Front matter (continued 16)

In order to remove a number of misunderstandings appearing after the completion of the Bergic Book, a "Preface" (Introduction to the Book of Concord) was prepared by the theologians and signed by the princes. The Catalog of Testimonies, added first with the caption "Appendix" and later without the same, or omitted entirely, is a private work of Andreae and Chemnitz, and not a part of the confession. Its special purpose is to prove that the Lutheran doctrine concerning the person of Christ and the majesty of His human nature as set forth in Article VII of the Formula of Concord, is clearly taught by the Scriptures as well as by the Fathers of the ancient Church. The Formula of Concord (German) was first published at Dresden, 1580, as a part of the Book of Concord. The first authentic Latin edition appeared in Leipzig, 1584. (Compare chapter on "The Book of Concord.")

282. Subscription to the Formula of Concord.

Originally Elector August planned to submit the Bergic Book to a general convention of the evangelical estates for approval. But fearing that this might lead to new discussions and dissensions, the six theologians, in their report (May 28, 1577) on the final revision of the Bergic Book, submitted and recommended a plan of immediate subscription instead of an adoption at a general convention. Consenting to their views, the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg forthwith sent copies of the Bergic Book to such princes and estates as were expected to consent. These were requested to multiply the copies, and everywhere to circulate and submit them for discussion and subscription. As a result the Formula of Concord was signed by the electors of Saxony, of Brandenburg, and of the Palatinate; furthermore by 20 dukes and princes, 24 counts, 4 barons, 35 imperial cities, and about 8,000 pastors and teachers embracing about two-thirds of the Lutheran territories of Germany.

The first signatures were those of Andreae, Selneccer, Musculus, Cornerus, Chytraeus, and Chemnitz, who on May 29, 1577, signed both the Epitome and the Thorough Declaration the latter with the following solemn protestation: "Since now, in the sight of God and of all Christendom, we wish to testify to those now living and those who shall come after us that this declaration herewith presented concerning all the controverted articles aforementioned and explained, and no other, is our faith, doctrine, and confession, in which we are also willing, by God's grace, to appear with intrepid hearts before the judgment-seat of Jesus Christ, and give an account of it and that we will neither privately nor publicly speak or write anything contrary to it but, by the help of God's grace, intend to abide thereby: therefore, after mature deliberation we have, in God's fear and with the invocation of His name, attached our signatures with our own hands." (1103, 40 CONC. TRIGL. 1103, 40; 842, 31.)

Kolde remarks: "Wherever the civil authorities were in favor of the Bergic Book, the pastors and teachers also were won for its subscription. That the wish of the ruler contributed to this result cannot be denied and is confirmed by the Crypto-Calvinistic troubles reappearing later on in Saxony. But that the influence of the rulers must not be overestimated, appears, apart from other things from the frequent additions to the signatures 'With mouth and heart (cum ore et corde).'" Self-evidently the Crypto-Calvinists as well as other errorists had to face the alternative of either subscribing or being suspended from the ministry. The very object of the Formula of Concord was to purge the Lutheran Church from Calvinists and others who were not in sympathy and agreement with the Lutheran Confessions and constituted a foreign and disturbing element in the Lutheran Church.

As to the manner in which the Formula was submitted for subscription, it was certainly not indifferentistic, but most solemn and serious, and perhaps, in some instances, even severe. Coercion, however, was nowhere employed for obtaining the signatures. At any rate, no instance is recorded in which compulsion was used to secure its adoption. Moreover, the campaign of public subscription, for which about two years were allowed, was everywhere conducted on the principle that such only were to be admitted to subscription as had read the Formula and were in complete agreement with its doctrinal contents. Yet it was probably true that some, as Hutter assumes, signed with a bad conscience [Hutter: "Deinde esto: subscripserunt aliqui mala conscientia Formulae Concordiae"; Mueller, Einleitung, 115]; for among those who affixed their names are quite a few of former Crypto-Calvinists—men who had always found a way of escaping martyrdom, and, also in this instance, may have preferred the retaining of their livings to following their conviction. The fact is that no other confession can be mentioned in the elaboration of which so much time, labor, and care was expended to bring out clearly the divine truth, to convince every one of its complete harmony with the Bible and the Lutheran symbols, and to hear and meet all objections, as was the case with respect to the Formula of Concord.

"In reply to the criticism [of the Calvinists in the Neustadt Admonition, etc.] that it was unjust for only six theologians to write a Confession for the whole Church, and that a General Synod should have been held before the signing of the Confession, the Convention of Quedlinburg, in 1583, declared it untrue that the Formula of Concord had been composed by only six theologians, and reminded the critics how, on the contrary, the articles had first been sent, a number of times, to all the Lutheran churches in Germany; how, in order to consider them, synods and conferences had been held on every side, and the articles had been thoroughly tested, how criticisms had been made upon them; and how the criticisms had been conscientiously taken in hand by a special commission. The Quedlinburg Convention therefore declared in its minutes that, indeed, 'such a frequent revision and testing of the Christian Book of Concord, many times repeated, is a much greater work than if a General Synod had been assembled respecting it to which every province would have commissioned two or three theologians, who in the name of all the rest would have helped to test and approve the book. For in that way only one synod would have been held for the comparing and testing of this work, but, as it was, many synods were held; and it was sent to many provinces, which had it tested by the weighty and mature judgment of their theologians, in such manner as has never occurred in the case of any book or any matter of religion since the beginning of Christianity, as is evident from the history of the Church,'… We are solemnly told [by Andreae, Selneccer, etc.] that no one was forced by threats to sign the Formula of Concord, and that no one was tempted to do so by promises. We know that no one was taken suddenly by surprise. Every one was given time to think. As the work of composition extended through years, so several years were given for the work of signing. We very much doubt whether the Lutheran Church to-day could secure any democratic subscription so clean, so conscientious, so united, or so large as that which was given to the Book of Concord." (Schmauk, 663f.)

