PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOKS OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
Produced
by Kurt A. T. Bodling, Concordia Seminary, St.
Louis,
Class of 1980
Historical
Introductions
to the
Symbolical
Books
of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church
by F.
Bente
I. The
Book of Concord, or The Concordia.
1.
General and Particular Symbols.
Book of
Concord, or Concordia, is the title of the Lutheran _corpus
doctrinae,
i.e._, of the symbols recognized and published under that
name by
the Lutheran Church. The word symbol, _sumbolon,_ is derived
from the
verb _sumballein,_ to compare two things for the purpose of
perceiving
their relation and association. _Sumbolon_ thus developed the
meaning
of _tessara,_ or sign, token, badge, banner, watchword, parole,
countersign,
confession, creed. A Christian symbol, therefore, is a mark
by which
Christians are known. And since Christianity is essentially the
belief in
the truths of the Gospel, its symbol is of necessity a
confession
of Christian doctrine. The Church, accordingly, has from the
beginning
defined and regarded its symbols as a rule of faith or a rule
of truth.
Says Augustine: "Symbolum est regula fidei brevis et grandis:
brevis
numero verborum, grandis pondere sententiarum. A symbol is a rule
of faith,
both brief and grand: brief, as to the number of words, grand,
as to the
weight of its thoughts."
Cyprian
was the first who applied the term symbol to the baptismal
confession,
because, he said, it distinguished the Christians from
non-Christians.
Already at the beginning of the fourth century the
Apostles'
Creed was universally called symbol, and in the Middle Ages
this name
was applied also to the Nicene and the Athanasian Creeds. In
the
Introduction to the Book of Concord the Lutheran confessors
designate
the Augsburg Confession as the "symbol of our faith," and in
the
Epitome of the Formula of Concord, as "our symbol of this time."
Symbols
may be divided into the following classes: 1. Ecumenical
symbols,
which, at least in the past, have been accepted by all
Christendom,
and are still formally acknowledged by most of the
evangelical
Churches; 2. particular symbols, adopted by the various
denominations
of divided Christendom; 3. private symbols, such as have
been
formulated and published by individuals, for example, Luther's
Confession
of the Lord's Supper of 1528. The publication of private
confessions
does not necessarily involve an impropriety; for according
to Matt.
10, 32 33 and 1 Pet. 3, 15 not only the Church as a whole, but
individual
Christians as well are privileged and in duty bound to
confess
the Christian truth over against its public assailants.
Self-evidently,
only such are symbols of particular churches as have
been
approved and adopted by them. The symbols of the Church, says the
Formula
of Concord, "should not be based on private writings, but on
such
books as have been composed, approved, and received in the name of
the
churches which pledge themselves to one doctrine and religion."
(CONC.
TRIGL., 851, 2.)
Not being
formally and explicitly adopted by all Christians, the
specifically
Lutheran confessions also are generally regarded as
particular
symbols. Inasmuch, however, as they are in complete agreement
with Holy
Scripture, and in this respect differ from all other
particular
symbols, the Lutheran confessions are truly ecumenical and
catholic
in character. They contain the truths believed universally by
true
Christians everywhere, explicitly by all consistent Christians,
implicitly
even by inconsistent and erring Christians. Christian truth,
being one
and the same the world over is none other than that which is
found in
the Lutheran confessions.
2. The
German Book of Concord.
The
printing of the official German edition of the Book of Concord was
begun in
1578 under the editorship of Jacob Andreae. The 25th of June,
1580,
however, the fiftieth anniversary of the presentation of the
Augsburg
Confession to Emperor Charles V, was chosen as the date for its
official
publication at Dresden and its promulgation to the general
public.
Following are the contents of one of the five Dresden folio
copies
which we have compared: 1. The title-page, concluding with the
words,
"Mit Churf. G. zu Sachsen Befreiung. Dresden MDLXXX." 2. The
preface,
as adopted and signed by the estates at Jueterbock in 1579,
which
supplanted the explanation, originally planned, of the theologians
against
the various attacks made upon the Formula of Concord. 3. The
three
Ecumenical Symbols. 4. The Augsburg Confession of 1530. 5. The
Apology
of 1530. 6. The Smalcald Articles of 1537, with the appendix,
"Concerning
the Power and Supremacy of the Pope." 7. Luther's Small
Catechism,
omitting the "Booklets of Marriage and Baptism," found in
some
copies. 8. Luther's Large Catechism. 9. The Formula of Concord,
with
separate title-pages for the Epitome and the Solida Declaratio,
both
dated 1580. 10. The signatures of the theologians, etc., amounting
to about
8,000. 11. The Catalogus Testimoniorum, with the superscription
"Appendix"
(found in some copies only). The Preface is followed by a
_Privilegium_
signed by Elector August and guaranteeing to Matthes
Stoeckel
and Gimel Bergen the sole right of publication, a document not
found in
the other copies we compared. The Formula of Concord is
followed
by a twelve-page index of the doctrines treated in the Book of
Concord,
and the list of signatures, by a page containing the trade-mark
of the
printer. The center of this page features a cut inscribed,
"Matthes
Stoeckel Gimel Bergen 1579." The cut is headed by Ps. 9, 1. 2:
"Ich
danke dem Herrn von ganzem Herzen und erzaehle all deine Wunder.
