I was not aware of anyone having translated the entire document created by F.A. Schmidt and his party of “Anti-Missourians” in the Norwegian Synod, so I put it together below. It contains some translation work I copied from Mark DeGarmeaux’s excellent edition of Koren’s works, as well as the Concordia Publishing House edition of Concordia, the Lutheran Confessions.

Source: The magazine Lutherske Vidnesbyrd (Lutheran Witness), Volume III, Number 33, 20 November 1884, pages 529 – 537.

According to A.F. Anderson and G.O. Gjesle from the Painted Creek Congregation, “The “Confession” was hastily reviewed and adopted by a large majority (104), while the others (from 33 to 37) abstained and most seriously warned the majority against thus adopting a new creed by voting.” (Evangelisk Luthersk Kirketidende, XII, 25, 19 June 1885, page 387).

The text of the confession follows:

Confession concerning some disputed points of doctrine

A. Concerning Election.

We confess as the doctrine of the Word of God concerning election to the infallible attainment of eternal salvation,

1. What Dr. E. Pontoppidan teaches in Question 548 of Truth unto Godliness as follows: “What is election? That God appointed all those to eternal life who He saw from eternity would accept the offered grace, believe in Christ, and remain steadfast unto the end.”
2. What the Formula of Concord teaches in the Solid Declaration 14, Point IV, that indeed God has decided in his intention and counsel that “He will receive them into grace, the adoption of sons, and the inheritance of eternal life” and Epitome 13: “In Him we are to seek the eternal election of the Father, who has determined in His eternal divine counsel that He would save no one except those who know His Son Christ and truly believe in Him.”
3. What Johan Gerhard teaches, Loci TheologiciX Chapter IX, Locus on Election § 161: “Christ’s merit is the cause of our election. But since Christ’s merit does not benefit anyone outside of faith, therefore we say that regard for faith is a component of the decision of election. With resounding voice we confess that we teach that God has not found anything good in man that he should be chosen for eternal life, since he has not taken regard either to good works, not to the use of free will, yes, what is more, not even to faith itself in a way that He has been moved by it or that He has elected anyone for the sake of these things. But we say that it is completely and only Christ’s merit whose value God took into consideration and that He made the decision of election by pure grace. Yet, since Christ’s merit is found in a person only by faith, for that reason we teach that election has found a place in consideration of Christ’s merit grasped by faith. We say therefore that all those and only those who are chosen for salvation by God in eternity, who He foresaw through the work of the Holy Spirit by the ministry of the Gospel would come truly to believe in the Redeemer Christ and continue in faith to the end.” Disp. Isag. p. 711: “We say the impelling cause of election is Christ’s merit embraced by faith. The sense is this: God did not at all elect some through an unconditional grace unto eternal life and reject others through an unconditional hatred unto eternal death. Nor did He elect some unto life because of their own merit; on the contrary, in His counsel of election He took into consideration only and solely the perfect and sufficient merit of His Son. By this He allowed Himself to be moved to elect some unto eternal life, namely those all and those alone of whom He foresaw that they would apprehend Christ’s merit by faith and persevere in this faith till the end of life. Those, however, of whom He foresaw that they would not accept this merit, but would remain in impenitence and unbelief till the end of life, He rejected unto death. For the merit of Christ comes into consideration in the decree of election not merely in respect to its acquisition, in which regard it extends to all men, but also in respect to its appropriation, in so far as it is apprehended by true and steadfast faith. From this it is clear that the inner impelling cause of election is not Christ’s merit in and for itself, or as considered without the appropriation, but the merit of Christ as apprehended by faith.”

We reject as a false doctrine “the reformed doctrine of election, which God, regardless of the faith or unbelief of men, has from eternity destined some to eternal life and others to eternal death,—a doctrine that is well suited to lead Men either to Certainty or to Despair.” (See the Synodal Report of the Norwegian Synod from the year 1869, page 73).

At the same time that we declare that one teaches rightly when one says that God, in his eternal election of those who should infallibly attain salvation, has allowed himself to be moved only by his grace and the merit of his Son, Jesus Christ, at the same time we declare that one teaches falsely when one wants to explain this in such a way that God, when he made this decision of his eternal election, did not take into account whether this merit of his Son, Jesus Christ, would be grasped in a true Repentance by means of a living faith.