283. Subscription in Electoral Saxony, Brandenburg, etc.

In Electoral Saxony, where Crypto-Calvinism had reigned supreme for many years, prevailing conditions naturally called for a strict procedure. For Calvinists could certainly not be tolerated as preachers in Lutheran churches or as teachers in Lutheran schools. Such was also the settled conviction and determination of Elector August. When he learned that the Wittenberg professors were trying to evade an unqualified subscription, he declared: By the help of God I am determined, as long as I live to keep my churches and schools pure and in agreement with the Formula of Concord. Whoever does not want to cooperate with me may go, I have no desire for him. God protect me, and those belonging to me, from Papists and Calvinists—I have experienced it. (Richard, 529.)

The Elector demanded that every pastor affix his own signature to the Formula. Accordingly, in every place, beginning with Wittenberg, the commissioners addressed the ministers and schoolteachers, who had been summoned from the smaller towns and villages, read the Formula to them, exhorted them to examine it and to express their doubts or scruples, if they had any, and finally demanded subscription of all those who could not bring any charge of false doctrine against it. According to Planck only one pastor, one superintendent (Kolditz, who later on subscribed), and one schoolteacher refused to subscribe. (6, 560.) Several professors in Leipzig and Wittenberg who declined to acknowledge the Formula were dismissed.

However, as stated, also in Electoral Saxony coercion was not employed. Moreover, objections were listened to with patience, and time was allowed for consideration. Indeed, in the name of the Elector every one was admonished not to subscribe against his conscience. I. F. Mueller says in his Historico-Theological Introduction to the Lutheran Symbols: "At the Herzberg Convention, 1578, Andreae felt justified in stating: 'I can truthfully say that no one was coerced to subscribe or banished on that account. If this is not true, the Son of God has not redeemed me with His blood; for otherwise I do not want to become a partaker of the blood of Christ.' Pursuant to this declaration the opponents were publicly challenged to mention a single person who had subscribed by compulsion, but they were unable to do so. Moreover, even the Nuernbergers, who did not adopt the Formula of Concord, acknowledged that the signatures had been affixed without employment of force." (115.) True, October 8, 1578, Andreae wrote to Chemnitz: "We treated the pastors with such severity that a certain truly good man and sincere minister of the church afterwards said to us in the lodging that, when the matter was proposed so severely, his mind was seized with a great consternation which caused him to think that he, being near Mount Sinai, was hearing the promulgation of the Mosaic Law (se animo adeo consternato fuisse, cum negotium tam severiter proponeretur, ut existimaret, se monti Sinai proximum legis Mosaicae promulgationem audire)…. I do not believe that anywhere a similar severity has been employed." (116.) But the term "severity" here employed does not mean force or compulsion, but merely signifies religious seriousness and moral determination to eliminate Crypto-Calvinism from the Lutheran Church in Electoral Saxony. The spirit in which also Andreae desired this matter to be conducted appears from his letter of November 20, 1579, to Count Wolfgang, in which he says: Although as yet some ministers in his country had not subscribed to the Formula, he should not make too much of that, much less press or persuade them; for whoever did not subscribe spontaneously and with a good conscience should abstain from subscribing altogether much rather than pledge himself with word and hand when his heart did not concur—denn wer es nicht mit seinem Geist und gutem Gewissen tue, bleibe viel besser davon, als dass er sich mit Worten und mit der Hand dazu bekenne und das Herz nicht daran waere. (115.)

Also Selneccer testifies to the general willingness with which the ministers in Saxony affixed their signatures. With respect to the universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig, however, he remarks that there some were found who, while willing to acknowledge the first part of the Book of Concord, begged to be excused from signing the Formula, but that they had been told by the Elector: If they agreed with the first part, there was no reason why they should refuse to sign the second, since it was based on the first. (Carpzov, Isagoge 20.) While thus in Electoral Saxony subscription to the Formula was indeed demanded of all professors and ministers, there is not a single case on record in which compulsion was employed to obtain it.

In Brandenburg the clergy subscribed unconditionally, spontaneously, and with thankfulness toward God and to their "faithful, pious ruler for his fatherly care of the Church." Nor was any opposition met with in Wuerttemberg, where the subscription was completed in October, 1577. In Mecklenburg the ministers were kindly invited to subscribe. Such as refused were suspended and given time for deliberation, with the proviso that they abstain from criticizing the Formula before the people. When the superintendent of Wismar and several pastors declined finally to adopt the Formula, they were deposed.

Accordingly, it was in keeping with the facts when the Lutheran electors and princes declared in the Preface to the Formula of Concord "that their theologians, ministers, and schoolteachers" "did with glad heart and heartfelt thanks to God the Almighty voluntarily and with well-considered courage adopt, approve, and subscribe this Book of Concord [Formula of Concord] as the true and Christian sense of the Augsburg Confession, and did publicly testify thereto with heart, mouth and hand. Wherefore also this Christian Agreement is not the confession of some few of our theologians only, but is called, and is in general, the unanimous confession of each and every one of the ministers and schoolteachers of our lands and provinces." (CONC. TRIGL. 12f.)