Ich freue
mich und bin froehlich in dir und lobe deinen Namen, du
Allerhoechster.
I thank the Lord with all my heart and proclaim all Thy
wonders.
I am glad and rejoice in Thee, and praise Thy name, Thou Most
High."
Under the cut are the words: "Gedruckt zu Dresden durch Matthes
Stoeckel.
Anno 1580. Printed by Matthes Stoeckel, Dresden, 1580."
In a
letter dated November 7, 1580, Martin Chemnitz speaks of two
Dresden
folio editions of the German Book of Concord, while Feuerlinus,
in 1752,
counts seven Dresden editions. As a matter of fact, the Dresden
folio
copies differ from one another, both as to typography and
contents.
Following are the chief differences of the latter kind: 1.
Only some
copies have the liturgical Forms of Baptism and of Marriage
appended
to the Small Catechism. 2. The Catalogus is not entitled
"Appendix"
in all copies, because it was not regarded as a part of the
confession
proper. 3. In some copies the passage from the Augsburg
Confession,
quoted in Art. 2, 29 of the Solida Declaratio, is taken, not
from the
Mainz Manuscript, but from the quarto edition of 1531, which
already
contained some alterations. 4. Some copies are dated 1580, while
others
bear the date 1579 or 1581. Dr. Kolde gives it as his opinion
that in
spite of all these and other (chiefly typographical) differences
they are
nevertheless all copies of one and the same edition, with
changes
only in individual sheets. (_Historische Einleitung in die
Symbolischen
Buecher der ev.-luth. Kirche,_ p. 70.) Dr. Tschackert
inclines
to the same view, saying: "Such copies of this edition as have
been
preserved exhibit, in places, typographical differences. This,
according
to Polycarp Leyser's _Kurzer und gegruendeter Bericht,_
Dresden,
1597 (Kolde, 70), is due to the fact that the manuscript was
rushed
through the press and sent in separate sheets to the interested
estates,
and that, while the forms were in press, changes were made on
the basis
of the criticisms sent in from time to time, yet not equally,
so that
some copies differ in certain sheets and insertions." (_Die
Entstehung
der luth. und der ref. Kirchenlehre,_ 1910, p. 621.)
However,
while this hypothesis explains a number of the variations in
the
Dresden folio copies, it does not account for all of them especially
not for
those of a typographical nature. In one of the five copies which
we
compared, the title-page, radically differing from the others, reads
as
follows: "Formula Concordiae. Das ist: Christliche, Heilsame Reine
Vergleichunge,
in welcher die Goettliche Leer von den vornembsten
Artikeln
vnserer wahrhafftigen Religion, aus heiliger Schrift in kurtze
bekanntnues
oder Symbola vnd Leerhafte Schrifften,: welche allbereit vor
dieser
zeit von den Kirchen Gottes Augspurgischer Confession, angenommen
vnd
approbiert:, verfasset. Sampt bestendiger, in Gottes wort
wolgegruendeter,
richtiger, endlicher widerholung, erklerung und
entscheidung
deren Streit, welche vnter etlichen Theologen, so sich zu
ermelter
Confession bekant, fuergefallen. Alles nach inhalt der heiligen
Schrifft,
als der einigen Richtschnur der Goettlichen wahrheit, vnd nach
anleitung
obgemeldter in der Kirchen Gottes, approbierten Schrifften.
