Lutheran synods. (25.) And in 1864, at York, after protracted debates and subsequent to the declaration on the part of the Franckean delegates that they fully understood that in adopting the constitution of the General Synod they were adopting its doctrinal position, _viz._, "that the fundamental truths of the Word of God are taught in a manner substantially correct in the Augsburg Confession," the following resolution was carried, with 97 against 40 votes: "Resolved, That the Franckean Synod is hereby received into connection with the General Synod, with the understanding that said Synod, at its next meeting, declare, in an official manner, its adoption of the doctrinal articles of the Augsburg Confession as a substantially correct exhibition of the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God." The credentials of the delegates were then presented and their names entered upon the roll of Synod. (12. 17. 18. 19. 23. 41.) Abolition of the "Declaration" was not demanded. (_L. u. W._ 1864, 283.) Majority men argued: Recognition of the Augsburg Confession was not required in order to unite with the General Synod; the principle excluding the Franckean Synod necessitated the expulsion also of the Platform synods; it was destructive of the General Synod itself, because its original constitution did not refer to the Augsburg Confession. (_L. u. W._ 1864, 187.) The minority, among whom the delegates of the Pennsylvania Synod were prominent, protested against the admission of the Franckean Synod, declaring "that by this action of the General Synod its constitution has been sadly, lamentably violated." And when Synod refused to reconsider her action, the Pennsylvania delegates, appealing to the conditions upon which they had reentered the General Synod in 1853, publicly declared their withdrawal. At Fort Wayne, 1866, the General Synod "resolved, That, inasmuch as the Franckean Synod has complied with the condition of admission laid down by the last General Synod, its delegation be received." (17.) In the same year, however, the Western Conference of the Franckean Synod had organized as "Mission Synod of the West" in order to "Americanize" Lutherans in Iowa, Minnesota, etc. Rev. Fair, a member of this synod, wrote: For what is it (the Augsburg Confession) but a bit of paper and ink, containing, indeed, some good truths, but likewise also virulent errors; therefore let it go where finally all error must go--to hell. (_L. u. W._ 1866, 380f.) The fifth article of the Incorporation Charter of the "Mission Synod of the West" provided that, since the Augsburg Confession taught regeneration by Baptism, the bodily presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper, private confession and absolution, and rejected the divine institution and obligation of the Christian Sabbath, ministers who were in favor of subscribing to the Augustana as a test of membership, etc., should not be received into Synod, nor employed as teachers in its colleges or as ministers in its congregations.