284. Where and Why Formula of Concord was Rejected.

Apart from the territories which were really Calvinistic (Anhalt, Lower Hesse, the Palatinate, etc.), comparatively few of the German princes and estates considered adherents of the Augsburg Confession declined to accept the Formula of Concord because of any doctrinal disagreement. Some refused to append their names for political reasons; others, because they were opposed on principle to a new symbol. With still others, notably some of the imperial cities, it was a case of religious particularism, which would not brook any disturbance of its own mode of church-life. Also injured pride, for not having been consulted in the matter, nor called upon to participate in the preparation and revision of the Formula, was not altogether lacking as a motive for withholding one's signature. In some instances personal spite figured as a reason. Because Andreae had given offense to Paul von Eitzen, Holstein rejected the Formula, stating that all the articles it treated were clearly set forth in the existing symbols. Duke Julius of Brunswick, though at first most zealous in promoting the work of pacification and the adoption of the Book of Concord, withdrew in 1583, because Chemnitz had rebuked him for allowing his son to be consecrated Bishop of Halberstadt. (Kolde, 73f.) However, despite the unfriendly attitude of Duke Julius, some of the Brunswick theologians openly declared their agreement with the Formula as well as their determination by the help of God, to adhere to its doctrine. No doubt but that much more pressure was exercised in hindering than in urging Lutherans to subscribe to the Formula. For the reasons enumerated the Formula of Concord was not adopted in Brunswick, Wolfenbuettel, Holstein, Hesse, Pomerania (where however, the Formula was received later), Anhalt, the Palatinate (which, after a short Lutheran interregnum, readopted the Heidelberg Catechism under John Casimir, 1583), Zweibruecken, Nassau, Bentheim, Tecklenburg, Solms, Ortenburg, Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau, Bremen, Danzig, Magdeburg, Nuernberg, Weissenburg, Windsheim, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Worms, Speyer, Strassburg.

In Sweden and Denmark, Frederick II issued an edict, July 24, 1580, forbidding (for political reasons) the importation and publication of the Formula of Concord on penalty of execution and confiscation of property. He is said to have cast the two elegantly bound copies of the Formula sent him by his sister, the wife of Elector August of Saxony, into the fireplace. Later on, however, the Formula came to be esteemed also in the Danish Church and to be regarded as a symbol, at least in fact, if not in form.

While some of the original signatories subsequently withdrew from the Formula of Concord a larger number acceded to it. Among the latter were Holstein, Pomerania, Krain, Kaernthen, Steiermark, etc. In Sweden the Formula was adopted 1593 by the Council of Upsala; in Hungary, in 1597. With few exceptions the Lutheran synods in America and Australia all subscribed also to the Formula of Concord.

285. Formula Not a New Confession Doctrinally.

The Formula of Concord purified the Lutheran Church from Romanism, Calvinism, indifferentism, unionism, synergism, and other errors and unsound tendencies. It did so, not by proclaiming new exclusive laws and doctrines, but by showing that these corruptions were already excluded by the spirit and letter of the existing Lutheran symbols. Doctrinally the Formula of Concord is not a new confession, but merely a repetition and explanation of the old Lutheran confessions. It does not set forth or formulate a new faith or tenets hitherto unknown to the Lutheran Church. Nor does it correct, change, or in any way modify any of her doctrines. On the contrary its very object was to defend and maintain the teaching of her old symbols against all manner of attacks coming from without as well as from within the Lutheran Church. The Formula merely presents, repeats, reaffirms explains, defends, clearly defines, and consistently applies the truths directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly confessed and taught in the antecedent Lutheran confessions. The Augsburg Confession concludes its last paragraph: "If there is anything that any one might desire in this Confession, we are ready God willing, to present ampler information (latiorem informationem) according to the Scriptures." (94, 7.) Close scrutiny will reveal the fact that in every detail the Formula must be regarded as just such an "ampler information, according to the Scriptures." The Lutheran Church, therefore, has always held that whoever candidly adopts the Augsburg Confession cannot and will not reject the Formula of Concord either.

As for the Formula itself, it most emphatically disclaims to be anything really new. In their Preface to the Book of Concord the Lutheran princes declared: "We indeed (to repeat in conclusion what we have mentioned several times above) have wished, in this work of concord, in no way to devise anything new, or to depart from the truth of the heavenly doctrine, which our ancestors (renowned for their piety) as well as we ourselves have acknowledged and professed. We mean that doctrine, which, having been derived from the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures, is contained in the three ancient Creeds, in the Augsburg Confession, presented in the year 1530 to Emperor Charles V, of excellent memory, then in the Apology, which was added to this, in the Smalcald Articles, and lastly in both the Catechisms of that excellent man, Dr. Luther. Therefore we also have determined not to depart even a finger's breadth either from the subjects themselves, or from the phrases which are found in them, but, the Spirit of the Lord aiding us, to persevere constantly, with the greatest harmony, in this godly agreement, and we intend to examine all controversies according to this true norm and declaration of the pure doctrine." (CONC. TRIGL. 23.) In the Comprehensive Summary we read: "We [the framers and signers of the Formula of Concord] have declared to one another with heart and mouth that we will not make or receive a separate or new confession of our faith, but confess the public common writings which always and everywhere were held and used as such symbols or common confessions in all the churches of the Augsburg Confession before the dissensions arose among those who accept the Augsburg Confession, and as long as in all articles there was on all sides a unanimous adherence to the pure doctrine of the divine Word, as the sainted Dr. Luther explained it." (851, 2. 9.) The Formula of Concord therefore did not wish to offer anything that was new doctrinally. It merely expressed the consensus of all loyal Lutherans, and applied the truths contained in the existing symbols to the questions raised in the various controversies.

