Catholicity The Lutheran Reformation and NE District Pastors’ Institute April 2013.

CatholicityThe Lutheran Reformation and

NE District Pastors’ InstituteApril 2013

Catholicity &

Reformation

OutlineI. The 1520’s

II. The Augustana: De Ecclesia

III. Luther: On the Councils and the Church (1538)

IV. Melanchthon, History, and the Nature of the Church

V. The Ecumencial Lutherans

Catholicity &

Reformation

The

MDXX’s

Catholicity &

Reformation

The MDXX’s

The Renaissance

• By 900 A.D., Cordoba had a library with over 400,000 volumes

• By mid 10th century, Moorish Spain had over 70 public libraries and 17 universities.

• Christian Europe had 0 public libraries, and 2 universities

Catholicity &

Reformation

The MDXX’s

The Renaissance• The revival of classical learning

• Blossoming nationalism

Aristotelian categories - systematics

Interest in Greek – text, Fathers

Catholicity &

Reformation

The MDXX’s

The RenaissancePhilipp Melanchthon (1497-1560)

• Grand-nephew of Johann Reuchlin

• Polymath: Master’s degree from Tubingen – 1516

• Inaugural Address (1518): “On the Reform of Studies”

• Corpus Reformationum (CR) Vol. XVI – XIX

• Greek grammar (1518)• Commentaries all many classics

Catholicity &

Reformation

The MDXX’s


The rising interest in Patristics in Wittenberg*

• Luther’s statements at Leipzig about “councils err” plunged him into a study of Church history to validate this.

• 1519 – Luther lectures on Scripture and Fathers in place of Peter Lombard

• Collection of / editions of texts of the Fathers* P. Fraenkel, Testimonia Patrum (1961)

Catholicity &

Reformation

The MDXX’s


The rising interest in Patristics in Wittenberg*

• 1521 – Diatribe Against the Sorbonne

• Aristotle (Scotus, Ockham) vs. Scripture & Fathers* P. Fraenkel, Testimonia Patrum (1961)

Catholicity &

Reformation

The MDXX’s

1521 – Diatribe Against the Sorbonne

“The patristic argument is integrated with the scriptural argument,

because the return to Scripture is identical with the return to the best

teaching of the Fathers, and because hearing the Church (as Luther does)

is not equivalent to hearing anyone who arbitrarily pretends to be the

Church (as the University of Paris does), but to hearing the true Church

which teaches the true Word of God – otherwise the idea of Catholicity

becomes meaningless.” (p.34)** P. Fraenkel, Testimonia Patrum (1961)

Catholicity &

Reformation

The MDXX’s

1521 – Diatribe Against the Sorbonne

The heart of Melanchthon’s argument:

• The Fathers and Councils are dependent, secondary authorities

• The are only as good as much as they agree with Scripture (p.42)*

• Negatively: they must pass the test of Scripture

• Positively: they are witness to the orthodox faith* P. Fraenkel, Testimonia Patrum (1961)

This becomes Melanchthon’s standard formula that drives his theological work right up through 1530 (and beyond).

Catholicity &

Reformation

The MDXX’s

1521, 1535, 1543, 1559 The Expansion of the Loci Communes

1. 1521 – Advocate of patristic studies… but primarily based on the Book of Romans.

2. No real conflict between authority of Scripture and Fathers

3. Growth of patristic quotes… but also a deeper understanding of their place

4. The Fathers witness to foundational Christian doctrine totally, but to 16th cent. church problems selectively.

* P. Fraenkel, Testimonia Patrum (1961)

Catholicity &

Reformation

The MDXX’s

The Fathers witness to foundational Christian doctrine totally, but to 16th cent. church problems selectively.

* P. Fraenkel, Testimonia Patrum (1961)

Marburg 1529

Catholicity &

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The MDXX’s

“Finally the Zwinglians asked that the Lutherans might accept them as brethren and members of the Church. This the Lutherans entirely rejected. The final decision was that the Zwinglians be regarded as our friends (as one is obligated to love even an enemy), but not as brethren and members of the Church.”

