of God have been removed. Of course, the appeal from the judgment of the pastor to the judgment of the congregation must remain open to the suspended person, both because the Christian congregation is originally entrusted with the administration of the Lord's Supper and the pastor has suspended as a minister of the congregation (minister ecclesiae), and because the suspension temporarily affects the relationship of the suspended person to the congregation. But in the meantime, the person remains suspended. If a conflict should arise between the pastor and the congregation, and the conflict cannot be resolved even through detailed proceedings, the pastor would have to allow himself to be deposed rather than administer the Lord's Supper to a person who, according to God's order, should be denied it. Experience has taught that under our church relationships such cases of conflict are rare. In most cases the pastor succeeded in convincing the congregation of the legality of the suspension. Now and then the pastor was also convinced by the congregation and by persons brought in for consultation that the suspension should not have occurred. It is important that in our theological teaching institutions in the discipline of "pastoral theology" a number of typical cases in which suspension should not occur are dealt with in detail.1432)

1432) In Walther's Pastorale, pp. 152 ff. 190 ff. Cases like these are treated: When there is an "evil rumor" about one desiring communion; when the same is directly accused of a grave sin, but his accuser can bring no witnesses or proof; when the pastor alone knows about the sin; when the one declaring is involved in a judicial process, etc. From the quotations abundantly supplied by Walther it is evident that even the older Lutheran theologians did not find quite reliable guides here, because they lived in state-church relationships and mixed state and church means of discipline here and there in the handling of church discipline. It is a correct axiom: De occultis non iudicat ecclesia. But this axiom also understands in itself that it is not the task of the church to bring hidden sins to light.

455 > The Lord's Supper. [English ed. ~ 390-391]

The binding of "confession" with the Lord's Supper is a good church order, but not a divine one. This applies both to private confession and to the so-called "confession service" with confessional speech, general confession of sins and general absolution. Walther quotes1433) from the "Instruction of the Visitators" of 1538:1434) "Whether the pastor himself or preacher, who deal with it daily, want to go to the sacrament without confession or interrogation, it shall not be forbidden to him herewith. The same is to be said of other prudent persons who know how to report themselves, lest a new papal compulsion or necessary custom arise from such confession, which we should and must have freely. And I myself go to Doctor Martin several times

In citing older theologians, Walther repeatedly refers to his note, Past. p. 154, where he says: "Confession before men, by the way, is only necessary if the neighbor is harmed by the non-confession, if, for example, an innocent man would have to suffer because of the non-confession of the guilty man. Unless this is the case, or unless the member is unburdening his heart to his pastor, the pastor should not ask whether or not he has committed a certain sin, lest the pastor thus press him to reveal a hidden sin or to tell a lie." Walther also wanted the questioning in confession to be limited to the confessor suggesting a confession of a certain sin when he notices that the confessor remains restless in conscience despite all instruction and encouragement. (Past., p. 290.) Walther quotes approvingly from Hartmann's Pastorale evangelicum, p. 791: "It is an erroneous presupposition that a clear and explicit confession of all individual sins, especially those of which someone is accused by a rumor or a strong suspicion, is necessary, of which no commandment is found in Holy Scriptures. Nor is it any less false the premise that one who does not expressly confess his sins to the confessor is not truly sorry for them." The latter, as is well known, is the abominable doctrine of Rome (Trid., sess. XIV, can. 4-8), by which it becomes the eavesdropper of mankind, makes the forgiveness of sins uncertain, secures its ignominious priestly rule, and exerts a demoralizing effect on mankind, especially from the female part of it. As certain as it is that the pastor should willingly meet the need of souls to open up inwardly in temptations, so seriously must he guard against the search for hidden sins. Walther writes (Past., p. 159): "To inquire after secret sins is against the pastor's office," and quotes from the Saxon General Articles: "The ministers should not rashly ask of their confessors what is not confessed to them." If the pastor fails in this, he should put up with a rebuke, such as the words, "Pastor, that is not your business!" and not consider it a sign of impenitence.

1433) Pastorale, p. 168.<w:t xml:space="preserve">1434) St. L. X, 1655.

456 > The Lord's Supper. [English ed. ~ 391-392]

without confession, so that I do not make myself a necessary habit in my conscience; but again I need confession and do not want to do without it, mostly for the sake of absolution, that is, the Word of God."1435)