286. Formula a Reaffirmation of Genuine Lutheranism.

To restore Luther's doctrine, such was the declared purpose of the promoters and authors of the Formula of Concord. And in deciding the controverted questions, they certainly did most faithfully adhere to Luther's teaching. The Formula is an exact, clear, consistent, and guarded statement of original Lutheranism purified of all foreign elements later on injected into it by the Philippists and other errorists. It embodies the old Lutheran doctrine, as distinguished not merely from Romanism and Calvinism, but also from Melanchthonianism and other innovations after the death of Luther. Surely Luther would not have hesitated to endorse each and all of its articles or doctrinal statements. Even Planck, who poured contempt and sarcasm on the loyal Lutherans, admits: "It was almost beyond controversy that the Formula, in every controverted article, established and authorized precisely the view which was most clearly sanctioned by the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, by its Apology according to the edition of the year 1531, by the Smalcald Articles, and by the Catechisms of Luther." (6, 697.) This complete agreement with Luther also accounts for the fact that the Formula was immediately acknowledged by two-thirds of the Protestants in Germany.

As for Luther, the Formula of Concord regards him as the God-given Reformer and teacher of the Church. We read: "By the special grace and mercy of the Almighty the doctrine concerning the chief articles of our Christian religion (which under the Papacy had been horribly obscured by human teachings and ordinances) were explained and purified again from God's Word by Dr. Luther, of blessed and holy memory." (847, 1.) Again: "In these last times God, out of special grace has brought the truth of His Word to light again from the darkness of the Papacy through the faithful service of the precious man of God, Dr. Luther." (851, 5.) Luther is spoken of as "this highly illumined man," "the hero illumined with unparalleled and most excellent gifts of the Holy Ghost," "the leading teacher of the Augsburg Confession." (980, 28; 983, 34.) "Dr. Luther," says the Formula, "is to be regarded as the most distinguished (vornehmste, praecipuus) teacher of the Churches which confess the Augsburg Confession, whose entire doctrine as to sum and substance is comprised in the articles of the Augsburg Confession." (985, 41.) Again: "Dr. Luther, who, above others, certainly understood the true and proper meaning of the Augsburg Confession, and who constantly remained steadfast thereto till his end, and defended it, shortly before his death repeated his faith concerning this article [of the Lord's Supper] with great zeal in his last Confession." (983, 33.) Accordingly, only from Luther's writings quotations are introduced by the Formula to prove the truly Lutheran character of a doctrine. In this respect Luther was considered the highest authority, outweighing by far that of Melanchthon or any other Lutheran divine. Everywhere Luther's books are referred and appealed to, e.g., his "beautiful and glorious exposition of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians," his book concerning Councils, his Large Confession, his De Servo Arbitrio, his Commentary on Genesis, his sermon of 1533 at Torgau, etc. (925, 28; 937, 67; 823, 21; 897, 43; 827, 2; 1051, 1; cf. 1213ff.)

Luther's doctrine, according to the Formula of Concord, is embodied in the old Lutheran symbols, and was "collected into the articles and chapters of the Augsburg Confession." (851, 5.) The Augsburg Confession, the Apology, the Smalcald Articles, and the Small and the Large Catechism, says the Formula, "have always been regarded as the norm and model of the doctrine which Dr. Luther, of blessed memory, has admirably deduced from God's Word, and firmly established against the Papacy and other sects; and to his full explanations in his doctrinal and polemical writings we wish to appeal, in the manner and as far as Dr. Luther himself in the Latin preface to his published works has given necessary and Christian admonition concerning his writings." (853, 9.) According to the Formula there were no dissensions among the Lutherans "as long as in all articles there was on all sides a unanimous adherence to the pure doctrine of the divine Word as the sainted Dr. Luther explained it." (851, 2.) Melanchthon, Agricola, Osiander, Major, and the Philippists, departing from Luther, struck out on paths of their own, and thus gave rise to the controversies finally settled by the Formula of Concord.

As for the Formula of Concord itself, the distinct object also of its promoters and authors was to restore, reaffirm, and vindicate the doctrine of Luther. In a letter of July 24, 1576, to Hesshusius and Wigand, Andreae giving an account of the results of the Torgau Convention, remarks: "For this I dare affirm and promise sacredly that the illustrious Elector of Saxony is bent on this alone that the doctrine of Luther, which has been partly obscured, partly corrupted, partly condemned openly or secretly, shall again be restored pure and unadulterated in the schools and churches, and accordingly Luther shall live, i.e., Christ, whose faithful servant Luther was—adeoque Lutherus, hoc est, Christus, cuius fidelis minister Lutherus fuit, vivat. What more do you desire? Here [in the Torgau Book] nothing is colored, nothing is dressed up, nothing is concealed, but everything is in keeping with the spirit of Luther which is Christ's. Nihil hic fucatum, nihil palliatum, nihil tectum est, sed iuxta spiritum Lutheri, qui Christi est." (Schaff 1, 339.) Also the Formula of Concord, therefore, contains Luther's theology.