Auff
gnedigsten, gnedigen, auch guetigsten beuehl, verordnung und
einwilligung
nach beschriebener Christlichen Churfuersten, Fuersten vnd
Stende
des heiligen Roemischen Reichs Deutscher Nation, Augspurgischer
Confession,
derselben Landen, Kirchen, Schulen vnd Nachkommen zum trost
vnd
besten in Druck vorfertiget. M. D. LXXIX." ("Formula of Concord,
that is,
Christian, wholesome, pure agreement, in which the divine
doctrine
of the chief articles of our true religion have been drawn up
from the
Holy Scripture in short confessions or symbols and doctrinal
writings,
which have already before this time been accepted and approved
by the
Churches of God of the Augsburg Confession, together with a firm,
Scripturally
well-founded, correct, final repetition, explanation and
decision
of those controversies which have arisen among some theologians
who have
subscribed to said Confession, all of which has been drawn up
according
to the contents of Holy Scripture, the sole norm of divine
Truth,
and according to the analogy of the above-named writings which
have the
approval of the Churches of God. Published by the most
gracious,
kind, and benevolent command, order, and assent of the
subscribed
Christian Electors, princes, and estates of the Holy Roman
Empire,
of the German nation, of the Augsburg Confession, for the
comfort
and benefit of said lands churches, schools, and posterity.
1579.")
Apart
from the above title this copy differs from the others we examined
in
various ways Everywhere (at four different places) it bears the date
1579,
which, on the chief title-page, however, seems to have been
entered
in ink at a later date. Also the place of publication, evidently
Dresden,
is not indicated. Two variations are found in the Preface to
the Book
of Concord, one an omission, the other an addition. The
signatures
of the princes and estates to the Preface are omitted.
Material
and formal differences are found also on the pages containing
the
subscriptions of the theologians to the Formula of Concord; and the
Catalogus
is lacking entirely. The typography everywhere, especially in
the
portions printed in Roman type, exhibits many variations and
divergences
from our other four copies, which, in turn, are also
characterized
by numerous typographical and other variations. The copy
of which,
above, we have given the contents is dated throughout 1580.
Our third
copy bears the same date 1580, excepting on the title-page of
the
Solida Declaratio, which has 1579. In both of these copies the
typography
of the signatures to the Book of Concord is practically
alike. In
our fourth copy the date 1580 is found on the title-page of
the Concordia,
the Catalogus, and the appended Saxon Church Order, which
covers
433 pages, while the title-pages of the Epitome and the
Declaratio
and the page carrying the printer's imprint are all dated
1579. In
this copy the typography of the signatures closely resembles
that of
the copy dated everywhere 1579. In our fifth Dresden folio copy,
the
title-page of the Book of Concord and the Catalogus are dated 1580,
while the
title-pages of the Epitome and Solida Declaratio are dated
1579.
This is also the only copy in which the Catalogus is printed under
the
special heading "Appendix."
In view
of these facts, especially the variation of the Roman type in
all
copies, Kolde's hypothesis will hardly be regarded as firmly
established.
Even if we eliminate the copy which is everywhere dated
1579, the
variations in our four remaining Dresden folio copies cannot
be
explained satisfactorily without assuming either several editions or
at least
several different compositions for the same edition, or perhaps
for the
two editions mentioned by Chemnitz. Feuerlinus distinguishes
seven
Dresden editions of the Book of Concord--one, printed for the
greater
part in 1578, the second, third, and fourth in 1580, the fifth
in 1581,
the sixth also in 1581, but in quarto, and the seventh in 1598,
in folio.
(_Bibliotheca Symbolica,_ 1752, p. 9.) A copy like the one
referred
to above, which is everywhere dated 1579, does not seem to have
come to
the notice of Feuerlinus.
In the
copy of the Tuebingen folio edition which is before us, the Index
follows
the Preface. The appendices of the Small Catechism are omitted,
likewise
the superscription Appendix of the Catalogus. Our copy of the
Heidelberg
folio edition of 1582 omits the Catalogus and adds the
Apology
of the Book of Concord of 1583, as also the Refutation of the
Bremen
Pastors of the same year. A copy of the Magdeburg quarto edition
lying
before us has the year 1580 on the title-pages of the Book of
Concord,
the Epitome, the Declaratio, and the Catalogus. The Preface is
followed
by three pages, on which Joachim Frederick guarantees to
"Thomas
Frantzen Buchvorlegern" (Thomas Frantzen, publishers) the sole
right of
publication for a period of five years, and prohibits the
introduction
of other copies, excepting only those of the Dresden folio
edition
of 1580. Luther's Booklets of Marriage and of Baptism are
appended
to the Small Catechism, and to the Large Catechism is added
"Eine
kurze Vermahnung zu der Beicht, A Brief Exhortation to
Confession."