- J. Brenz at Marburg, 1529*

*Schwiebert, p. 713

Catholicity &

Reformation

The MDXX’s

“catholicity”

The Lord’s Supper

Catholicity &

Reformation

1530

The Augustana

Catholicity &

Reformation

Pre-June 25 Meeting of Princes with Charles V

Catholicity &

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Pre-June 25: Luther

“I have read Master Philip’s Apologia, and it pleases me very much. I know of nothing to improve or change in it, and that would not be appropriate anyway, for I cannot tread so softly or gently as he. Christ our Lord help that it bear much and great fruit, as we hope and pray. Amen.”

-- Luther

Catholicity &

Reformation

June 25Article I: Of God.

Article II: Of Original Sin.

Article III: Of the Son of God.

Article IV: Of Justification.

Article V: Of the Ministry.

Article VI: Of New Obedience.

Article VII: Of the Church.

Article VIII: What the Church Is.

Article IX: Of Baptism.

Article X: Of the Lord's Supper.

Article XI: Of Confession.

Article XII: Of Repentance.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/275/275-h/275-h.htm#link2H_4_0002























Catholicity &

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June 25

Article XIII: Of the Use of the Sacraments.

Article XIV: Of Ecclesiastical Order.

Article XV: Of Ecclesiastical Usages.

Article XVI: Of Civil Affairs.

Article XVII: Of Christ's Return to Judgment.

Article XVIII: Of Free Will.

Article XIX: Of the Cause of Sin.

Article XX: Of Good Works.

Article XXI: Of the Worship of the Saints.



















Catholicity &

Reformation

The MDXX’s

The Growing Concept of Lutheran Catholicity

15 July, 1530

“But if this reward should befall us, namely, that – by the own witness of our adversaries – no article of the faith is violated, clearly we have obtained even more than what I sought, liberation from the offense of the label “heretic.”

- Luther to Melancthon (WABr 5/480)

Catholicity &

Reformation

The MDXX’s


Also they teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.

And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. As Paul says: One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc. Eph. 4, 5. 6.

Catholicity &

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The MDXX’s


Studies in the Augsburg Confession

“True unity of the Church…”

- Not organization- Not rites and ceremonies- Not words- Not historical continuity

Catholicity &

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The MDXX’s



“The chief purpose of our public services is to dispense the grace of God, the forgiveness of sins, to the congregation through the means of grace, Word and sacraments.” (p.111)

Catholicity &

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The MDXX’s



“Remember the doctrine of the Gospel was not drawn up by men. It was God who revealed it to us. God considered it important to embody in his gospel also all the points which to us may seem less essential. They are his doctrine as well as all those points we we may call most important.” (p.113)

Catholicity &

Reformation

1538

On the Councils and the Church

Catholicity &

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The Elusive Council[21] If the outcome, therefore, should be such that the differences between us and the other parties in the matter of religion should not be amicably and in charity settled, then here, before Your Imperial Majesty we make the offer in all obedience, in addition to what we have already done, that we will all appear and defend our cause in such a general, free Christian Council, for the convening of which there has always been accordant action and agreement of votes in all the Imperial Diets held during Your Majesty's reign, on the part of the Electors, Princes, and other Estates of the Empire. (U.A.C.)

Catholicity &

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The Elusive Council: 1538

(1) it must be a free, not a papal council; (2) Protestants must be invited as full participants, not as

heretics; (3) its decisions must be based upon the authority of Holy

Scripture and not upon that of the pope; and (4) it must be held in Germany, if at all possible.5

Martin Luther, vol. 41, Luther's Works, Vol. 41: Church and Ministry III, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann, 6 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999).

Catholicity &

Reformation

Part I: Reformation of the True Church“What should we do now? If we should take the church back to the teaching and ways of the fathers and the councils, there stands St. Augustine to confuse us and thwart our plan because under no circumstances does he want reliance placed on the fathers, bishops, councils, as learned and holy as they may be, or on himself. Instead, he directs us to Holy Scripture. Outside of that, so he says, all is uncertain, lost, and in vain.”