It has been asserted that the Formula of Concord is a compromise between Luther and Melanchthon, a "synthesis or combination of the two antagonistic forces of the Reformation, a balance of mutually destructive principles," etc. The Formula, says also Seeberg represents a "Melanchthonian Lutheranism." But the plain truth is that the Formula is a complete victory of Luther over the later Melanchthon as well as the other errorists who had raised their heads within the Lutheran Church. It gave the floor, not to Philip, but to Martin. True, it was the avowed object of the Formula to restore peace to the Lutheran Church, but not by compromising in any shape or form the doctrine of Luther, which, its authors were convinced, is nothing but divine truth itself. In thesis and antithesis, moreover, the Formula takes a clearly defined stand against all the errorists of those days: Anabaptists, Schwenckfeldians, Antitrinitarians, Romanists, Zwinglians, Calvinists, Crypto-Calvinists, Adiaphorists, Antinomians, Synergists, Majorists, the later Flacianists, etc. It did not acknowledge, or leave room for, any doctrines or doctrinal tendencies deviating in the least from original genuine Scriptural Lutheranism. At every point it occupied the old Lutheran ground. Everywhere it observed a correct balance between two errors (e.g., Romanism and Zwinglianism, Calvinism and synergism, Majorism and antinomianism); it steered clear of Scylla as well as Charybdis avoiding errors to the right as well as pitfalls to the left. The golden highway of truth on which it travels was not Melanchthon nor a middle ground between Luther and Melanchthon, but simply Luther and the truths which he had brought to light again.

Melanchthonianism may be defined as an effort to inoculate Lutheranism with a unionistic and Calvinistic virus. The distinct object of the Formula, however, was not merely to reduce, but to purge the Lutheran Church entirely from, this as well as other leaven. The Formula's theology is not Lutheranism modified by, but thoroughly cleansed from, antinomianism, Osiandrianism, and particularly from Philippism. Accordingly, while in the Formula Luther is celebrated and quoted as the true and reliable exponent of Lutheranism, Melanchthon is nowhere appealed to as an authority in this respect. It is only in the Preface of the Book of Concord that his writings are referred to as not to be "rejected and condemned", but the proviso is added, "in as far as (quatenus) they agree throughout with the norm laid down in the Book of Concord." (16.)

287. Scripture Sole Standard and Rule.

From the high estimation in which Luther was held by the Formula of Concord it has falsely been inferred that this Confession accords Luther the "highest authority" as Hase says, or considers him "the regulative and almost infallible expounder" of the Bible, as Schaff asserts. (Creeds 1, 313.) But according to the Formula the supreme arbiter and only final rule in all matters of religion is the inspired Word of God; and absolutely all human teachers and books, including Luther and the Lutheran symbols, are subject to its verdict. When, after Luther's death, God permitted doctrinal controversies to distract the Church, His purpose, no doubt, being also to have her fully realize not only that Luther's doctrine is in complete harmony with Scripture, but, in addition, that in matters of faith and doctrine not Luther, not the Church, not the symbols, nor any other human authority but His Word alone is the sole rule and norm. The Formula certainly learned this lesson well. In its opening paragraph we read: "We believe, teach, and confess that the sole rule and standard according to which both all doctrines and all teachers should be estimated and judged are the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament alone…. Other writings, however, of ancient or modern teachers, whatever name they bear must not be regarded as equal to the Holy Scriptures, but all of them together be subjected to them." (777, 1.) And in this, too, the Formula was conscious of being in agreement with Luther. Luther himself, it declares, "has expressly drawn this distinction namely, that the Word of God alone should be and remain the only standard and rule of doctrine, to which the writings of no man should be regarded as equal, but to which everything should be subjected." (853, 9.) Scripture is, and always must remain, the only norma normans, the standard that rules everything,—such was the attitude of the Formula of Concord.

Accordingly, the proof proper for the truth of any doctrinal statement is taken by the Formula neither from the Lutheran symbols nor the writings of Luther, but from the Word of God. And the only reason why the promoters and framers of the Formula were determined to restore the unadulterated teaching of Luther was because, in the controversies following his death, they had thoroughly convinced themselves that, on the one hand, the doctrines proclaimed by Luther were nothing but the purest gold mined from the shafts of God's Word, and that, on the other hand, the various deviations from Luther's teaching, which had caused the dissensions, were aberrations not only from the original Lutheran Confessions, but also from Holy Scripture. The thirty years of theological discussion had satisfied the Lutherans that to adhere to the Bible was tantamount to adhering to the teaching of Luther, and vice versa. Accordingly, the Formula also declared it as its object to prove that the doctrines it presented were in harmony with the Bible, as well as with the teaching of Luther and the Augsburg Confession. (856, 19.) This agreement with the Word of God and the preceding Lutheran symbols constitutes the Formula a Lutheran confession, which no one who is a true Lutheran can reject or, for doctrinal reasons, refuse to accept.

288. Formula Benefited Lutheran Church.

It has frequently been asserted that the Formula of Concord greatly damaged Lutheranism, causing bitter controversies, and driving many Lutherans into the fold of Calvinism, e.g., in the Palatinate (1583), in Anhalt, in Hesse, and in Brandenburg (1613). Richard says: "The Formula of Concord was the cause of the most bitter controversies, dissensions, and alienations. The position taken by the adherents of the Formula of Concord that this document is the true historical and logical explanation of the older confessions and is therefore the test and touchstone of Lutheranism, had the effect, as one extreme generates a counter-extreme, of driving many individual Lutherans and many Lutheran churches into the Calvinistic fold, as that fold was represented in Germany by the Heidelberg Catechism as the chief confession of faith." (516.)

But this entire view is founded on indifferentism and unionism flowing from the false principle that quality must be sacrificed to quantity, eternal truth to temporal peace and unity to external progress and temporary success. Viewed in the light of God's Word, error is the centrifugal force and the real cause of dissension and separations among Christians, while divine truth always acts as a centripetal or a truly unifying power. The Formula therefore, standing clearly as it does for divine truth only, cannot be charged with causing dissension and breeding trouble among Christians. It settled many controversies and healed dissensions, but produced none. True, the Formula was condemned by many, but with no greater justice and for no other reasons than those for which the truths of God's Word have always been assailed by their enemies.

