Accordingly, it was in keeping with the facts when the Lutheran electors and princes declared in the Preface to the Formula of Concord "that their theologians, ministers, and schoolteachers" "did with glad heart and heartfelt thanks to God the Almighty voluntarily and with well-considered courage adopt, approve, and subscribe this Book of Concord [Formula of Concord] as the true and Christian sense of the Augsburg Confession, and did publicly testify thereto with heart, mouth and hand. Wherefore also this Christian Agreement is not the confession of some few of our theologians only, but is called, and is in general, the unanimous confession of each and every one of the ministers and schoolteachers of our lands and provinces." (CONC. TRIGL. 12f.)
284. Where and Why Formula of Concord was Rejected.
Apart from the territories which were really Calvinistic (Anhalt, Lower Hesse, the Palatinate, etc.), comparatively few of the German princes and estates considered adherents of the Augsburg Confession declined to accept the Formula of Concord because of any doctrinal disagreement. Some refused to append their names for political reasons; others, because they were opposed on principle to a new symbol. With still others, notably some of the imperial cities, it was a case of religious particularism, which would not brook any disturbance of its own mode of church-life. Also injured pride, for not having been consulted in the matter, nor called upon to participate in the preparation and revision of the Formula, was not altogether lacking as a motive for withholding one's signature. In some instances personal spite figured as a reason. Because Andreae had given offense to Paul von Eitzen, Holstein rejected the Formula, stating that all the articles it treated were clearly set forth in the existing symbols. Duke Julius of Brunswick, though at first most zealous in promoting the work of pacification and the adoption of the Book of Concord, withdrew in 1583, because Chemnitz had rebuked him for allowing his son to be consecrated Bishop of Halberstadt. (Kolde, 73f.) However, despite the unfriendly attitude of Duke Julius, some of the Brunswick theologians openly declared their agreement with the Formula as well as their determination by the help of God, to adhere to its doctrine. No doubt but that much more pressure was exercised in hindering than in urging Lutherans to subscribe to the Formula. For the reasons enumerated the Formula of Concord was not adopted in Brunswick, Wolfenbuettel, Holstein, Hesse, Pomerania (where however, the Formula was received later), Anhalt, the Palatinate (which, after a short Lutheran interregnum, readopted the Heidelberg Catechism under John Casimir, 1583), Zweibruecken, Nassau, Bentheim, Tecklenburg, Solms, Ortenburg, Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau, Bremen, Danzig, Magdeburg, Nuernberg, Weissenburg, Windsheim, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Worms, Speyer, Strassburg.
In Sweden and Denmark, Frederick II issued an edict, July 24, 1580, forbidding (for political reasons) the importation and publication of the Formula of Concord on penalty of execution and confiscation of property. He is said to have cast the two elegantly bound copies of the Formula sent him by his sister, the wife of Elector August of Saxony, into the fireplace. Later on, however, the Formula came to be esteemed also in the Danish Church and to be regarded as a symbol, at least in fact, if not in form.
While some of the original signatories subsequently withdrew from the Formula of Concord a larger number acceded to it. Among the latter were Holstein, Pomerania, Krain, Kaernthen, Steiermark, etc. In Sweden the Formula was adopted 1593 by the Council of Upsala; in Hungary, in 1597. With few exceptions the Lutheran synods in America and Australia all subscribed also to the Formula of Concord.
285. Formula Not a New Confession Doctrinally.
The Formula of Concord purified the Lutheran Church from Romanism, Calvinism, indifferentism, unionism, synergism, and other errors and unsound tendencies. It did so, not by proclaiming new exclusive laws and doctrines, but by showing that these corruptions were already excluded by the spirit and letter of the existing Lutheran symbols. Doctrinally the Formula of Concord is not a new confession, but merely a repetition and explanation of the old Lutheran confessions. It does not set forth or formulate a new faith or tenets hitherto unknown to the Lutheran Church. Nor does it correct, change, or in any way modify any of her doctrines. On the contrary its very object was to defend and maintain the teaching of her old symbols against all manner of attacks coming from without as well as from within the Lutheran Church. The Formula merely presents, repeats, reaffirms explains, defends, clearly defines, and consistently applies the truths directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly confessed and taught in the antecedent Lutheran confessions. The Augsburg Confession concludes its last paragraph: "If there is anything that any one might desire in this Confession, we are ready God willing, to present ampler information (latiorem informationem) according to the Scriptures." (94, 7.) Close scrutiny will reveal the fact that in every detail the Formula must be regarded as just such an "ampler information, according to the Scriptures." The Lutheran Church, therefore, has always held that whoever candidly adopts the Augsburg Confession cannot and will not reject the Formula of Concord either.
As for the Formula itself, it most emphatically disclaims to be anything really new. In their Preface to the Book of Concord the Lutheran princes declared: "We indeed (to repeat in conclusion what we have mentioned several times above) have wished, in this work of concord, in no way to devise anything new, or to depart from the truth of the heavenly doctrine, which our ancestors (renowned for their piety) as well as we ourselves have acknowledged and professed. We mean that doctrine, which, having been derived from the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures, is contained in the three ancient Creeds, in the Augsburg Confession, presented in the year 1530 to Emperor Charles V, of excellent memory, then in the Apology, which was added to this, in the Smalcald Articles, and lastly in both the Catechisms of that excellent man, Dr. Luther. Therefore we also have determined not to depart even a finger's breadth either from the subjects themselves, or from the phrases which are found in them, but, the Spirit of the Lord aiding us, to persevere constantly, with the greatest harmony, in this godly agreement, and we intend to examine all controversies according to this true norm and declaration of the pure doctrine." (CONC. TRIGL. 23.) In the Comprehensive Summary we read: "We [the framers and signers of the Formula of Concord] have declared to one another with heart and mouth that we will not make or receive a separate or new confession of our faith, but confess the public common writings which always and everywhere were held and used as such symbols or common confessions in all the churches of the Augsburg Confession before the dissensions arose among those who accept the Augsburg Confession, and as long as in all articles there was on all sides a unanimous adherence to the pure doctrine of the divine Word, as the sainted Dr. Luther explained it." (851, 2. 9.) The Formula of Concord therefore did not wish to offer anything that was new doctrinally. It merely expressed the consensus of all loyal Lutherans, and applied the truths contained in the existing symbols to the questions raised in the various controversies.
286. Formula a Reaffirmation of Genuine Lutheranism.
To restore Luther's doctrine, such was the declared purpose of the promoters and authors of the Formula of Concord. And in deciding the controverted questions, they certainly did most faithfully adhere to Luther's teaching. The Formula is an exact, clear, consistent, and guarded statement of original Lutheranism purified of all foreign elements later on injected into it by the Philippists and other errorists. It embodies the old Lutheran doctrine, as distinguished not merely from Romanism and Calvinism, but also from Melanchthonianism and other innovations after the death of Luther. Surely Luther would not have hesitated to endorse each and all of its articles or doctrinal statements. Even Planck, who poured contempt and sarcasm on the loyal Lutherans, admits: "It was almost beyond controversy that the Formula, in every controverted article, established and authorized precisely the view which was most clearly sanctioned by the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, by its Apology according to the edition of the year 1531, by the Smalcald Articles, and by the Catechisms of Luther." (6, 697.) This complete agreement with Luther also accounts for the fact that the Formula was immediately acknowledged by two-thirds of the Protestants in Germany.