(None of the Dresden folio copies we compared contain these
appendices,
nor are they found in the Latin editions of 1580 and 1584.)
The index
is followed by a page of corrected misprints. The last page
has the
following imprint: "Gedruckt zu Magdeburg durch Johann Meiszner
und
Joachim Walden Erben, Anno 1580, Printed at Magdeburg by John
Meissner's
and Joachim Walden's heirs. In the year 1580."
3. The
Latin Concordia.
Even
before the close of 1580, Selneccer published a Latin Concordia
containing
a translation of the Formula of Concord begun by Lucas
Osiander
in 1578 and completed by Jacob Heerbrand. It was a private
undertaking
and, owing to its numerous and partly offensive mistakes,
found no
recognition. Thus, for instance, the passage of the Tractatus
"De
Potestate et Primatu Papae" in sec. 24: "Christ gives the highest
and final
judgment to the church," was rendered as follows: "Et Christus
summum et
ultimum ferculum apponit ecclesiae." (p. 317.) Besides,
Selneccer
had embodied in his Concordia the objectionable text of the
Augsburg
Confession found in the octavo edition of 1531, which
Melanchthon
had altered extensively.
The
necessary revision of the Latin text was made at the convention in
Quedlinburg
during December, 1582, and January, 1583, Chemnitz giving
material
assistance. The revised edition, which constitutes the Latin
_textus
receptus_ of the Formula of Concord, was published at Leipzig in
1584.
Aside from many corrections, this edition contains the translation
of the
Formula of Concord as already corrected by Selneccer in 1582 for
his
special Latin-German edition, and afterwards thoroughly revised by
Chemnitz.
The texts of the Augsburg Confession and the Apology follow
the
_editio princeps_ of 1531. The 8,000 signatures, embodied also in
the Latin
edition of 1580, were omitted, lest any one might complain
that his
name was appended to a book which he had neither seen nor
approved.
In keeping herewith, the words in the title of the Book of
Concord:
"_et nomina sua huic libro subscripserunt_--and have subscribed
their
names to this book," which Mueller retained in his edition, were
eliminated.
The title-page concludes as in the edition of 1580, the word
"denuo"
only being added and the date correspondingly changed. On the
last two
pages of this edition of 1584 Selneccer refers to the edition
of 1580
as follows: "Antea publicatus est liber Christianae Concordiae,
Latine,
sed privato et festinato instituto, Before this the Book of
Concord
has been published in Latin, but as a private and hasty
undertaking."
In the edition of 1584, the text of the Small Catechism is
adorned
with 23 Biblical illustrations.
Among the
later noteworthy editions of the Book of Concord are the
following:
Tuebingen 1599; Leipzig, 1603, 1622; Stuttgart 1660, 1681.
Editions
furnished with introductions or annotations or both: H.
Pipping,
1703; S.J. Baumgarten, 1747; J.W. Schoepff, Part I, 1826, Part
II, 1827;
F.A. Koethe, 1830; J.A. Detzer, 1830; F.W. Bodemann, 1843. In
America
the entire Book of Concord was printed in German by H. Ludwig,
of New
York, in 1848, and by the Concordia Publishing House of St.
Louis,
Mo., in 1880. In Leipzig, Latin editions appeared in the years
1602,
1606, 1612, 1618, 1626, 1654, 1669, 1677. Adam Rechenberg's
edition
"with an appendix in three parts and new indices" (_cum
appendice
tripartita et novis indicibus_) saw five editions--1678, 1698,
1712,
1725, 1742. We mention also the edition of Pfaffius, 1730;
Tittmann,
1817; H.A.G. Meyer, 1830, containing a good preface; Karl
Hase, in
his editions of 1827, 1837, and 1845, was the first to number
the
paragraphs. Reineccius prepared a German-Latin edition in 1708. This
was
followed in 1750 by the German-Latin edition of Johann Georg Walch.
Mueller's
well-known German-Latin Concordia saw eleven editions between
1847 and
1912. Since 1907 it appears with historical introductions by
Th.
Kolde.
4.
English Translations.
