153. Sound Doctrinal Position.--As a preliminary basis the Holston Synod, in 1861, adopted the Augsburg Confession and Luther's Smaller Catechism, at the same time declaring that "we do not intend to repudiate the rest of the Symbolical Books so called, and unlutheranize those who adopt them in connection with the Symbols which we have adopted, because we are satisfied that they, rightly understood and explained, contain nothing contrary to our doctrinal basis, and that we will, therefore, not refuse to fellowship those who adopt the collective body of the Symbolical Books as their Confessional Basis." (_Minutes_, 1861, 6.) Owing to the unsettled state of affairs in consequence of the Civil War, the constitution was not ratified till 1865. Its second article, "Of the Confessional Basis," reads as follows: "1. We acknowledge the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments as the only infallible rule of faith and practise. 2. We acknowledge the Augsburg Confession of Faith and Luther's Smaller Catechism as a correct statement of the doctrines of the Christian system of which they treat, and no minister connected with this Synod shall hold or preach, nor shall any church connected with this Synod, or any private member of any Church so connected, hold or propagate, any doctrine which may be repugnant to these universally acknowledged symbols of the Evangelical Lutheran Church." (_Minutes_, 1865, 11.) In its revised constitution of 1895 the Holston Synod adopted all the Lutheran symbols.