Sandomir Consensus
The Consensus of Sandomir (Consensus Sandomiriensis, Consensus Sendomir (i) ensis) is an agreement concluded in the southern Polish city of Sandomierz in April 1570 , with which the Polish Lutherans , Reformed and Bohemian Brothers recognized the legality of their respective denominations and agreed on mutual support and cooperation . He is considered an outstanding, early example of inner-Protestant ecumenism .
The consensus should not be confused with the denomination of Sandomir , which was presented at the synod but only accepted by the Reformed.
history
The background to the agreement was the endeavor of the Protestants in the Kingdom of Poland , split up in different directions , to be able to jointly defend themselves against the threatening Counter-Reformation . In this sense, Johannes a Lasco had worked for a Union of Polish Protestants since 1557. On the side of the Bohemian Brothers, the senior stood up for the Polish province of the Unity, Georg Israel , created in 1557 , also for the unification of Protestant Christians. In view of the growth of the evangelical movement and the weakness of the Catholic King Sigismund II August , some of the protagonists even hoped for the establishment of a Protestant national church based on the English model. For this purpose, a joint synod was called in Sandomir, which met from April 9-14, 1570. Due to the recently concluded Union of Lublin , delegates from the Lithuanian-Belarusian nobility were also involved. The anti-Trinitarian Polish brothers were excluded, as were the Anabaptists . The Protestants in Prussia Royal Share did not send any representatives. With this they wanted to emphasize their autonomy vis-à-vis Poland also in spiritual matters.
The agreement
The consensus recognized the confessional writings of the other side and contained an explicit agreement on the Trinity . Because of the dispute about the Lord's Supper between the main evangelical schools, the subject of the Lord's Supper had to be dealt with in detail. The text refers to Philipp Melanchthon and mediates between the positions of Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli . He takes “a compromising, practical, Irish and ecumenical attitude, but not a really clear one; rather, he allowed various interpretations ”. On this basis, the churches involved were able to retain their independence, but agreed to mutually open the churches for worship, to exchange preachers and to hold joint general synods.
The main authors of the document were Krzysztof Tretius and Jan Thenaudus. It was made out in four copies and signed by 21 participants in the negotiations on behalf of the Calvinists, the Lutherans and the Bohemian Brethren.
reception
The consensus was accepted by the participating churches as the basis for cooperation and was also recognized by the theologians at the universities of Wittenberg , Leipzig and Heidelberg as well as Heinrich Bullinger and Theodor Beza , but without having any further effects in Germany. In Poland, however, it became the basis of the Warsaw Confederation in 1573, with which a “Pax Dissidentium”, d. H. the unrestricted freedom of religion of Protestants, including their political equality, was recognized under constitutional law.
Text output
- Eastern Central Europe confessional documents of the Protestant churches A. u. HB of the Reformation Age. III / 1. 1564-1576 , edited by Peter F. Barton and Laszlo Makkai, Budapest 1987, pp. 271-279.
- Confessia. Wyznánie Wiáry powszechney Koscyołow Krześćiyáńskich Polskich. Krótko á prostemi słowy zámknione wedle podánia Apostolskiego y stárych Doktorow . Warszawa 1994 (reprint of the first edition from 1570, edited and introduced by Urszula Augustyniak).
- Henning P. Juergens (Ed.): Consensus of Sandomierz - Consensus Sendomirensis . In: Heiner Faulenbach u. a. on behalf of the EKD (ed.): Reformed Confessions , Vol. 3/1, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2012 ISBN 978-3-7887-2528-0 .
literature
- Daniel Ernst Jablonski : Historia Consensus Sendomiriensis Inter Evangelicos Regni Poloniae Et Lutheranae In Synodo Generali Evangelicorum Sendomir 1570 . Berlin 1731.
- Oskar Bartel: The Consensus Sendomiriensis of 1570 in the light of the ecumenical endeavors in Poland and Lithuania in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries . In: Luther-Jahrbuch, Vol. 40 (1973), pp. 107–128.
- Lorenz Hein: Italian Protestants and their influence on the Reformation in Poland during the two decades before the Sandomir Consensus 1570 , Brill, Leiden 1974, ISBN 978-9-00403-893-6 .
- Janusz Małłek: Sandomir, Consensus of . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE), Vol. 30: Samuel - Seele . De Gruyter, Berlin 1999, pp. 29-32.
- Michael G. Müller : The Consensus Sendomirensis - History of Failure? For the discussion of Protestantism and Protestant denomination in Poland-Lithuania in the 16th century . In: Joachim Bahlcke u. a. (Ed.): Confessional plurality as a challenge. Coexistence and Conflict in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times . Leipzig 2006, pp. 397-408.