Nor is the statement correct that the Formula of Concord drove loyal Lutherans out of their own churches into Calvinistic folds. It clearly stated what, according to God's Word and their old confessions, Lutherans always will believe, teach, and confess, as also what they always must reject as false and detrimental to the cause of the Church of Christ; however, in so doing, it did not drive Lutherans into the ranks of the Calvinists, but drove masked Calvinists out of the ranks of loyal Lutherans into those folds to which they really belonged. Indeed, the Formula failed to make true Lutherans of all the errorists; but neither did the Augsburg Confession succeed in making friends and Lutherans of all Papists, nor the Bible, in making Christians of all unbelievers. However, by clearly stating its position in thesis and antithesis, the Formula did succeed in bringing about a wholesome separation, ridding the Lutheran Church of antagonistic spirits, unsound tendencies, and false doctrines. In fact, it saved the Church from slow, but sure poisoning at the hands of the Crypto-Calvinists; it restored purity, unity, morale, courage, and hope when she was demoralized, distracted, and disfigured by many dissensions and corruptions. Whatever, by adopting the Formula of Concord the Lutheran Church therefore may have lost in extension, it won in intention; what it lost in numbers, it won in unity, solidity, and firmness in the truth.

True, the Formula of Concord completely foiled Melanchthon's plan of a union between the Lutheran and Reformed churches on the basis of the Variata of 1540,—a fact which more than anything else roused the ire of Philippists and Calvinists. But that was an ungodly union, contrary to the Word of God; a union involving a denial of essential Christian truths; a union incompatible with the spirit of Lutheranism, which cannot survive where faith is gagged and open confession of the truth is smothered; a union in which Calvinism, engrafted on Lutheranism, would have reduced the latter to a mere feeder of a foreign life. However, though it shattered the ungodly plans of the Philippists and Calvinists, the Formula did not in the least destroy the hope of, or block the way for, a truly Christian agreement. On the contrary, it formulated the only true basis for such a union, which it also realized among the Lutherans. And if the Lutheran and Reformed churches will ever unite in a true and godly manner it must be done on the basis of the truths set forth by the Formula.

289. Necessity of Formula of Concord.

Several Lutheran states, as related above, declined to accept the Formula of Concord, giving as their reason for such action that there was no need of a new confession. The fact, however, that the Formula was adopted by the great majority of Lutheran princes, professors, preachers, and congregations proves conclusively that they were of a different opinion. A new confession was necessary, not indeed because new truths had been discovered which called for confessional coining or formulation, but because the old doctrines, assailed by errorists, were in need of vindication, and the Lutheran Church, distracted by prolonged theological warfare, was sorely in need of being restored to unity, peace, and stability. The question-marks suspended everywhere in Germany after Luther's death were: Is Lutheranism to die or live? Are its old standards and doctrines to be scrapped or vindicated? Is the Church of Luther to remain, or to be transformed into a unionistic or Reformed body? Is it to retain its unity, or will it become a house divided against itself and infested with all manner of sects?

Evidently, then, if the Lutheran Church was not to go down ingloriously, a new confession was needed which would not only clear the religious and theological atmosphere, but restore confidence, hope, and normalcy. A confession was needed which would bring out clearly the truths for which Lutherans must firmly stand if they would be true to God, true to His Word, true to their Church, true to themselves, and true to their traditions. A confession was needed which would draw exactly, clearly, and unmistakably the lines which separate Lutherans, not only from Romanists, but also from Zwinglians, Calvinists, Crypto-Calvinists, unionists, and the advocates of other errors and unsound tendencies. Being essentially the Church of the pure Word and Sacrament, the only way for the Lutheran Church to maintain her identity and independence was to settle her controversies not by evading or compromising the doctrinal issues involved, but by honestly facing and definitely deciding them in accordance with her principles: the Word of God and the old confessions. Particularly with respect to the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, Melanchthon by constantly altering the Augsburg Confession, had muddied the water to such an extent that the adoption of the Augustana was no longer a clear test of Lutheran orthodoxy and loyalty. Even Calvin, and the German Reformed generally subscribed to it, "in the sense," they said, "in which Melanchthon has explained it." The result was a corruption of Lutheranism and a pernicious Calvinistic propaganda in Lutheran territories. A new confession was the only means of ending the confusion and checking the invasion.

290. Formula Fully Met Requirements.

The Formula of Concord was just such a confession as the situation called for. The Preface to the Apology of the Book of Concord, signed by Kirchner, Selneccer, and Chemnitz, remarks that the purpose of the Formula was "to establish and propagate unity in the Lutheran churches and schools, and to check the Sacramentarian leaven and other corruptions and sects." This purpose was fully attained by the Formula. It maintained and vindicated the old Lutheran symbols. It cleared our Church from all manner of foreign spirits which threatened to transform its very character. It settled the controversies by rendering a clear and correct decision on all doctrinal questions involved. It unified our Church when she was threatened with hopeless division, anarchy, and utter ruin. It surrounded her with a wall of fire against all her enemies. It made her a most uncomfortable place for such opponents of Lutheranism as Crypto-Calvinists, unionists, etc. It infused her with confidence, self-consciousness, conviction, a clear knowledge of her own position over against the errors of other churches and sects, and last, but not least, with a most remarkable vitality.