B. Concerning the Call.

We still confess as the doctrine of God’s word,

1. What Dr. E. Pontoppidan says in Question 478 of Truth unto Godliness, which reads: “What is God’s call? That by His Word He moves the hearts of men, and especially by the Gospel reveals His grace to them. II Tim. 1:9.”
2. What the Formula of Concord teaches in the Epitome XI. 8, VII: Thus Christ calls to Himself all sinners and promises them rest, and He is anxious that all men should come to Him and permit Him to help them. To them He offers Himself in His Word, and wishes them to hear it, and not to stop their ears, and despise the Word. He promises besides the power and efficiency of the Holy Ghost, and divine assistance for perseverance and eternal salvation.” Solid Declaration Article 11, 24 says, “It is Christ’s command that this promise of the Gospel also should be offered to everyone in common to whom repentance is preached, Luke 24:47; Mark 16:15. We should not think of this call of God, which is made through the preaching of the Word, as a juggler’s act. But we should know that God reveals His will by this call. He will work through the Word in the people He calls, so that they may be enlightened, converted, and saved. For the Word, by which we are called, is a ministry of the Spirit, which gives the Spirit, or by which the Spirit is given (2 Corinthians 3:8). It is God’s power unto salvation (Romans 1:16). The Holy Spirit wants to be effective through the Word, and to strengthen and give power and ability. It is God’s will that we should receive the Word, believe it, and obey it.”—”27. We should concern ourselves with this revealed will of God. We should follow and diligently think about it. Through the Word, by which He calls us, the Holy Spirit bestows grace, power, and ability for this purpose. We should not sound the depths of God’s hidden predestination, as it is written in Luke 13: 24”—

We reject as false teaching that God the Holy Spirit by the Word by which he calls men does not endow all these men whom he calls, and each one of them grace, power and ability to turn to God and believe in Christ.