Catholicity &

Reformation

Part II: The Councils of the True Church“Since they themselves now say and confess that it is the old true faith in which we were baptized and in which we were instructed, why should we concede to the councils the great power to establish new doctrines and to burn as heretics all who do not believe them? That would indeed mean misunderstanding the councils and not knowing at all what a council is or what its office and function are; it would be to look merely at the letters and to give the council complete power, even over God!”


Catholicity &

Reformation

Part III: The Marks of the True Church“… not just ecclesia… but sancta catholica Christiana…

I. Recognized by their possession of the holy word of GodNot all, though, in equal measure (1 Cor 3:12-14)

II. Recognized by the holy sacrament of baptism

Catholicity &

Reformation


III. Recognized by the holy sacrament of the altar

IV. Recognized by the office of the keys exercised publicly

Catholicity &

Reformation


V. By the consecration / called ministers, or has offices that it is to administer.

“They have cast us poor theologians, together with the fathers, from their books; for this we thank them most kindly. Now they propose to throw us out of the church and out of Scripture; and they themselves are not worthy to be in them.”

Catholicity &

Reformation


VI. Recognized by prayer, public praise, and thanksgiving to God

VII. Recognized by the holy possession of the sacred cross.

The Seven Holy Possessions of the Church

Catholicity &

Reformation

Part III: The Marks of the True Church

“[Luther] freed the Fathers from tradition. At long last it was possible for them to be mistaken.”

- Manfred Schulze

Catholicity &

Reformation

1533-1559

Melanchthon, History, and the

Nature of the Church Catholic

Catholicity &

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The Seven Liberal Arts

Catholicity &

Reformation

What’s the big deal with historia ?

• Ties in closely with patrology

• The quest for legitimacy• What are the patterns of history?• Is the Reformation… an expected pattern?

Catholicity &

Reformation

What’s the big deal with historia ?

• Knowing the times in which we live

• What about Germany?

• What about the Papacy?

• What about the Turks?

Catholicity &

Reformation

Carion’s Chronicle: 1533 (1st ed.)

Johannes Carion (1499-1537)

Catholicity &

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Carion’s Chronicle: Melanchthon

1000 yrs. 1000 yrs. 1000 yrs. 1000 yrs. 1000 yrs. 1000 yrs.

The Sabbath: 1000 yrs.

Adam Noah Abraham David Captivity Christ

Catholicity &

Reformation

Adam1000 yrs. – 10 generations

Noah1000 yrs. – 10 generations

Abraham1000 yrs. – 14 generations

David1000 yrs. – 14 generations

Captivity1000 yrs. – 14 generations

Christ1000 yrs. – ??? generations

(Void)2000 yrs.

Torah2000 yrs.

Messiah2000 yrs.

Augustine’s Model:Adapts the Jewish Prophecy of Elias

Ante Legem

Sub Legem

Sub Gratia

Catholicity &

Reformation

The Four Monarchies Model

translatio imperii

Catholicity &

Reformation

(Void)2000 yrs.

Torah2000 yrs.

Messiah2000 yrs.

Melanchthon’s Model

Ante Legem

Sub Legem

Sub Gratia

Catholicity &

Reformation


The NT 250 / 500 Year Cycle (Peucer / Melanchthon)

Accurately reflected in Melancthon’s 1548 oration:Luther and the Ages of the Church

I. Apostolic / Post-Apostolic AgeII. Age of OrigenIII. Age of AugustineIV. Age of the MonksV. Age of Luther

Catholicity &

Reformation


The NT 250 / 500 Year Cycle (Peucer / Melanchthon)

1st Period:Apostles

to Gregory the Great(ca 500)

2nd Period:Gregory to Investiture

Controversy (ca. 500)

3rd Period:Investiture

Controversy to

Reformation (ca. 500)

The ebb and flow of controversy, reform, “peace”

Catholicity &

Reformation


What was Melanchthon out to accomplish?