Wherever and whenever, in the course of time, the Formula of Concord was ignored, despised, or rejected, the Lutheran Church fell an easy prey to unionism and sectarianism; but wherever and whenever the Formula was held in high esteem, Lutheranism flourished and its enemies were confounded. Says Schaff: "Outside of Germany the Lutheran Church is stunted in its normal growth, or undergoes with the change of language and nationality, an ecclesiastical transformation. This is the case with the great majority of Anglicized and Americanized Lutherans, who adopt Reformed views on the Sacraments, the observance of Sunday, church discipline, and other points." But the fact is that, since Schaff wrote the above, the Lutheran Church developed and flourished nowhere as in America, owing chiefly to the return of American Lutherans to their confessions, including the Formula of Concord. The Formula of Concord fully supplied the dire need created by the controversies after Luther's death; and, despite many subsequent controversies, also in America, down to the present day, no further confessional deliverances have been necessary, and most likely such will not be needed in the future either.

The Formula of Concord, therefore, must ever be regarded as a great blessing of God. "But for the Formula of Concord," says Krauth, "it may be questioned whether Protestantism could have been saved to the world. It staunched the wounds at which Lutheranism was bleeding to death; and crises were at hand in history in which Lutheranism was essential to the salvation of the Reformatory interest in Europe. The Thirty Years' War, the war of martyrs, which saved our modern world, lay indeed in the future of another century, yet it was fought and settled in the Cloister of Bergen. But for the pen of the peaceful triumvirate, the sword of Gustavus had not been drawn. Intestine treachery and division in the Church of the Reformation would have done what the arts and arms of Rome failed to do. But the miracle of restoration was wrought. From being the most distracted Church on earth, the Lutheran Church had become the most stable. The blossom put forth at Augsburg, despite the storm, the mildew, and the worm, had ripened into the full round fruit of the amplest and clearest Confession in which the Christian Church has ever embodied her faith." (Schmauk, 830.)

291. Formula Attacked and Defended.

Drawing accurately and deeply, as it did, the lines of demarcation between Lutheranism, on the one hand, and Calvinism, Philippism, etc., on the other, and thus also putting an end to the Calvinistic propaganda successfully carried on for decades within the Lutheran Church, the Formula of Concord was bound to become a rock of offense and to meet with opposition on the part of all enemies of genuine Lutheranism within as well as without the Lutheran Church. Both Romanists and Calvinists had long ago accustomed themselves to viewing the Lutheran Church as moribund and merely to be preyed upon by others. Accordingly, when, contrary to all expectations, our Church, united by the Formula, rose once more to her pristine power and glory, it roused the envy and inflamed the ire and rage of her enemies. Numerous protests against the Formula, emanating chiefly from Reformed and Crypto-Calvinistic sources, were lodged with Elector August and other Lutheran princes. Even Queen Elizabeth of England sent a deputation urging the Elector not to allow the promulgation of the new confession. John Casimir of the Palatinate, also at the instigation of the English queen, endeavored to organize the Reformed in order to prevent its adoption. Also later on the Calvinists insisted that a general council (of course, participated in by Calvinists and Crypto-Calvinists) should have been held to decide on its formal and final adoption!

Numerous attacks on the Formula of Concord were published 1578, 1579, 1581, and later, some of them anonymously. They were directed chiefly against its doctrine of the real presence in the Lord's Supper, the majesty of the human nature of Christ, and eternal election, particularly its refusal to solve, either in a synergistic or in a Calvinistic manner, the mystery presented to human reason in the teaching of the Bible that God alone is the cause of man's salvation, while man alone is the cause of his damnation. In a letter to Beza, Ursinus, the chief author of the Heidelberg Catechism, shrewdly advised the Reformed to continue accepting the Augsburg Confession, but to agitate against the Formula. He himself led the Reformed attacks by publishing, 1581, "Admonitio Christiana de Libro Concordiae, Christian Admonition Concerning the Book of Concord," also called "Admonitio Neostadiensis, Neustadt Admonition." Its charges were refuted in the "Apology or Defense of the Christian Book of Concord—Apologia oder Verantwortung des christlichen Konkordienbuchs, in welcher die wahre christliche Lehre, so im Konkordienbuch verfasst, mit gutem Grunde heiliger, goettlicher Schrift verteidiget, die Verkehrung aber und Kalumnien, so von unruhigen Leuten wider gedachtes christliche Buch ausgesprenget, widerlegt worden," 1583 (1582). Having been prepared by command of the Lutheran electors, and composed by Kirchner, Selneccer, and Chemnitz, and before its publication also submitted to other theologians for their approval, this guardedly written Apology, also called the Erfurt Book, gained considerable authority and influence.

The Preface of this Erfurt Book enumerates, besides the Christian Admonition of Ursinus and the Neustadt theologians, the following writings published against the Formula of Concord: 1. Opinion and Apology (Bedencken und Apologie) of Some Anhalt Theologians; 2. Defense (Verantwortung) of the Bremen Preachers; Christian Irenaeus on Original Sin; Nova Novorum ("ein famos Libell"); other libelli, satyrae et pasquilli; Calumniae et Scurrilia Convitia of Brother Nass (Bruder Nass); and the history of the Augsburg Confession by Ambrosius Wolf, in which the author asserts that from the beginning the doctrine of Zwingli and Calvin predominated in all Protestant churches. The theologians of Neustadt, Bremen, and Anhalt replied to the Erfurt Apology; which, in turn, called forth counter-replies from the Lutherans. Beza wrote: Refutation of the Dogma Concerning the Fictitious Omnipresence of the Flesh of Christ. In 1607 Hospinian published his Concordia Discors," [tr. note: sic on punctuation] to which Hutter replied in his Concordia Concors. The papal detractors of the Formula were led by the Jesuit Cardinal Bellarmin, who in 1589 published his Judgment of the Book of Concord.