All of
the Lutheran symbols have been translated into the English
language
repeatedly. In 1536 Richard Tavener prepared the first
translation
of the Augsburg Confession. Cranmer published, in 1548, "A
Short
Instruction into the Christian Religion," essentially a
translation
of the Ansbach-Nuernberg Sermons on the Catechism. In 1834 a
translation
of the German text of the Augsburg Confession with
"Preliminary
Observations" was published at Newmarket, Va., by Charles
Henkel,
Prof. Schmidt of the Seminary at Columbus O., assisting in this
work. The
Introduction to the Newmarket Book of Concord assigns Henkel's
translation
of the Augsburg Confession to the year 1831. Our copy,
however,
which does not claim to be a second edition, is dated 1834. In
his
_Popular Theology_ of 1834, S.S. Schmucker offered a translation of
the Latin
text, mutilated in the interest of his _American Lutheranism._
Hazelius
followed him with a translation in 1841. In 1848, Ludwig, of
New York,
issued a translation of the German text of the Unaltered
Augsburg
Confession, as well as of the Introduction, prepared by C.H.
Schott,
together with the Ecumenical Symbols, also with introductions.
The
title-page of our copy lists the price of the book at 12 1/2 cents.
C.P.
Krauth's translation of the Augsburg Confession appeared in 1868.
The first
complete translation of the German text of the entire Book of
Concord
was published in 1851 by the publishing house of Solomon D.
Henkel
& Bros., at Newmarket, Va. In this translation, however, greater
stress
was laid on literary style than upon an exact reproduction of the
original.
Ambrose and Socrates Henkel prepared the translation of the
Augsburg
Confession, the Apology, the Smalcald Articles, the Appendix,
and the
Articles of Visitation. The Small Catechism was offered in the
translation
prepared by David Henkel in 1827. The Large Catechism was
translated
by J. Stirewalt; the Epitome, by H. Wetzel; the Declaratio,
by J.R.
Moser. The second, improved edition of 1854 contained a
translation
of the Augsburg Confession by C. Philip Krauth, the Apology
was
translated by W.F. Lehmann, the Smalcald Articles by W.M. Reynolds,
the two
Catechisms by J.G. Morris, and the Formula of Concord together
with the
Catalogus by C.F. Schaeffer. In both editions the historical
introductions
present a reproduction of the material in J.T. Mueller's
_Book of
Concord._
In 1882 a
new English translation of the entire Book of Concord,
together
with introductions and other confessional material, appeared in
two
volumes, edited by Dr. H.E. Jacobs. The first volume of this edition
embraces
the confessional writings of the Lutheran Church. It contains
C.P.
Krauth's translation of the Augsburg Confession as revised for
Schaff's
_Creeds of Christendom._ Jacobs translated the Apology (from
the
Latin, with insertions, in brackets, of translations from the German
text),
the Smalcald Articles (from the German), the Tractatus (from the
Latin),
and the Formula of Concord. The translation of the Small
Catechism
was prepared by a committee of the Ministerium of
Pennsylvania.
The Large Catechism was done into English by A. Martin. A
reprint
of this edition appeared in 1911, entitled "People's Edition,"
in which
the Augsburg Confession is presented in a translation prepared
by a
committee of the General Council, the General Synod, the United
Synod in
the South, and the Ohio Synod. The second volume of Jacobs's
edition
of the Book of Concord embodies historical introductions to the
Lutheran
symbols, translations of the Marburg Articles, the Schwabach
Articles,
the Torgau Articles, the Altered Augsburg Confession of 1540
and 1542,
Zwingli's Ratio Fidei, the Tetrapolitana, the Romish
Confutatio,
Melanchthon's Opinion of 1530, Luther's Sermon on the
Descent
into Hell of 1533, the Wittenberg Concordia, the Leipzig Interim
the
Catalogus Testimoniorum, the Articles of Visitation, and the
Decretum
Upsaliense of 1593. The Principles of Faith and Church Polity
of the
General Council and an index complete this volume. A Norwegian
and a
Swedish translation of the Book of Concord have also been
published
in America.
5.
Corpora Doctrinae Supplanted by Book of Concord.
More than
twenty different Lutheran collections of symbols or _corpora
doctrinae_
(a term first employed by Melanchthon), most of them bulky,
had
appeared after the death of Luther and before the adoption of the
Formula
of Concord, by which quite a number of them were supplanted.
From the
signatures to its Preface it appears that the entire Book of
Concord
was adopted by 3 electors, 20 princes, 24 counts, 4 barons, and
35
imperial cities. And the list of signatures appended to the Formula
of
Concord contains about 8,000 names of theologians, preachers, and
schoolteachers.
About two-thirds of the German territories which
professed
adherence to the Augsburg Confession adopted and introduced
the Book
of Concord as their _corpus doctrinae._ (Compare Historical
Introduction
to the Formula of Concord.)