1. Debunking papal political & ecclesiastical power

2. To show that history was not the history of the papacy / Roman church, but the preservation of the Church throughout the ages via reform

3. Legitimize Germany’s rule (Renaissance nationalism)

Catholicity &

Reformation

Fraenkel’s Summary: Melanchthon’s Five Laws of Church History

1. The world hates the Gospel; majority of mankind are atheists

2. The true Church is always a minority … but a “minority in continuity.”

3. The law of reformation: Ecclesia renascitur

4. The law of relativity: error and corruption are never total, since they never quite destroy the faith of the Church.

Catholicity &

Reformation

Fraenkel’s Summary: Melanchthon’s Five Laws of Church History

5. The law of distinction:

“The true Christian faith can be conceived as true not only because error is absent from the period and the milieu in which it is preached and taught, but also – perhaps even primarily – because it is clearly separated and distinguished from the error that exists simultaneously.”

How do these observations affect our concept of “catholicity”?

Catholicity &

Reformation

The Ecumenical Lutherans

Catholicity &

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The Ecumenical LutheransAugsburg, 1530

Catholicity &

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The Ecumenical LutheransEngland: 1536 ff

Melanchthon writes Henry VIII and Thomas Cranmer

The Wittenberg Articles

Catholicity &

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The Ecumenical LutheransConstantinople: 1559

Melanchthon writes the Patriarch Joaseph II

Catholicity &

Reformation

The Ecumenical LutheransTubingen Faculty: 1579-82

The Tubingen Faculty

Dialogues with Jeremias II of Constantinople

Catholicity &

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Catholicity &Reformation


Points of Doctrinal Agreement (Jorgensen)

The fundamental authority of Scripture, its inspiration, and its translation into the language of the people;

God and the Trinity in general;

Ancestral sin and its transmission to the entire human race;

That humanity, not God, is the cause of evil;

The two natures of Christ;



Points of Doctrinal Agreement (Jorgensen)

The head of the Church is Jesus Christ alone;

The second Coming, the judgment and future life, and the endlessness of reward and punishments;

The reception of the Eucharist in both kinds;

Rejection of papal satisfactions, indulgences, the treasury of the saints, purgatorial fire, and compulsory clerical celibacy.



Points of Doctrinal Disgreement (Jorgensen)

Holy Tradition;

The Procession of the Holy Spirit (filioque);

Free Will;

Divine Predestination;

Justification;




The number of sacraments;

The performance of Baptism by immersion (Orthodox) vs. sprinkling or pouring (Lutheran), and the immediate performance of Chrismation and the giving of the Eucharist to those baptized (Orthodox);

The meaning of the change in the Holy Eucharist, and the use of unleavened bread;




The infallibility of the Church and of the Ecumenical Councils;

The veneration, feasts, and invocation of saints, and their icons and relics;

Fasts and other ecclesiastical traditions and customs.

E. Tibbs Essay: http://www.stpaulsirvine.org/html/lutheran.htm

http://www.stpaulsirvine.org/html/lutheran.htm





The Formula of Concord VIII &

The Catalog of Testimonies


“The majority of the Formula of Concord’s references to the thought and theology of the ancient church cluster around its eighth article on Christology or the person of Christ.”

- T. Hartwig: The Continuity of the Formula of Concord with the Ancient Church, in No Other Gospel (NPH) p.280 ff.


“We assign to the writings of the fathers their proper and, indeed, honorable place which is due them, because they have defended the ancient dogmas of the church against new corruptions of heretics and have done so on the basis of Scripture, have correctly examined many points of doctrine, have recorded many things concerning the history of the primitive church, and have usefully call attention to many thing.”

- M. Chemnitz, Examen, quoted in T. Hartwig: The Continuity of the Formula of Concord with the Ancient Church, in No Other Gospel (NPH) p.296


“Christian reader, these testimonies of the ancient teachers of the Church have been here set forth, not with this meaning that our Christian faith is founded upon the authority of men. For the true saving faith is to be founded upon no church-teachers, old or new, but only and alone upon God’s Word…”

- M. Chemnitz, Catalog of Testimonies, quoted in T. Hartwig: The Continuity of the Formula of Concord with the Ancient Church,

in No Other Gospel (NPH) p.305


Solus Christus&

Sola Scriptura

“catholicity”


finis

Catholicity The Lutheran Reformation and NE District Pastors’ Institute April 2013.

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Transcript of Catholicity The Lutheran Reformation and NE District Pastors’ Institute April 2013.