Chapter XXIX: Part 29

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]