Formula of Concord (1577) (German,Konkordienformel;Latin,Formula concordiae; also the "Bergic Book" or the "Bergen Book") is an authoritativeLutheran statement of faith (called a confession,creed, or "symbol") that, in its two parts (Epitome andSolid Declaration), makes up the final section of the LutheranCorpus Doctrinae orBody of Doctrine, known as theBook of Concord (most references to these texts are to the original edition of 1580).
TheEpitome is a brief and concise presentation of theFormula's twelve articles; theSolid Declaration a detailed exposition. Approved doctrine is presented in "theses"; rejected doctrine in "antitheses." As the original document was written inGerman, aLatintranslation was prepared for theLatin edition of theBook of Concord published in 1584.
The promulgation and subscription of this document was a major factor in the unification and preservation ofLutheranism. It was instigated at the behest of theElector August of Saxony, and it was the joint work of a group ofLutherantheologians and churchmen of the latter sixteenth century. They met from April 9 to June 7, 1576 inTorgau, the seat of government of theElectorate of Saxony at the time.
They wereJakob Andreä (1528–90),Martin Chemnitz (1522–86),Nikolaus Selnecker (1528–92),David Chytraeus (1531–1600),Andreas Musculus (1514–81), Christoph Körner (1518–94), Caspar Heyderich (1517–86), Paul Crell (1532–79),Maximilian Mörlin (1516–84), Wolfgang Harder (1522–1602), Daniel Gräser (1504–91), Nicholas Jagenteufel (1520–83), Johannes Cornicaelius, John Schütz (1531–84), Martin Mirus (1532–93), Georg Listenius (1532–96), and Peter Glaser (1528–83).
A smaller set of this group (Andreä, Chemnitz, Selnecker, Chytraeus, Musculus, and Körner) worked on the document a year later in Bergen Abbey, nearMagdeburg, both from March 1–14, and in May, 1577. The most important formulators of the Formula of Concord wereJakob Andreä andMartin Chemnitz.
Having before them two earlier documents (theSwabian-Saxon Concord, drafted by Andreä in 1574 and the so-calledMaulbron Formula of 1576) the first group of theologians produced theTorgau Book. Andreä condensed this into what would become known as theEpitome, the first part of theFormula of Concord. Its title as found in the 1576 first printing ran as follows:[A] Brief Summary of the articles which, controverted among the theologians of the Augsburg Confession for many years, were settled in a Christian manner at Torgau in the month of June, 1576, by the theologians which there met and subscribed.
Over the eleven months following the publication of theTorgau Book, suggested emendations were sent to Andreä and Chemnitz, and further revision was deemed necessary, so the second group (Andreä, Chemnitz, Selnecker, Chytraeus, Musculus, and Körner) revised theTorgau Book into its final form, known as theBergen Book or theSolid Declaration of theFormula of Concord. (Depending on the translation, theSolid Declaration is also known as theThorough Declaration of the Formula of Concord.) It was presented to Elector August of Saxony on May 28, 1577.
Subsequently, it was signed (subscribed to) by three electors of theHoly Roman Empire, twenty dukes and princes, twenty-four counts, four barons, thirty-five free imperial cities, and over 8,000 pastors. These constituted two-thirds of theLutheran Church inGermany at the time. Every clergyman in theElectorate of Saxony had to either subscribe or write his objections with respect to the Formula of Concord. A rhyme was circulated [at the time]: "Write, dear Sir, write, that you might remain at the parish" (schreibt, lieber Herre, schreibt, dass Ihr bei der Pfarre bleibt).
TheFormula of Concord was not accepted by Lutherans inHesse,Zweibrücken, Anhalt,Pommerania,Holstein,Denmark-Norway, Sweden, Nuremberg, Strassburg, and Magdeburg, and the government ofQueen Elizabeth I of England lobbied in its German embassies to prevent acceptance of it among the German estates.
Formula of Concord public domain audiobook atLibriVoxThe Lutheran Confessions — Documents of theBook of Concord | ||
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