C. Concerning Conversion

We still profess as the doctrine of God’s word,

1. What the Formula of Concord teaches (in the Solid Declaration Article II, § 8), “the free will, from its own natural powers, cannot work or agree to work anything for its own conversion, righteousness, and salvation, nor follow, believe, or agree with the Holy Spirit, who through the Gospel offers a person grace and salvation; from its inborn, wicked, rebellious nature it resists God and His will with hostility, unless it is enlightened and controlled by God’s Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:5, I Cor 2:14, Rom 8:7).
2. What the Formula of Concord teaches (in the Solid Declaration Article II, § 22 following): “It is not God’s will that anyone should be damned, but that all people should be converted to Him and be saved eternally (Ezekiel 33:11, John 3:16). Out of His immense goodness and mercy, God provides for the public preaching of His divine eternal Law and His wonderful plan for our redemption, that of the holy, only saving Gospel of His eternal Son, our only Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. By this preaching He gathers an eternal Church for Himself from the human race and works in people’s hearts true repentance, knowledge of sins, and true faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. By this means, and in no other way (i.e., through His holy Word, when people hear it preached or read it, and through the holy Sacraments when they are used according to His Word), God desires to call people to eternal salvation. He desires to draw them to Himself and convert, regenerate, and sanctify them. (I Corinthian 1:21, Acts 11:14, Romans 10:17, John 17: 17-20). The eternal Father calls down from heaven about His dear Son and about all who preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name, “Listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5). All who want to be saved ought to listen to this preaching. For the preaching and hearing of God’s Word are the Holy Spirit’s instruments. By, with, and through these instruments the Spirit desires to work effectively, to convert people to God, and to work in them both to will and to do.”
3. What the Formula of Concord teaches (in the Solid Declaration Article II, § 24. 27. 35): “A person can hear and read this Word outwardly, even though he is not yet converted to God and regenerate. As said above, a person even since the fall has a free will to a certain extent in these outward things. So he can go to church and listen or not listen to the sermon…The preacher’s planting and watering and the hearer’s running and hearing would both be in vain and no conversion would follow it if the power and effectiveness (operatio) of the Holy Spirit were not added. The Spirit enlightens and converts hearts through the Word preached and heard. So people believe this Word and agree with it. Neither preacher nor hearer is to doubt this grace and effectiveness (operatio) of the Holy Spirit. They should be certain that when God’s Word is preached purely and truly, according to God’s command and will, and people listen attentively and seriously and mediate on it, God is certainly present with His grace. He grants, as has been said, what otherwise a person can neither accept nor give by his own powers…Therefore, this teaching directs us to the means that the Holy Spirit desires to begin and do this. It also teaches us about how those gifts are preserved, strengthened, and increased. It warns us that we should not let God’s grace be bestowed on us in vain, but diligently use it and ponder how great a sin it is to hinder and resist such works (operationes) of the Holy Spirit.”
   We still profess what Martin Chemnitz teaches (Postil XX after Trinity): “But we must conclude from the Scriptures that, when God presents His Word to us, it is His will to work in us through His Word, so that by His gift, power, and work we may be en- abled to receive the proffered grace. Yet the natural wickedness of the flesh can indeed resist this operation of God.”
   Likewise what Johannes Musaeus teaches (on Election page 263); “Men could not repent and believe by themselves and by their own power, but they could by the grace of God who is present in them to work repentance and faith through the Word itself, which commands them to repent and believe. Christ therefore wants sinners to repent and believe with those words of command (Repent and believe!), however, not by the forces of nature, which is an impossibility, but by grace.”
4. What Dr. E. Pontoppidan teaches (Epitome § 31): “whoever then does not resist the grace of the Holy Spirit, but allows himself to be initiated into this order of salvation, he is raised from his spiritual death, reborn to a new life, regains the lost will of God, gains new light in the mind, new desire and strength in the will, a changed mind and heart.”
   And what Polykarp Leyser teaches (Scripture against Huber Page 22): “When the Holy Spirit offers men the grace of God through the Word and begins to work in them, they still have a capicitas passiva (as the Book of Concord calls it), that is, they are not like a block of wood or a stick, but they could, by God’s grace, receive the gracious, powerful work of the Holy Spirit. And those who now let God perform his work in them, receive faith, and by faith God’s grace, and with it also Sonship or the election to sonship with God, Romans 8 Ephesians 1. And they do not therefore cause God to be gracious or perform an act of grace (as Huber accuses us of teaching), but they receive only through the action of the Holy Spirit God’s grace and accept the work of grace.”
   Finally, what Johan Micrælius teaches (OnPredestination, page 435): “The grace which transfers a person from death to life by rebirth does not determine the will in an irresistible way. For although the person does not have free will for spiritually good things, he has, however, the ability to remain in evil and thus to resist grace. Nor is he converted as a stone, but as a man who is gifted with understanding and will. When, therefore, under external guidance, while the Word is preached to him, he hears it, ponders and searches it, like the Eunuch from Ethiopia, then the Holy Spirit will kindle faith in him, though not by powers that he finds in man, but by powers that he imparts.”
5. What the Formula of Concord teaches (in the Solid Declaration Article II, § 28): When such a person despises the instrument of the Holy Spirit and will not listen, no injustice is done to him if the Holy Spirit does not enlighten him but allows him to remain in the darkness of his unbelief and to perish. For it is written about this matter, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Matthew 23:37). And (Epitome Article 11, § 12): “However, “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). This does not mean that God is unwilling to save everybody. But the reason some are not saved is as follows: They do not listen to God’s Word at all, but willfully despise it, plug their ears, and harden their hearts. In this way they block the ordinary way (Luke 16:29-31) for the Holy Spirit so He cannot perform His work in them. Or, when they have heard God’s Word, they make light of it again and ignore it. But their wickedness is responsible for this <that they perish> not God or His election” (2 Peter 2:1-3; Luke 11: 49-52; Hebrews 12: 25-26; Luke 7:30). And (Solid Declaration Article II, § 30): “God does not force a person to become godly. (Those who always resist the Holy Spirit and persistently oppose the known truth are not converted, as Stephen says about the hardened Jewish people [Acts 7:51]).” And § 44: “all those who stubbornly and persistently resist the Holy Spirit’s works and movements—which take place through the Word—do not receive, but grieve and lose the Holy Spirit.”—And what Pontoppidan teaches (Epitome § 42): “”those who, in this order of salvation, will not accept and use God’s grace, remain in their sinful state of nature, separated from God, and must wait to share with the Devil and his angels in eternal damnation.”
   And what Georg Mylius teaches (Disputationes 11, 136): “That many do not have faith certainly does not happen because God does not give it to them or denies it to them, but because they themselves did not want it. For they would have been able to believe if they had wanted, because they had been able to do it, by which God had without doubt also granted them faith, if they had not stubbornly set themselves against the Holy Spirit, but had wanted to imitate the example of the Bereans. and diligently searched the Scriptures and considered the words of the Gospel.”
   What Friedrich Balduin teaches (On the Visitation Articles, 11:68): “That so many who are called do not have faith in Christ, certainly does not happen because God does not give them faith or denies it to them, but because they themselves would not believe. For they could have believed if they had wanted to, since they could have performed with great ease all that by which God has promised to bestow faith, and if they had done it, then He would have no doubt also given them faith, since He does not reject anyone who comes to him, if they had not stubbornly resisted the Holy Spirit when he began to work in them.”
6. What our Synod’s Eastern District stated in 1879 (Report page 45): “Now when this powerful, awakening call of grace of the Holy Spirit comes, it will depend on the person’s relationship to it, whether he will reach a suitable goal or not. Man has the ability to resist the call, to cover his ears to the awakening voice. Yes, that’s how most people behave.”—and what Dr. Walther has previously taught (Postil, page 93): “For, although all men are by nature equally sinful, and although God must first remove this resistance, yet on this account no one is lost; for when God comes with His Word He also comes with His Holy Spirit to remove the natural resistance. But he who not only places his natural stubbornness against the action of the Holy Spirit, but stubbornly and obstinately strives against Him, God himself cannot help him. For God will not force anyone to repent, a weak repentance is no repentance at all.”—and, what Pastor V Koren has previously taught (Synod report for 1872, Page 33, Thesis 52): “A distinction must be made between natural lack of will (unwillingness) to follow the Call and a determined will not to follow it. The first is the evil nature’s inclination to resistance, which is common to all; the last is a real disobedience and rejection of the Call.”