292. Modern Strictures on Formula of Concord.

Down to the present day the Formula of Concord has been assailed particularly by unionistic and Reformed opponents of true Lutheranism. Schaff criticizes: "Religion was confounded with theology, piety with orthodoxy, and orthodoxy with an exclusive confessionalism." (1, 259.) However, the subjects treated in the Formula are the most vital doctrines of the Christian religion: concerning sin and grace, the person and work of Christ, justification and faith, the means of grace, —truths without which neither Christian theology nor Christian religion can remain; "Here, then," says Schmauk, "is the one symbol of the ages which treats almost exclusively of Christ—of His work, His presence, His person. Here is the Christ-symbol of the Lutheran Church. One might almost say that the Formula of Concord is a developed witness of Luther's explanation of the Second and Third Articles of the Apostles' Creed, meeting the modern errors of Protestantism, those cropping up from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, in a really modern way." (751.) Tschackert also designates the assertion that the authors of the Formula of Concord "abandoned Luther's idea of faith and established a dead scholasticism" as an unjust charge. (478.) Indeed, it may be questioned whether the doctrine of grace, the real heart of Christianity, would have been saved to the Church without the Formula.

R. Seeberg speaks of the "ossification of Lutheran theology" caused by the Formula of Concord, and Tschackert charges it with transforming the Gospel into a "doctrine." (571.) But what else is the Gospel of Christ than the divine doctrine or statement and proclamation of the truth that we are saved, not by our own works, but by grace and faith alone, for the sake of Christ and His merits? The Formula of Concord truly says: "The Gospel is properly a doctrine which teaches what man should believe, that he may obtain forgiveness of sins with God, namely, that the Son of God, our Lord Christ, has taken upon Himself and borne the curse of the Law, has expiated and paid for all our sins, through whom alone we again enter into favor with God, obtain forgiveness of sins by faith, are delivered from death and all the punishments of sins, and eternally saved." (959, 20.) Says Schmauk: "The Formula of Concord was … the very substance of the Gospel and of the Augsburg Confession, kneaded through the experience of the first generation of Protestantism, by incessant and agonizing conflict, and coming forth from that experience as a true and tried teaching, a standard recognized by many." (821.) The Formula of Concord is truly Scriptural, not only because all its doctrines are derived from the Bible, but also because the burden of the Scriptures, the doctrine of justification, is the burden also of all its expositions the living breath, as it were, pervading all its articles.

Another modern objection to the Formula is that it binds the future generations to the Book of Concord. This charge is correct, for the Formula expressly states that its decisions are to be "a public, definite testimony, not only for those now living, but also for our posterity, what is and should remain (sei und bleiben solle—esseque perpetuo debeat) the unanimous understanding and judgment of our churches in reference to the articles in controversy." (857, 16.) However, the criticism implied in the charge is unwarranted. For the Lutheran Confessions, as promoters, authors, and signers of the Formula were fully persuaded, are in perfect agreement with the eternal and unchangeable Word of God. As to their contents, therefore, they must always remain the confession of every Church which really is and would remain loyal to the Word of God.

293. Formula Unrefuted.

From the day of its birth down to the present time the Formula of Concord has always been in the limelight of theological discussion. But what its framers said in praise of the Augsburg Confession, viz., that, in spite of numerous enemies, it had remained unrefuted, may be applied also to the Formula: it stood the test of centuries and emerged unscathed from the fire of every controversy. It is true today what Thomasius wrote 1848 with special reference to the Formula: "Numerous as they may be who at present revile our Confession, not one has ever appeared who has refuted its chief propositions from the Bible." (Bekenntnis der ev.-luth. Kirche, 227.)

Nor can the Formula ever be refuted, for its doctrinal contents are unadulterated truths of the infallible Word of God. It confesses the doctrine which Christians everywhere will finally admit as true and divine indeed, which they all in their hearts believe even now, if not explicitly and consciously, at least implicitly and in principle. The doctrines of the Formula are the ecumenical truths of Christendom; for true Lutheranism is nothing but consistent Christianity. The Formula, says Krauth, is "the completest and clearest confession in which the Christian Church has ever embodied her faith." Such being the case, the Formula of Concord must be regarded also as the key to a godly peace and true unity of entire Christendom.

The authors of the Formula solemnly declare: "We entertain heartfelt pleasure and love for, and are on our part sincerely inclined and anxious to advance with our utmost power that unity [and peace] by which His glory remains to God uninjured, nothing of the divine truth of the Holy Gospel is surrendered, no room is given to the least error, poor sinners are brought to true, genuine repentance, raised up by faith, confirmed in new obedience, and thus justified and eternally saved alone through the sole merit of Christ." (1095, 95.) Such was the godly peace and true Christian unity restored by the Formula of Concord to the Lutheran Church. And what it did for her it is able also to do for the Church at large. Being in complete agreement with Scripture, it is well qualified to become the regeneration center of the entire present-day corrupted, disrupted, and demoralized Christendom.

Accordingly Lutherans, the natural advocates of a truly wholesome and God-pleasing union based on unity in divine truth, will not only themselves hold fast what they possess in their glorious Confession, but strive to impart its blessings also to others, all the while praying incessantly, fervently, and trustingly with the pious framers of the Formula: "May Almighty God and the Father of our Lord Jesus grant the grace of His Holy Ghost that we all may be one in Him, and constantly abide in this Christian unity, which is well pleasing to Him! Amen." (837, 23.)

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

[tr. note: original printed text ends with a 10 page index that is not included in this transcription]