The chief supporters of Flacius were the Mansfeldians, Count Vollrath
and Cyriacus Spangenberg [born 1528; studied in Wittenberg; served in
Eisleben, then in Mansfeld; died in Strassburg February 10, 1604]. In
the serious dissensions which arose in Mansfeld in consequence of the
controversy on original sin, the Count and Spangenberg were opposed by
the Jena theologians and Superintendent Menzel [Jerome Menzel, born
1517; studied in Wittenberg; wrote against Spangenberg; died 1590]. As
stated above, it was Spangenberg who endeavored to bring about an
understanding between the contending parties on the principle: "_Teneat
Illyricus mentem, mutet linguam._" A colloquy was held 1572 at Castle
Mansfeld, in which Flacius and his adherents were pitted against Menzel,
Rhode, Fabricius, and others. When Fabricius declared in the
discussions: "Only in so far as our nature is not in conformity with the
Law of God is it corrupt," Flacius exclaimed: "_Non quantum_, not in as
far; but I say it is not in conformity because it is corrupt, _quia
corrupta est_." (Preger 2, 375.) Count Vollrath and his adviser, Caspar
Pflug gave Flacius a written testimony that at the colloquy he had not
been convinced, but found to be correct in the controversy on original
sin. The publication of this testimony by Flacius as also of the minutes
of the Colloquy by Count Vollrath, in 1573, resulted in a number of
further publications by Flacius and his friends as well as his
opponents. At Mansfeld the animosity against the Flacians did not
subside even after the death of Flacius in 1575. They were punished with
excommunication, incarceration, and the refusal of a Christian burial.
Count Vollrath left 1577, and died at Strassburg 1578. Spangenberg, who
also had secretly fled from Mansfeld, defended the doctrine of Flacius
in a tract, _De Peccato Originali, Concerning Original Sin_, which he
published 1586 under a pseudonym. He died without retracting or changing
his views.
Another adherent of Flacius was F. Coelestinus, professor at Jena. After
his suspension he left the city and participated in the controversy. He
published _Colloquium inter Se et Tilem. Hesshusium_. He died 1572. In
August, 1571, Court-preacher Christopher Irenaeus and Pastors Guenther
and Reinecker were dismissed in Weimar because of Flacianism. Irenaeus
published _Examen Libri Concordiae_ and many other books, in which he
contends that original sin is a substance. Pastors Wolf in Kahla,
Schneider in Altendorf, and Franke in Oberrosla were dismissed in 1572
for the same reason. They, too, entered the public arena in favor of
Flacius. At Lindau four preachers, who had identified themselves with
Flacius, were also deposed. One of them, Tobias Rupp, held a public
disputation with Andreae. In Antwerp the elders forbade their ministers
to indulge in any public polemics against Flacius. Among the supporters
of Flacius were also his son, Matthias Flacius, and Caspar Heldelin. It
may be noted here that Saliger (Beatus) and Fredeland, who were deposed
at Luebeck in 1568 also taught "that original sin is the very substance
of the body and soul of man," and that Christ had assumed "the flesh of
another species" than ours. (Gieseler 3, 2, 257.)
In Regensburg four adherents of Flacius were dismissed in 1574, among
them Joshua Opitz [born 1543; died 1585]. These and others emigrated to
the Archduchy of Austria, where the Lutherans were numerous and
influential, Opitz frequently preaching to an audience of 7,000. No less
than 40 of the Lutheran ministers of Austria are said to have shared the
views of Flacius. (Preger 2, 393.) Only a few of them revealed symptoms
of fanaticism, which resulted in their dismissal. Among the latter was
Joachim Magdeburgius, then an exile at Efferding. He taught "that the
bodies of believing Christians after their death were still essential
original sin, and that God's wrath remained over them till the Day of
Judgment." (Joecher, _Lexicon_ 3, 32.) At the same time he branded as
errorists Spangenberg, Opitz, and Irenaeus, who declared their dissent.
In 1581 the Flacians in Austria issued a declaration against the
_Formula of Concord_, charging its teaching to be inconsistent with
Luther's doctrine on original sin. As late as 1604 there were numerous
Flacianists in German Austria.