Among the
_corpora doctrinae_ which were gradually superseded by the
Book of
Concord are the following: 1. Corpus Doctrinae Philippicum, or
Misnicum,
or Wittenbergense of 1560, containing besides the Three
Ecumenical
Symbols, the following works of Melanchthon: Variata,
Apologia,
Repetitio Augustanae Confessionis, Loci, Examen Ordinandorum
of 1552,
Responsio ad Articulos Bavaricae Inquisitionis, Refutatio
Serveti.
Melanchthon, shortly before his death, wrote the preface for
the Latin
as well as the German edition of this Corpus. 2. Corpus
Doctrinae
Pomeranicum of 1564 which adds Luther's Catechisms, the
Smalcald
Articles, and three other works of Luther to the Corpus
Doctrinae
Philippicum, which had been adopted 1561. 3. Corpus Doctrinae
Prutenicum,
or Borussicum, of Prussia, 1567, containing the Augsburg
Confession,
the Apology, the Smalcald Articles, and Repetition of the
Sum and
Content of the True, Universal Christian Doctrine of the Church,
written
by Moerlin and Chemnitz. 4. Corpus Doctrinae Thuringicum in
Ducal
Saxony, of 1570, containing the Three Ecumenical Symbols, Luther's
Catechisms,
the Smalcald Articles, the Confession of the Landed Estates
in
Thuringia (drawn up by Justus Menius in 1549), and the Prince of
Saxony's
Book of Confutation (_Konfutationsbuch_) of 1558. 5. Corpus
Doctrinae
Brandenburgicum of 1572, containing the Augsburg Confession
according
to the Mainz Manuscript, Luther's Small Catechism, Explanation
of the
Augsburg Confession drawn from the postils and doctrinal writings
"of
the faithful man of God Dr. Luther" by Andreas Musculus, and a
Church
Agenda. 6. Corpus Doctrinae Wilhelminum of Lueneburg, 1576,
containing
the Three Ecumenical Symbols, the Augsburg Confession, the
Apology,
the Smalcald Articles, Luther's Catechisms, Formulae Caute
Loquendi
(Forms of Speaking Cautiously) by Dr. Urbanus Regius, and
Formulae
Recte Sentiendi de Praecipuis Horum Temporum Controversiis
(Forms of
Thinking Correctly concerning the Chief Controversies of These
Times) by
Martin Chemnitz. 7. Corpus Doctrinae Iulium of Duke Julius of
Braunschweig-Wolfenbuettel,
1576, containing the documents of the
Wilhelminum,
with the sole addition of the Short Report of Some
Prominent
Articles of Doctrine, from the Church Order of Duke Julius, of
1569. 8.
The Hamburg Book of Confession of 1560, which was also adopted
by
Luebeck and Lueneburg, and contained a confession against the Interim
drawn up
by Aepinus in 1548, and also four declarations concerning
Adiaphorism,
Osiandrism, Majorism, and the doctrine of the Lord's
Supper,
drawn up since 1549. 9. The Confessional Book of Braunschweig,
adopted
in 1563 and reaffirmed in 1570, containing, The Braunschweig
Church
Order of 1528, the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology
thereof,
the Smalcald Articles, Explanation, etc., drawn up at Lueneburg
in 1561
against the Crypto-Calvinists. 10. The Church Order of the city
of
Goettingen 1568, containing the Church Order of Goettingen of 1531,
Luther's
Small Catechism, the Smalcald Articles, the Augsburg
Confession,
and the Apology. (Tschackert, _l.c._, 613f.; Feuerlinus,
_l.c._,
1f.)
6.
Subscription to Confessions.
The
position accorded the symbols in the Lutheran Church is clearly
defined
by the Book of Concord itself. According to it Holy Scripture
alone is
to be regarded as the sole rule and norm by which absolutely
all
doctrines and teachers are to be judged. The object of the
Augustana,
as stated in its Preface, was to show "what manner of
doctrine
has been set forth, in our lands and churches from the Holy
Scripture
and the pure Word of God." And in its Conclusion the Lutheran
confessors
declare: "Nothing has been received on our part against
Scripture
or the Church Catholic," and "we are ready, God willing, to
present
ampler information according to the Scriptures." "Iuxta
Scripturam"--such
are the closing words of the Augsburg Confession. The
Lutheran
Church knows of no other principle.
In the
Formula of Concord we read: "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, and
should not be received otherwise or further than as witnesses,
[which
are to show] in what manner after the time of the apostles, and
at what
places, this doctrine of the prophets and apostles was
preserved."
