Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran ChurchBente, F. (Friedrich)
Religion
Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
Bente, F. (Friedrich)
Formula Concordiae -- Catechisms; Lutheran Church -- Catechisms
The document, prepared at the command of the Emperor, was called Interim
because its object was to regulate the church affairs until the
religious controversy would be finally settled by the Council of Trent,
to the resolutions of which the Lutherans were required to submit. It
was, however, essentially papal. For the time being, indeed, it
permitted Protestant clergymen to marry, and to celebrate the Lord's
Supper in both kinds, but demanded the immediate restoration of the
Romish customs and ceremonies, the acknowledgment of papal supremacy
_iure divino,_ as well as the jurisdiction of the bishops, and the
adoption of articles in which the doctrines were all explained in the
sense of the Catholic dogmas, and in which truth and falsehood, in
general, were badly mingled. Transubstantiation, the seven sacraments,
and other papal errors were reaffirmed, while Lutheran tenets, such as
the doctrine of justification by faith alone, were either denied or
omitted. And from the fact that this Interim was nevertheless condemned
by the Pope and the Romanists, who demanded an unqualified, blind, and
unconditional submission, the Lutherans could infer what they were to
expect after consenting to these interimistic provisions. The general
conviction among Catholics as well as Protestants was that the Interim
was but the first step to a complete return to Romanism. Indeed, soon
after its promulgation, the Catholic Electors of Mainz and Koeln
endeavored to rob the Lutherans also of the use of the cup and of the
marriage of the priests. The Elector of Mainz declared all such
marriages void and their children bastards. (Jaekel, 162.)
In the most important point, the doctrine of justification, the Augsburg
Interim not only omitted the _sola fide,_ but clearly taught that
justification embraces also renewal. When God justifies a man, the
Interim declared, He does not only absolve him from his guilt, but also
"makes him better by imparting the Holy Ghost, who cleanses his heart
and incites it through the love of God which is shed abroad in his
heart." (Frank, _Theologie d. Konkordienformel,_ 2, 80.) A man "is
absolved from the guilt of eternal damnation and renewed through the
Holy Spirit and thus an unjust man becomes just." (143.) Again: "This
faith obtains the gift of the Holy Ghost, by which the love of God is
shed abroad in our hearts; and after this has been added to faith and
hope, we are truly justified by the infused righteousness which is in
man; for this righteousness consists in faith, hope, and love." (81.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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