We reject as false Teaching:

1. “the teaching of the Synergists, who pretend that a person is not absolutely dead to good in spiritual things, but is badly wounded and half dead. The free will is too weak to make a beginning and to convert itself to God by its own powers. It can’t be obedient to God’s Law from the heart. Nevertheless, when the Holy Spirit makes a beginning, calls us through the Gospel, and offers His grace, the forgiveness of sins, and offers His grace, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal salvation, then the free will, from its own natural powers, can meet God. To a certain extent, although feebly, the will can do something toward salvation; it can help and cooperate in it and can qualify itself for it. The will can apply itself to grace, can grasp and accept it, and can believe the Gospel. It can also cooperate, by its own powers, with the Holy Spirit, in the continuation and maintenance of this work. Against this teaching, it has been shown at length above that the power known to qualify one’s self for grace naturally does not come from our own natural powers, but only from the Holy Spirit’s work.” (Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration Article II, § 40).
2. The doctrine, which is expressed in the following sentence: “Reason probably cannot put it together: God says on the one hand that he is gracious to all and that he seriously wants the salvation of all men; but on the other hand he does also claims for the full unrestricted right to have mercy on whomever he wants and to harden whomever he wants. Experience also corroborates the fact, that God does not remove resistance against His Word in the case of many millions from whom He could remove it just as easily as with the elect, since by nature they all lie in equally deep depravity, and these by nature are no better than they. When we regard God in this way, he is probably a hidden God to us and completely incomprehensible.”¹

D. Concerning Perseverance

We still confess as the teaching of God’s Word what the Formula of Concord says in theSolid Declaration 11, 26: “Holy Scripture also testifies that God, who has called us, is faithful. So when He has begun the good work in us, He will also preserve it to the end and perfect it, if we ourselves do not turn from Him, but firmly hold on to the work begun to the end. He has promised His grace for this very purpose. I Corinthians 1:9; Philippians 1:6; I Peter 5:10; 2 Peter 3:9; Hebrews 3.”

We reject as a false doctrine that God should have given an unconditional promise of the infallible attainment of eternal salvation, that is, a promise which did not contain the condition: if you repent, if you believe in Christ, if you remain steadfast in the faith on Christ until the End.

E. Concerning Assurance

We still profess as the doctrine of God’s Word:

1. What is taught in Doctor Erik Pontoppidan’s Truth unto Godliness Question 759: “Can that person be sure to die saved, who thus believes and lives in the Community of Jesus?—Yes, he is certainly a child of God and an heir of heaven;” and in “Excerpt from Dr Erik Pontoppidan’s Explanation for the Benefit of the Simple,” Question 602: “Can a person be sure to die saved, who thus believes and lives in the Community of Jesus? Yes, when he remains steadfast in the Faith to the End.”
2. What is taught in the Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration XI, 47: “Whoever would be saved should not trouble or torment himself with thoughts about God’s secret counsel, about whether he also is elected and ordained to eternal life. Miserable Satan usually attacks with these thoughts and afflicts godly hearts. But they should hear Christ, who is the Book of Life, and hear about God’s eternal election to eternal life for all of His children. Christ testifies to all people without distinction that it is God’s will that all people should come to Him “who labor and are heavy laden” with sin, in order that He may give them rest and save them.”

We reject as false teaching the following:

1. When it is asserted that a conditional certainty of one’s future salvation is no certainty,
2. when it is taught that all believers, even those who do not remain steadfast in the faith until the end, both according to God’s will and through the action of his Spirit of truth, could with Christian faith, which by its nature never fails, be unconditionally certain that they are chosen for the infallible attainment of eternal salvation.

(signed)

1Quoting Matthuens Vogel (1519-1591).