Wittenberg Agreement

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The Wittenberg Agreement , Formula Concordiae Lutheri et Buceri , is a written theological agreement of Reformation theologians dated May 26, 1536 , which was largely shaped by Philipp Melanchthon and which understands the differences between the Wittenberg theologians about Luther and the representatives of the Swiss and so-called "Upper German" Reformation should bridge the sacrament .

Attendees

Martin Bucer

The negotiations from May 21 to May 28, 1536 in Wittenberg were attended by Martin Luther from Wittenberg, Philipp Melanchthon, Johannes Bugenhagen , Caspar Cruciger the Elder , Matthäus Alber and Johannes Schradin from Reutlingen , Jacob Otter from Esslingen am Neckar , and Johann Bernhard from Frankfurt am Main , Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito from Strasbourg , Martin Frecht from Ulm , Justus Menius from Eisenach , Friedrich Myconius from Gotha , Wolfgang Musculus and Bonifacius Wolfhart from Augsburg , Gervasius Schuler from Memmingen , and Johannes Zwick , who arrived later, from Konstanz . Originally, Johannes Brenz , Erhard Schnepf , Justus Jonas the Elder and Andreas Osiander should also be included. However, Jonas was tied to matters in Naumburg and signed the Agreement retrospectively.

Occasion, course and result

The aim of the meeting in Wittenberg was to settle the internal Reformation dispute about the Lord's Supper , which had been smoldering since 1525 and which was fought out primarily between Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli and their mutual supporters. Based on Mk 14,22  LUT, Luther took the view that Christ's body and blood were really present in bread and wine ( real presence ). For Zwingli and his followers, on the other hand, the Lord's Supper was only a remembrance meal at which Christ (based on 1 Cor 11 : 23-26  NCC ) is present in a spiritual way. This understanding was also prevalent among the representatives of the cities of “Upper Germany” (between Augsburg and Strasbourg). Since the Marburg Religious Discussion in 1529 and increasingly since Zwingli's death in 1531, Bucer had tried to find a compromise, but had met with rejection on both sides. A breakthrough was only achieved in 1534 when Erhard Schnepf (a Lutheran) and Ambrosius Blarer (a moderate Zwinglian), commissioned with the Reformation in the Duchy of Württemberg , agreed on a common formula (the so-called Stuttgart Agreement ). Bucer and Melanchthon came to another agreement at the end of 1534 in Kassel. In February 1536, Bucer tried to convince the Swiss theologians to participate in the emerging agreement. However, they decided not to travel personally to Eisenach (the initially agreed place of negotiation), but only to have Bucer present the Confessio Helvetica Prior as their confession of the Lord's Supper.

Because Luther could not travel due to illness, the meeting was moved from Eisenach to Wittenberg at short notice. After the debates arrived on May 21, negotiations began on May 22. Capito and Bucer sought out Luther. Bucer described to Luther how he had already tried to bring about the agreement between the Wittenberger and the so-called Upper German interpretation of the Lord's Supper.

In Luther's house , the negotiating points were determined, with Luther criticizing Zwingli's writings. Bucer tried to intervene further and referred to the Confessio Augustana and the Apology of the Confessio Augustana , with the reference to the delimitation of the papal doctrine of the sacraments. Negotiations continued on May 23. Bucer found agreement with the Wittenberg theologians and, at Bugenhagen's suggestion, the attitude towards the Lord's Supper was specified in recourse to biblical usage. However, there were still differences between the Upper Germans and Luther's interpretation of the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, which Luther initially accepted. After a faith survey of the Upper German reformers, Luther promised to recognize unity. Thereupon Melanchthon was commissioned to define the sacrament convention. On May 26th, the formula, which has been handed down as “Formula Concordiae Lutheri et Buceri”, was presented to all those involved and accepted.

Further topics of discussion in the following days were baptism , absolution , school and the extremely sensitive issue of reforming the authorities. The result of the deliberations was recorded in writing and signed by Luther, Bugenhagen, Melanchthon and Cruciger. The Confession of the Swiss was discussed on May 27th. Luther expressed his astonishment at their interest in the Agreement; However, some of the confession seemed unclear to him, which is why negotiations should continue on their accession to the Agreement. The Wittenberg Agreement was signed as "Formula Concordiae" on May 28th. With the exception of the Konstanz preacher Zwick, who pretended not to be legitimized to do so, the Upper German cities accepted the Agreement. All parties signed. Later attempts to persuade the Swiss Protestant cantons to join also failed because of resistance from Heinrich Bullinger , Zwingli's successor as leader of the Zurich Reformation.

Importance and consequences

The theological doctrinal difference ultimately led to a divergence between the German and Swiss Reformations and thus also established the special position of Calvinism , which was supposed to take on a European dimension in view of the reformed denomination in France. The “German” direction of the Reformation, on the other hand, remained relatively closed despite ongoing discussions about dogmatic-sacramental questions (especially after Luther's death in 1546). The Agreement, forced at the urging of the more prominent Protestant imperial princes, thus promoted the consolidation of the Schmalkaldic League against the Catholic opponents around Emperor Charles V , who had been planning religious, political-legal and material re-Catholicization in the parts of the empire that had become Protestant since the mid-1540s .

See also

source

  • Robert Stupperich (Ed.): Martini Buceri opera omnia. Series 1: German Writings. Volume 6, 1: Robert Stupperich: Wittenberger Konkordie (1536). Writings on the Wittenberg Agreement (1534–1537). Mohn et al., Gütersloh 1988, ISBN 3-579-04384-6 .
  • Henning Reinhardt: The Itinerar of Wolfgang Musculus (1536). In: Archive for Reformation History (ARG) 97, 2006, pp. 28–82.

literature

  • Ernst Bizer : Studies on the history of the Lord's Supper dispute in the 16th century. 3rd unchanged edition. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1972, ISBN 3-534-05929-8 ( contributions to the promotion of Christian theology 46).
  • Ernst Bizer: Martin Butzer and the Last Supper Controversy. In: Archive for the history of the Reformation. 35, 1938, p. 203 and Vol. 36, 1939, p. 68.
  • Martin Friedrich: Heinrich Bullinger and the Wittenberg Agreement. An ecumenist fighting over the Lord's Supper. In: Zwingliana. 24, 1997, ISSN  0254-4407 , pp. 59-79, online (PDF; 1.34 MB) .
  • Thomas Kaufmann : Wittenberg Agreement . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE) 36 (2004), pp. 243-251.
  • Olaf Mörke : The Reformation. Requirements and interpretation. Oldenbourg, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-486-55026-8 ( Encyclopedia of German History 74).
  • Eick Sternhagen: Melanchthon's understanding of the Lord's Supper with special consideration of the Confessio Augustana variata of 1540 and its importance for the preservation of Protestantism. In: Günter Frank (Ed.): Fragmenta Melanchthoniana. Volume 1: On the intellectual history of the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Publishing house Regionalkultur, Heidelberg u. a. 2003, ISBN 3-89735-228-1 , pp. 121-134.