Concord formula

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The concordia formula ( Latin formula concordiae , unity formula , also the Bergische Buch ) is the last confession of the Lutheran church . It was created in 1577 at the instigation of the Elector August of Saxony .

history

The concord formula was supposed to enclose the rifts that arose between the Swabian and Lower Saxon Lutherans after Luther's death in 1546, because Electoral Saxony in particular followed the mild Melanchthon direction ( Philippism ), while Ernestine Saxony and Württemberg remained strictly Lutheran ( Gnesio Lutherans ). The related disputes ranged e.g. In some cases even back to Luther's lifetime. The concord formula was supposed to settle the internal Lutheran doctrinal disputes and tried to find a “middle way”. The formula of the Agreement is designed as an intra-Lutheran consensus paper.

This formula made any approach to the Reformed impossible. This specifically through the doctrine of the Lord's Supper. A merely symbolic or spiritual conception of the Lord's Supper by the Calvinists is rejected. “The doctrine of the presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper becomes Lutheran dogma. With this the dividing line to Calvinism becomes definitive. "

First, a convention held in the former Saxon seat of government Torgau in 1576 , in which Jakob Andreae from Tübingen, Georg Lysthenius from Dresden, Martin Chemnitz from Braunschweig, David Chyträus from Rostock, Andreas Musculus and Christoph Corner from Frankfurt (Oder) took part, was due to the Andreae in 1574, the Swabian-Saxon Agreement and the so-called Maulbronn formula of 1576, the so-called Torgau Book was completed. After receiving numerous reports, it was revised again in 1577 in the Berge monastery near Magdeburg by the theologians mentioned, to whom instead of Georg Lysthenius Nikolaus Selnecker from Leipzig came, and now called the Bergisch Book or the Formula of Concord .

The concord formula received ecclesiastical recognition in the Electoral Saxony, Kurbrandenburg , Electoral Palatinate , 20 duchies, 24 counties and 35 imperial cities. 8,000 to 9,000 Lutheran theologians recognized them by their signature. However, it was not advocated by all Lutheran territories; therefore it is not considered a creed in all Evangelical Lutheran churches even today. So she was u. a. not accepted in Hesse , Zweibrücken , Anhalt , Pomerania , Holstein , Denmark , Sweden , Nuremberg and Strasbourg . Duke Julius von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, who had been one of the most determined sponsors, refused after the dispute over the inauguration of his son as Prince-Bishop of Halberstadt .

All pastors in Electoral Saxony had to make a commitment to the concord formula. A verse was circulating:

"Write, dear Lord, write
that you will stay with the parish."

The formula was included in the Book of Concords published in 1580 . This means that “the process of confession formation by the Lutheran churches [is] concluded”.

content

The formula of the Agreement was written in German. Chemnitz and Selnecker provided a later translation into Latin. The first part, called Epitome, contains twelve articles assessing and deciding on the previously disputed teaching points. First the issue (status controversiae) is presented, the orthodox view of the point in dispute is summarized in the so-called affirmativa, and finally the doctrine that contradicts it is described according to its main points in the negatives or antithesis and immediately "rejected and condemned".

The second part, called solida declaratio (= detailed explanation), discusses the same articles in context and is actually the Torgau Book after the changes agreed in the Berge monastery , which is why it is also known as the Bergisches Buch .

Article of the formula of the Agreement

Art. 1 From original sin De peccato originis Against Matthias Flacius , who maintained that original sin was part of the essence of man.
Art. 2 Of free will De libero arbitrio Clear rejection of a possible turn of the will to the grace of God with reference to Luther's De servo arbitrio in connection with the synergistic dispute .
Art. 3 About righteousness before God De iustitia fidei coram deo Both against Andreas Osiander , who understood justification as the indwelling of the divine nature of Christ in man, and against Franciscus Stancarus , who saw only the human nature of Christ at work, in the course of the Osiandrian dispute : establishing Melanchthon's forensic concept of justification.
Art. 4 Of good works De bonis operibus Against Georg Major , who called good works necessary for happiness, and against Nikolaus von Amsdorff , who claimed in the course of the majorist dispute that good works are harmful to happiness; Instead, insist on sola fide .
Art. 5 Of law and gospel De lege et evangelio Establishing that the gospel is pure grace, not law or penance. The statement is related to the antinomial dispute .
Art. 6 From the third use of the law De tertio usu legis Against the belief that the born again Christian no longer needs the law. ( Usus in renatis or tertius usus legis )
Art. 7 From the holy supper of Christ De coena domini In the course of the second Lord's Supper dispute, the Reformed and the Catholic doctrine of the Lord's Supper were rejected and the real presence and ubiquity of Christ emphasized .
Art. 8 Of the person of Christ De persona Christi Emphasis on the "highest communion" of divine and human nature in Christ .
Art. 9 From the descent into hell of Christ De descensu Christi ad inferos After the burial, Christ went to hell in a human and divine nature , defeated the devil and thus wrested the power of hell from him.
Art. 10 From church customs De ceremoniis ecclesiasticis Issues relating to regulations and rites, so-called adiaphora (“secondary things”), do not tolerate compromises in the status confessionis .
Art. 11 Of the eternal providence and choice of God De aeterna praedestinatione Dei Predestination to salvation gives hope, there is no predestination to damnation, as Calvin and Zwingli claim.
Art. 12 From other races and sects De aliis haeresibus et sectis Against Anabaptists , errors in the police (i.e. government) and housekeeping, against Schwenkfeldians , Arians and anti-Trinitarians .

literature

  • Meyers Konversationslexikon , Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig and Vienna, Fourth Edition, 1885–1892, Vol. 10, p. 8 Digitized by retro | bib
  • The confessional writings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (BSLK). Göttingen 1930, 1998 12 (scientific edition, Latin / German).
  • Jörg Baur : Truth of the Fathers - Help for tomorrow. 400 years of the concord formula. Lecture given on May 13, 1977 in the Hospitalhof Stuttgart . Calwer Verlag, Stuttgart 1977, ISBN 3-7668-0553-3 .
  • Jörg Baur: Luther and the Confessions. In: Jörg Baur: Insight and Faith. Volume 2. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-525-56187-3 , pp. 44-56.
  • Robert Kolb : The Concord Formula. An introduction to their history and theology. Oberurseler Hefte supplementary volume 8, Edition Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-7675-7145-7 .
  • Horst Georg Pöhlmann : Concord book / formula. In: Helmut Burkhardt u. a. (Ed.): Evangelical Lexicon for Theology and Congregation. Volume 2: G-N. Brockhaus, Wuppertal u. a. 1993, ISBN 3-417-24642-3 .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ So Johannes Wallmann : Church history in Germany since the Reformation. 7th edition. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2012 (UTB; 1355), ISBN 978-3-8252-3731-8 , p. 92 f.
  2. ^ So Johannes Wallmann : Church history in Germany since the Reformation. 7th edition. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2012 (UTB; 1355), ISBN 978-3-8252-3731-8 , p. 93
  3. ↑ The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (BSLK), pp. 762–766; see. Pp. 15-17.
  4. ↑ Gert Kelter: Introduction to the concord formula (PDF file; 32 kB)
  5. ^ Graf, FW (2017), Protestantism, p. 34