Edict of Tolerance (Brandenburg)
The Brandenburg Edict of Tolerance was issued on September 16, 1664 by Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I and regulated the relations between the Lutheran and Reformed denominations on a sovereign basis.
- The edict forbade the Lutherans and the Reformed (Calvinists), especially their theologians, to criticize the doctrines of those of different faiths from the pulpit.
- The confessional writings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church were restricted in their validity with regard to the delimitation from the Calvinist teaching. In fact, the validity of the concord formula was thereby abolished.
In the edict of the reformed elector, some of the Lutheran theologians saw a disadvantage for their own party and offered bitter resistance.
prehistory
Elector Johann Sigismund , who converted from Lutheranism to Calvinism and thus caused great unrest in the country, decreed in Soldin in 1614 that aggressive polemics between the Protestant denominations should be prohibited. The Edict of Tolerance of 1664 was preceded by a similar one from 1662. This first edict of tolerance also prohibited reciprocal pulpit polemics (criticism of the other's teaching). In addition, only those candidates who intended to act in accordance with the Irenik should be admitted to the pastoral office . Decisive here was the program of the Heidelberg Reformed David Pareus with the aim of bridging religious differences between Reformed and Lutherans in order to create a common front against the Catholic Church. In addition, the candidates were banned from studying in Wittenberg, which was considered the Lutheran stronghold of the Reformation par excellence.
This suggestion met with resistance from Lutheran orthodoxy :
- The Elector pursued a consistently reformed church policy and promoted Calvinism through settlement policy, church building and other measures. The Lutherans found themselves marginalized.
- The (main) separating beliefs were found in the areas of Christology, the doctrine of the Lord's Supper and the doctrine of predestination. According to the Reformed view, it appeared possible to assign the doctrine of the Lord's Supper the status of a “secondary teaching position”. For Lutherans, however, the doctrine of the sacrament of the altar formed a center of their faith and piety.
- An alliance against the Roman Catholic Church failed because the Lutheran theologians always understood each other equally in relation to Roman Catholic and Reformed teachings.
- The position of Irenik mixes - according to the Lutheran criticism - ultimately the belief systems ( syncretism ), which, according to Lutheran understanding, merely suggests a correspondence, which in truth does not exist and is therefore not permitted.
Because of the massive criticism of the Edict of Tolerance of 1662 by the Lutherans, the Berlin Religious Discussions took place in the winter of 1662/63 . In view of the problematic content of the Edict of Tolerance, these did not lead to an agreement.
effect
The hymn poet Paul Gerhardt was one of the strongly Lutheran theologians who refused to sign the Edict of Tolerance and thus lost their job .