Majorist dispute

The majorist controversy is one of the theological controversies that took place in the Lutheran camp during the Reformation in Germany. From 1552 to 1570 it was led between the Gnesiolutherans and the Philippists . It is named after the Melanchthon student Georg Major , who taught that good works are necessary for happiness. The Gnesiolutherans, especially Nikolaus von Amsdorf , Nicolaus Gallus and Matthias Flacius, saw this as a denial of justification based on faith alone ( sola fide ) that Martin Luther had taught. Amsdorf even objected to the fact that good works in the relationship between God and man are even harmful. In Article IV of the formula of the Agreement , the dispute was settled in the sense of a mediating position.

In connection with this dispute there was also the so-called antinomist dispute .

literature

• Irene Dingel : The Majorist Controversy in its Historical and Theological Contexts. In: Irene Dingel, Günther Wartenberg (Hrsg.): Politics and Confession. The reactions to the Interim of 1548 (= Leucorea studies on the history of the Reformation and Lutheran Orthodoxy, vol. 8). Leipzig 2007, pp. 231–247.
• Irene Dingel (Ed.): The Majorist Controversy (1552-1570) (= Controversia et Confessio, Vol. 3). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-525-56016-7 (source collection; foreword, table of contents and introduction as PDF document ).