(777, 2.) In the Conclusion of the Catalog of Testimonies we
read:
"The true saving faith is to be founded upon no church-teachers,
old or
new, but only and alone upon God's Word, which is comprised in
the
Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles, as unquestionable
witnesses
of divine truth." (1149.)
The
Lutheran symbols, therefore, are not intended to supplant the
Scriptures,
nor do they do so. They do, however, set forth what has been
at all
times the unanimous understanding of the pure Christian doctrine
adhered
to by sincere and loyal Lutherans everywhere; and, at the same
time,
they show convincingly from the Scriptures that our forefathers
did
indeed manfully confess nothing but God's eternal truth, which every
Christian
is in duty bound to, and consistently always will, believe,
teach,
and confess.
The
manner also in which Lutherans pledge themselves confessionally
appears
from these symbols. The Augsburg Confession was endorsed by the
princes
and estates as follows: "The above articles we desire to present
in
accordance with the edict of Your Imperial Majesty, in order to
exhibit
our Confession and let men see a summary of the doctrine of our
teachers."
(95, 6.) In the preamble to the signatures of 1537 the
Lutheran
preachers unanimously confess: "We have reread the articles of
the
Confession presented to the Emperor in the Assembly at Augsburg, and
by the
favor of God all the preachers who have been present in this
Assembly
at Smalcald harmoniously declare that they believe and teach in
their churches
according to the articles of the Confession and Apology."
(529.)
John Brenz declares that he had read and reread, time and again,
the
Confession, the Apology, etc., and judged "that all these agree with
Holy
Scripture, and with the belief of the true and genuine catholic
Church
(_haec omnia convenire cum Sacra Scriptura et cum sententia verae
kai
gnesies catholicae ecclesiae_)." (529.) Another subscription--to the
Smalcald
Articles--reads: "I, Conrad Figenbotz, for the glory of God
subscribe
that I have thus believed and am still preaching and firmly
believing
as above." (503, 13.) Brixius writes in a similar vein: "I ...
subscribe
to the Articles of the reverend Father Martin Luther, and
confess
that hitherto I have thus believed and taught, and by the Spirit
of Christ
I shall continue thus to believe and teach." (503, 27.)
In the
Preface to the Thorough Declaration of the Formula of Concord the
Lutheran
confessors declare: "To this Christian Augsburg Confession, so
thoroughly
grounded in God's Word, we herewith pledge ourselves again
from our
inmost hearts. We abide by its simple, clear, and unadulterated
meaning
as the words convey it, and regard the said Confession as a pure
Christian
symbol, with which at the present time true Christians ought
to be
found next to God's Word.... We intend also, by the grace of the
Almighty,
faithfully to abide until our end by this Christian
Confession,
mentioned several times, as it was delivered in the year
1530 to
the Emperor Charles V; and it is our purpose, neither in this
nor in
any other writing, to recede in the least from that oft-cited
Confession,
nor to propose another or new confession." (847, 4. 5.)
Again:
"We confess also the First, Unaltered Augsburg Confession as our
symbol
for this time (not because it was composed by our theologians,
but
because it has been taken from God's Word and is founded firmly and
well
therein), precisely in the form in which it was committed to
writing
in the year 1530, and presented to the Emperor Charles V at
Augsburg."
(851, 5.)
In like
manner the remaining Lutheran symbols were adopted. (852. 777.)
Other
books, the Formula of Concord declares, are accounted useful, "as
far as
(_wofern, quatenus_) they are consistent with" the Scriptures and
the
symbols. (855, 10.) The symbols, however, are accepted "that we may
have a
unanimously received, definite, common form of doctrine, which
all our
Evangelical churches together and in common confess, from and
according
to which, because (_cum, weil_) it has been derived from God's
Word, all
other writings should be judged and adjusted, as to how far
(_wiefern,
quatenus_) they are to be approved and accepted." (855, 10.)
After its
adoption by the Lutheran electors, princes, and estates, the
Formula
of Concord, and with it the entire Book of Concord, was, as
stated,
solemnly subscribed by about 8,000 theologians, pastors, and
teachers,
the pledge reading as follows: "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.)
Furthermore,
in the Preface to the Book of Concord the princes and
estates
declare that many churches and schools had received the Augsburg
Confession
"as a symbol of the present time in regard to the chief
articles
of faith, especially those involved in controversy with the
Romanists
and various corruptions of the heavenly doctrine." (7.) They
solemnly
protest that it never entered their minds "either to introduce,
furnish a
cover for, and establish any false doctrine, or in the least
even to
recede from the Confession presented in the year 1530 at
Augsburg."
