View source for Formula of Concord

{{Short description|Authoritative Lutheran statement of faith}}
{{distinguish|Book of Concord}}
{{Lutheranism|expanded=Concord}}
'''Formula of Concord''' (1577) ({{Langx|de|Konkordienformel}}; {{Langx|la|Formula concordiae}}; also the "''Bergic Book''" or the "''Bergen Book''") is an authoritative [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] statement of faith (called a confession, [[creed]], or "symbol") that, in its two parts (''Epitome'' and ''Solid Declaration''), makes up the final section of the Lutheran ''Corpus Doctrinae'' or [[Body of Doctrine]], known as the [[Book of Concord]] (most references to these texts are to the original edition of 1580).

The ''Epitome'' is a brief and concise presentation of the ''Formula's'' twelve articles; the ''Solid Declaration'' a detailed exposition. Approved doctrine is presented in "theses"; rejected doctrine in "antitheses." As the original document was written in [[German language|German]], a [[Latin]] [[translation]] was prepared for the [[Latin]] edition of the [[Book of Concord]] published in 1584.

== Significance and composition ==
The promulgation and subscription of this document was a major factor in the unification and preservation of [[Lutheranism]]. It was instigated at the behest of the [[Augustus, Elector of Saxony|Elector August of Saxony]], and it was the joint work of a group of [[Lutheran]] [[theology|theologian]]s and churchmen of the latter sixteenth century. They met from April 9 to June 7, 1576 in [[Torgau]], the seat of government of the [[Electorate of Saxony]] at the time.

They were [[Jakob Andreä]] (1528&ndash;1590), [[Martin Chemnitz]] (1522&ndash;1586), [[Nikolaus Selnecker]] (1528&ndash;1592), [[David Chytraeus]] (1531&ndash;1600), [[Andreas Musculus]] (1514&ndash;1581), Christoph Körner (1518&ndash;1594), Caspar Heyderich (1517&ndash;1586), Paul Crell (1532&ndash;1579), [[Maximilian Mörlin]] (1516&ndash;1584), Wolfgang Harder (1522&ndash;1602), Daniel Gräser (1504&ndash;1591), Nicholas Jagenteufel (1520&ndash;1583), Johannes Cornicaelius, John Schütz (1531&ndash;1584), Martin Mirus (1532&ndash;1593), Georg Listenius (1532&ndash;1596), and Peter Glaser (1528&ndash;1583).

A smaller set of this group (Andreä, Chemnitz, Selnecker, Chytraeus, Musculus, and Körner) worked on the document a year later in Bergen Abbey, near [[Magdeburg]], both from March 1&ndash;14, and in May, 1577. The most important formulators of the Formula of Concord were [[Jakob Andreä]] and [[Martin Chemnitz]].

Having before them two earlier documents (the ''Swabian-Saxon Concord'', drafted by Andreä in 1574 and the so-called ''Maulbron Formula'' of 1576) the first group of theologians produced the ''Torgau Book''. Andreä condensed this into what would become known as the ''Epitome,'' the first part of the ''Formula 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 the ''Torgau 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 the ''Torgau Book'' into its final form, known as the ''Bergen Book'' or the ''Solid Declaration'' of the ''Formula of Concord.'' (Depending on the translation, the ''Solid Declaration'' is also known as the ''Thorough 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 the [[Holy 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 the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran Church]] in [[Germany]] at the time. Every clergyman in the [[Electorate 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).

The ''Formula of Concord'' was not accepted by Lutherans in [[Landgraviate of Hesse|Hesse]], [[Palatine Zweibrücken|Zweibrücken]], Anhalt, [[Duchy of Pomerania|Pommerania]], [[Holstein-Gottorp|Holstein]], [[Denmark-Norway]], Sweden, Nuremberg, Strassburg, and Magdeburg, and the government of [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I of England]] lobbied in its German embassies to prevent acceptance of it among the German estates.

== Articles of the ''Formula of Concord'' ==
*I. [[Original Sin]]
*II. [[Free will in theology|Free Will]]
*III. The [[Justification by faith|Righteousness of Faith]] before God
*IV. [[Good Works]]
*V. [[Law and Gospel]]
*VI. The [[Law and Gospel#Lutheran view|Third Use]] of the Law
*VII. [[Eucharist|The Holy Supper of Christ]]
*VIII. The Person of [[Jesus|Christ]]
*IX. Christ's [[Harrowing of Hell|Descent]] into [[Hell]]
*X. Church Ceremonies ([[Adiaphora#Christianity|Adiaphora]], or Indifferent Things)
*XI. The Eternal Foreknowledge and [[Predestination|Election]] of God
*XII. Other [[Heresy|heresies]] and sects

==External links==
*[https://bookofconcord.org/epitome/ Epitome of the Formula of Concord]
*[http://bookofconcord.org/fc-sd.html Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051223235033/http://www.bookofconcord.org/fc-sd.html |date=2005-12-23 }}
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=ig5PF6Tf07UC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA0 The ''Book of Concord'': confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church]
* {{librivox book | stitle=formula of concord | dtitle=Formula of Concord}}

{{Book of Concord}}
{{Early Lutheran Controversies}}
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[[Category:1577 works]]
[[Category:Book of Concord]]
[[Category:Martin Luther]]
[[Category:Christian terminology]]