(15.) They declare: "This Confession also, by the help of
God, we
will retain to our last breath when we shall go forth from this
life to
the heavenly fatherland, to appear with joyful and undaunted
mind and
with a pure conscience before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus
Christ."
(15.) "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 (_vel a rebus ipsis vel a phrasibus, quae in
illa
habentur, discedere_), 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." (23.)
7.
Pledging of Ministers to the Confessions.
Such
being the attitude of the Lutherans towards their symbols, and such
their
evaluation of pure doctrine, it was self-evident that the public
teachers
of their churches should be pledged to the confessions. In
December
1529, H. Winckel, of Goettingen, drew up a form in which the
candidate
for ordination declares: "I believe and hold also of the most
sacred
Sacrament ... as one ought to believe concerning it according to
the
contents of the Bible, and as Doctor Martin Luther writes and
confesses
concerning it especially in his Confession" (of the Lord's
Supper,
1528). The Goettingen Church Order of 1530, however, did not as
yet
embody a vow of ordination. The first pledges to the symbols were
demanded
by the University of Wittenberg in 1533 from candidates for the
degree of
Doctor of Divinity. In 1535 this pledge was required also of
the
candidates for ordination. The oath provided that the candidate must
faithfully
teach the Gospel without corruption, steadfastly defend the
Ecumenical
Symbols, remain in agreement with the Augsburg Confession,
and
before deciding difficult controversies consult older teachers of
the
Church of the Augsburg Confession. Even before 1549 the candidates
for
philosophical degrees were also pledged by oath to the Augsburg
Confession.
In 1535,
at the Diet of Smalcald, it was agreed that new members
entering
the Smalcald League should promise "to provide for such
teaching
and preaching as was in harmony with the Word of God and the
pure
teaching of our [Augsburg] Confession." According to the Pomeranian
Church
Order which Bugenhagen drew up in 1535, pastors were pledged to
the
Augsburg Confession and the Apology thereof. Capito, Bucer, and all
others
who took part in the Wittenberg Concord of 1536, promised, over
their
signatures, "to believe and to teach in all articles according to
the
Confession and the Apology." (_Corpus Reformatorum,_ opp.
Melanthonis,
3, 76.) In 1540, at Goettingen, John Wigand promised to
accept
the Augsburg Confession and its Apology, and to abide by them all
his life.
"And," he continued, "if I should be found to do otherwise or
be convicted
of teaching and confessing contrary to such Confession and
Apology,
then let me, by this signature, be condemned and deposed from
this
divine ministry. This do I swear, so help me God." Also at
Goettingen,
Veit Pflugmacher vowed, in 1541, that he would preach the
Gospel in
its truth and purity according to the Augsburg Confession and
the
contents of the postils of Anton Corvinus. He added: "Should I be
found to
do otherwise and not living up to what has been set forth
above,
then shall I by such act have deposed myself from office. This do
I swear;
so help me God."
In 1550
and 1552, Andrew Osiander attacked the oath of confession which
was in
vogue at Wittenberg, claiming it to be "an entanglement in
oath-bound
duties after the manner of the Papists." "What else," said
he,
"does this oath accomplish than to sever those who swear it from the
Holy
Scriptures and bind them to Philip's doctrine? Parents may
therefore
well consider what they do by sending their sons to Wittenberg
to become
Masters and Doctors. Money is there taken from them, and they
are made
Masters and Doctors. But while the parents think that their son
is an
excellent man, well versed in the Scriptures and able to silence
enthusiasts
and heretics, he is, in reality, a poor captive, entangled
and
embarrassed by oath-bound duties. For he has abjured the Word of God
and has
taken an oath on Philip's doctrine." Replying to this fanatical
charge in
1553, Melanchthon emphasized the fact that the doctrinal
pledges
demanded at Wittenberg had been introduced chiefly by Luther,
for the
purpose of "maintaining the true doctrine." "For," said
Melanchthon,
"many enthusiasts were roaming about at that time, each, in
turn,
spreading new silly nonsense, _e.g._, the Anabaptists, Servetus,
Campanus,
Schwenckfeld, and others. And such tormenting spirits are not
lacking
at any time (_Et non desunt tales furiae ullo tempore_)." A
doctrinal
pledge, Melanchthon furthermore explained, was necessary "in
order
correctly to acknowledge God and call upon Him to preserve harmony
in the
Church, and to bridle the audacity of such as invent new
doctrines."
(_C.R._ 12, 5.)
